Chapter 148 — Civil Strife
劍問蒼天 · Page 2 of 7
The smile remained on Daoist Cang Yan's face, and his gaze slowly turned to the spirit tablet of the Venom God directly ahead. Before that tablet, the box containing the sect leader's seal of the Ten Thousand Venoms Sect rested quietly in its place. Daoist Cang Yan looked at it a while. Suddenly a few low, strange cries issued from his person, like the chirping of some insect. Qin Wujiu's expression shifted slightly, and Daoist Cang Yan himself gave a start, but then he laughed abruptly: "Old sect leader, ah, old sect leader, you may set your heart at ease and go. Look at what you have raised—you actually had such a remarkable disciple. Truly no simple matter!"
Qin Wujiu's face darkened. A sharp gleam flickered faintly and vanished in his eyes. "Daoist," he said in a low voice, "what do you mean?"
Daoist Cang Yan turned back, smiled slightly, and said nothing—only gently pushed up the sleeve at his wrist. Qin Wujiu's pupils contracted. On Daoist Cang Yan's arm, bound tight against the flesh, was a small box, and from it the strange sound of a moment ago now issued again, clear and distinct.
With a mysterious smile on his face, Daoist Cang Yan slowly extended that hand toward the spirit tablet ahead. But as the box bound to his wrist drew near the box that held the sect leader's seal before the tablet, the box before the tablet suddenly gave forth a low yet very clear chirping of insects—a sound that seemed exactly the same as that coming from the box on Daoist Cang Yan's wrist.
Daoist Cang Yan slowly drew back his arm, turned to look at Qin Wujiu, and said faintly, "Seven-tailed centipede?"
Qin Wujiu drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a fierce light blazed in them, and his whole person seemed in an instant to change from that silent, dispirited air to something keen and sharp. He rose slowly from the ground, eyes fixed hard upon Daoist Cang Yan, and slowly repeated: "Seven-tailed centipede!"
The mourning hall, once so dim and gloomy, seemed to grow somehow brighter the moment he rose to his feet. The cold, clear air that had filled it vanished in a twinkling, and what remained was only a piercing killing intent.
Yet Daoist Cang Yan showed no sign of fear. Rather, he seemed wholly insensible to the change around him and asked Qin Wujiu, his expression composed: "Tell me—if your master knew that his disciples, so soon after his death, were making mischief before his very spirit tablet, he would be exceedingly angry, would he not?"
Qin Wujiu gave a cold snort. "My master was wise and shrewd. He saw through these so-called rites and customs long ago. Never mind disrespect before his tablet—were we disciples to slaughter one another here, he would most likely watch the spectacle with a smile."
Daoist Cang Yan nodded slowly. Suddenly he sighed. "Indeed. In these ten years I have spent day and night with the old sect leader, and knowing his temper, I fear it would be just so." With that he looked at Qin Wujiu and smiled. "I never imagined that you, who followed him the shortest time of all, would be the one among his disciples who understood him best."
Qin Wujiu's expression did not change, but he took a step forward and said coldly, "And you, Daoist—are you not remarkable as well? Not only have you seen my master clearly, but even my every move cannot escape your eyes!"
The smile on Daoist Cang Yan's face stiffened slightly. His eyes flicked to Qin Wujiu's feet. Suddenly he said, "Your master's seventh day is now past, is it not?"