Chapter 106 — Taking Life with Poison
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
It's tolerable if you kill one by accident, but why kill two in a row? " The one-armed old man stopped. "I thought they were masterless bugs flying around.
So they're yours. Pardon me, pardon me.
" Uncle Qiao forced a smile. "One who didn't know is not to blame.
Elder, do be a little more careful next time.
.
. " Pop.
The old man lifted his foot and crushed yet another bug.
Uncle Qiao's face changed instantly.
The old man fell back in haste. "I didn't mean it. .
. " Pop.
A few more corpse beetles flew under his foot for no apparent reason and were mashed into red pulp. Uncle Qiao sneered.
One by one, flying corpses emerged from the woods and ringed the old man round. Uncle Qiao's face grew dark.
"Elder, are you here to mock me? Deliberately stamping to death the corpse beetles I refined—are you looking down on the Corpse Immortal Sect? " The one-armed old man said hurriedly, "So you're a master of the Corpse Immortal Sect. Don't misunderstand—these bugs of yours crawled under my feet by themselves; it's not my doing.
" Uncle Qiao, unable to sound the man's depth and rather wary, softened his expression and said stiffly, "Since it was not deliberate, we'll drop it. " He was just about to turn away when another pop reached his ears.
Uncle Qiao's rage flared up, malice surging from his heart, and with a thought, the flying corpses lunged straight at the old man! His flying corpses were not like He Yin's: He Yin was only a formal disciple of the Corpse Immortal Sect, barely at the Six Harmonies stage, having just achieved his power, whereas he was of the generation of the sect's masters, at the Seven Stars stage, and his flying corpses had long been refined into copper-armored corpses—copper sinews, iron bones, fearfully formidable! Moreover, he had raised a great number of corpses; with so many copper-armored corpses swooping at once, the one-armed old man was bound to be caught. Before the flying corpses could reach the old man, a clear and sonorous Buddha's invocation rang out, and a blaze of Buddha-light flared.
Uncle Qiao shuddered with a chill, feeling that a Buddha stood before him, and was scared out of his wits. He dropped to his knees with a thud, knocked his head low, and cried, "Spare me! " The flying corpses, caught in the Buddha-light, toppled over stiffly, all his ties to them severed—in a single breath they had been converted by the one-armed old man and could no longer do harm in the world.
"Rise.
" The old man glanced at him and walked away. "When you can spare a man, spare him.
I will not kill you. I hope you too can show mercy where mercy is due.
" Uncle Qiao looked up, looked around, and gave a long sigh of relief. He thought, "At least I was quick-witted. Any skill, if trained well, can save your life—for instance, kneeling when you're beaten. " He climbed to his feet, composed himself, and winced. "These flying corpses cost me boundless effort, years of refinement, and now every one is wrecked!
Who was that one-armed man? Astonishing—without raising a hand, just a flash of light, and my treasures were ruined. .
.
But once I catch that boy and seize the sword of a first-rank minister, it will all have been worth it! " Shen Mu, running swiftly through the mountain woods, suddenly stopped and bent down to pull up a little plant bearing three purple flowers. Snow Fox was puzzled and asked, "Young Master Mu, what flower is this? " "This is earth-root grass. It has a fragrance that neither humans nor animals can smell. " Shen Mu carefully plucked off the purple blossoms, keeping the leaves and discarding the flowers, preserving the stem and roots. He walked about the woods and found several other herbs, all common in mountain forests.
He said, "But to insects, the scent of earth-root grass is a fragrance that bursts on the nose. This particular grass is poisonous: harmless to humans, but a deadly poison to bugs, so it's also called 'enemy of a hundred insects.