My esoteric uncle Jules

Chapter 142 Poisoning
Hearing the priest's weak voice, which sounded as if he were about to die, Jules knew that something was wrong.

He strode to the door and said in a deep voice:
"what happens?"

However, the expected answer did not appear.

By the dim candlelight, Jules saw the face beneath the priest's mask for the first time—

An ordinary, tired and aged old man.

He seemed too weak to stand and could only slump to the ground, staring blankly at Jules.

"You're alright...?"

Even though his words revealed his inner shock, he no longer had the strength to make any expression.

"What’s wrong with you"

Jules bent down to try to help him up, but the priest refused.

“Don’t touch me, I’m poisoned,” the priest’s voice was much hoarser than before. “Someone has poisoned the air.”

In the air? Jules was taken aback when he heard this.

He did not feel any change in the air, and his breathing remained unusually steady throughout.

"Wait... something does seem a bit off." His brows suddenly furrowed.

Using the power of the Blood Tide, he vaguely sensed that there seemed to be wisps of blood mist floating in the air.

However, the blood mist was extremely faint, and it was easy to overlook it subconsciously unless one deliberately looked for it.

Judging from the priest's condition, it seems that the blood mist has been there for some time, and he must have inhaled quite a bit of it.

However, unlike the priest, he had no symptoms at all.

Sensing the powerful throbbing of the Heart of the Wave, Jules immediately understood why he was alright and no longer felt any of the toxins in the air.

Because the power of the Heart of the Tide is too strong, the toxins are eliminated by its powerful self-cleaning ability as soon as they enter the body, and cannot cause any waves at all.

That's why he didn't realize for a long time that the air had been poisoned.

The priest forced a smile, but it looked rather horrifying on his face, which was now festering from poisoning.
“I’ve seen this kind of poison before. It’s an extract from ghoul corpses. The people who came must be after the ghoul graveyard.”

Jules shook his head and said in a deep voice:
Is there a solution?

The priest's voice grew weaker and weaker:
"No, this is an erosion from the most fundamental power of the Winter's Law, unless there is a way to replace all the poisoned blood."

"Or, we can find the drug manufacturer and get them to hand over the same toxin sample to create an antidote."

Upon hearing this, Jules immediately ruled out the second option.

Blood transfusion?

Others might feel despair upon hearing this request, since medicine was not advanced in this era, and blood transfusions were unheard of.

But Jules is different; with his ability to manipulate blood, he might actually be able to do it!

He made a quick decision and said:
"If you cooperate with me, I might have a way to save you."

The priest shook his head abruptly:
"No, assassins are chasing us! You must run... My life doesn't matter, your life is more important..."

As if to verify his statement, as soon as he finished speaking, faint and subtle footsteps gradually approached from afar.

Upon hearing the footsteps, Jules did not flee as the priest had instructed. Instead, he picked the priest up and placed him on the bed in the room, then whispered:
"Don't make a sound."

After saying that, he took out the moth cloak that he hadn't used in a long time, put it on, and quietly disappeared into the darkness.

The priest watched in astonishment as Jules vanished into thin air—or rather, he could still see him with his own eyes, but all his other senses would subconsciously ignore Jules.

He even suspected that if he hadn't known where Jules was beforehand, he wouldn't have noticed even if Jules walked right up to his face.

He closed his eyes and decided to give Jules a try.

Anyway, the worst outcome is just being poisoned to death, nothing serious.

……

Four men in black crawled forward, their figures seemingly blending completely into the shadows, making them difficult to see clearly.

The direction they were heading was the same direction the priest had fled to warn Jules about.

"Be careful, even though that old man is about to be poisoned to death, he might still have some tricks up his sleeve. Be sure to be careful," the leader warned.

The other three nodded and continued to approach silently.

The priest lay on the bed, breathing heavily, his vision gradually blurring.

He understood that Jules was probably planning to use him as bait, or rather, to lower the guard of the assassins and create the illusion that there was no one else there and that he was powerless to resist.

And there was no need to pretend at all—he was already on the verge of being poisoned to death.

“They’ve arrived…” A subtle sneer appeared on the priest’s lips, but it quickly subsided.

At this moment, the four of them had already reached the door of the room.

The leader, hidden in the shadows, cautiously surveyed the room to ensure there were no methods left by the priest.

His caution was not without reason—after all, there were eight of them when they arrived.

But in a very short time, more than half of it had already been lost.

He immediately spotted the priest lying on the bed, barely breathing, and his eyes lit up with delight.

The poison given by the sorcerer of the Baron was indeed effective!
However, he did not rush to take action, but instead focused his attention on another object in the room.

That body.

"So this is where it is..." he murmured to himself.

This time, they have two tasks.

One option is to kill all the living creatures in the monastery; the other is to take the corpse back.

According to the Baron, the body is very likely that of a priest from the long-abandoned Holy Grace Monastery, dating back hundreds of years.

He didn't know what he needed the corpse for.

As the Baron's sharpest sword, he would only execute orders meticulously.

After repeatedly confirming that there were no tricks in the room and that the priest's aura was clearly weakening, the leader finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, he stopped hiding and walked out laughing.

"Old man, how do you feel? This is a poison specially made for you by the Baron. You should feel honored."

The priest merely raised an eyelid in response to the assassin's taunts, remaining silent and not even bothering to hum a snort.

Seeing the priest's nonchalant attitude, the newcomer lost interest in continuing the mockery and coldly snorted:
"Take the body away, kill the person, and return to report to the Baron."

"Yes."

He walked to the priest's side, gripping the dagger in his hand, and sneered:

“Once you are dead, the Baron will be the undisputed ruler of Blankocag.”

Seeing that the priest still did not respond, the leader suddenly felt a sense of humiliation at being ignored, ripped off his mask, and roared:
"When you told me to get lost back then, you never imagined this day would come, did you?!"

Seeing this, the priest finally curled his lip and spoke in a hoarse voice:
“I said back then that a person who would steal offerings from the gods and betray his own parents must be of low character.”

“Apart from our Baron, who is someone even criminals would be willing to consult, I doubt anyone would be willing to take you in.”

"Hehe...you're right, but I've made a name for myself now! I'm thriving!"

The priest was not surprised, but said calmly:
"I suppose you're here to do this kind of dirty work for him? But remember, any dirty rag can never be cleaned properly; it will just end up being thrown away."

"Dirty work? What a joke!"

The leader sneered and said:
"The Baron is a nobleman appointed by the Empire. It's unreasonable for you, a charlatan, to usurp his power. We're simply reclaiming what he rightfully possessed!" He had lost interest in continuing and said indifferently:
"Now, go to the cemetery to keep your old friends company."

Hand up, knife down.

However, it wasn't the knife that fell from his hand—it was the knife from Jules' hand.

The man's head rolled around on the ground a few times, his face still showing disbelief.

At that moment, although the other three were busy examining the priest's body, the sound of the head hitting the ground still caught the attention of one of them.

He turned his head, but before he could even see his boss's head fall to the ground, he was met with Jules's icy gaze.

Inside the room, candlelight flickered, and shadows distorted on the walls.

A flash of cold light, and before the assassin could even cry out, he collapsed to the ground with a muffled groan, lifeless.

The other two noticed the commotion and realized they had been ambushed. Instead of turning around, they rolled forward to avoid Jules' fatal blow.

Then, they exchanged a glance and pounced on Jules from the left and right, their movements swift and silent.

However, they were fast, but Jules was even faster.

Jules quickly dodged the attack, and then slashed out with his dagger in mid-air.

There was no flash of blades, only a line of blood gleaming with a sharp edge.

The bloodline slashed through, separating the man's head from his body.

The last man was terrified, but before he could run away, Jules kicked him in the chest, slamming him against the wall and knocking him unconscious.

The battle lasted only a few breaths before the room fell silent again, save for the priest's heavy breathing.

Jules sheathed his sword, flicked his cloak, and emerged from the shadows.

He walked to the bedside and whispered to the dying priest:

"Can you still hold on?"

The priest opened his cloudy eyes, took a few breaths, and whispered:
"That should be enough for you to try."

Upon hearing this, Jules nodded solemnly and placed his hand on the priest's chest.

"Next, I need your full cooperation, otherwise I will not be able to mobilize the blood in your body."

The priest nodded, closed his eyes, and completely relaxed all his guard.

This was the first time Jules had used the power of the Blood Tide to save someone, and frankly, he wasn't sure he was up to it.

But you have to try.

He had a good impression of the priest and did not want him to die.

After all, I have too few friends in this world.

By immersing himself in the priest's body, Jules felt that this was a completely different experience from helping Holmes before.

Just as he had guessed, the priest was indeed a second-tier Winter Transcendent—his blood even carried a hint of frost.

However, the current situation is not optimistic.

The blood, which was originally somewhat pale, was now a deep purplish-black, clearly indicating that the disease had progressed to a critical stage.

Jules took a deep breath and began trying to remove the toxins from his blood.

He wouldn't dare try any other toxin, fearing it would send the priest away—but this toxin seemed to have originally existed in the form of blood.

That's why he decided to give it a try.

Each wisp of blood mist drawn out was like pulling a thin thread from a swamp; the slightest carelessness could extinguish the priest's life force.

Sweat dripped from Jules' forehead and onto the sheets.

He held his breath, his mind highly focused, afraid that he might accidentally kill the priest and destroy a life that still had hope.

The purplish-black toxins slowly separated under the pull of the blood tide, but the speed was extremely slow. The priest's breathing became weaker and weaker, and the rise and fall of his chest was almost imperceptible.

Jules gritted his teeth and increased his strength. Blood mist gradually seeped from his pores, condensed into a ball, and emitted a pungent stench in the air.

"effective!"

Seeing that the priest's breathing had become more steady and his face was no longer so purplish-black, his eyes brightened considerably.

However, when he tried to remove the toxins from the remaining viscous, purplish-black blood, he felt an unprecedented resistance.

"...Damn it, this part is too deeply integrated."

After several unsuccessful attempts, Jules had no choice but to give up.

He looked at the priest with his eyes closed and whispered:

"feel better now?"

"...I'm feeling much better."

The priest opened his eyes, his gaze cloudy, yet tinged with a hint of relief:
"That's enough... at least I can still catch my breath."

He coughed a few times, his voice hoarse.

"The toxin hasn't spread, so his life is temporarily saved."

Jules wiped the sweat from his brow and said in a deep voice:

"You have to tell me, what exactly does the Baron want? Why would he send people here to kill you?"

The priest remained silent for a moment, then finally shook his head and said:
"I don't know; such methods could never be something he possesses."

Jules nodded thoughtfully:
"So, it was given by an outsider?"

"……maybe."

The priest let out a long sigh and said in a hoarse voice:

"Thank you for saving my life, Mr. Jules."

"It's just a little effort."

Jules checked the priest's condition and, confirming that he was temporarily unharmed, said:

"I'll go out first and check the situation outside. You lie here and rest."

Although the priest will not die immediately, the toxins still accumulate in his body.

Jules felt that the only way to truly save the other person was to find the drug manufacturer.

"Among those assassins, there seems to be one who has fainted... We'll interrogate him later."

……

Inside a luxurious room at Baron Blancco Manor.

The sorceress sat upright in a chair, while the baron, the master of the place, knelt before her.

Her venomous gaze fixed on the Baron, and she said in a hoarse voice:

“Baron, it’s already dawn, and your men still haven’t returned. It seems you’ve failed.”

The baron pursed his lips and gritted his teeth, saying:
"I'm sorry, but this is already the most elite assassin under my command."

"Ha, elite? I think they're all useless."

After being scolded like that, the Baron dared not utter a word of anger, a stark contrast to his usual imposing manner.

After muttering to herself for a while, the sorceress stood up and said:
"I have to go and check for myself whether that old man is really dead or not."

(End of this chapter)