"Um… Junior Brother, there's no need to be like this, right?"
The captain looked at Xu Qing and felt even more hesitant. He had observed many times in the past two days and discovered that Xu Qing was really taking poison and didn't stop.
"After Master comes, once he discovers that we lied to him, he will definitely be very angry." As Xu Qing spoke, he took a stalk of poisonous grass and took a few bites.
"So, if I'm a little more miserable, Master won't be so angry."
The captain's heart skipped a beat. At the same time, he was also worried about the implications of Xu Qing's analysis. If it turned out to be true, although Master would be angry when he arrived, Xu Qing's sincere attitude and thorough performance indicated a great deal of respect for Master.
Lying also had its own ways.
In that case, there was a high chance that Master's anger would subside.
But if Master saw that he was completely fine… based on his understanding of his master, Master would definitely think that he was disrespecting him.
After all, no matter what the reason was, he had to have a good attitude when lying to his master.
It would have been fine if there was no comparison, but there was a comparison now.
At the thought of this, the captain felt conflicted and glanced at Xu Qing bitterly.
Seeing that time was passing bit by bit and the sky outside was starting to brighten, the captain gritted his teeth fiercely and stretched out his hand to Xu Qing.
"Give me some poison!"
Xu Qing had a surprised expression.
"You want it too?"
"Give it to me!" The captain's face was filled with grief and indignation.
Xu Qing silently handed the poison over.
The captain took it and swallowed it with his eyes closed. Very soon, his face turned greenish-black. Seeing that Xu Qing was still eating, he wailed inwardly and continued eating.
Just like that, time flowed by. Two hours later, when the sky outside was completely bright, Xu Qing's voice transmission jade slip suddenly vibrated. Xu Qing hurriedly picked it up and Old Master Seventh's voice rang out in a deep voice.
"Where are you guys?!"
Hearing Old Master Seventh's voice, the captain quickly swallowed all the poison in his hand. After that, he pretended to be on the verge of death and lay there, trying his best to tremble.
Xu Qing glanced at the captain and told his master about his Sword Pavilion. He then lifted his hand and opened the door of the Sword Pavilion.
Not long later, Old Master Seventh's figure silently appeared outside the Sword Pavilion. It was as though an invisible brush had drawn him there.
He expressionlessly walked into the Sword Pavilion. Xu Qing wanted to stand up but he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of poisonous blood. He lowered his head and spoke softly.
"Master…"
"You're quite good at pretending. Do you realize that deceiving your master is wrong? Judging by the severity of your poison, you've been eating for several days, right? Well, at least your attitude is decent," Old Master Seventh glanced at Xu Qing and his expression slightly eased.
When the captain saw this scene, he lay there and struggled with all his might. He pretended to stand up and spat out a mouthful of blood as well.
Old Master Seventh sneered. He walked past the captain and kicked him casually. With a bang, the captain was kicked from his lying state to sitting upright, his butt landing on the ground.
"You're not even pretending. From the looks of it, you shouldn't have eaten for long. Are you copying your junior brother?"
"Master, I missed you." The captain felt his butt hurting, so he looked at Old Master Seventh pitifully.
At the side, Xu Qing had a bitter expression and wanted to say something but hesitated.
Old Master Seventh let out a cold snort and glared at the captain. When his gaze landed on Xu Qing, it softened again.
"Fourth, you've never liked to lie. I know about this. Your Eldest Senior Brother must have forced you, after all, he is a habitual offender."
Xu Qing lowered his head and spoke softly.
"Master, Eldest Senior Brother and I thought of it together."
"At a time like this, you still want to speak up for your Eldest Senior Brother." A look of praise appeared in Old Master Seventh's eyes. He quickly took out a few expensive antidote pills and handed them to Xu Qing.
"Hurry up and eat them to detoxify the poison. You're too honest."
With that, Old Master Seventh turned his head and glared fiercely at the captain.
"Look at you. As the eldest, you actually forced your junior brother like this. If you wanted to call me over, couldn't you transmit the secret code? Your junior brother doesn't know of it because he joined late, but don't you know it? Didn't I teach you when I brought you out in the past?"
"What's the matter? Did you become arrogant again as soon as the seal was lifted? Feeling restless again?"
The captain shivered and hurriedly shook his head. Realizing that Xu Qing was looking at him, the captain coughed awkwardly.
Xu Qing was expressionless. He placed all the antidotes in his hand into his mouth and took out a few medicinal herbs to consume. The poison in his body was instantly neutralized.
The poisonous herbs he had eaten in the past two days were all mutually reinforcing and counteracting. They were a type of compound poison. As long as he swallowed key herbs, he would be able to instantly detoxify the poison.
As for the captain, he only ate a portion, so his face was greenish-black.
Noticing that Xu Qing's expression was rapidly recovering, the captain's eyes widened. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted by Old Master Seventh's cold snort.
"Alright, tell me what trouble you guys have caused to trick me into coming."
When the captain heard this, he wanted to speak again but Old Master Seventh glared at him.
"Shut up. I'll get angry if I listen to you!"
The captain felt aggrieved and depressed. He thought to himself that he had planned to establish his might in front of Little Qing after the seal was undone. Why did things turn out like this…
"Fourth, you talk."
Xu Qing had a respectful expression as he told his master in detail about what he had told the captain. This also included the matter of him obtaining the god's finger and his body being modified.
This was also the first time the captain knew such details, and his eyes opened wide in surprise.
Old Master Seventh glanced at the captain. His expression was as usual, as though this matter didn't cause any waves for him. It was just that his eyelids occasionally twitched slightly.
After Xu Qing finished speaking, Old Master Seventh calmly snorted.
"The two of you are quite daring to scheme against gods with your Golden Core cultivation. Fortunately, you still have brains in the right place to tell me about this."
"I understand. You don't have to worry about this. You can enter the Immortal Forbidden."
With that, Old Master Seventh turned and walked out. Before he left, he glared fiercely at the captain again before his figure slowly blurred and dissipated.
When he appeared, he was already in the capital city. While hiding his aura, his breathing was also hurried. His mind had long stirred with monstrous waves as he muttered.
"I took in a monster…"
He couldn't help but laugh proudly.
"But I'm his master!"
At that moment, in the Sword Pavilion, the captain was gazing quietly at Xu Qing.
"Junior Brother, what message did you send Master? Why did he look so angry when he saw me?"
"Eldest Senior Brother, so there's really a secret code." Xu Qing calmly spoke.
"Sigh, it's just a small matter." The captain stood up, embraced Xu Qing, and took out a green stone that Xu Qing was familiar with, placing it into Xu Qing's hand.
His smile was sincere and his eyes were filled with kinship as he spoke softly.
"Junior Brother, Eldest Senior Brother was joking with you. Don't you feel that the bitterness and sadness from the war have faded a little?"
"After we returned, I was very worried about your state."
Xu Qing started and looked at the captain.
The captain smiled at Xu Qing, his eyes filled with gentleness. At that moment, the sunlight from outside streamed in through the open door, casting its warm glow upon the captain, making him appear radiant.
"You, you always keep everything to yourself, hardly showing any emotions, especially when it comes to sadness. It's not good to be like this."
"Little Qing, you're not alone. There's the ancestor, Master, me, Second Sister, and Third Brother. We all care about you. We're a family, so you don't have to suppress everything in your heart. You can tell us."
"I've told you before, in this lifetime, we'll travel together, and I mean it. It's not just you and me, but our whole family has to travel together!"
The captain said softly. At this moment, he was like a big brother.
Xu Qing's expression changed. Just as endless warmth rose in his heart, the captain coughed.
"So, can you help me detoxify the poison?"
