Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Troubles Coming from Due South

From the south side came a rather comical-looking immortal, unlike the other poison cultivators, who carried no trace of truculence and no air of lofty mastery. If anything, he seemed faintly timid. In short, he looked like someone easy to bully, a thoroughly decent fellow.

Seeing Lan Yu thrown at the foot of the steps, he blinked several times before peering eagerly in confusion. “What happened? Weren’t things perfectly fine at the foot of the mountain? Where are the disciples of the Serpent Hall?”

The attendant boy who handled his daily needs could not bear it and leaned in to whisper, “Sect Master, the people from Serpent Hall got the message long ago. They all ran.”

“Why didn’t you say so sooner?” From the south lowered his voice, a flicker of embarrassment appearing on his face.

The boy rolled his eyes. “I’ve told you several times already, and every time it was useless. How can you still say that?”

“Cough. Go see what’s wrong with Lan Yu.” The lad had not fled even now; that counted for loyalty.

What a pity that little poison-hand devil had refused advice. Otherwise none of this disaster would have happened. Just thinking of it made him feel vexed beyond measure. Hidden away in the Mourning Garden for secluded cultivation, he would have been so free and easy. Yet these troublesome repeated prostrations had dragged him to the Central Hall, his own affairs still unresolved when the aggrieved parties had already come knocking.

They had not even settled matters here when Lan Yu ran into trouble as well. From the south could only press a hand to his forehead and sigh over his bitter fate.

The boy went down and tried to speak with Lan Yu, but the man no longer recognized him. He only kept drooling, shivering as he clutched himself, murmuring, “Don’t eat me, don’t eat me... no... insects, bugs... snakes... snakes...”

With no other choice, the boy returned to From the south and said, “Sect Master, it seems he suffered a shock and no longer recognizes anyone.”

From the south shifted deeper into his chair, tucking his hands into his sleeves. “What did he say?”

“Just broken fragments. Something about insects, and snakes.”

At that, he drew in a sharp breath and sank a little farther into the chair, the timid face at last turning solemn.

Suddenly, he looked toward Hu Xihe in the crowd. “Xihe, tell the whole matter again.”

Hu Xihe’s eyes rolled. He looked troubled. “Sect Master, my senior brother’s body is barely cold, and Lan Yu has fallen into such misery. Shouldn’t we summon someone to examine him? Otherwise people will say our Poison Sect grows cold once a man dies, that with Senior Brother gone, no one cares whether Lan Yu lives or dies.”

From the south nodded as though this were entirely reasonable. “You speak truly, but that is not urgent. Why not first tell us exactly what happened that day?”

“This...”

“What? You cannot say? Do you have some hardship?”

“How would I dare? It is simply that seeing Lan Yu like this, I could not bear it for a moment, and my thoughts became confused. I do not know where to begin.”

“No matter. Start wherever comes to mind. If need be, the others can help fill in the gaps. Just speak.”

Hu Xihe knew this time would not be so easy to bluff through. He stole a glance at From the south’s reaction and said, “It is true that my senior brother and I chased after Hua Zhongying, and it is also true that the disciples and fellow sect members of everyone present were there. My brother and I were just about to succeed and force Hua Zhongying into a dead end, when we never expected she would have reinforcements.”

“Oh? Who were they?”

“Perhaps Xihe was too shallowly informed. I have never seen those two. One had wild hair covering the face, and the other spat out a long snake patterned like flowers.”

“What do these two have to do with the deaths of the others?”

Hu Xihe lowered his lashes and glanced back from the corner of his eye. “Everyone may not know this, but my junior brother was actually the first victim. And your disciples or sect members were only harmed after my junior brother had already fallen. I was alone and weak, and in the end could only flee first. After returning to the sect and reporting to the Sect Master, I never imagined that all of you would actually think my Poison Sect had harmed your people. I, Hu Xihe, do not accept that.”

“Hmph, easy words. Those people died under the Nine Refinements Flying Locust. Are we supposed to have wronged you?”

“Wronged, absolutely wronged.” Hu Xihe lowered his head and snapped in anger. “If that is so, are you saying my junior brother killed himself?”

“Then how do you explain the wounds on their bodies?”

“Everyone, you know this as well: my junior brother was the first victim. After his death, the Nine Refinements Flying Locusts would surely have gone out of control. With no master to command them, once they met the slain crowd, naturally they would do things beyond reckoning. This is also the sinister intent of those two men of unknown origin.”

“So by your account, they framed you?”

“No.”

“What do you mean?”

“Xihe believes those two were wolves with ambitions hidden in their bones.”

“How do you know?”

“Just consider this: why did they appear at all? Because of Hua Zhongying. And who is Hua Zhongying? She is a trusted subordinate of the Heart Demon’s chosen son. With that said, can you still not see it?” After Hu Xihe finished, even From the south seated above could not help lifting his head.

He turned slightly and told the boy to take Lan Yu away first and have him settled properly. No matter what, he was still a disciple of the Poison Sect and could not be left unattended.

“Take him down, and then go find Ping Qiu. Have him take a look.”

“Yes.”

The boy responded and withdrew, hoisting Lan Yu up as he twisted away and shot out of the Central Hall as if moving through an empty field.

The crowd was startled, all of them saying that the Poison Sect truly harbored hidden dragons and crouching tigers, even a small boy possessing such cultivation was not to be underestimated.

At once, they also set aside their urge to brawl and shout, willing instead to calm down and discuss a proper way to resolve the matter.

After all, when they arrived, all they had seen were bones strewn across the ground and disordered garments stained with blood. Subjectively speaking, they naturally believed the murderer was Poison Thousand Hands.

Besides, Poison Thousand Hands had always liked to wield poison and commit violence; more or less, they had all suffered losses at his hands.

Yet Hu Xihe spoke so earnestly, and Lan Yu’s words about insects and long snakes happened to corroborate him perfectly. In this, they could not help but take the matter seriously.

If justice could be won for their people, what harm was there in enduring a little more?

Seeing that his purpose had been achieved, Hu Xihe cupped his hands toward From the south and said, “Sect Master, I have finished speaking. If you find it unworthy of belief, then please make your move. I may as well go down and beg forgiveness from Senior Brother as well. If I had not dragged him to hunt down the culprit, how could he have suffered such an unforeseen calamity? It was I, I who harmed him...”

As he spoke, tears shone at the corners of his eyes, and he lifted his sleeve to wipe them away.

From the south remained curled in the chair. “Do you all have any objections?”

“No need for killing. If it came to that, would we not seem like a crowd bullying the few? Still, the Poison Sect must give us an explanation. In any case, the traces of the Nine Refinements Flying Locusts on those remains cannot be false.”

“Indeed. We may set aside Poison Thousand Hands for now, and Hu Xihe as well. But that does not mean we consider the Poison Sect blameless in this matter.”

“Right. Relinquishing vengeance does not mean relinquishing the truth. Since those two possessed such means and even made Hu Xihe witness it with his own eyes, why not have your sect expose the real culprit and give the dead an accounting? Sect Master, what do you think?”

From the south was not angered in the least, as though none of this had been aimed at him. In his mild manner, he asked Hu Xihe, “What say you?”

Hu Xihe nearly bit through his own roots. After all this winding back and forth, From the south was still waiting for exactly this, wanting him to shoulder everything himself.

Of course he did not want that, or he would not have wasted his breath.

But the matter had reached this point; he was already backed against the mountain and had no choice but to agree.

This business, truth be told, was also thanks to the cunning precision of the Three Evils. Under ordinary circumstances, when they acted, nothing would be left at all. Yet that time, Insect and Chang Dai had played a trick, taking only the inside while leaving the outside unharmed. Hu Xihe had succeeded in his scheme and fled at once, thereby giving the two of them their chance.

One man’s scheme meets another’s ladder. Devising tricks is, after all, a matter of mutual courtesy.

So the two of them had come to answer injury with injury, turning the other’s own method against him.

They used a frame-up to break a frame-up, letting the Poison Sect take the first wave of everyone’s rage. As for what would happen afterward, that was outside their concerns.

To put it plainly, if trouble truly arose, they would not be the ones left to bear the burden.

Hu Xihe had no choice. Under everyone’s gaze, he could only grit his teeth and agree. But considering himself no good man, he naturally would not give such a straightforward nod without demanding a price.

“I have already given this matter thought,” he said. “Whether the Sect Master and you all speak of it or not, I, too, will avenge my senior brother. Alas... there is only one point. Hua Zhongying came from the Demon Realm, and now she is a confidante of the Demon’s Chosen Son. Those two saved her, so I suspect they were acting under orders. With such people at the Demon’s side, one can glimpse the strength of the demon world all the more clearly. I speak not because I fear death. But if even a single thing goes awry, I fear it may... provoke a war between the Sea of Desire Heaven and the demon world. If peace between the two lands is shattered because of this, my death will not matter, but I fear I will drag all of you down and make you into sinners before Sea of Desire Heaven.”

When he finished, everyone looked at one another, unable for a time to make up their minds.

At once, the Central Hall fell into a silence so eerie it was frightening.

Each person had their own thoughts, and gradually the crowd split into two camps. One side argued for watching and waiting awhile; the other felt that one who did not avenge a grudge was no true hero.

From the south was pleased to let this unfold. The matter had come too suddenly, and the Poison Sect also needed time to sort out the threads properly. If they rushed and made a hasty decision, a single misstep might land them in some unknown pit.

Seeing the moment was ripe, Hu Xihe said with great sorrow, “Why not let everyone think it over at leisure? I shall first return to Serpent Hall to set up an offering for Senior Brother. If there is a result, send word or come to Floating Boat Mountain. In any case, though I may not be called a hero, I will not flee from this matter.”

With that, he bowed and took his leave.

Back at the eastern courtyard of Serpent Hall, he truly set up a proper mourning hall for Poison Thousand Hands. Who knew whether Poison Thousand Hands, seeing it beneath the earth, might want to crawl back up?

But Hu Xihe was a man of his word. After arranging the mourning hall, he swept his sleeve and changed into mourning clothes, then began kneeling before the hall to burn paper money and funeral texts for Poison Thousand Hands.

When the first wave of those seeking revenge came looking, this was what they saw. They could not help but develop a somewhat different view of Hu Xihe’s character.

They had always said he was both venomous and wild, yet now, even if he was fierce as ever, there still remained three parts of thin, frigid sentiment. It seemed the bond between the two senior and junior brothers had still been decent.

Hu Xihe pretended not to notice their arrival, and while lowering tears he lamented piteously, “Alas, Senior Brother, tragic Senior Brother, I call a hundred times and you do not hear. I thought we had gone together, who could have imagined that now we stand at opposite ends of life and death...”

As he wept in grief, he was so overcome that he could not speak in complete sentences.

This sight inevitably infected the others, and thinking of why they had come, they all covered their faces and cried as well.

Poison Thousand Hands deserved death, but at least Hu Xihe was here to mourn him and set up offerings. By contrast, they were eager for revenge and the truth, and had not even found time to prepare a spirit hall for their dead.

Thinking of that, who would not feel a pang?

When people can travel and cultivate together, affection is never so easily erased.

After the crying subsided, someone stepped forward and said, “Hu Xihe, we have come to discuss revenge. What are your plans? Why not tell us?”

Hu Xihe paused, then rose tremblingly while holding the paper money, wiping his tears as he said, “Have you all really thought this through? Revenge is no easy matter. What we face is the Demon’s Chosen Son, and even the demon world behind her. With even the slightest mistake, we... all become sinners before Sea of Desire Heaven.”

“We understand. Yet a grudge cannot go unavenged. Even if there is guilt, we will bear it.”

“Exactly. Speak quickly—how are we to proceed?”

“Everyone, please accept one bow from Hu Xihe.” With that, Hu Xihe stepped back, straightened his robes, and bent deeply, the motion drawing out a tiny, almost negligible curve at the corner of his mouth.

As his brows lifted, a flash of sharp light passed through his eyes.

“They say a general dies after a hundred battles, while a warrior returns after ten years. With such resolve, how could we not win and return in triumph?”