"It was clearly that Chen who slandered me with lies! Su Lang, if you want to kill me, just kill me. I, Hou Er, accept my fate. You’re doing all this just to seize power, to make Black Wind Camp yours alone. Why use these lofty excuses to smear me? It turns out I, Hou Er, was blind, knew faces but not hearts. If I had known this would happen, I would never have helped you in the first place!"
A fierce look crossed Su Lang’s face, "These past few years, you’ve used this ’favor’ to blackmail me. But let me tell you what a favor really is. If I hadn’t met Master, I and those brothers who survived, all more than a hundred of us, would have died! And you, you’re always saying you helped me. But if you ask yourself, between you and me, there’s never been a question of who helped whom!"
Back then, when they escaped from that place, he and Hou Er each led a group of men, collaborating and escaping together!
Yet Hou Er always thought he had taken advantage of him.
On normal days, Su Lang couldn’t be bothered to quibble, but Hou Er was becoming more and more shameless.
Su Lang fiercely closed his eyes for a moment.
"Words are useless now, Hou Er. You can only die!"
But suddenly, Su Lang’s body swayed, his limbs growing weak.
His vision blurred, and he could hardly hold the Longsword in his hand.
Had he been poisoned?
Shock coursed through Su Lang’s heart, but he couldn’t recall eating anything suspicious that day.
He was so busy he hadn’t even eaten, starving the whole day and only drinking a bit of water.
Could it be the water was poisoned?
Su Lang screamed desperately, "You’re truly despicable!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Su Lang clattered to the ground.
Even with his Inner Strength, the poison was too potent.
Even someone like him couldn’t resist it.
However, after Su Lang collapsed, the very Hou Er he suspected also fell.
Then, more and more people followed.
Anyone who had drunk the well water that day was affected.
In contrast, the wounded and maimed who had just returned from outside were all fine?
"What, what’s going on?"
The wounded and maimed were instantly dumbstruck.
Those who had returned alive were all loyal to Su Lang. As for the men Hou Er had left outside, they had already perished in the previous clash, turning into nourishment for the soil.
One of the less severely injured men stumbled toward Su Lang.
The disaster struck too suddenly; no one was prepared.
The camp had become so quiet that one could clearly hear a pin drop.
He carefully held his breath, then checked Su Lang’s breathing.
Eldest Brother wasn’t dead?
First stunned, then overjoyed.
"Thanks be to the heavens, thanks be to the heavens!"
He was so happy he almost jumped for joy, barely stopping short of thanking the heavens for their grace.
Previously, when Su Lang suddenly collapsed, others did as well, and the camp turned eerily quiet, making them think Su Lang was dead.
Su Lang was their pillar of spirit, their major source for calming down and their leader. Though younger than many, and sometimes unreliable, those who chose to follow him could never forget.
It was this young man who fought with bloodied hands, leading them—those abandoned by society, derided, and called dirty and base—from that hellish place to freedom.
"Quickly, tie up Hou Er’s men with ropes, and the rest of you take care of our brothers here."