Chapter 271

If they were even unluckier and ran into that group of assassins, there would truly be no way out.

Most importantly, this was the desert, and with this monster hounding them, they couldn’t go look for camels. If they couldn’t determine their direction and couldn’t find a new water source besides this oasis, they would end up dead anyway.

Even if they had mentioned robbing bandits before, they couldn’t exactly charge into a bandit den to steal horses with a giant monster trailing behind them.

After thinking it over, even Lian Li felt they should take advantage of the fact that they were still in decent condition and kill the monster before the bandits caught up.

Seeing that Lian Li agreed with his plan, Yun Huizhou continued, “Let’s run a bit further. We’re about to leave the oasis. We’ll strike once we’re out. The bandits will likely search the oasis for a while before coming out.”

Lian Li nodded while calculating how much medicine he had left that could be used in the upcoming fight.

On this trip, the poisons and antidotes given by the West Island Master had mostly gone unused; it was mainly the external wound medicine that had been heavily consumed, as it was impossible for Lian Li not to sustain some injuries while hunting down villains. The medicine for restoring internal energy was similar to the poisons—hardly any had been used while they were out.

“Yun Huizhou, let’s use poison,” Lian Li said. “As soon as it opens its mouth, we’ll toss the poison vials in and break them. I still have some mechanical hidden weapons I haven’t used, all coated in poison. I’ll find a chance to shove them all down its throat.”

Yun Huizhou nodded and said, “Alright, let’s make it quick.”

The two ran forward for a while longer until they had completely left the oasis. Looking out, there was nothing but a vast expanse of yellow sand.

The scenery was spectacular, but unfortunately, they were in a crisis and had neither the time nor the inclination to appreciate it. Moreover, the environment here was hardly a comfort zone for humans.

Lian Li had been quite excited when they first arrived, enjoying the scenery for several days, but after spending over half a month in the desert, the environment had worn him down so much that he had lost all interest. Seeing that endless yellow, he only felt the heat.

After leaping onto a sand dune, Yun Huizhou stopped.

Lian Li quickly took out his medicine bottles, picked out the poisons, and gave one to Yun Huizhou while hiding another in his own sleeve. He then checked the mechanical hidden weapon strapped to his left hand. After confirming everything was ready, he nodded to Yun Huizhou.

The whole process took only about ten seconds, but it was enough for the monster to crawl to the bottom of the dune, less than a hundred meters away.

Yun Huizhou drew his blade and dove from the top of the dune toward the monster below.

Because the top of its head had been injured by Lian Li and Yun Huizhou’s lotus strike earlier, the monster guarded its head closely. As soon as Yun Huizhou approached and made a move to stab the top of its head, it immediately jerked its head away. And because Yun Huizhou had previously stabbed it in the mouth with his blade, it didn’t dare to open its mouth casually.

Upon realizing this, Lian Li wondered if they had inadvertently sabotaged themselves. The monster was no longer opening its mouth freely in front of them.

However, if it didn’t dare to open its mouth, its combat strength would be weakened by another thirty percent.

Lian Li circled to the side of the monster’s blinded eye, attacking from its blind spot. The monster’s body was incredibly long, its scales were hard, and it possessed brute strength. Even if it didn’t open its mouth, they didn’t dare to go head-to-head with its massive body.

Fortunately, they weren’t in an underground space now, and it was broad daylight; visibility was good, and the surroundings were spacious. The two were agile, and the monster had no effective way to deal with them.

Yun Huizhou could project his blade qi, allowing him to fight without getting into close quarters. But the monster’s refusal to open its mouth meant their plan could not be implemented.

After some thought, Yun Huizhou withdrew his blade qi and moved close to the monster, using himself as bait to lure it into opening its mouth.

Lian Li understood his intention. Though worried, he cooperated fully.

Yun Huizhou circled the monster, looking for any opportunity to strike at the top of its head. The monster had to stay on guard, and most of its attention shifted to Yun Huizhou. Because he was so close, the monster no longer limited itself to using its flexible tail and head to ram him; it used its entire body, desperate to land a single hit on him.

Yun Huizhou gradually began to struggle. When the monster’s tail lashed out, he failed to dodge in time and had to raise his blade to block it head-on. The force of the tail strike sent him flying several meters in the opposite direction, landing right by the monster’s mouth.

Yet, even with such a perfect opportunity, the monster didn’t immediately open its mouth. Instead, it chose to strike at Yun Huizhou with the horns on its head again.

Yun Huizhou had just steadied himself when he saw the horns coming. He quickly twisted his body, narrowly avoiding them, but the hem of his robe was torn. It seemed that if the monster attacked again, Yun Huizhou wouldn’t be able to dodge.

Finally, the monster opened its massive maw and lunged to bite him. It hadn’t noticed at all that Lian Li had stopped attacking for quite some time.

Just as he was about to fall into the giant mouth, Yun Huizhou suddenly became agile again. As he brushed past the monster’s mouth to dodge, he flicked his wrist.

A small white porcelain vial, no larger than a date, flew from his sleeve. The moment it entered the monster’s mouth, another identical vial and several finger-length arrows appeared as well. The arrows and the two vials entered at a tricky angle, bypassing all the teeth and heading straight for the monster’s throat.

Seeing the monster suddenly realize what was happening and try to close its mouth, Yun Huizhou struck a palm toward the inside of its maw before it could shut. The force of the palm strike didn’t just draw a mouthful of blood; it also shattered the small porcelain vials that had already reached the monster’s throat.

Then, the monster’s mouth snapped shut, and it lunged at Yun Huizhou again.

Suddenly, a silver whip appeared around Yun Huizhou’s waist. The monster’s strike hit nothing but air. Lian Li had already pulled Yun Huizhou to his side, and the two retreated rapidly.

In just a breath or two, they had retreated dozens of meters.

The poison was a “seal-the-throat” type, though swallowing it directly was just as effective. However, it was designed to poison humans, and a human’s size paled in comparison to this monster. Still, just a drop or two in a normal-sized cup of water was enough to kill a person. And this time, the two had gone all out, pouring two entire vials directly down the monster’s throat.

As long as it wasn’t immune to all poisons, even if this monster were twice as large, it would still die.

The monster hadn’t yet realized the gravity of the situation. Seeing them retreat, it tried to give chase again. The two no longer engaged it directly, instead using their agility to keep dodging.

After about five breaths, the monster’s massive body suddenly shuddered. All its movements ceased. Its high-reared head seemed to lose all support, toppling to one side and slamming heavily into the sand.