Chapter 148 — Internal Strife
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 3 of 7
Cangyan Daoren promptly stepped back and nodded. "Then all is well. Letting your master pass his seventh day in peace—that, too, may count as my heartfelt intention."
Qin Wujiu was taken aback. Before he could grasp the meaning, Cangyan Daoren's figure suddenly shifted; in a flash he was at the door of the mourning hall. He drew breath and raised his voice: "Eh—the sect master's seal ... ah ..." The first words were full of astonishment, and halfway through, though he still stood there perfectly unharmed, Cangyan Daoren suddenly cried out in pain as if gravely wounded, as though ambushed by someone.
Qin Wujiu's face changed at once, but it was too late to stop him. Cangyan Daoren's voice was already echoing over the silent, deep Venomous Snake Valley; moments later, echoes seemed to rebound from the distance, and faint "ah" sounds were everywhere through the valley.
For the first instant, Venomous Snake Valley seemed startled into a stillness even deeper than before—but only for a moment. Countless clamorous sounds surged up from every corner of the valley, roaring like waves. Countless men who had long been waiting weapons in hand sprang forth; questions, curses, shouts, commands blended into one, turning into an invisible tide that came pouring toward the mourning hall from every direction.
Cangyan Daoren turned his head and smiled, waving at the ashen-faced Qin Wujiu. "Good nephew, your uncle has given you a hand. If one day you manage to sit on the sect master's throne, do not forget today's kindness!" He said no more; his figure blurred, and an instant before Qin Wujiu reached the doorway he flew swiftly into the darkness beyond and vanished.
Qin Wujiu clung to the doorframe, gasping, eyes full of fury. Clearly Cangyan Daoren's sudden move had completely wrecked his careful plans. Around him the noise was now a boiling tumult; the mourning hall was about to be surrounded by the countless men of his three senior brothers. Qin Wujiu stamped his foot hard, made his decision on the spot, and like Cangyan Daoren threw himself into the darkness outside. Moments later his figure was gone.
The next instant, countless Venomous Sect disciples, torches and blades in hand and murder in their hearts, came charging savagely into the Venom God's mourning hall under the leadership of the Venom God's three chief disciples.
And after a moment's silence, furious cries of kill rang out through Venomous Snake Valley under the night sky, sweeping the whole valley in an instant.
The night grew deeper still.
When the rising sun cast its first light upon the earth, Cangyan Daoren, who had slipped unnoticed out of Venomous Snake Valley, was already riding his sword high in the air above a small town four hundred li northeast of the valley. He surveyed the town and its surroundings carefully from the sky, then, as though spotting something, immediately descended toward a small hill north of the town.
The nameless hill was mostly covered in wild maples; seen from the sky it was a single sheet of red, very beautiful. Before the maple grove stood three men and one woman—none other than the King of the Underworld, Mr. Ghost, Ming Li, and You Si.
Seeing Cangsong descend, the King of the Underworld showed a trace of a smile and went to meet him. "Well? Did it go smoothly?"
Cangyan Daoren nodded. "Just as the Sect Master anticipated. Qin Wujiu's injuries have indeed healed, and he has tampered with the box holding the Ten Thousand Venoms Sect master's seal—most likely by placing the Seven-Tailed Centipede inside. Whoever opens that box, so long as Qin Wujiu works it from the shadows, no one can escape the centipede's bite. With the Seven-Tailed Centipede's uncanny venom, the man would most likely be dead on the spot."
The King of the Underworld laughed aloud and turned to Mr. Ghost and the others. "You see? These crude old tricks, used who knows how many times already, and still someone is using them!"