Chapter 149 — Lethal Poison

Fan Xiong stared blankly at this junior brother who had been so wildly arrogant a moment before and was now dead. Suddenly he turned his head and bellowed, "Qin Wujiu, you treacherous beast, get out here!"

Everyone came to their senses at once. "Corpse-Rotting Moss" was fierce and malignant in its toxicity, one of the most vicious substances under heaven; even within the Ten-Thousand Venoms Sect, only the Venom God himself had ever been able to use it. Fan Xiong, Cheng Wuya, and Duan Rushan—all three, limited by their cultivation, could not employ it.

And the Seven-tailed Centipede was an even rarer and more deadly creature, always kept close upon the Venom God's person. That two such deadly poisons should appear at once, and within this little box of the Ten-Thousand Venoms Divine Seal—there was no need to ask; it must be that Qin Wujiu had deceived them all and secretly administered the poison.

For a time, everyone in the mourning hall felt himself in danger, and all cast furtive glances around them, fearful that Qin Wujiu's figure might suddenly rise up at their side. Duan Rushan's manner of death had been too horrifying; none were unmoved by it, none unafraid.

At this moment no one in the mourning hall dared even breathe. Only by Duan Rushan's corpse did those drops of black blood fall slowly; when they struck the ground they gave a faint hiss and burned tiny holes clean through it. In an instant the ground around the corpse was covered in little holes—proof enough of how fierce the poison was.

"Heh heh, what's this? My two senior brothers, and all you elders and retainers—it's been only a few days since we last met, and I'm touched that you should all miss me so!" A calm, even voice suddenly came in from outside the mourning hall. The crowd was startled and looked out, and there was Qin Wujiu, changed out of his hemp mourning garb and into his everyday clothes, a smile on his face, walking slowly in. And the sharp-eyed among them had already seen that on his shoulder perched a tiny monstrous insect—the Seven-tailed Centipede itself.

Fan Xiong said venomously, "You're the one who poisoned them?"

Qin Wujiu now seemed to regard everyone present as nothing at all. He strode forward with great swagger, came to the side of Duan Rushan's corpse, and before all their eyes reached out and picked up that exceedingly poisonous Ten-Thousand Venoms Divine Seal.

Fan Xiong and Cheng Wuya's eyes narrowed. Cheng Wuya said with a cold smile, "Well, well! Little junior brother, the three of us have indeed underestimated you far too much."

Qin Wujiu smiled faintly. "Second Brother jests. In truth, with the strength of my three senior brothers, taking my life would have been as easy as turning over a hand; I never dared resist. It was only that before Master passed, he exhorted me again and again, saying that with the Nether King Sect and the Soul-Luring School both watching like tigers even now, and with the three of you lacking in great capacity, I must take up the position of sect master, lest the Ten-Thousand Venoms Sect's centuries of foundation be destroyed in a single day. I was raised by Master from childhood; his kindness to me is deep, and I dared not disobey. So I could only resort to a small stratagem—and I fear it has put my three senior brothers to some hardship."

Fan Xiong raged, "Bah! You think you've surely won now? I tell you, the first man I kill will be you!" With that, he turned his head and shouted to Cheng Wuya, "Second Brother, this whelp is too vicious—let us join forces and kill him first, then divide the world between us!"

Cheng Wuya said at once, "Good—let's go!"

Amid the shouting, the two were about to charge, and Baidu Zi, the Old Vampire, and the rest behind them were about to follow when Qin Wujiu said mildly, "Elders, you have seen for yourselves by now that my senior brothers here are truly of no great account. As for coming over to kill me—leave aside whether, with the Seven-tailed Centipede and the Corpse-Rotting Moss alone, you could even best me; suppose you did join forces and kill me, would you truly think your days would be easy, following these two useless creatures? Could you best the Nether King Sect and the Soul-Luring School? Could you escape the annihilation the righteous sects would bring down upon you?"

Baidu Zi, the Old Vampire, Duanmu the Ancestor, and the others halted in astonishment. The two great poisons Qin Wujiu had used on Duan Rushan could be employed only by one who had truly inherited the Ten-Thousand Venoms Sect's scripture of poisons; though they had spent many years in the sect, they had never reached that level, and in their hearts they had already come to deeply fear this young man who looked so youthful. Hearing these few words from Qin Wujiu now, they hesitated, and none stepped forward.

As for the many others who followed Duan Rushan, they would not in the first place obey orders from Fan Xiong and Cheng Wuya, and at this moment most of them simply looked at one another, at a loss. Qin Wujiu looked at the crowd and smiled. "Everyone, I give you my word: once I take up the position of sect master, I shall bear no grudge for what has passed. Whatever your place in the sect before, I shall treat you just the same."

Under the furious, anxious gazes of Fan Xiong and Cheng Wuya, the crowd looked at one another for a long while; then Baidu Zi was the first to withdraw. A moment later the Old Vampire, Duanmu the Ancestor, the Four Elders of the Poison Sect, and the rest slowly moved to one side, leaving only Qin Wujiu and his two senior brothers, Fan Xiong and Cheng Wuya, standing in the open.

Despair showed on Fan Xiong's face; he knew the game was lost. Cheng Wuya's face was ashen. Qin Wujiu still wore a faint smile on his face, but in his heart his hatred was just as hard to dispel. What he hated now was not these two senior brothers before him, already like beasts in their death throes, but Daoist Cangyan. He had long since laid his plans for his three senior brothers to destroy one another—but never a battle on such a scale as this. So long as he removed these three, he would naturally wield the power of the Ten-Thousand Venoms Sect.

He had not reckoned on Daoist Cangyan thrusting in a hand that night, turning the strife among the three factions into a great melee and wasting the Ten-Thousand Venoms Sect's deep reserves of strength in civil war. Qin Wujiu was now both furious and grieved, and wished he could cleave Daoist Cangyan in two. But wish as he might, Daoist Cangyan was nowhere to be seen, and Qin Wujiu could only swallow his anger in silence.

Be that as it may, at this moment Qin Wujiu held certain victory. With the smile of a victor, he looked at his two senior brothers and said unhurriedly, "Well, my two senior brothers, will you not confess your crimes before Master's spirit...?"