For a cultivator who has reached Xiang Lanxuan’s level of attainment, simply reaching out and grasping at thin air would rapidly gather moisture from the atmosphere, condensing it into usable water.
However, Xiang Lanxuan was currently severely injured. She had the will but lacked the strength, and if she truly had the strength, the current situation would not be so dire.
The two men had no choice but to endure the arduous task of running errands themselves.
Along the way, whenever they sensed the slightest movement, Mu Aotie would instantly press his sword against Nan Zhu’s neck, striking a pose of taking a hostage, while Nan Zhu would quickly play along, acting like a captured prisoner.
Upon realising it was a false alarm, they would resume their frantic search, repeating this routine all along the journey.
Finding some water was something the two originally thought would be a simple task. Who knew that after searching everywhere, they still could not find a single trace of it. The two could not help but recall their experiences since entering this immortal mansion. Ever since arriving in this place, it seemed they had not seen any water source at all, not even a ditch or a stream.
Thinking about it, something felt wrong. How did the flowers and grass on the ground grow?
The two dug at the ground for a while. The soil underground was somewhat damp, but even after digging several zhang deep, there was no sign of water seeping out.
After climbing out of the pit, the two vaguely felt that this matter was troublesome. Mu Aotie reminded Nan Zhu, “He will turn into a puddle of pus within two days. That is to say, Old Fifteen might not even last a single day. We cannot keep dragging this out aimlessly.”
“I don’t need you to remind me, I know,” Nan Zhu muttered while looking around. “This immortal mansion is so huge, only a ghost knows where the water is. How are we supposed to find it in such a short time? No matter what, we absolutely cannot let Old Fifteen die here. If it really comes to it, we can only draw our own blood to use as water.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the two suddenly locked eyes. One raised an eyebrow while the other winked and grimaced, instantly sharing a tacit understanding.
Mu Aotie turned around and found the stones they had dug up earlier. Channeling his energy, he swung his sword as if cutting through tofu, first slicing them into blocks and then hollowing them out into bowl shapes. After finishing, he showed them to Nan Zhu, asking with his expressions if the size was acceptable and sufficient.
“Sigh, we really don’t know where to look in such a short time. Saving lives is the priority, so it can only be this way,” Nan Zhu sighed while holding the bowl. He walked over to the pile of excavated dirt, placed the stone bowl on top, and turned his back to Mu Aotie, rustling as he reluctantly began to undo his trousers.
Shortly after, under the moonlight, a stream of water splashed out from his crotch and poured into the stone bowl.
Once he finished, he pulled up his trousers, fastened his belt, and stepped aside. “Your turn. Pee more, there are three of us.”
Mu Aotie walked over, undoing his belt as he corrected him, “Four people.”
Nan Zhu looked up at the moon. Not sure what he thought of, a sudden expression of disgust crossed his face, and he shook his head like a rattling drum. “Forget about Baili Xin. She can relieve herself, so let’s save it for Old Fifteen and the other two. After all, Old Fifteen is our own junior martial brother.”
Mu Aotie rarely spoke an extra word, but he asked, “Do you think Xiang Lanxuan will kill us when she finds out?”
Nan Zhu replied, “If you don’t tell her, how would she know what it is? Just say the water here naturally smells like this. Besides, do you think Old Fifteen will even let her leave alive?”
Mu Aotie asked, “Will we still be able to drink the water Datou boils in the future?”
Nan Zhu said, “Why wouldn’t we be able to drink it? Just boil it a few more times and it will be clean. Has it gnawed on fewer bones? We have always kept drinking it anyway, just wash it a bit.”
Mu Aotie thought it made sense and stopped speaking.
Perhaps because of his larger build, the volume of his release was also quite substantial. After a loud splashing session, he also pulled up his trousers and fastened them.
Nan Zhu walked closer to pick up the bowl. Just as he bent over and reached out, he immediately stood back up, waving his hand in front of his nose. His facial features scrunched together, clearly unimpressed by the smell. “Why does yours smell so strong?”
Mu Aotie corrected him again, “It is yours that smells strong.”
“Enough, what time is it? There is no point in arguing about this,” Nan Zhu scolded with the demeanour of a senior martial brother. Instead, he no longer reached for the stone bowl, but directly grabbed Datou and said to it, “Datou, good Datou, Old Fifteen has been poisoned. We are relying on you to boil the water to detoxify him. It all depends on you now.”
He pointed his finger at the water reflecting the moonlight in the stone bowl to indicate his meaning.
Datou was quite reliable, looking bounden in duty. It immediately bounced out and lunged straight towards the water.
However, just at the moment it was about to plunge into the water, it suddenly flapped its wings and took off. It darted to the side and landed on the dirt pile, looking down at the contents of the bowl. It twisted its head left and right, then propped up its upper body, turning its head to look at the two martial brothers left and right, as if asking, do you think I have never seen water before? What is this?
“Datou, what time is it? Saving Old Fifteen is the priority!”
As Nan Zhu spoke, he reached out and grabbed it, giving Mu Aotie a meaningful look.
No more words were needed. The tacit understanding between the martial brothers who had spent years together was unquestionable. Mu Aotie immediately picked up a piece of stone they had just carved, which had one flat side.
Seeing that he was ready, Nan Zhu immediately threw Datou into the urine in the stone bowl. Datou was clearly taken aback and struggled to get out of the urine, but a dark shadow covered the top. Mu Aotie used the stone slab to directly seal the mouth of the bowl.
Old Fifteen’s life was at stake. If the job was not done, how could the two possibly let it out?
Swishing and splashing sounds came from the stone bowl, clearly indicating Datou’s suffering inside.
Nan Zhu tapped the stone slab with his finger and warned, “Datou, stop being fussy. It will only take a moment. Hurry up, once you boil the water, we will let you out.”
Bang! The stone bowl suddenly shattered, splashing water everywhere. The two men, caught off guard, were splashed all over with urine.
The stone bowl was broken. It simply could not withstand the impact of Datou’s desperate resistance. Its impact force was inherently formidable, even stronger than those multicoloured bees.
The water splashed up by its flapping wings splattered all over their faces.
The two martial brothers, who had jumped away, reacted strongly. They repeatedly wiped their faces and kept spitting out saliva and water.
Looking up again at Datou flapping its wings in the air, cracked red light had already appeared on its body, clearly showing it was enraged.
“You are throwing a tantrum now!” Nan Zhu pointed and scolded.
Mu Aotie tugged at his sleeve, motioning for him to look at the shattered stone bowl.
Nan Zhu took a look and was instantly speechless.
They could not produce any more urine, nor could they produce this much, but they still had to find a way to save the person.
Since Datou was quite repulsed by urine, they could only think of other methods.
Mu Aotie made a new stone bowl, while Nan Zhu collected a lot of flowers and plants, using magic to squeeze out a full large bowl of juice.
They thought this would make Datou compromise, but that was just what they thought. Datou flew in the air and simply refused to come down, no matter what the two said.
Even when they said it was to save Yu Qing, Datou completely gave off a “go to hell, all of you” reaction.
No matter how much the two pleaded, Datou simply would not come down. Regardless of what was in their stone bowl, it was never going to obediently jump into it again.
The two jumped up to grab it, but there was no way to catch it, and using force did not work either, as Datou’s reaction speed was too fast.
After tossing about for a while, the two suddenly became a bit anxious, realising they had somewhat overplayed their hand. If they had used the plant juice from the very beginning, perhaps it would not have ended up like this.
It was originally a relatively simple matter, but now they had made it complicated.
Thinking that Old Fifteen’s life might be lost because of them, it would be strange if the two were not anxious. The key issue was that Datou could not speak, so the two could not negotiate with it, and they did not know when Datou would calm its anger.
Just waiting around like this was simply draining Old Fifteen’s life away.
After fussing for about an hour, Datou still refused to compromise. The two dared not wait any longer. They put their heads together and muttered for a while before swiftly flying off into the distance together.
Datou, hanging in the air all alone, spun around and looked everywhere. It seemed not to know where to go either, but ultimately chased after the two men’s direction.
Later, that divine tree appeared in their line of sight. The two martial brothers sneaked all the way to the base of the big tree like thieves.
The journey was relatively smooth, and surprisingly, they did not encounter any danger.
What else could the two do after sneaking here? Naturally, it was to find an antidote for Yu Qing. The vine demon had said that the bee honey here was the antidote for the bee poison.
They had messed things up with Datou, and to save Yu Qing, they had no other choice but to take a risk coming here.
After finding a massive tree hollow beneath the roots, they were about to drill inside together.
Who knew that Mu Aotie would suddenly stop and turn around as if changing his mind, reaching out to push Nan Zhu back. “I will go in alone, you wait outside.”
Nan Zhu immediately became a bit anxious. “How can that work? If the two of us go together and something happens, we can at least look out for each other.”
Mu Aotie countered, “In this place, if something really happens, do you think we would be able to look out for each other?”
Nan Zhu understood his meaning. The strength of the beings here was definitely immense. If one could not hold them off, two would be useless. He said anxiously, “That is still better than one person.”
Mu Aotie shook his head. “Old Seven, listen to me. If we all die here, then Old Fifteen will be completely hopeless. Then all three of us will be finished here. Do you want none of us to survive?”
“You wait outside. If you hear any unusual commotion and I do not come out, it means our sneaky methods are completely useless here. You do not need to take any more risks trying. You still have to turn back and think of another way with Datou.”
Being able to say such words showed that he was prepared to face death.
Nan Zhu immediately gritted his teeth, grabbed his lapel, panted heavily, and said in a low voice, “You guard the outside, I will go in.”
Mu Aotie grabbed his wrist, signalling him to let go. “Old Seven, your brain and mouth are better used than mine. If anything changes, you will be better able to think of ways to save Old Fifteen.”
Having said that, he suddenly struck out, poking an acupoint on Nan Zhu’s chest with a single finger.
Nan Zhu subconsciously let go and retreated repeatedly. By the time he steadied himself, Mu Aotie had already dashed inside.
He also quickly dashed to the entrance of the hollow, only to find that Mu Aotie’s figure was already gone. He opened his mouth, wanting to shout for Mu Aotie to come back, but ultimately did not dare to make a sound, fearing he would overplay his hand and end up harming Mu Aotie instead.
His mouth slowly closed, and large tears suddenly uncontrollably streamed down from his eyes.
A big man was actually crying, weeping silently, continuously raising his sleeves to wipe his tears. But the tears fell endlessly like beads from a broken string.
After finally stabilising his emotions, he looked up at the towering divine tree, fiercely wiped his tears one last time, and said through gritted teeth, “If anything happens to Old Nine, no matter what kind of divine tree you are, I will burn you to the ground!”
After making this ruthless vow, he still darted into the bushes to hide. His chubby figure waited alone, but when he looked back around, he found that Datou’s whereabouts were missing. It seemed to have been following them in the air just a moment ago, but now it was nowhere to be seen.