Chapter 167
Chapter 167 – Poison
Translated by Joycelyn
The old man scanned the surroundings like he was preventing thieves, then he quickly went into his house and packed up his stuff. He called out ‘gu gua’ twice; the originally silent frogs squatting in front of his door step hopped away individually. Some went towards the woods, while some went towards the river.
After finishing packing, the old man then pulled Shao Xuan in another direction. While he walked, he also softly explained to Shao Xuan, “You want frog poison, and of course you would want the most toxic ones as well. My grandson can help you get them, any type you want, there will be.”
The old man was afraid that Shao Xuan would change his mind and turn away; therefore he repeatedly kept talking to Shao Xuan.
He was also afraid that Shao Xuan would think it troublesome and visit other stores to buy them instead. After all, in the Pu tribe, quite a few people sell frog poison. Many of the Drumming tribe members liked weapons that were coated in poison; when they were buying them they would just wrap them up, throw them into their rattan basket, and pay with water moonstones.
However, what the old man wanted to do now was to bring Shao Xuan to collect them at their habitat. Compared with the others, it was a little more troublesome.
But in fact, Shao Xuan was not annoyed, as long as he could get what he wanted; being a little troublesome was nothing. Also, when he saw the thing that the old man scrapped off, he was curious about it.
One after another, the thorns that were smeared with poison were hammered into the wood securely. Five thorns each were smeared in one type of frog poison. After one type of frog poison was done, they would continue on to another frog, smearing their poison on.
“This kind of frog poison may not be able to kill people, but its main effect is this.” Yu used a hard thorn to wipe it off on a deep blue frog, then used the poison spread on the thorn to wipe it on a piece of leaf on a plant.
Only hearing a ‘chi’ ringing, the leaf that was smeared with poison immediately had a hole corroded through it. There was still smoke coming out. Smelling it may sting the nose a little, however, when smearing on the poison before, there was no smell.
It was hard to imagine that such a poison came from a frog that was no larger than a human’s palm.
Yu’s method of collecting poisons involved using the hard thorns; this is because the thorns had a not so visible layer that could keep the corrosion out.
Yu continued applying poison on the hard thorns then hammered them into the wood. He waited for the poison on the thorns to dry before plucking them out. He then wrapped the thorns up, so that the poison could use it whenever he wants, all he needed to do then was just take them out. Dried poison would not decrease its potency; the only limitation was that the longer it was kept, the weaker the poison will be.
Shao Xuan looked at how Yu had each thorn applied with poison then hammered them into the wood, he knew that many frog poisons could only work when in the blood stream. If it was not a scratch, then the poison would not have much effect, there were many that would only make the fingers have rash, it was not fatal. The Flaming Horns tribe, when carrying poisonous animals, would always take protective measures
But now, there were a lot of frog poison that could have an effect directly through skin contact, there was no need for a scratch. But he was handling that poison on the hard thorns very calmly, without using any protection for the fingers. If he slipped a little, he would have a hole in his hand or be poisoned.
Especially when throwing the thorns into the wood, many would worry that the poison on the hard thorns would slide onto the fingers. But Yu would always pull back his hand before that would happen, so that not even the slightest poison could touch him.
What surprised Shao Xuan was when there was no more space available on the wood, Yu held the remaining thorns directly in his mouth, biting on the non-poisonous end. If his lips came into contact with the poison, he would definitely suffer.
This was quite dangerous, but the old man next to him wasn’t surprised in the slightest, he had seen it quite a few times and wasn’t worried.
Once the smearing and drying of the poison on the hard thorns was finished, Yu pulled out the thorns from the wood. Of course, not with his naked hand, but with the help of leaves.
He handed the thorns properly smeared in poison to Shao Xuan and said: “All right, you can try these, if you like them you can come again and just find the old man, I’m going back to sleep.”