劍問蒼天 - 第148章 內亂 - 翰墨軒

The smile remained on Cangyan Daoren's face, and his gaze slowly shifted to the spirit tablet of the Venom God directly ahead. Before that tablet, the box holding the seal of the Ten Thousand Venoms Sect's sect master sat quietly in place. Cangyan Daoren looked at it a while, and then suddenly faint, strange cries issued from his person, like the chirping of some insect. Qin Wujiu's expression shifted slightly, and Cangyan Daoren himself started—but then he suddenly laughed. "Old Sect Master, ah, Old Sect Master, you can surely go in peace now. Look at what you have raised—to think you even had such a remarkable disciple. Truly no small feat!"

Qin Wujiu's face darkened, a sharp gleam flickering briefly in his eyes. "Daoist Master," he said in a low voice, "what did you say?"

Cangyan Daoren turned his head and smiled faintly, but said nothing, merely drawing up his sleeve a little. Qin Wujiu's pupils contracted. On Cangyan Daoren's forearm, bound fast against the flesh, was a small box—and from it the strange sound came again, clear and distinct.

With a mysterious smile on his face, Cangyan Daoren slowly extended that hand toward the spirit tablet ahead. But when the box bound to his wrist drew near the box before the tablet that held the sect master's seal, the box before the tablet suddenly emitted a low but very distinct insect chirp—a sound identical to the one coming from the box on Cangyan Daoren's wrist.

Cangyan Daoren slowly withdrew his arm, turned to Qin Wujiu, and said evenly, "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 in an instant the whole man changed from that silent, despondent figure into something lean and sharp and dangerous. Slowly he rose from the ground, his eyes fixed hard on Cangyan Daoren, and slowly repeated, "Seven-Tailed Centipede!"

The mourning hall, dark and gloomy before, seemed to brighten somewhat the moment he stood. The chill in the air vanished in a blink, and in its place was nothing but a razor-keen intent to kill.

Yet Cangyan Daoren showed no sign of fear. Rather, he seemed wholly insensible to the change around him, and asked Qin Wujiu with perfect composure, "Tell me—if your master knew that his disciples were making mischief before his spirit tablet so soon after his death, he would surely be furious, would he not?"

Qin Wujiu gave a cold snort. "My master was wise and perceptive; he saw through these so-called rites and customs long ago. Never mind disrespect before his tablet—were his disciples to cut one another down right here, he would most likely sit back and watch the fun with a smile."

Cangyan Daoren nodded slowly, then suddenly sighed. "Indeed. These ten years I have been with the old sect master day and night—knowing his temper, I fear it is just so." He glanced at Qin Wujiu and smiled. "I never imagined that you, who followed him the shortest time, would be the one among all 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 Master—are you not remarkable as well? Not only have you seen through my master, but not even my slightest movement escapes your eyes!"

The smile on Cangyan Daoren's face stiffened a little. His eyes flicked to Qin Wujiu's feet, and he said abruptly, "Your master's seventh-day rites have passed by now, have they not?"

Qin Wujiu started. He could not tell what Cangyan Daoren meant by asking such a thing out of the blue, but the man's manner tonight was truly strange and unfathomable—and more than that, he had seen through the trick played on the sect master's seal. Most likely he could not be allowed to live. Thinking this, Qin Wujiu said lightly, "It is the hour of the Ox now; it has just passed. Why—does the Daoist Master have some instruction for me?" And he took another step toward Cangyan Daoren.