Chapter 106: Poisoning

Qin Mu was sleeping in an inn in Huyang County until the afternoon when he was suddenly woken by a commotion outside. He overheard the innkeeper saying, "I don't know where all these beetles came from; they're scurrying everywhere, impossible to kill or drive away! It's these red beetles, sir. Do you think they're harmful..."

Qin Mu's heart pounded. He quickly got up, woke the little fox beside him, and packed their luggage. Downstairs, the inn owner was talking to a soldier about the insects. The soldier, a mere martial artist, knew nothing about these bugs. He said, "There are many of these bugs in the city; they weren't here earlier. Perhaps it's an insect plague due to the recent war. Just step on them and kill them."

"But they can't be stepped on, fire doesn't work, and even boiling water doesn't kill them; they just keep wriggling. One even crawled into a guest's mouth just now, and we couldn't get it out..."

Qin Mu left a Daifeng coin on the table, pushed open the window, and Fox Spirit activated a spell, summoning a demonic wind. Qin Mu leaped out, riding the wind, and sped away.

In the sky above Huyang County, red corpse beetles were scattered, flying hither and thither. Qin Mu flicked his fingers repeatedly, each flick like a burst of thunder, causing the nearby corpse beetles to fall to the ground before they could even see him.

"The Corpse Immortal Cult truly haunts us. We merely killed their leader's son, why are they so relentlessly pursuing us?" Fox Spirit grumbled indignantly.

Qin Mu landed and ran swiftly. Along the way, he grabbed a few steamers of buns, taking the entire baskets with him. The vendor was about to shout "thief" when a Daifeng coin flew onto the stall, delighting the vendor.

Qin Mu stuffed buns into his mouth as he rapidly exited the city. Fox Spirit leaped onto his shoulder, snatched a steaming bun from the basket, repeatedly exclaimed about the heat, tossed the bun back and forth, then enduring the warmth, took a bite, immediately sticking out her tongue from the scalding heat.

The two of them, man and fox, quickly finished their buns. Qin Mu looked back, relieved to see no red corpse beetles following them.

Fox Spirit burrowed into the satchel and pulled out the Yankang geographical map. Qin Mu unfolded the map to examine it, then looked around to ascertain their direction, and immediately accelerated towards the capital city.

Meanwhile, in Huyang County, the numerous red corpse beetles, unable to find Qin Mu, flew out of the county. Outside the city, Uncle Qiao stood on Pingyang Mountain, recalling his corpse beetles, a slight frown on his face. Just then, a one-armed old man walked past, stepping on a corpse beetle with a "splat."

Uncle Qiao was about to unleash a torrent of curses but suddenly realized, "My corpse beetles are incredibly tough; how could they be casually stepped on and killed? This one-armed old man must be a master; I shouldn't provoke him!"

After the old man had walked far away, Uncle Qiao discerned the directions and thought, "He's not nearby, and I've blocked the way back. That brat can only go east, west, or north. My flying zombies have already reached the east and west sides of the city without finding any trace of him, so he must have gone north."

He immediately set off, heading north.

Not long after, Uncle Qiao encountered the one-armed old man again. The old man, with one sleeve empty, was leisurely walking north.

Uncle Qiao decided to ignore him. His corpse beetles formed a red cloud, lifting him into the air, while other beetles flew around the mountains and forests, searching for any traces Qin Mu might have left.

Splat, splat.

The one-armed old man stepped on two more corpse beetles, killing them. Uncle Qiao's eyebrow twitched. Suppressing his anger, the swarm of corpse beetles slowly descended but did not land, hovering two to three feet above the ground, stopping about twenty feet away from the old man.

Uncle Qiao bowed respectfully and said, "Esteemed Elder, these are my cultivated corpse beetles. Killing one by accident might be excusable, but why kill two more?"

The one-armed old man stopped and said, "I thought they were ownerless insects flying around. So, they are yours. My apologies, my apologies."

Uncle Qiao smiled, "Ignorance is no fault. Elder, just be more careful next time..."

Splat.

The one-armed old man lifted his foot and stepped on another beetle, killing it. Uncle Qiao's expression immediately changed. The one-armed old man quickly retreated, saying, "I didn't mean to..."

Splat.

A few more corpse beetles, for some unknown reason, flew under his feet and were crushed into a pulpy red mess.

Uncle Qiao sneered. One by one, flying zombies emerged from the forest, surrounding the one-armed old man. Uncle Qiao's face was grim: "Elder, are you here to amuse yourself at my expense? Deliberately crushing my cultivated corpse beetles, are you trying to bully my Corpse Immortal Cult?"

The one-armed old man quickly said, "So you are a master from the Corpse Immortal Cult. Please don't misunderstand; your insects flew under my feet on their own. Don't blame me."

Uncle Qiao, unsure of the old man's true strength and somewhat wary, softened his expression and grudgingly said, "Since it wasn't intentional, let it be."

Just as he was about to leave, another "splat" was heard. Uncle Qiao flew into a rage, his anger fueling his courage. With a thought, his flying zombies lunged directly at the old man!

His flying zombies were different from He Yin's. He Yin was merely an inner disciple of the Corpse Immortal Cult, who had just reached the Six Harmonies Realm and achieved divine abilities. Uncle Qiao, however, was a revered elder of the Corpse Immortal Cult, a figure of the Seven Stars Realm. His flying zombies had long been refined into copper-armored corpses, possessing bronze sinews and iron bones, their power astonishing!

Furthermore, he had cultivated a great many corpses. With so many copper-armored corpses simultaneously attacking the one-armed old man, victory was surely within his grasp!

Before the flying zombies could reach the old man, a resonant Buddhist chant suddenly rang out. A brilliant Buddhist light erupted, sending shivers down Uncle Qiao's spine. He felt as if a Buddha had appeared before him, terrifying him to his core. He immediately dropped to his knees with a thud, bowed deeply, and cried, "Mercy!"

The flying zombies, bathed in the Buddhist light, fell stiffly to the ground, their connections to him severed. In an instant, they had been enlightened by the one-armed old man, no longer able to wreak havoc in the world.

"Get up."

The one-armed old man glanced at him, then stepped away into the distance, saying, "When you can forgive, forgive. I won't kill you; I hope you can also show mercy when possible."

Uncle Qiao looked up, glanced around, and sighed in relief. He thought, "It's a good thing I reacted quickly. Any skill, when mastered, can save your life. For example, if you can't win, just kneel."

He got to his feet, composed himself, and his face showed his distress. "These flying zombies cost me countless years of painstaking effort to refine, and now they're all destroyed! What is the origin of that one-armed man? He's truly powerful; he destroyed my treasures with just a flash of light, without even laying a hand on them... But once I catch that brat and obtain the Grand Secretary's sword, it will all be worth it!"

Qin Mu was running rapidly through the mountains and forests when he suddenly stopped, bent down, and pulled a small plant with three purple petals from the ground. Fox Spirit, puzzled, asked, "Young Master Mu, what kind of flower is this?"

"This is Earth Essence Grass. It has a scent that humans and beasts cannot detect."

Qin Mu carefully plucked off the small purple flowers, discarding the flowers but keeping the leaves and roots. He then roamed around the forest, finding several other herbs, all common in the mountains. He said, "However, the scent of Earth Essence Grass is an alluring fragrance to insects. This particular grass is poisonous; it's harmless to humans but extremely toxic to insects, which is why it's also called 'Insect Bane.' The other herbs I gathered have no other purpose than to amplify the scent and toxicity of the Earth Essence Grass a hundredfold."

He continued to run swiftly forward, simultaneously channeling his vital qi to lift the herbs, using his qi as a cauldron to refine the medicine in mid-air.

His other hand erupted with flames, roasting and baking the herbs, while simultaneously nurturing them with Black Tortoise vital qi to prevent scorching.

Before he had even passed through this mountain hollow, Qin Mu had already extracted the essence of these herbs, discarding the dregs. He brought his hands together, and several drops of a clear, oil-like liquid appeared in his palm.

Qin Mu looked around and spotted a clear spring in a nearby mountain hollow. He immediately went to wash his hands, then started running furiously.

Not long after, a vast red cloud appeared in the sky, covering everything—it was Uncle Qiao's red corpse beetles.

These corpse beetles were tracking Qin Mu and were about to catch up when suddenly, the swarm uncontrollably surged downwards, plunging towards the clear spring in the hollow.

Uncle Qiao, who was controlling the swarm from behind, was startled and quickly rushed forward. When he reached the mountain hollow, his heart turned cold. He saw red insect corpses scattered everywhere across the mountainside; all the corpse beetles he had painstakingly raised were dead!

The ability to poison all his corpse beetles at once was truly chilling!

"And most importantly..."

Qin Mu, who had already walked some distance, chuckled to the little fox hidden in his satchel: "Corpse beetles are also a type of poison, a powerful one, and red corpse beetles are especially virulent! The poisonous oil I just refined is harmless to humans, but if ingested by red corpse beetles, it combines with their inherent toxicity to become an even more terrifying venom. Just a touch of this poison will instantly cause flesh to rot, paralyzing the body, leaving one unable to move anything, only able to watch oneself decay!"

Fox Spirit gasped in fright, "Young Master, can even that powerful expert from the Corpse Immortal Cult be poisoned to death? I saw that his cultivation was very high!"

Qin Mu said calmly, "That depends on whether he touches those corpse beetles."

He looked up at the sky and whispered, "This potent venom will naturally dissipate. Under sunlight, its toxicity will break down and weaken. After half an hour of direct sun exposure, the poison will be gone. However, during that half-hour, whoever touches it, dies!"

In the mountain hollow, Uncle Qiao's body trembled. He suddenly sneered, "Fortunately, I have even more beetles, especially the queen beetle, which is still alive..."

Just then, the beetles on his body began to frantically crawl out and fly towards the poisoned spring in the hollow; even the queen beetle flew out. Uncle Qiao cried out in alarm and quickly lunged for the queen beetle. However, the queen beetle flew incredibly fast and had already reached the spring, beginning to drink the water.

Uncle Qiao grabbed the queen beetle from behind with one hand. Just as he was about to sigh in relief, his body suddenly stiffened. The skin on his palm rapidly decayed, the rot spreading up his arm. His muscles began to peel off his arm, falling to the ground and swiftly liquefying into pus.

He could see his arm rotting, but he felt no pain whatsoever.

He wanted to sever his arm, but his body seemed detached from his consciousness; he couldn't control it. Uncle Qiao gritted his teeth and struggled to lift his other arm. Suddenly, his body lost balance, and he fell to the ground, his face pressed against the earth, beneath which lay the corpses of a dozen or so corpse beetles.

"Grandpa Apothecary told me that if you can't win, use poison. Grandpa Apothecary was really right," the cowherd boy from Disabled Elder Village remarked from a distance.