Chapter 106: Poison Kill
Qin Mu slept until afternoon at the inn in Huyang County, when he was suddenly startled awake by the commotion outside. He heard the innkeeper saying, "I don't know where all these beetles came from, running around everywhere, can't be killed or driven away! It's these red beetles, sir soldier, do you think they're harmful..."
Qin Mu's heart leaped. He quickly got up, woke the little fox beside him, and packed their belongings. Downstairs, the innkeeper was telling the soldiers about the bugs. The soldier was just a martial artist, completely clueless about such insects, and said, "There are lots of these bugs in the city. They weren't here just a moment ago. Probably a plague of insects since there's going to be a war soon. Just stomp them to death."
"You can't stomp them to death. Fire doesn't work either, and even boiling water just makes them bounce around. Just now one crawled into a guest's mouth, and we couldn't even dig it out..."
Qin Mu left a Big Harvest Coin on the table, pushed open the window, and Fox Ling'er cast a spell, summoning a gust of demon wind. Qin Mu leaped out, stepped onto the wind, and shot away with a whoosh.
In the sky over Huyang County, red corpse beetles were flying about in scattered clusters. Qin Mu flicked his fingers repeatedly, each strike like a thunderclap, and the nearby corpse beetles fell to the ground before they even saw him.
"The Corpse Immortal Sect just won't let go! Is killing their leader's son really worth this relentless pursuit?" Fox Ling'er said indignantly.
Qin Mu landed and moved swiftly, buying several baskets of steamed buns along the way and taking the whole steamer. The vendor was about to shout "thief" when a Big Harvest Coin flew onto his stall, and he was overjoyed.
Qin Mu stuffed buns into his mouth as he sped out of the city. Fox Ling'er jumped onto his shoulder, grabbed a steaming bun from the basket, yelped at the heat, tossed it back and forth, then braved the heat and took a bite, sticking out her tongue from the burn.
The one human and one fox finished the buns quickly. Qin Mu looked back and, seeing no red corpse beetles following, breathed a sigh of relief.
Fox Ling'er burrowed into the bundle and pulled out the Yancheng geography map. Qin Mu opened it, examined it, then looked up to survey the surroundings, identified the direction, and immediately quickened his pace toward the capital.
Meanwhile, in Huyang County, the many red corpse beetles, failing to find Qin Mu, flew out of the city. Outside the county, Uncle Qiao stood on Pingyang Mountain, recalling the beetles, frowning slightly. Just then, a one-armed old man walked over, passing by, and with a *smack*, crushed a corpse beetle underfoot.
Uncle Qiao was about to curse when he suddenly realized, "My corpse beetles are incredibly tough—how could they be crushed so easily? This one-armed old man is a master. Better not provoke him!"
After the old man had gone far, Uncle Qiao discerned the direction and thought, "He's not around here. I've blocked his retreat, so the boy can only go east, west, or north. My flying corpses have already searched east and west without finding him, so he must have gone north."
He immediately set off northward.
Before he had gone far, Uncle Qiao encountered the one-armed old man again. The old man, with one sleeve empty and dangling, was walking north at a leisurely pace.
Uncle Qiao decided to ignore him. A cloud of red corpse beetles lifted him into the air, while others scattered through the forest, searching for any trace Qin Mu might have left.
*Smack. Smack.*
The one-armed old man crushed two more corpse beetles. Uncle Qiao's brow twitched, but he held back his anger. The beetle swarm slowly descended, stopping two or three feet above the ground, two yards away from the old man.
Uncle Qiao bowed in greeting and said, "Elder, these are my cultivated corpse beetles. Crushing one might be an accident, but why do it twice?"
The one-armed old man stopped and replied, "I thought they were wild bugs flying around. So they're yours. My apologies, my apologies."
Uncle Qiao smiled and said, "No harm done if you didn't know. Please be more careful next time..."
*Smack.*
The one-armed old man lifted his foot and crushed another beetle. Uncle Qiao's expression darkened instantly. The old man quickly stepped back and said, "I didn't mean to..."
*Smack.*
A few more corpse beetles inexplicably flew under his foot and were squashed into red pulp.
Uncle Qiao sneered. From the forest, a group of flying corpses emerged, surrounding the one-armed old man. Uncle Qiao's face turned grim. "Elder, are you mocking me? Deliberately crushing my cultivated corpse beetles—are you bullying the Corpse Immortal Sect?"
The old man quickly said, "I'm a master from the Corpse Immortal Sect. Don't misunderstand. Your bugs crawled under my feet on their own. It's not my fault."
Uncle Qiao, uncertain of the old man's strength, was wary. He softened his expression and said reluctantly, "Since it wasn't intentional, let it go."
He was about to leave when another *smack* sounded. Uncle Qiao flew into a rage, his malice surging. With a thought, all the flying corpses lunged at the old man!
His flying corpses were different from He Yin's. He Yin was merely a disciple of the Corpse Immortal Sect, just reaching the Six Harmonies realm and mastering divine abilities, while Uncle Qiao was of the uncle generation, in the Seven Stars realm. His flying corpses had been refined into Bronze Armor Corpses, with bronze tendons and iron bones, terrifyingly powerful!
Moreover, he had trained many corpses. With so many Bronze Armor Corpses attacking the old man simultaneously, victory was assured!
But before the flying corpses could reach the old man, a resounding Buddhist chant rang out, and a brilliant Buddha light blazed forth. Uncle Qiao's hair stood on end as he felt as if a Buddha stood before him. Terrified out of his wits, he dropped to his knees with a *thud*, kowtowed deeply, and cried out, "Spare me!"
The flying corpses, struck by the Buddha light, fell stiffly to the ground, their connection to him severed completely. In an instant, the one-armed old man had purified them, preventing them from causing further harm in the world.
"Get up."
The one-armed old man glanced at him and walked away, saying, "Where forgiveness is possible, forgive. I won't kill you, and I hope you can do the same."
Uncle Qiao looked up, scanned the area, breathed a sigh of relief, and thought, "Good thing I acted quickly. Any skill mastered well can save your life—like knowing when to kneel."
He stood up, steadied himself, and grimaced in pain. "These flying corpses cost me endless effort and years to refine, and now they're all destroyed! Who is that one-armed man? Incredibly powerful—he destroyed my treasures with just a flash of light without even lifting a finger... But once I catch that boy and seize the first-rank official's sword, it'll all be worth it!"
Qin Mu was racing through the forest when he suddenly stopped, bent down, and pulled up a small plant with three purple petals. Fox Ling'er was puzzled and asked, "Young Master Mu, what flower is this?"
"This is Earth Source Grass. It has a scent that humans and beasts can't smell."
Qin Mu carefully plucked off the purple flowers, discarded them, and kept the leaves and roots. He then wandered through the forest, gathering several other herbs common in the woods, and said, "But the scent of Earth Source Grass is an irresistible fragrance to insects. This grass is poisonous—harmless to humans but deadly to bugs, which is why it's also called Insect Enemy. The other herbs I've collected have no other purpose than to amplify the scent and toxicity of Earth Source Grass a hundredfold."
He moved forward quickly, simultaneously channeling his primal energy to levitate the herbs, using his energy as a furnace to refine them in midair. With his other hand, he emitted flames to roast and bake the medicinal properties, while nourishing the herbs with Black Tortoise primal energy to prevent them from burning.
Before he had crossed the mountain hollow, Qin Mu had already extracted the medicinal properties, discarded the residue, and pressed his hands together. In his palm appeared a few drops of liquid, like clear oil.
Qin Mu looked around and spotted a clear spring in a nearby hollow. He walked over, washed his hands, and then sprinted off at full speed.
Not long after, a red cloud flew through the sky, covering the area—it was Uncle Qiao's red corpse beetles.
These beetles were tracking Qin Mu's trail and were about to catch up when suddenly the swarm went out of control, diving downward toward the clear spring in the hollow.
Uncle Qiao, controlling the swarm from behind, was startled and rushed over. When he reached the hollow, his heart turned to ice. The hillside was covered with red beetle carcasses—his painstakingly raised corpse beetles, all dead!
The ability to poison all his beetles in one go was chilling!
"And most importantly..."
Far away, Qin Mu smiled at the little fox hiding in his bundle. "Corpse beetles are also a poison, a great poison, especially the red ones! The poison oil I just refined is harmless to humans, but if eaten by red corpse beetles, it combines with their toxicity to become an even more terrifying poison. Touch it, and your flesh will rot instantly, your body will go numb, and you won't be able to move a muscle. You'll just watch yourself decay!"
Fox Ling'er was startled and exclaimed, "Young Master, can that Corpse Immortal Sect master be poisoned too? He seems very powerful!"
Qin Mu said calmly, "That depends on whether he touches those beetles."
He looked up at the sky and said softly, "This poison will self-destruct. Sunlight breaks it down, weakening it over time. After half an hour of exposure, it's gone. But during that half hour, whoever touches it dies!"
In the hollow, Uncle Qiao's body trembled, and he sneered, "Fortunately, I have more beetles, especially the beetle mother..."
Just then, the beetles on his body frantically crawled out and flew toward the poisoned spring, including the beetle mother. Uncle Qiao cried out in alarm and lunged to grab the beetle mother, but it flew too fast, reaching the spring and drinking the water.
Uncle Qiao grabbed the beetle mother from behind and was about to breathe a sigh of relief when his body stiffened. The skin on his hand rapidly rotted, the decay spreading up his arm. His muscles began to slough off, falling to the ground and dissolving into pus.
He could see his arm rotting, but he felt no pain.
He wanted to cut off the arm, but his body seemed disconnected from his consciousness, unable to obey. He gritted his teeth, struggling to raise his other arm, but then his body lost balance, and he fell face-first to the ground, his cheek pressing against the corpses of a dozen beetles.
"Grandpa Medicine told me, if you can't win, use poison. Grandpa Medicine was absolutely right," the cowherd from the Cripples' Village murmured in the distance.