Chapter 13: Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots

"What a big mouth, what an arrogant person!"

The red-faced man said in a rage, "I'd like to see, while the heroes of the righteous path of the Wu Lin are all gathered here, who exactly has such guts. Since he failed to poison these rats just now, then he will never be able to poison them. My Four Seas Hall intends to keep them, let's see who dares to leave no chicken or dog alive in our Four Seas Hall!"

The red-faced man's words were resonant and forceful, yet Master Tang Da said, "Old Huang, you've spoken too soon!"

"I cannot cure this poison... go find someone else!" Having said this, he turned and left.

The red-faced man instructed his subordinates, "Go invite the various poison experts and divine physicians, and go ask if the divine physician Qi Qiuzi has arrived yet. Also, catch all these rats..." After saying this, he walked toward Qian Chen, a kind smile appearing on his face. "This little brother must be the one who just pointed out that the rat pack was poisoned, right?"

"May I ask how to address you, little brother?"

The red-faced man patted Qian Chen on the shoulder affectionately. Qian Chen looked shy and said, "My name is Qian Chen, I'm just a nobody."

"Haha... Brother Qian is a nobody now, but in the future, you will surely be famous throughout the four seas. From today on, Brother Qian is no longer a nobody. I wonder, how did you manage to see through this poison, Brother Qian?"

Qian Chen seemed not to notice the hidden suspicion in the red-faced man's eyes and said excitedly, "I have family-inherited medical skills; I noticed something was wrong at a glance. This is the 'Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots' poison from the Green Phosphorus Five Poisons Sect of yesteryear. He placed the poison on the lice; the itchier the rats were from the lice bites, the more they would rub against each other, and thus the poison quickly spread to all the rats."

"These rats were driven by the poison to flee the Four Seas Hall. When 'Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots' took effect, their fur shed, and at that moment, the lice fell off along with the fur, causing the clues to the poisoning to vanish. At the same time, because everyone was only paying attention to the hairless rats, they would overlook the rat fur... that was his true killer move."

"His real goal was to have everyone present infected with the deadly 'Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots' poison. When he has a need for it, he can make anyone go mad and kill!"

Upon hearing Qian Chen's words, everyone at the entrance of the Four Seas Hall acted as if they had gone mad. They frantically stripped off their clothes, clawed at their bodies searching for lice, and grabbed at their hair to pull it out.

For a time, the entrance of the Four Seas Hall became a sea of yellow, white, and black skin and flesh-colored bodies. The citizens of Linhai City watched in a daze as everyone at the entrance of the famous Four Seas Hall stripped themselves naked like roasted pigs.

The red-faced man's expression was also ugly. He endured the phantom pain of itching on his body and began to value Qian Chen even more.

Qian Chen, however, asked in surprise, "Why are they taking off their clothes?"

"Because they are afraid of being poisoned!" the red-faced man cursed internally. "I'm afraid of being poisoned too! Damn it, why did I have to care about face? I can't move..."

Qian Chen seemed to snap out of it and realized, "Oh! When I discovered the poison was 'Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots,' I figured everything out, so I put insecticide in the rat fur, which has already cut off the transmission process of 'Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots'." Upon hearing this, everyone finally let out a sigh of relief. Someone cursed, "Damn it, why didn't you say so earlier, kid?"

The red-faced man said loudly, "Enough! How can you speak to a savior like that?" He cupped his fists at Qian Chen and said, "Many thanks, little brother, for saving us all."

"I wonder when you applied the insecticide, little brother? I didn't even see it."

"Where would I carry insecticide on me!" Qian Chen laughed. "I just borrowed the poison from the person who poisoned them. He was the one who used an insecticidal poison, which is why so many flies and bedbugs died. This kind of insecticide is the only one that can't kill lice, but I added one ingredient—a medicinal fragrance. With this ingredient, the lice could no longer be immune to that insecticidal poison and were naturally poisoned to death as well."

Qian Chen untied the scent sachet from his waist and handed it to the red-faced man, saying, "I used this medicinal fragrance to stimulate the toxicity of the insecticide, which is why wherever I went, the lice died off one after another."

"Just now, when I walked into the rat pack, I had already completed the detoxification process."

The red-faced man sniffed the sachet and indeed smelled a rich medicinal fragrance. He became more cautious, took the sachet, and said to Qian Chen, "Little brother is truly an honored guest of our Four Seas Hall, please, come in..."

The red-faced man personally welcomed Qian Chen into the hall, with every courtesy being extremely thorough. Qian Chen put on an act of being flustered and unable to refuse such hospitality, looking green and extremely embarrassed. The red-faced man laughed heartily, "Today, little brother is an honored guest of our Four Seas Hall. If anyone dares to slight you, tell your brother, and I will skin them alive... I wonder if little brother has any way to cure this 'Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots' poison and save the face of our Four Seas Hall."

"If you can save my face, brother, there will definitely be a reward!"

"I have seen a few prescriptions in my family's medical books; if the medicinal ingredients are complete, I can try," Qian Chen said, blushing and stammering.

After the introduction, Qian Chen learned that this red-faced man was named Huang Yuhan, and he was the Hall Master of the East Sea Hall, one of the four halls—East, West, South, and North—of the Four Seas Hall. He was also Hong Sihai's head steward, responsible for all internal affairs of the Four Seas Hall's main headquarters.

In the Wu Lin, he could be considered a person of high position and great power, but he rarely took action himself, so his martial arts level was impossible to estimate.

Entering from the main gate of the Four Seas Hall, Qian Chen finally understood what "imposing atmosphere" meant. Countless open and hidden sentries guarded the Four Seas Hall so tightly that not even water could leak through. Because of the recent incident, everyone was even more alert, and their killing intent was increasingly sharp. Huang Yuhan led Qian Chen through the inner hall, along a corridor, and arrived at a side hall.

"This side hall is used for storing medicine within the hall. Although it is not the official inner treasury, it has a complete variety of medicinal ingredients."

"Little brother, can you take a look and see what ingredients are missing?"

Qian Chen pushed the door open and was startled by the opulence of the Four Seas Hall. The side hall was filled with paulownia wood shelves, and large quantities of precious medicinal ingredients were piled up on the shelves as if they were worthless. Qian Chen even smelled a faint musty odor due to poor preservation. He acted like a medical fanatic, eagerly stepping forward to rummage through the boxes containing the precious medicines.

"This is Kirin Blood Dragon's Blood produced overseas!"

"There is also Dragon Brain, Kirin Toe... why has this Jade Poria gone bad!"

"Little brother, feel free to choose whatever ingredients you need to prepare the medicine," Huang Yuhan laughed. Qian Chen did not stand on ceremony, picking up various precious ingredients and asking for another hairless rat. Soon, he prepared a decoction. After feeding the rat a dose, the rat kicked its legs and indeed died. Huang Yuhan laughed heartily, not minding at all, and offered even more precious ingredients.

After Qian Chen had "cured" three rats to death, he finally prepared a decoction. After feeding it to the rat, although it was on its last breath, it stubbornly survived. ===== CHAPTER 14 =====