After we reached the general's position in the Eight Trigrams Formation, we were finally out of danger.

The reason I was able to lead everyone through this was entirely because adrenaline worked and temporarily suppressed the pain.

But as the adrenaline gradually wore off, the pain returned to my body once again.

The feeling was like someone was carving my body with a stone-carving tool. Every few seconds, I would feel a sharp pain in the wound, which would then spread throughout my body like ripples, eventually causing me to faint from the pain.

When I opened my eyes again, the rat costume I was wearing had been taken off, and I was only wearing underwear. Jiang Man, Monkey, and Lin Que were rubbing my body, and there was a smell of alcohol in the air.

"Well!!"

The moment I woke up, that unbearable pain struck again, making me let out a muffled groan.

"Young Master Duan, you're awake!"

When the monkey saw me open my eyes, he explained to me, "This is a folk remedy from Lin Que's hometown. He said that in his hometown, if someone is stung by a poisonous bee, they will rub their body with white wine to remove the poison. We had no other choice but to try it as a last resort! It seems to be working!"

I really want to tell the monkeys that this method is completely useless, because the pain I am feeling now is exactly the same as before I was unconscious. The reason I woke up is because they took off my clothes and woke me up from the cold.

So now I'm not only in pain, but I'm also fucking cold!

I wanted to tell them that this method was useless, but the pain had made my whole body swollen and my skin painfully swollen. I didn't even have the strength to speak, and I started to feel dizzy and had the premonition of fainting.

Fainting is, in most cases, a form of self-protection by the body. This means that my body has reached its limit in terms of pain tolerance. If this continues, it could really be fatal.

Seeing the group of people busy doing nothing, I mustered all my strength to finally utter a single word: "Medicine!"

Upon hearing the word I uttered, the monkey leaned closer and asked, "Young Master Duan, what do you want?"

I gasped for breath and took a while to catch my breath before continuing, "...the antidote!"

"Antidote? What antidote?"

The monkey picked up the medical kit next to it and glanced at it: "Did you prepare something like this beforehand?"

"He's talking about the medicine Miao Xiaoxian gave him!"

Jiang Man was the first to react and started rummaging through my pockets: "When we first entered the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, we were attacked by a kind of jade insect. It was Duan Shenxing who took out the antidote and cured everyone! However, we can't be sure if the bullet ant that bit Duan Shenxing was a Gu insect, and we don't know if this medicine will work."

Without hesitation, the monkey said, "Since there's an antidote, let's try it quickly! Young Master Duan is already in this state, how much worse can things get! Do you know how to use this medicine?"

"I'll do it!"

Jiang Man nodded, and following my previous method, took out a little ointment from the bottle and brought it to my nose.

After I absorbed the ointment from Jiang Man, I don't know if it was a placebo effect or if the ointment really worked, but I felt less pain all over my body. My eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, and I drifted off to sleep.

While I was sleeping, I had a hazy dream in which a swarm of ants rushed down the slope and attacked us. In order to protect ourselves, we lit explosives and threw them into the ant colony, but we still couldn't stop the ants. We were all swallowed up by the ants. The terrifying pain in the dream woke me up.

When I opened my eyes, I was still lying on the round platform of the general's seat. To prevent me from losing body heat, everyone covered me with several rat-patterned clothes.

My body is still in pain, and it's a muscle pain. I can't even find a spot to rub it. But it's much better than before. At least it's not the kind of excruciating pain that I can bear.

Lin Que, who was standing to the side, felt me ​​move and looked at me with great joy: "Big brother, you're awake!"

"Um."

I saw everyone gathering around me, and I licked my chapped lips: "How long have I been unconscious?"

"It took almost three hours."

Jiang Man glanced at her watch: "Although it took a while, you can speak now, which means that the antidote Miao Xiaoxian gave you can still alleviate the poison of the bullet ants. At least you can speak now!"

"The medicine did work somewhat; I feel less pain now."

I tried to prop myself up to sit up, but I had no strength at all.

Jiang Man gently pressed my shoulder, looked into my eyes and said, "I know you're anxious right now, but don't forget how Song Laosan dealt with Qu Ruilin. I know you're eager to find Duan Jinyan, but given your current physical condition, we won't allow you to act recklessly!"

"Don't worry, I won't joke around with everyone's safety. There are already traps in this tomb, and I must ensure your safety!"

Although I was anxious, as the only person in the team who knew about mechanical devices, there was no way I could go into battle while sick and risk everyone's safety. If we encountered any danger, I would become a burden to the entire team.

The monkey lit a cigarette and chimed in, "By the way, Young Master Duan, Wei Shengnan and her group have likely launched their operation as well. While you were unconscious, we heard noises and explosions coming from the slope, but we didn't know how to get up there, so we didn't investigate!"

It then dawned on me that the explosion I dreamt of was influenced by external factors, and I quickly asked, "How long ago did this happen?"

"It's been almost an hour. The explosion was some distance away from here when it happened. I suspect they were attacked by an ant swarm after they arrived here, and used explosives to protect themselves."

Jiang Man paused for a moment: "There was only one explosion from up there, and we didn't hear anyone shouting or anything, so we don't know the specifics. However, Wei Shengnan is an expert explorer, and Song Laosan is a smart man. I think they should be fine."

"If they're fine, then we're the ones with problems!"

I sighed: "Duan Jinyan didn't take this path, and Wei Shengnan and the others can also make other choices. Before, we were the ones who left them behind, but now that they have regained their mobility, we are the ones who are at a disadvantage."

"Don't think too much. What you need to do now is recover your strength as soon as possible so that you can catch up with them sooner."

Jiang Man took out a food package: "Our situation has vividly illustrated a principle: the team that moves quickly is not necessarily the one that gets there first, is it?"