The child's eyes held a trace of desperation as he watched the terrifying murderous intent emanating from the courtyard.
"Big brother, you are a good person, I won't implicate you!"
With that, she turned and ran towards Old Li's courtyard, shouting as she ran, "Old Li, if you dare to touch him, I will definitely have my father expel you from the Poison Sect!"
Expelled from the Poison Sect?
A flicker of clarity appeared in Old Li's deranged eyes, and the movement of his hands paused.
Expulsion from the Poison Sect was a right held only by the Sect Master of the Poison Sect!
The child, held inches from his palm, clutched a pot containing an entirely black poisonous herb. He was frozen in place, terrified.
That black poisonous herb was likely the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass Old Li had mentioned, capable of making one's soul tremble with just a glance.
Yet, the young boy, by some unknown means, held the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass and its pot completely unharmed.
But at this moment, despair filled his eyes, along with a hint of fear at the impending death.
Even so, he held the pot of Ten Thousand Poisons Grass tightly, refusing to let go.
And in the instant Old Li was stunned, a ripple appeared in the surrounding space.
By the time he came to his senses, the young boy in front of him, along with the pot of Ten Thousand Poisons Grass he was holding, had vanished.
At this moment, before Ye Lingyuan, the young boy and the girl disguised as a boy stood together, their eyes filled with shock.
They had no idea what method Ye Lingyuan had used to make them see only a blur before appearing beside each other.
The girl disguised as a boy smiled sweetly, revealing two cute little fangs, and said, "Big brother, I knew it, you are a good person!"
Ye Lingyuan's lips curved into a gentle arc. He said, "Whether I'm a good person or not is another matter, but if you don't run now, you'll be caught by that cripple!"
"Ah?"
The girl disguised as a boy and the young boy holding the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass both showed expressions of astonishment.
"What 'ah'? Hurry up and run!"
As Ye Lingyuan spoke, a gentle breeze lifted the two of them and sent them a hundred meters away.
Then, he manipulated the surrounding elemental power and concealed his presence once more.
Rescuing the young boy from Old Li's clutches had already gone against his intentions.
Now, sending them another hundred meters further had once again gone against his intentions.
Therefore, he would not involve himself in what happened next. He would remain concealed and continue his investigation of the Poison Sect after things had calmed down.
The moment he sent the two children away, Old Li's roars echoed once more.
"Two brats, I don't care who your father is, I will flay you and tear your bones apart!"
It was no wonder he was furious.
That Ten Thousand Poisons Grass was the main ingredient for the antidote pill he was refining for himself. He had painstakingly cultivated it for forty years until it reached sufficient maturity.
Just as he was about to succeed, these two brats had snatched it away.
Without the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass, his life would soon come to an end, which was why he had gone mad with no regard for anything else.
As for why he needed an antidote pill, it was due to his lifelong interaction with poisons.
As the saying goes, one who walks by the river often will eventually get their shoes wet.
Those in the Poison Sect, constantly dealing with poisons and poisonous herbs, inevitably had their bodies eroded by toxins over time.
Initially, they wouldn't feel anything, but day after day, year after year, these toxins would accumulate in their bodies, slowly growing stronger.
Therefore, by the time the people of the Poison Sect realized they were poisoned, it was already too late, as the toxins would have become powerful enough to threaten their lives.
Humans always fear death. The people of the Poison Sect were also flesh and blood, and they were no exception.
Thus, they needed to refine antidote pills to clear the accumulated toxins within their bodies, allowing them to live longer.
Forty years ago, Old Li had begun to feel the unusually strong toxins accumulating in his body. Moreover, those toxins were constantly eroding his brain, intending to first turn him into a fool and then take his life.
Old Li feared death!
Therefore, he had no choice but to temporarily set aside the poisons he was developing and immerse himself in ancient texts.
As a sect with a long history, the Poison Sect naturally possessed a considerable number of ancient texts, and the amount of information recorded within them was immense.
It took Old Li three years to find a method in the ancient texts to clear the toxins from his body.
However, this method required a main ingredient called the Thousand-Year Ten Thousand Poisons Grass.
With hope, Old Li naturally would not give up.
He quietly left the Poison Sect and traveled through various secret realms and dangerous places.
His efforts were rewarded. He actually found a nine-hundred-and-sixty-year-old Ten Thousand Poisons Grass in a dangerous locale.
Although the age was insufficient, at least there was hope.
He brought the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass back to the Poison Sect and cultivated it in his courtyard, feeding it various poisons daily.
Now, it was only a month away from the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass reaching its thousand-year maturity.
Old Li was naturally overjoyed and cultivated it with even greater care.
But today, after he had merely gone out to test his finally developed poison, he returned to find the girl disguised as a boy stealing herbs in his courtyard.
Moreover, the herb she stole was an extremely important auxiliary ingredient for his antidote pill.
Of course, he wanted to catch the child and retrieve the herb.
But he hadn't expected that the child, slippery as an eel, had managed to lure him outside the courtyard.
It was also his fault for being blinded by rage at the child and not realizing that another young boy was hiding in the courtyard.
During his confrontation with the girl disguised as a boy, Old Li had guessed her identity.
He had considered whether to let the girl go. After all, the auxiliary ingredient wasn't particularly precious; he could always find or buy another one.
But at that very moment, he noticed a fluctuation in the protective enchantment around the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass.
This was unacceptable!
The auxiliary ingredient could be sacrificed, but the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass could not suffer any harm.
This was why he had rushed back to his courtyard.
He returned to the courtyard and saw the young boy, using some unknown means, had broken through his enchantment and was holding the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass in his arms.
The Ten Thousand Poisons Grass, essential for his survival, had been stolen. How could Old Li not be enraged!
In his fury, just as he was about to strike down the little thief, he heard the girl's threat.
He was contemplating whether to try and retrieve the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass and let the two children go, as confronting Mu Jiuge, the Sect Master of the Poison Sect, was something he extremely wished to avoid.
But while he was considering this, the young boy, along with the Ten Thousand Poisons Grass, vanished from his sight. How could Old Li not go mad!