Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 31 Mission
Azi was deeply afraid of Ding Chunqiu, and with a guilty conscience, she immediately gave herself away.

Fortunately, she was positioned to the side and slightly behind Ding Chunqiu. As for Jiang Mingzhe, who was in front of Ding Chunqiu, although he was also feeling guilty, he remained expressionless.

Although Jiang Mingzhe was also afraid of Ding Chunqiu, it was not as deep-seated as Azi's fear. Moreover, after years of dealing with deceit and treachery in business, he had become accustomed to keeping his emotions in check. Azi had no idea about this and thought that Jiang Mingzhe had outstanding self-control. She couldn't help but admire him in secret: "Big Jiang is really bold!"

Ding Chunqiu continued, "...Unfortunately, I was cultivating my divine skill at the time and was at a critical juncture, so I didn't have time to capture it. Only recently, with the advancement of my divine skill, have I remembered this matter."

As he spoke, he flipped his hand over, revealing a ferocious-looking centipede lying in his palm. It was about the length of a chopstick, the color of cast iron, and had a faint metallic sheen. Its head was exceptionally large, with a pair of incredibly sharp fangs, and three pairs of long, thin wings protruding from the crevices of its neck.

Ding Chunqiu said, "Within hundreds of miles of Xingxiu Sea, the most powerful centipede is this six-winged iron centipede. It is as rare as a treasure to that poisonous monkey. Once you get within three zhang of the poisonous monkey, it will surely cry out and appear. You can then catch it without any effort. The only difficulty is that you need to search carefully. Since you are new here and not familiar with the geography, it is good to have Xiao Azi lead you around the surrounding mountains and forests so that you won't be lost after leaving the sect."

When Ding Chunqiu met Jiang Mingzhe that day, he went to catch the six-winged iron centipede, but unexpectedly it turned out to be bait to catch Xiao Shengjiang.

Seeing that Azi's expression relaxed and she seemed about to let out a long breath, Jiang Mingzhe, fearing that Ding Chunqiu would notice, quickly clasped his hands and shouted, "Disciple obeys! If we do not find the poisonous monkey, I swear I will not return!"

Ding Chunqiu laughed and said, "I know what you mean, why are you shouting so loudly?"

He was about to hand the iron centipede to Jiang Mingzhe when he suddenly realized, "No, you haven't mastered the art of poison making yet. You'll need Azi to guide you anyway, Azi..."

He turned around and handed the iron centipede to Azi, who looked relieved. He frowned and said, "Hey, little Azi, what are you so happy about?"

Azi's heart tightened, and she quickly forced a flattering smile: "Hehe, I thought Master wanted to use this poisonous insect himself, but it turns out it's for catching monkeys. When we catch the monkeys, Master, can you reward me with this poisonous insect?"

Ding Chunqiu laughed and said, "You have the nerve to open your mouth? You haven't even melted much of the fire poison, and you suffered heavy losses this time. What use would it be to you even if I gave it to you? If you really want to give it to someone, you should give it to your junior brother. He cultivates the centipede claw. If he lays the foundation of the poison power with the six-winged iron centipede, the power will definitely be extremely great."

After saying that, he handed the centipede to Azi and then said to Jiang Mingzhe, "Your senior sister has shamelessly asked for it. If I take this insect back, you will all call me stingy. If you can catch the poisonous monkey, I will reward you with this centipede as well."

Jiang Mingzhe hesitated for a moment, then clasped his hands and said, "Disciple thanks Master."

Ding Chunqiu observed that he had initially intended to decline, but then suddenly remembered what he had just said, "One who does not obey one's parents cannot be a son," and changed his mind to express his gratitude, showing that he truly took his words to heart.

He was very satisfied, offered a few words of encouragement, and then, with his sleeves fluttering, he left.

After a while, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief. Azi ran upstairs and peered out for a long time to make sure Ding Chunqiu was indeed far away. She came downstairs with a big smile on her face and said happily, "Hahaha, when luck comes, you can't stop it! Master never expected that Little Ginger would be in our hands. This mission was so easy, it was practically a free gift. Look, you got three amazing skills: lightness skill, weaponry, and hidden weapons, and this incredibly rare six-foot iron centipede. I got... um?"

Her smile froze instantly. After a moment of desperate thought, she stammered, "I...I don't think I got anything?"

Seeing her expression turn to grief and indignation, Jiang Mingzhe laughed and said, "Why didn't you get any? You got a bowl of delicious porridge! Wait, I'll heal my injuries and make it for you right away!" After saying that, he sat down cross-legged and used the healing method from the Heavenly Stars Tribulation Scripture. He mobilized his internal energy and repeatedly swirled it around his chest and hands, forcing out the stagnant blood little by little, and slowly straightening out the disordered meridians.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Jiang Mingzhe lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. However, this blood was different from the previous one; it was dark in color, indicating that he had forced out the stagnant blood.

Jiang Mingzhe wiped his mouth, looked at the bloodstains on the ground, and said hatefully, "Although I didn't vomit as much blood as a pig from Zhaixingzi's kick, it was at least a big bowlful. I'll remember this grudge, and I'll make him vomit ten bowls of blood in the future to settle this hatred."

Azi initially wanted to scold him for not joining her in whining and complaining, but seeing Jiang Mingzhe's imposing aura as he spoke of revenge, she couldn't bring herself to blame him. She thought to herself, "He's a man; his thoughts are surely different from mine. Yes, he should avenge himself; a true man should have this ambition!"

He silently got up, wet a handkerchief, and had Jiang Mingzhe wipe away the remaining bloodstains. He then found a mop and dragged away the bloodstains on the floor.

After practicing his exercises, although his chest still ached, it was much better than before. Jiang Mingzhe moved around a bit, got up and went into the kitchen. He scooped out a bowl of flour, added a little water to make it into a snowflake-like consistency, chopped a large handful of scallions, poured some oil into the pan, and suddenly paused, thinking, "Oh dear, I don't seem to know how to start a fire!"

So they asked Azi to start a fire, heat up the oil, sauté the chopped scallions until fragrant, add salt and boiling water, then pour in the prepared noodles. Before long, the noodles were cooked, bubbling and sizzling with a wonderful aroma. Azi, her mouth watering, exclaimed repeatedly, "Big Ginger, you're such a good cook! How can a bowl of porridge smell so good!"

The two of them didn't follow any rules about not speaking while eating or sleeping; they slurped their drinks while muttering to themselves.

Jiang Mingzhe first recounted the whole story of what happened today. When Azi heard that he had broken down the door, she dropped her large bowl and ran away with a smear of greasy dough on her mouth. When she returned, her eyes were red, and she took Jiang Mingzhe's right hand. She saw that the tips of the three fingers that had wielded the centipede claw were covered with purple bruises under their nails, and tears streamed down her face.

Jiang Mingzhe quickly coaxed, "Don't cry. Crying while eating will cause indigestion. I'm fine. To practice this skill, your fingers need to be trained to be indestructible. You'll have to endure this pain sooner or later. Just consider it as helping me practice."

Azi nodded vigorously, wiping away her tears. She then asked what had happened next, but Jiang Mingzhe, afraid she would cry again, only gave a few words to gloss over it and changed the subject, saying, "Let's rest for a day tomorrow, and start catching Little Ginger the day after tomorrow, okay?"

Azi was initially dissatisfied with his brief explanation and was about to press him for details when she suddenly heard this. Her spirits lifted, and she nodded repeatedly: "Good, good, good! Didn't you tell Master that you wouldn't come back until you caught Little Ginger? Perfect timing! We'll bring plenty of food and drink, and also a tent. We can go out and wander around for ten days or half a month before coming back."

Jiang Mingzhe asked in surprise, "Does it really take that long?"

Like a boss seeing an employee refusing to work overtime, Azi quickly rolled her eyes: "Are you stupid? While Little Ginger is still here, if we don't let him catch a bunch of poisonous insects, wouldn't we have wasted our time raising him!"

Jiang Mingzhe found it amusing and suddenly came up with a plan. He grinned mischievously and said, "Since that's the case, how about this, this, and this? What do you say?"

Ah Zi was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay, let's do it!"

(End of this chapter)