Chapter 106 — Taking Life with Poison

Shen Mu had slept in the tavern at Huyang County until afternoon, when he was suddenly startled awake by a racket outside. He heard the innkeeper say, "Heaven knows where so many bugs came from; they barge about everywhere and can't be killed or driven away! It's these red bugs, Officer—do see whether they're dangerous. .

. " Shen Mu's heart gave a jump. He rose quickly, woke the little fox beside him, and packed his things. Downstairs, the innkeeper was telling the officer about the bugs; the officer was only a martial artist and knew nothing about such creatures, so he said, "There are plenty of these bugs in town, and they weren't here just now. It's probably a plague of insects because war is about to break out.

Just step on them. " "They can't be stepped to death!

Fire doesn't work either, and pouring boiling water on them just leaves them hopping. Just now one even crawled into a guest's mouth, and he couldn't scratch it out.

. . " Shen Mu left a Dafeng coin on the table, pushed open the window, and Snow Fox cast her spells, summoning a gust of demonic wind.

Shen Mu jumped out, trod the wind, and shot away with a howl. By now crimson corpse beetles were flitting here and there in loose array over Huyang County; Shen Mu flicked his fingers again and again, each flick bursting like thunder, and the beetles nearby tumbled to the ground before they even saw him.

"The Corpse Immortal Sect's ghost never dies—was it anything more than killing their sect master's son? Do they have to chase us so relentlessly? " Snow Fox said indignantly.

Shen Mu landed and ran on quickly, buying several baskets of steamed buns on the way and taking the whole steamer. The vendor was about to shout robbery when a Dafeng coin flew over and landed on the stall, and he was overjoyed. Shen Mu stuffed buns into his mouth while speeding out of the city; Snow Fox jumped onto his shoulder, snatched a piping-hot bun from the basket, yelped "hot, hot!

", tossed it back and forth between her paws, took a bite despite the heat, and was so scalded she kept sticking out her tongue. Man and fox quickly ate up the buns.

Shen Mu looked back and saw no crimson beetles following; he breathed easier. Snow Fox burrowed into the bundle and brought out the Jingping geography map; Shen Mu opened it and studied it, then raised his head, looked about to fix his bearings, and quickened his pace toward the capital. In Huyang County, however, the many crimson beetles, finding no sign of Shen Mu, flew out of the town one after another.

Outside the county, Uncle Qiao stood on Mount Pingyang recalling his beetles, frowning slightly. But at that moment a one-armed old man came up, passed by, and with a pop stepped on a corpse beetle. Uncle Qiao was about to break into curses when he suddenly realized: "My corpse beetles are incomparably hard—how can they be casually stamped dead? This one-armed old man is a master; better not provoke him.

" After the old man was far off, Uncle Qiao took his bearings and thought, "He's not nearby, and the road he came by is blocked. He can only have gone east, west, or north. My flying corpses have already reached the east and west edges of the town and found no trace; so he must have taken the north.

" He set out at once to the north. He had not gone far when he met the one-armed old man again, the old man's sleeve hanging empty, walking unhurriedly north. Uncle Qiao had no intention of minding him. The corpse beetles formed a red cloud that bore him up into the air, while the other beetles scattered through the mountains and woods to search for any trace Shen Mu might have left.

Pop.

Pop. The one-armed old man stamped two more beetles to death.

Uncle Qiao's brow twitched, but he swallowed his anger. The beetle swarm sank slowly, not quite to the ground, still two or three feet above the ground, and came to rest some twenty feet from the old man.

Uncle Qiao bowed and said in greeting, "Elder, these are corpse beetles I've raised.

It's tolerable if you kill one by accident, but why kill two in a row? " The one-armed old man stopped. "I thought they were masterless bugs flying around.

So they're yours. Pardon me, pardon me.

" Uncle Qiao forced a smile. "One who didn't know is not to blame.

Elder, do be a little more careful next time.

.

. " Pop.

The old man lifted his foot and crushed yet another bug.

Uncle Qiao's face changed instantly.

The old man fell back in haste. "I didn't mean it. .

. " Pop.

A few more corpse beetles flew under his foot for no apparent reason and were mashed into red pulp. Uncle Qiao sneered.

One by one, flying corpses emerged from the woods and ringed the old man round. Uncle Qiao's face grew dark.

"Elder, are you here to mock me? Deliberately stamping to death the corpse beetles I refined—are you looking down on the Corpse Immortal Sect? " The one-armed old man said hurriedly, "So you're a master of the Corpse Immortal Sect. Don't misunderstand—these bugs of yours crawled under my feet by themselves; it's not my doing.

" Uncle Qiao, unable to sound the man's depth and rather wary, softened his expression and said stiffly, "Since it was not deliberate, we'll drop it. " He was just about to turn away when another pop reached his ears.

Uncle Qiao's rage flared up, malice surging from his heart, and with a thought, the flying corpses lunged straight at the old man! His flying corpses were not like He Yin's: He Yin was only a formal disciple of the Corpse Immortal Sect, barely at the Six Harmonies stage, having just achieved his power, whereas he was of the generation of the sect's masters, at the Seven Stars stage, and his flying corpses had long been refined into copper-armored corpses—copper sinews, iron bones, fearfully formidable! Moreover, he had raised a great number of corpses; with so many copper-armored corpses swooping at once, the one-armed old man was bound to be caught. Before the flying corpses could reach the old man, a clear and sonorous Buddha's invocation rang out, and a blaze of Buddha-light flared.

Uncle Qiao shuddered with a chill, feeling that a Buddha stood before him, and was scared out of his wits. He dropped to his knees with a thud, knocked his head low, and cried, "Spare me! " The flying corpses, caught in the Buddha-light, toppled over stiffly, all his ties to them severed—in a single breath they had been converted by the one-armed old man and could no longer do harm in the world.

"Rise.

" The old man glanced at him and walked away. "When you can spare a man, spare him.

I will not kill you. I hope you too can show mercy where mercy is due.

" Uncle Qiao looked up, looked around, and gave a long sigh of relief. He thought, "At least I was quick-witted. Any skill, if trained well, can save your life—for instance, kneeling when you're beaten. " He climbed to his feet, composed himself, and winced. "These flying corpses cost me boundless effort, years of refinement, and now every one is wrecked!

Who was that one-armed man? Astonishing—without raising a hand, just a flash of light, and my treasures were ruined. .

.

But once I catch that boy and seize the sword of a first-rank minister, it will all have been worth it! " Shen Mu, running swiftly through the mountain woods, suddenly stopped and bent down to pull up a little plant bearing three purple flowers. Snow Fox was puzzled and asked, "Young Master Mu, what flower is this? " "This is earth-root grass. It has a fragrance that neither humans nor animals can smell. " Shen Mu carefully plucked off the purple blossoms, keeping the leaves and discarding the flowers, preserving the stem and roots. He walked about the woods and found several other herbs, all common in mountain forests.

He said, "But to insects, the scent of earth-root grass is a fragrance that bursts on the nose. This particular grass is poisonous: harmless to humans, but a deadly poison to bugs, so it's also called 'enemy of a hundred insects.