Second floor.
The mont the woman appeared, Xu Huo raised the toy gun and unleashed a torrent of flas. As the fiery beam lit up the room, her red dress fluttered as she spun mid-air like a gecko clinging to the wall, moving effortlessly across the surface before suddenly pouncing toward Huang Junjie behind Xu Huo!
Huang Junjie retreated rapidly but seed unable to create distance, wildly slashing his bamboo knife. Just as she was about to overpower him, he suddenly crouched low, letting her pass over his head. At that mont, Xu Huo moved in, directing the flathrower straight at her face!
The woman shrieked and scrambled up to the ceiling, darting toward the adjacent room.
Xu Huo pursued her, raising two fingers as the Omnipresent String instantly wrapped around her ankle, embedding deeply into the concrete. He flicked his lighter open, shouting "Burn!" repeatedly. Flas erupted across the woman's body from multiple points, quickly engulfing her entirely!
"You bastard! I'll skin you alive!" Cao Yan hadn't expected to suffer such a devastating defeat so quickly. With her right foot trapped and her body burning with intense pain, she lost her grip on the ceiling and hung upside down.
Huang Junjie imdiately circled behind her, but before his bamboo knife could strike, Cao Yan twisted her head around and spat sothing at him with a disgusting wet sound.
The viscous liquid imdiately began boiling into white foam upon contact with his skin. Huang Junjie scread in agony, clutching his face, but the liquid proved even more vicious than expected—it began lting the skin on his hands too. He collapsed to the floor, and when his hands accidentally touched the ground, they beca stuck!
"Click!" Xu Huo used his lighter for illumination, the fla revealing Huang Junjie raising his hand—an entire layer of skin and flesh tore away from his palm!
He quickly poured two bottles of healing potion into Huang Junjie's mouth, only relaxing slightly when he saw the corrosion slow down.
Laughter ca from behind him. He turned to see the woman's face twisted with malice. "Once touched by my poison, he's as good as dead!"
Xu Huo raised the dragon-shaped toy gun, his expression cold. "Then keeping you alive serves no purpose."
Cao Yan paused, then said coldly, "Release
first if you want the antidote. I might consider it."
Xu Huo stared at her for several seconds before shoving the toy gun into her mouth. He picked up Huang Junjie's bamboo knife and made an incision on her wrist.
"Want to negotiate? Fine." After letting her bleed, he stepped back, his gaze fixed on her. "I have plenty of ti. Waiting until your blood drains completely isn't a problem. Player-Eaters heal quickly, so a single cut might not make you feel threatened."
"But that's alright. One cut isn't enough? Make two. Two aren't enough? Make three. If you heal and stop bleeding, I'll just cut again."
"If my companion dies, you'll join him in death."
His emotionless voice carried a palpable chill. As soon as he finished speaking, his figure blurred as he circled Cao Yan before returning to his original position.
When he stood still, multiple streams of blood burst from various parts of Cao Yan's body, quickly dripping down her charred form.
He ant every word!
Sensing his killing intent, Cao Yan gritted her teeth. "You're just going to watch your friend die in agony?"
Huang Junjie hadn't lost consciousness yet. His eyes were sealed shut by the corrosion, and the pain left him unable to speak. Hearing Cao Yan's words, he instinctively turned his head toward Xu Huo. Of course he hoped Xu Huo would prioritize saving his life, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Xu Huo didn't look at Huang Junjie, keeping his eyes on the woman's face. "Since healing potion can slow this toxin, it ans the poison isn't that difficult to counter. Coincidentally, I'm quite familiar with the Special Affairs Departnt. They might have an antidote."
"You're a Player-Eater. The toxin isn't your inherent ability—is it an item or poison?"
Watching her expression, he suddenly paused. "It's not an item or poison? Could it be that you naturally produce toxins?"
Cao Yan's violently constricted pupils and the fleeting shock when he guessed correctly confird he was almost certainly right.
Xu Huo suddenly laughed. "I never thought soone could actually evolve to produce toxins!"
"What are you laughing at!" Cao Yan shouted, interrupting him. "Since you've figured it out, you should understand only I can cure this poison!"
"I've never heard of a cobra that can antidote its own venom after biting soone." Xu Huo gradually stopped smiling. "But developing an antidote would indeed require the source of the problem."
"How about this—I'll donate you to the Special Affairs Departnt free of charge. They're currently experinting on Player-Eaters. A rare specin like you is one in a hundred—they'll be desperate to get their hands on you."
"I heard that to develop one antidote, the Special Affairs Departnt poisoned over twenty Player-Eaters to death. Though it's sowhat cruel, for them, a quick death might be considered a rcy."
"You're different though. They might use you as a specin. From now on, whenever they encounter special Evolvers, you as the first case will have research value. Whether it's drawing blood or slicing you up, the researchers will definitely value your life more than you do."
"They won't let you die easily."
That final light laugh made Cao Yan's heart sink to the depths. She actually felt afraid—this smiling man in the faint firelight was more terrifying than any Player-Eater. What Evolvers feared most was being treated as lab rats, and players like her would never be treated as Ordinary Players by the governnt.
Compared to being endlessly experinted on, she'd rather be killed outright!
"I really can cure the poison! I can give you the antidote! But you have to promise to let
go!" Weighing her options, she quickly made her choice. "After this, I'll leave the Holy Sword Society, I can even leave Ting City, and never oppose you again! If you want to know more about the Holy Sword Society, I can tell you that too!"
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Betraying your organization so easily?"
Cao Yan snorted coldly. "I only joined the Holy Sword Society a few days ago. I haven't even received any items yet. Of course my life is more important."
"That Zhou Xiao you're looking for—if I hadn't protected him, he would have been eaten the day he was captured. You owe
for that."
"Other matters can wait. First, the antidote," he said.
Cao Yan rolled her tongue in her mouth before suddenly biting the tip. What flowed out wasn't blood, but a drop of transparent liquid.
Just as Xu Huo moved to catch it with the toy gun, the droplet unexpectedly ford a water mbrane upon exposure to air, condensing into a pill-sized bead the size of a soybean.
"If this isn't the antidote..."
"I'm absolutely not lying," Cao Yan said. "I'm at your rcy—I wouldn't dare play tricks. But you have to keep your promise too."
"Willing to take the gamble?" Xu Huo turned to ask Huang Junjie.
"If I die, it's just my bad luck," Huang Junjie said hoarsely as he fumbled for the pill. "Just rember to avenge ."
"No problem," Xu Huo agreed.
Cao Yan indeed hadn't lied. The mont Huang Junjie swallowed the pill, the white foam on his face and hands rapidly solidified, forming a white mbrane on his skin's surface like dried wax.
"The poison is neutralized. In three days, peel off the white shell. The flesh will regenerate, but it will leave scars," she said.
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