Volume Two – The General’s Tomb Chapter Ten – Master of the Thousand Poisons Hall

The old man had already noticed our arrival when Li Kun and I came in, and he was somewhat surprised that we had managed to survive for so long. Now, seeing that we still had the strength to resist, he simply sat at the doorway and watched the spectacle unfold.

When the old man saw us about to break out, he smiled and leisurely opened the door. After he blew that short whistle made of bamboo, Li Kun and I witnessed something astonishing: the poisonous insects surrounding us began to slowly retreat, and the corpse-eating ants in front of me withdrew like a receding tide.

We both stared in shock, marveling inwardly at what was happening. Glancing at the earthen walls on either side, I couldn't help but wonder just how thick these walls were to conceal so many corpse-eating ants and venomous scorpions.

Li Kun whispered to me, “Goodness, this old man is something else. He just blew his whistle and all those creatures crawled back.”

No sooner had he spoken than Li Kun felt a sharp pain in his hand. He hurriedly shook his hand and tossed his padded jacket aside. It turned out his jacket had almost completely burned away during the ordeal, with only one sleeve left.

Li Kun pursed his lips, glanced at the ruined jacket, then turned to the old man and said, “Hey, old man, you owe me a new jacket!”

I quickly grabbed Li Kun, signaling for him to keep quiet.

But Li Kun showed no fear of the old man and continued on, “If I hadn’t burned my jacket, both of us would be dead right now. Don’t think I have to be polite just because you’re old. We’re not made of clay, you know.”

I hissed at him under my breath, “Li!”

The old man, however, only laughed and, standing in the doorway, said, “You’re certainly bold, young man. I’ve been here for more than thirty years, and no one has dared speak to me like that.”

With that, the old man lifted his left hand and reached once more for the bamboo whistle hanging at his chest.

Seeing that he might summon those poisonous insects again, I quickly bowed and said, “Please forgive my friend’s rudeness, elder. I beg your indulgence.”

To my surprise, the old man nodded approvingly at me. “You’re not bad, boy! Ha ha.”

The old man then turned around and said slowly, “You two youngsters must have come to see me for a reason. Come inside and speak.”

Li Kun and I exchanged a glance before walking toward the entrance of the Hall of a Thousand Poisons.

As we reached the doorway, we peered inside, and what met our eyes left us utterly stunned.

The furnishings were sparse. Around the room, rows of wooden shelves lined the walls, and two more rows stood in the center. Upon these shelves stood countless glass jars, densely packed.

Each jar was filled with a viscous liquid, but what truly shocked us was that every jar contained a poisonous insect about the size of a fist.

Swallowing hard, Li Kun muttered, “Liu, have we wandered into a museum? Are these jars all specimens?”

I approached a giant jar over a meter tall. Inside was a colossal insect, also over a meter in height.

Its entire body was snow-white and slender, with four sharp, long legs protruding from its sides. A thick, white carapace covered its body and head, and at the end of its tail was a long, hooked barb. It looked like a giant armored scorpion.

But its mouth was filled with rows of backward-curved, razor-sharp teeth. Anyone bitten by this creature would surely suffer shattered bones and torn tendons.

Its jet-black eyes, each the size of a child’s fist, were fixed intently on us.

Thinking it was dead, I leaned in for a closer look.

Suddenly, the massive white insect lunged, jaws gaping, straight at my face.

I stumbled back in fright, while Li Kun snatched up a nearby chair, ready to smash the jar should anything go wrong.

At that instant, we heard a dull thud—the giant insect had crashed into the glass. Yet the jar remained unscathed.

I was startled by the sturdiness of the glass, and Li Kun, standing beside me, exclaimed, “My goodness, this jar is tough! That beast crashed into it, and not even a crack!”

Just then, the old man’s voice drifted over, “The insect before you is called the Long Ridge Scorpion. It’s my treasure. I went through hell and high water to catch it in the desert—don’t let it escape.”

Hearing this, we turned to look at the old man. We hadn’t gotten a good look at him before, as he’d been too far away. Now, seated on a wooden chair beside a massive rosewood table cluttered with bottles and jars, he was pouring a viscous liquid into a glass container, inside which sat a spider as large as a man’s palm.

We stepped up to him. He wore a plain hemp robe, stood about one meter sixty, and though his figure was a bit thin, his back was perfectly straight. His head was undecorated, his long hair tied up with a single hairpin in the style of a Taoist priest.

We had imagined this mysterious old man as fierce and menacing. But seeing him now, we realized how wrong we’d been. The elder before us was kindly and gentle-faced, not at all like the master of the Hall of a Thousand Poisons.

Seeing us stand there, dumbfounded, he chuckled, “What’s the matter? Surprised at how I look?”

I quickly bowed and said, “Thank you, elder, for showing us mercy just now.” Li Kun, ever proud, nonetheless followed suit with a bow, for he too knew this was not a man to provoke.

The old man smiled and said, “You’re a clever one, boy.”

He set down the bottle on the rosewood table and turned to me, saying, “Young man, I see you’re both skilled and quick-witted. How about becoming my apprentice and learning the art of insect mastery?”