Chapter 149 — Deadly Poison
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 8 of 9
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.