Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

The entire handful of spicy red peppers was stuffed into the hook's beak, which should silence the strange bird and prevent it from calling for reinforcements when it couldn't win the fight.

Jie Gou didn't realize what had happened at first. Xu Lingguang had stabbed its most vulnerable abdomen, and it was shaking its neck and barking when it suddenly found that it couldn't make a sound.

It didn't even care about writhing in pain anymore; it suddenly jumped up, flapped its wings vigorously, raised its neck, and opened its mouth wide—

But after calling for a long time, no sound came out.

It then realized something was wrong and glared fiercely at its fragile yet cunning prey.

Xu Lingguang gave him a not-so-friendly smile and took out all the pills.

The Blinding Pill creates mist, the Purple Fire Pill ignites the surrounding trees to prevent the hook from climbing them, and several highly corrosive Heavenly Water Pills are thrown at the hook while it is stunned. The pills instantly turn into putrid water, and wherever the water passes, the flesh rolls over and makes a sizzling sound.

Jie Gou, used to being arrogant, had never suffered such humiliation.

It couldn't make a sound and tried to climb a tree to hide, but found that the nearby trees were all on fire. Thick smoke and white miasma mixed together, making it impossible for it to tell which way it came from.

For the first time, Jie Gou felt fear and began flapping its wings, running around in circles, trying to escape.

Xu Lingguang seized the opportunity to kill it while it was still weak. With a light leap, he jumped onto the back of the hook and plunged the sharp horn of the giant fish into the base of the hook's neck.

The horn, long and sharp, pierced through the slender neck of the hook with great force, and blood gushed out, splattering onto Xu Lingguang's face.

Xu Lingguang wiped his face, estimated the location of Jie Gou's heart, and forcefully inserted the other horn into his back.

After suffering a series of severe blows, Jie Gou let out a silent scream, then its long neck drooped limply, and it lay on the ground, barely alive, unable to move.

The rustling sound of trees swaying came from afar.

Xu Lingguang glanced at the already darkening sky, and without bothering to clean up the scene, he put the last breath of the sword, Jie Gou, into his Sumeru Ring. He then tore off the last piece of clothing stained with Jie Gou's blood and threw it away. He used the last few Purple Fire Pills to make the fire burn even bigger, and before the miasma created by the Blinding Pill could dissipate, he made a silent escape.

Sure enough, not long after he left, a swarm of hooks arrived.

The hook used its sharp claws to extinguish the flames, and lowered its long neck to sniff the remaining blood on the ground.

Upon smelling the blood of its own kind, the Hooks let out mournful screams. The two largest Hooks stomped their feet on the ground in agitation and rage, their thick tails cracking the dry earth.

The other hooks drooped their heads, occasionally making a creaking sound.

After a while, led by the two hooks, the group of hooks dispersed and split into four teams, running in different directions. When their huge bodies swayed and stepped across the flat ground, they made a tremendous noise.

After the hooks had all disappeared, Xu Lingguang, who had been hiding not far away, finally crawled out of a shallow puddle.

The puddle wasn't big, and it was probably filled with rainwater that had accumulated earlier. It was not only murky but also overgrown with weeds. If it weren't for the circumstances, Xu Lingguang really wouldn't want to hide in there.

Fortunately, there was such a puddle, otherwise Xu Lingguang would not have been able to find a suitable place to hide for a while.

He initially wanted to run elsewhere, but then worried that he might pick up the scent of the hooks. Although the blood-stained cloth had been torn off, those hooks had a keen sense of smell, and who knew if they would come looking for him by following the lingering scent.

If they manage to find and block the way, that would be extremely bad.

So after discovering a puddle nearby, Xu Lingguang took a gamble.

He didn't go far; he simply held his breath and hid in a puddle.

Several hooks were about to pass by him, but because the scene was filled with the bloody smell of hooks, the slight scent left on his body was blocked by the sewage and did not attract any attention.

However, these hooks were indeed unusually clever, unlike wild beasts, as they even knew to split into four groups to search from different directions.

Xu Lingguang spat twice, used his spiritual power to dry the water off his body, and then carefully changed to another hiding place.

That night, the entire Fengqiu was filled with unease.

Everywhere you could hear the sharp, unpleasant cries of the crickets, and the rustling of branches as they passed by.

Xu Lingguang held his breath and curled up in a small tree hole all night. It wasn't until noon the next day, when he was sure that all the hooks had gone back to rest, that he braved the torrential rain to return to the cave.

Before going back, he made a point of washing his clothes in the heavy rain to make sure there was no odor before crawling into the cave.

As soon as he went down, he heard a suppressed sob.

Xu Lingguang used his spiritual power to dry the clothes and peeked inside. He saw Sangzhi with her head buried in her arms, her big ears drooping, and her shoulders shaking as she cried. She didn't even notice his return.

"why are you crying?"

Xu Lingguang walked over, bent down, and pinched the big ears.

Sangzhi paused in her sobs, raised her head, opened her eyes wide, and asked in a still-choked voice, "You're not dead?"

Xu Lingguang smugly flicked his little horn: "You didn't think I was dead, that's why you're crying so sadly, did you?"

To everyone's surprise, Sangzhi didn't refute him. Instead, she rushed forward and hugged his waist, choking back tears as she said, "You didn't come back all night. I thought you were dead."

He had been waiting for Xu Lingguang ever since he escaped back to the cave last night.

I even secretly went outside to take a look twice.

But instead of waiting for Xu Lingguang to return, he heard about the Jie Gou riot in the middle of the night.

Although he kept reassuring himself that Xu Lingguang would definitely be alright, the little brat couldn't help but cry when Xu Lingguang didn't return until dawn.

Xu Lingguang didn't expect the little brat to cry so sadly. He patted the little brat's head and said, "I didn't die, so don't cry. I have some good news for you."

Sangzhi loosened her grip on his waist and sniffed: "What good news?"

Xu Lingguang raised an eyebrow and said, "I killed that Jie Gou and brought its body back."

Sangzhi opened her mouth wide in surprise, her eyes filled with disbelief.

The little brat's surprise greatly satisfied Xu Lingguang's vanity. He said with a smile, "Now you believe I have a way to cure your poison?"

"Now that we have the corpse of Jie Gou, let's find some Jie Gou grass and I'll study it. I'm sure I can find a way to detoxify you."

Sangzhi still couldn't believe it. He blinked blankly and asked, "Then I'm not going to die?"

Xu Lingguang nodded: "I won't let you die."

This little brat is still so small, how could it die?

Sangzhi became excited, her big ears twitching with joy: "Then I'll go find you some hook grass, lots and lots of it!"

He wandered around in the cave, and suddenly saw some dried meat placed to the side. He quickly picked it up and handed it to Xu Lingguang: "Here, have this."

Since we don't have to die, we can eat this jerky now.

He wanted to eat with Xu Lingguang.