Miraculous Detoxification

Chapter 16 Miraculous Detoxification

Even cultivators are human; and humans get sick.

Similarly, monsters can also get sick.

However, cultivators and demon beasts generally do not get sick easily, and if they do get sick, it is not the common cold or flu that mortals suffer from.

These are generally illnesses specific to cultivators, caused by improper cultivation methods or the invasion of external toxins.

Suddenly, all eight of the Mu family's Black Scale Steeds collapsed to the ground, spitting out blood and foam, which were clearly typical symptoms of poisoning or illness.

Zhou Chun entered the animal pen and examined the eyes, tongues, and even the manure of several [Inkscale Steeds]. He then recalled the various beast-taming books he had read and immediately thought of several corresponding symptoms.

However, he did not rush to draw conclusions. Instead, he said to the Mu family members who were looking at him anxiously, "I have some guesses, but whether they are correct or not, we need to ask some questions before we can draw a conclusion."

"But before that, you can give them the pills in this bottle to temporarily relieve their symptoms and avoid any casualties."

After saying that, he reached into his storage bag, took out a medicine bottle, and handed it to Mu Ziying.

But Mu Ziying, holding the medicine bottle, did not act immediately; instead, she looked at Mu Yunshan.

"Do as Fellow Daoist Zhou says."

After a moment's thought, Mu Yunshan nodded and gestured for Mu Ziying to feed the [Ink Scale Steed] medicine.

After swallowing the pills given by Zhou Chun, the twitching of the [Ink Scale Steeds] indeed decreased significantly, and the blood foam from their mouths also slowed down considerably.

Upon seeing this, the Mu family cultivators all showed expressions of surprise and delight, and their gazes toward the medicine bottle in Mu Ziying's hand changed.

However, they knew in their hearts that this kind of secret medicine was definitely a unique medicine of the Zhou family, and they did not expect Zhou Chun to give them the prescription, so they did not mention it.

Mu Yunshan stretched out his hand and led Zhou Chun to a slightly farther place. Then, he looked at him seriously and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

"Mr. Zhou wants to know what these [Ink-Scaled Steeds] have been fed in the past two days? And where have these [Ink-Scaled Steeds] been in the outside world in the past three days?"

Zhou Chun didn't stand on ceremony and immediately asked two questions.

Upon hearing this, Mu Yunshan immediately replied, "Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment. I will go and inquire right away."

Then he went to communicate with several Mu family cultivators who were responsible for taking care of the [Inkscale Steed].

A short while later, he brought over Mu Ziying and a middle-aged cultivator from the Mu family.

"I dare not deceive Fellow Daoist Zhou. A few days ago, a family cultivator discovered a hidden snake cave in a forest on the south bank of Biyun Lake. They killed several first-order demon snakes and countless ordinary snakes there. [Ink Scale Steed] has been eating snake meat and some sweet grass that they like to eat these past two days."

"For the past three days, [Inkscale Steed] has not left the mountain gate, only running around the gate a few times as usual."

Mu Ziying and the middle-aged cultivator from the Mu family answered Zhou Chun's question with a single sentence each.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun immediately looked at Mu Ziying and asked, "Has the [Inkscale Steed] ever been fed snake meat before?"

"We have fed it. Because the [Inkscale Steed] is not picky about food and doesn't have many dietary restrictions, we've fed it the meat of many kinds of birds, beasts, insects, and fish, and there have never been any problems before!"

This time, it was the middle-aged man from the Mu family who answered. He looked at Zhou Chun with a surprised expression and asked, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, do you suspect there's something wrong with the snake meat?"

After saying that, he couldn't help but shake his head and say, "But the snake meat is extremely delicious. Many cultivators and mortals in our Mu family have eaten it, and we haven't heard of anyone getting poisoned or falling ill!"

"Yes, Fellow Daoist Zhou, you ate too!"

Mu Ziying added a comment.

After listening to their conversation, Zhou Chun immediately nodded and said, "It's most likely really about the snake meat!"

Before the two could object, he explained, "The snake meat we eat is thoroughly cleaned and cooked, so there's virtually no possibility of poisoning from eating it."

"But the [Inkscale Steed] likes to eat raw, bloody meat, so when you feed it, you usually just throw the corpses of snakes at it."

"Although the [Inkscale Steed]'s physical abilities mean it won't be seriously injured by a bite from an ordinary venomous snake, it can still be severely poisoned by some highly venomous demonic snakes and their offspring!"

"So the reason these [Inkscale Steeds] are poisoned and sick is mostly because they ate the corpses of the demon snake and its offspring. The snake venom entered their mouths, causing them to have such severe poisoning reactions."

His words were logical and well-reasoned, leaving the Mu family cultivators speechless and unable to refute him.

Finally, Mu Yunshan spoke up, asking, "If they are truly poisoned by snake venom, does Fellow Daoist Zhou have a way to detoxify them?"

"Of course there are solutions, but the [Inkscale Steed] is only a first-tier demonic beast. I'm afraid you wouldn't be willing to use those extremely costly methods."

Zhou Chun glanced at Mu Yunshan, then continued, "So let's arrange for someone to accompany me to the vicinity of that snake den. Generally speaking, you can find some antidotes near the nests of venomous snakes."

"Then I'll trouble Fellow Daoist Zhou. I'll go and report the situation to the clan leader right away."

After Mu Yunshan finished speaking, he cupped his hands in greeting to Zhou Chun and then hurriedly left the Beast Garden.

Half an hour later, Zhou Chun, accompanied by five Mu family cultivators, left Biyun Mountain and headed to the snake cave on the south bank of Biyun Lake.

On the south bank of Biyun Mountain, there is a bamboo forest stretching for more than ten miles. The snake cave was discovered deep within this bamboo forest.

When Zhou Chun arrived near the entrance to the snake cave, led by the Mu family cultivators, he could still see many venomous snakes.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, please look. The snake lair is located inside this underground cave. At that time, a first-tier high-grade snake king even appeared inside, and it took us a great deal of effort to kill it!"

In a cleared area in the bamboo forest, a Mu family cultivator pointed to the entrance of a dark cave and explained the situation in a low voice.

He was the one who personally participated in the battle to clear the snake pit a few days ago.

Zhou Chun knew, however, that the Mu family was not telling the truth.

Generally, once a demon snake becomes a demon, it will not gather other ordinary snakes and insects to form a snake nest.

If this happens, it means that there is some treasure in the snake's nest that is extremely useful for the growth of snakes, attracting a large number of snakes to gather. Even the demon snake cannot keep it all to itself and can only share it with the snake group.

However, there's no need to spell it out. After all, whatever treasures the Mu family cultivators obtained from the snake cave, it was their good fortune.

Therefore, after staring at the dark cave entrance for a few moments, he shook his head slightly and said, "There's no need to go into the cave. It's probably barren inside, and we won't find any herbs. I'll just search around here!"

Then he began to wander around in the nearby bamboo forest.

Wherever Zhou Chun went, snakes retreated as if they had encountered a natural enemy.

This was because he had applied the Zhou family's secret snake-repelling ointment to his trouser legs. Its scent had a stimulating effect on most snakes, making them uncomfortable and causing them to want to stay away from the source of the scent.

Several Mu family cultivators followed behind him, and they were also quite surprised by this.

Medicines and powders for repelling beasts and snakes are not uncommon in the cultivation world; they are sold in most general stores in the market and are very cheap.

However, none of them had ever seen anything as effective as the snake repellent ointment used by Zhou Chun.

For a moment, they were all thinking about whether they should visit Zhou Chun later to ask for or buy some, just in case.

After Zhou Chun and his men walked through the bamboo forest for a while, they did find some herbs that could cure ordinary snake venom, but they were not very confident that they would be effective against the venom of the demon snake, so they could only continue searching.

After wandering through the bamboo forest filled with weeds and vines for another half hour, Zhou Chun's eyes suddenly lit up as he made a significant discovery.

"Do you see the little purple flower on that vine?"

"That's called Small-leaved Purple Snake Flower. It's an herb that has a very strong detoxifying effect on snake venom, but for it to be effective, it needs to be stimulated by dripping snake saliva first."

Zhou Chun pointed to a small purple flower clinging to a clump of bamboo leaves, and began to give a lesson to Mu Ziying and the others behind him.

Then, when Mu Ziying and the others wanted to go forward to pick flowers, he stopped them again.

"Don't touch it yet. This small-leaved purple snake flower is very delicate. If you pick the flowers directly, they will be useless when you take them back. You have to dig them up by the roots and send them back with the soil still on them."

Upon hearing this, the Mu family members hurriedly took out their tools, carefully dug it out along the roots of the vine, and hurried back to Biyun Mountain.

Back in the Beast Garden, following Zhou Chun's instructions, they used snake saliva to stimulate the blooming purple flowers, causing them to close. They then picked the flowers and fed them to the [Inkscale Steeds].

Just as Zhou Chun had predicted, the medicine worked wonders. In just one hour, the previously collapsed Mo Linju was able to stand up.

The news quickly spread throughout the Mu family, and even several Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Mu family were overjoyed after hearing the whole story.

According to Zhou Chun, if the cause of the disease is not identified in time and the poison is not successfully neutralized within a day, most of the [Inkscale Steeds] will die, if not all of them die.

If Zhou Chun hadn't happened to be at the Mu family's place, the Mu family definitely wouldn't have been able to accomplish this in just one day.

Therefore, the head of the Mu family specially sent Mu Yunshan to bring a treasure to Zhou Chun as a reward.

(End of this chapter)