Jian Qiuchi asked in a deep voice, "I wonder how the Ba Mountain Sword Sect offended the Dongyi Race, prompting such a large mobilization of yours."

"Your Jade Flute Fairy joined forces with Chen Tang to cause a commotion on the Hermit Continent and even killed Elder Feng’s personal disciple!"

A middle-aged Hermit said coldly, "This time, Elder Feng personally led many Hermits across the East Sea, setting foot on the Divine Land again, vowing to avenge this! Chen Tang is dead, and the Jade Flute Fairy along with everyone on this boat must be buried with them today!"

Chen Tang was inwardly moved.

The Celestial Concealment was buried at the bottom of the river, with the corpse long since devoured by large fish.

These Hermits came from the Hermit Continent and seem unaware of the internal situation.

What interested him even more was that this person just revealed an extremely important piece of information!

Elder Feng has come to Nanxia!

Among the Five Great Elders of the Dongyi Race, besides the Transmission Elder, also known as Ming Yue Wanderer, there are four other Elders: Wind, Fire, Mountain, and Forest.

The Four Great Elders are all at the Divine Concealment level, Grandmaster experts.

An Innate-level Hermit will be an extremely dangerous existence!

Many disciples of the Ba Mountain Sword Sect subconsciously looked at Ye Yushi.

Unexpectedly, today’s trouble was brought upon them by this Senior Sister of theirs.

One of them, out of fear, couldn’t help but say, "Every grievance has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. Jade Flute Senior Sister killed someone; why don’t you just go after her? It has nothing to do with us."

"Exactly."

A few voiced their agreement.

Although many disciples were too embarrassed to speak up, they shared the same sentiments in their hearts.

Jian Qiuchi sighed inwardly, glancing at these few disciples, feeling greatly disappointed.

She could understand that they were so bent on self-preservation.

But these disciples are not intelligent enough.

This group of Dongyi Race clearly wants to eliminate them completely; even if they hand over Ye Yushi, they would not survive.

Jian Qiuchi secretly signaled Ye Yushi, suggesting she find a chance to escape.

Among those on the boat, only Ye Yushi refrained from tasting the fish soup.

Rather than dying in battle here, it would be better to survive, as there would still be hope for revenge in the future.

Yet Ye Yushi shook her head.

The middle-aged Hermit sneered, "Hundreds of lives of the Dongyi Race are at stake; even killing all of you wouldn’t be enough!"

Hundreds of lives!

The members of the Ba Mountain Sword Sect were taken aback, glancing at Ye Yushi with heavy hearts.

Unexpectedly, this Senior Sister of theirs killed so many people on the Hermit Continent’s territory and still lived to return!

"We are just the boat crew of the Boat Gang, with elderly and children to care for, uninvolved in the Jianghu conflicts, merely securing a boat for them."

Wang Xiang finally seized the opportunity to say, "The grudges between you all should have nothing to do with us."

"Everyone on this boat must die today!"

The middle-aged Hermit said in an icy tone, slowly raising his hand.

The Hermits on the boat tensed, drawing long swords, ready to launch a massacre once the middle-aged Hermit’s hand fell!

"Wait!"

At that moment, Chen Tang got up, smilingly calling out to everyone, raising his voice, "Seeing today is a certain death, my curiosity prevails. How on earth did you poison the fish soup? Your method is truly brilliant."

Initially, Chen Tang was ready to make a move, but he noticed that this middle-aged Hermit talked a lot, not quite professional.

Might as well see if he can coax some words from him.

This question puzzled everyone.

The members of the Boat Gang, like Wang Xiang, were even more bewildered.

They clearly hauled up fresh cutlassfish, watched from start to finish. How did the poison get into the fish soup?

The middle-aged Hermit, upon hearing Chen Tang’s commendation of his brilliance and witnessing the confusion and fear in others, couldn’t help but show a hint of pride.

In truth, he had already violated the Hermit’s code by speaking at such length.

But not speaking left him feeling stifled and unsatisfied.

Merely hacking this group like slaughtering chickens or sheep, what difference did that make?

The middle-aged Hermit looked at Chen Tang, saying calmly, "Since you can tell it’s poisoned, why not guess how and when the poison was administered?"

Chen Tang thought for a moment, then said, "Is the poison in the fish?"

Wang Xiang quickly remarked, "Impossible, this cutlassfish was freshly caught, alive and kicking."

"Alive does not mean it’s not poisonous."

Chen Tang said, "You all seem fine, but you’ve already been poisoned with the cold toxin."

Wang Xiang was taken aback.

Chen Tang continued, "This Moon Shadow Frost is a cold poison, and the river water is freezing to the bone; even freshly caught cutlassfish wouldn’t show anything unusual."

"You’re quite clever."

The middle-aged Hermit praised, pausing slightly, "A pity, you’re about to die."

Chen Tang asked again, "Why is this Moon Shadow Frost so potent that silver needles can’t detect it, and if you have such methods, why not use a deadly poison directly?"

The middle-aged Hermit replied, "It’s not that the silver needle can’t detect it, but rather the change isn’t obvious. When encountering Moon Shadow Frost, the silver needle develops a layer of frost on the surface, but it’s almost indiscernible on the needle."

"Most deadly poisons have distinct colors or odors, leaving too many clues and uncertainties. With the cultivation of an Innate Martial Artist, tasting a little would raise suspicion, and the Innate True Qi can expel most deadly poisons."

"What about the antidote to Moon Shadow Frost?"

Chen Tang asked further.

The middle-aged man’s lips twitched slightly, "There is no antidote."

Everyone was startled.

But upon reflection, even if there were an antidote, they all were about to die, so what difference did it make?

Chen Tang pondered a bit, then said, "You previously mentioned that it would temporarily freeze the meridians, meaning this Moon Shadow Frost poison would dissipate on its own after a while?"

Jian Qiuchi’s eyes brightened upon hearing this.

Perhaps this was their only chance for survival!

If they could delay long enough for the cold poison to be expelled, they’d still have the strength to fight back!

This person was indeed clever.

Amid such a perilous situation, she felt at a loss, yet he remained calm, chatting and laughing, uncovering such key information!

No wonder Yushi saw him differently.

However, with such an age gap, it seemed unsuitable; besides, their ages were more compatible.

When reaching the critical point, the middle-aged Hermit fell silent.

Today, he had said enough already.

"Are you an Upper Concealment or Celestial Concealment?"

Just then, Chen Tang said, "I guess you are Celestial Concealment!"

"Hmm?"

The middle-aged Hermit initially did not want to converse with Chen Tang anymore and was ready to give orders, but upon hearing these words, he frowned, glaring at Chen Tang, "Who are you that you even know our Dongyi Race’s Hermit rankings?"

Seeing his reaction, Chen Tang knew he had guessed correctly.

Another Celestial Concealment.

Based on his observations, among the more than a hundred Hermits who boarded just now, there were two Upper Concealments, with the rest being Middle Concealments.

Ignoring the question from the middle-aged Hermit, Chen Tang said, "Since Elder Feng has come, why hasn’t he personally brought people over? The Sect Leader of Ba Mountain Sword Sect is a master on the Celestial Ranking!"

The middle-aged Hermit said, "Why use a bull knife to slaughter a chicken? A mere Ba Mountain Sword Sect doesn’t require Elder Feng to take action himself."

"That’s not right though."

Chen Tang said, "If Elder Feng seeks revenge, surely he would want to personally kill his enemy to find satisfaction. If he didn’t want to confront his enemy, why travel all the way to Nanxia?"

This was what he truly wanted to uncover.

"Elder Feng naturally has... "

The middle-aged Hermit’s words halted abruptly, his eyes gradually narrowing as if seeing through Chen Tang’s intentions, said coldly, "You’re trying to stall for time?"

Chen Tang smiled and said nothing.

"Not good!"

Jian Qiuchi was startled inside.

This person was too vigilant and was already aware!

Yet her body hadn’t shown signs of the cold poison clearing.

"You might as well know, the Moon Shadow Frost poison takes at least an hour to dissipate on its own."

A mocking gleam flashed in the middle-aged Hermit’s eyes as he said coolly, "Do you think I would give you such a long time?"

Chen Tang smiled slightly, "You misunderstood, I wasn’t trying to delay, just simply noted how verbose you were. A bit chatty and foolish, wanted to draw a few words out."

The boat suddenly fell silent, not a sound to be heard.

Everyone’s expressions were frozen, listening, stunned.

What was this about?

Provoking?

Afraid of dying too slowly?

Contrarily, among the Dongyi Race’s Hermits, quite a few subconsciously nodded.

It felt like those few comments hit right at their thoughts.