"You can dissolve the poison in my body?"
Dugu Bo finally abandoned his face, unable to keep from asking.
Tang San calmly said:
"I won't dissolve it for you even if I can. You can only be even more miserable than me. Kill me. You might not fear your own death, after all, people living past seventy is already quite rare. Unfortunately, that delicate little granddaughter of yours might not be able to endure for as long as you. She might not have your strength of will to endure the growing torment. Her poison will only flare up even more violently than yours, since she was immersed in this kind of poison even from the womb."
In order to live, Tang San began to make his last effort. Originally he had been somewhat suspicious ever since the first time he saw the Jade Phosphor Serpent Spirit Master Dugu Yan, since according to what he knew, that kind of hair and eye color didn't exist in this world. Adding the Jade Phosphor Serpent poison Dugu Yan later used, and he could confirm it to some extent
Today meeting Dugu Yan's grandfather, this old freak in front of him, Tang San was even more certain. Dugu Yan had admittedly inherited her grandfather's spirit and formidable poison, but at the same time she had inherited the side effects of that poison. Everything Tang San had said was fact, and even a proud and aloof senior like Dugu Bo was unable to refute it.
Relaxing his grip, Dugu Bo let Tang San slide from his hand, coldly looking at him,
"How would you have me believe you can remove my poison?"
This time Tang San no longer tried to stand, sitting crosslegged on the spot,
"Do I need to prove it to you? In any case you still want to kill me. Someone like you is only a plague on the world while you live. If I helped you it would only be like taking the side of the villain."
As Tang San said, Dugu Bo didn't care much for his own life, but he couldn't not mind his granddaughter's future. Dugu Yan had just turned twenty and still possessed a beautiful tomorrow. More than that, he already knew the taste of his close relatives dying from before. He absolutely didn't want the same thing to happen in front of him again.
Dugu Bo had toyed with poison all his life, he had no way out from the poison in his own body. He had still made countless attempts, but in return had only earned even greater suffering.
The gloomy uncertain expression gradually growing stronger, Dugu Bo slowly clasped his hands behind his back. The tone of his words eased somewhat,
"I heard from Yan-yan that you're called Tang San, right?"
"A man of character doesn't change his name. Since I've never changed it, you're correct."
Tang San calmly raised his head.
Dugu Bo snorted disdainfully,
"A thirteen year old baby is still a man of character? Alright, I won't mince words. If you truly are able to remove my and my granddaughter's poison, then I will not only let you live, but I'll even promise you three favors. Three favors that don't offend me."
Tang San calmly said:
"You won't kill me? Like you said just now, why should I believe you? Killing me is as easy as lifting a finger for you. For someone like you, biting the hand that feeds you is no novel experience."
Dugu Bo stared blankly a moment. He hadn't expected that this seemingly teenaged youngster would actually be so unreasonable. He couldn't help angrily saying:
"Then ask around for my reputation. Even if I've never considered myself a good person, I still put stock in my word. No one has ever dared belittle my honesty like this."
Tang San closed his eyes,
"Those are just empty promises. I won't believe you unless you swear under poison."
An ominous glint flickered in Dugu Bo's eyes, almost unable to restrain his anger. But recalling his granddaughter, in the end he still forced down his temper.
"Fine. As long as you can prove you're able to remove my poison, I'll swear."
The chance came at last. Tang San secretly loosed a breath, the jacket on his back drenched with sweat. Any person would fear death, and Tang San was no exception. He was even more unwilling to die a death without any value.
Standing up once again, he withdrew Eight Spider Lances,
"How do you want me to prove it?"
Dugu Bo restrained the ominous glint in his eyes,
"Prove your ability with poison is greater than mine, then you'll convince me."
Subconsciously he didn't have one whit of trust in Tang San. After all, on the surface this youngster was just thirteen. How could a thirteen year old child compare with him who had been immersed in the poisoner's arts for decades? But Tang San had just described his condition, and still without missing any symptoms. Confronted with this opportunity, Dugu Bo had no choice but to take it. Killing Tang San or not didn't really concern him. Even if Tang San was even more gifted he would still require several decades to be able to threaten him. After so long he would probably have died from old age. What was there to fear. And if he truly was able to detoxify him, especially the hereditary toxicity affecting his granddaughter, that was most important to Dugu Bo.
Tang San spread his hands, helplessly saying:
"I don't have anything with me, how do I prove my ability with poison is better than yours?"
Dugu Bo coldly said:
"Like this. Here at my home grows a wide range of drugs, whatever you need you can go find on your own. I'll give you one day, within this day you create every kind of antidote yourself. After one day I'll use three kinds of poisons on you. As long as you can use your own antidotes to withstand my poison, you will have proven you're my senior in detoxification. Otherwise, you'll die."
Creating antidotes in a day might sound like plenty of time, but in fact, there were countless types of poison, and each kind had its own properties. The poisons used by a master of poison like Dugu Bo absolutely wouldn't be ordinary. Creating something capable of reducing the poisons he used in one day, such a task was monumental.
Dugu Bo assumed that Tang San would try to bargain with him, fight for more time, or perhaps try to stall. But Tang San's reply made him somewhat astonished, and even increased his confidence in Tang San.
"Fine. Bring me to your medicinal garden, then don't disturb me for one day."
Brushing off the dust from his clothes, Tang San easily agreed to Dugu Bo's demands.
Dugu Bo swept his gaze up and down over him, then turned around and walked towards the cave entrance,
"Follow me."
Leaving the cavern, Tang San discovered he was in a lush forest and that their current location was at the foot of a five hundred meter tall hill in the forest. Since it was night time he was unable to see much of the scenery.
Dugu Bo advanced along the mountain path as if he was walking on level ground. While he appeared to be walking slowly, each step he took moved him more than ten meters, and the distance between each step was also extremely uniform. The whole time he climbed the mountain he seemed perpendicular to the ground.
Tang San hurriedly gathered his spirit power to follow behind Dugu Bo. He of course didn't believe he would be able to escape out of the cave, escaping from a Title Douluo, that was a jest.
Very quickly Tang San, led by Dugu Bo, reached the hilltop. Here, Tang San couldn't help but start with alarm from the terrain. In front of him was unexpectedly a conical mountain cavity. They stood at the edge of this cavity as dense steam rose from within, hot and extremely moist, as well as smelling distinctively of sulfur.
"There's a hot spring here?"
Tang San astonished couldn't help but say.
Dugu Bo shot him a glance,
"Kid, you know more than I expected."
Tang San said:
"I'd never fail to recognize the smell of a hot spring. Your medicine garden is at the edge of a hot spring? This is a good location."
Hot springs generally weren't suitable for nourishing plants because of the excessive mineral content in the water, but some special plants were different. They required precisely the minerals and heat of the hot spring. According to what Tang San knew, there were a lot of poisonous plants that were like this.
"Follow me."
Dugu Bo displayed his strength, directly leaping into the bottomless darkness from side of the mountain. Because of the thick mist and night, as well as the sharpness of the overhanging cliff, Dugu Bo's silhouette disappeared into the watery mist in just the blink of an eye.
'Is he deliberately making things difficult for me?' Pride flashed in Tang San's eyes, 'If you think something like this will hinder me, then think again.'
Purple light flashed from his back as Eight Spider Lances released once again. Tang San didn't jump off like Dugu Bo, but rather relied on the lower two lances of Eight Spider Lances to stretch downwards and, with a cheng sound, thrust into the mountain wall. Immediately afterward, the eight spider legs alternately used force, swiftly bringing Tang San down the mountain wall as if his shoes stepped on level ground.
With the sharpness and spider leg properties of Eight Spider Lances, they could ignore the vast majority of terrain. Such a precipitous mountain wall might be able to hinder other people, but it caused no problems for Eight Spider Lances.
As Dugu Bo fell into the mountain he couldn't help but be pleased with himself, 'Kid, I won't pull you, I'll see how you get down. If you run away, then that only proves you're just a cowardly little junior.'
Of course, if Tang San truly jumped down, Dugu Bo Wouldn't let him be injured. With his strength, catching Tang San was a simple matter. Along with Tang San showing his cool head and strength, Dugu Bo had already become more and more interested in this kid. From what he'd seen, Dugu Bo thought he was more mature than ordinary youngsters, and still had a kind of special character, a planning strategist.
After a long time without seeing Tang San jump down, Dugu Bo didn't know why, but he felt somewhat disappointed. As he'd just started thinking this was just a cowardly child, he saw a silhouette quickly make its way along the mountain wall. With his eyesight he could naturally see the circumstances of that silhouette.