Chapter 16: Descendant of the Medicine King

When Qian Chen stepped forward to meet Hong Sihai, although he looked a bit tired—as if the recent events and the tragic death of his sworn brother had greatly drained his spirit—even so, Hong Sihai still possessed a composure as if thunder were hidden beneath the nine abysses. This made Qian Chen feel that even if he were dragging a weary body, his strikes would still have the power to shake heaven and earth.

Hong Sihai was like a kind old man, gently saying to Qian Chen, "Little brother, you were the one who cracked the poison placed on the rats today?"

Qian Chen said cautiously, "Reporting to Old Senior Hong, my family's medical books happened to record this poison. It is a strange poison used by the Green Phosphorus Five Poisons Sect of yesteryear called 'Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots'. When the poison first takes effect, all the hair on the body falls out. When it takes effect a second time, the victim will go into a frenzy due to a specific sound and attack all living things within their line of sight!"

"Spirit of Longevity, Divine Monk Chengwu! This is definitely the Si Snake of the Twelve Yuan Chen doing the poisoning," the quick-tongued brothers interjected. "The one flying in the sky today is nine times out of ten the 'Great White Under Heaven, Divine Monk Sichen', and the one tunneling through the earth is definitely the 'Shadow-Seeking, Chasing the Sun Divine Monk'. The Snake, Rooster, and Dog of the Twelve Yuan Chen have all come!"

"The Twelve Yuan Chen have all moved out together; they are bound to stir up monstrous waves in the Wu Lin."

"This time, I'm afraid they are targeting Brother Hong!"

"With so many of us here, are we... are we afraid of a mere group of beasts?" An old beggar on the side, wearing a patchwork robe that was dirty and smelly, with eight broken bags, sneered sarcastically, "Let them come... they won't be able to return, and we will rid the Wu Lin of a great scourge!"

This beggar had one crippled eye, one lame leg, only seven fingers, one deaf ear, and because his tongue was also missing a small part, he spoke with a stutter. Coupled with his hunchback and the poison sores on his face, it was said he was also impotent. He had been tortured by evil people in his childhood, leaving him with these eight disabilities. He was an extremely respected elder of the Beggar Gang, hence he was called the Eight-Disabled Elder.

This person had an extreme temperament and spoke extremely sharply.

The Eight-Disabled Elder sneered at Qian Chen, "I actually think this kid has a problem."

"How powerful is the poison of that Divine Monk Chengwu? Could it be easily cured by a nobody who has just reached adulthood? There are only a handful of people in the Wu Lin with such medical skills," he said, opening his right hand, which only had two fingers left on the stump. "Where could a guy without a master just pop out from?"

"I think either he is blowing hot air, or he is a disciple of Divine Monk Chengwu, sent here to be a mole!"

For a time, everyone cast sidelong glances, just watching coldly. Qian Chen's face flushed red, and he stammered, "You... you are talking nonsense! My family's medical skills were once those of a divine physician; these were all left behind in my ancestor's notes. Because my family abandoned medicine for literature, the family inheritance was lost. I have no interest in an official career, so I take pleasure in studying my ancestor's medical books!"

"I have never heard of a divine physician named Qian!" the Eight-Disabled beggar said disdainfully.

"Because my ancestor lived in anonymity..."

At this moment, Divine Monk Kongming suddenly spoke, "Was your ancestor the Recluse Wanchen?"

Qian Chen opened his mouth wide and said in a daze, "How does the Master know my ancestor's alias, the Medicine King?"

Divine Monk Kongming sighed, "If Benefactor Qian is truly a descendant of the Medicine King, it is reasonable that you could crack the strange poison of Divine Monk Chengwu. According to secret records in our temple, the Medicine King, Recluse Wanchen, once had a feud with the Green Phosphorus Five Poisons Sect. Back then, the Five Poisons Sect had a genius leader who refined a strange divine weapon called the Green Phosphorus Five Poisons. Once used, it was like five grandmasters of the poison path attacking simultaneously."

"The Five Poisons Sect flourished in his hands, and their actions became increasingly secretive, often poisoning entire families and exterminating entire clans. At that time, Recluse Wanchen was just starting out and was a genius of medical Way. Because he was young and arrogant, he saved an expert who had been poisoned by the Five Poisons Sect, which angered them, and they exterminated his entire family."

"In his agony, Recluse Wanchen apprenticed himself to that expert and studied medicine diligently. Finally, twenty years later, when the Five Poisons Sect had incurred the resentment of the Martial Forest and was an enemy of the world, he came out of the mountains to break the Green Phosphorus Five Poisons formation of the sect leader, avenging his entire family. However, it is said that after settling his feud, he was already disheartened and bid farewell to the Martial Forest."

"Because Recluse Wanchen was in such pain over the death of his family, he no longer used his original name."

"This past event has passed for too long, and very few people know about it!"

Qian Chen's tiger body shook, he clenched his fists, his eyes filled with tears, looking extremely aggrieved.

"That still doesn't rule out the possibility that he is a disciple of Divine Monk Chengwu. That snake's origin is a mystery; perhaps it is a descendant of Recluse Wanchen who went astray, or someone from the Green Phosphorus Five Poisons Sect who usurped the name of their own great enemy," the Beggar Gang's Eight-Disabled Elder continued to argue.

"This little brother's detoxification method is not the inheritance of the Green Phosphorus Five Poisons Sect," Divine Monk Kongming explained patiently. "The Five Poisons Sect uses living things for both poisoning and detoxification. I have looked at this little brother's prescription, and it does not have such traces, which shows he is not a disciple of the Five Poisons Sect, but the purest medical learning. As far as I know, Divine Monk Chengwu is indeed a disciple of the Green Phosphorus Five Poisons Sect."

"At this little brother's age, to be able to crack the 'Cutting the Weeds and Digging Up the Roots' poison, the greatest possibility is that he obtained the inheritance of Recluse Wanchen."

What Qian Chen knew about the Medicine King, Recluse Wanchen, naturally came from Qi Qiuzi, the orthodox descendant of the Green Phosphorus Five Poisons Sect.

And the detoxification method, which was completely different from the style of the Five Poisons Sect, was indeed created by Qian Chen himself. He learned poison arts just by looking at the books Qi Qiuzi left behind. Creating a corresponding detoxification method was just a small matter.

Hong Sihai nodded, "With the help of the Medicine King's descendant, our chances of defeating the Twelve Yuan Chen have increased by another point."

"To guard against such villains as the Twelve Yuan Chen, the most difficult thing is poison. With the help of this little brother, the Four Seas Hall is like a tiger with wings. It has removed a great worry from my heart..."

"The junior is shallow in learning..."

Just as Qian Chen was about to be polite, Huang Yuhan suddenly returned, "Old Hall Master, traces of someone breaking in have been discovered." Hong Sihai stood up and said, "The Twelve Yuan Chen are sinister and cunning, check carefully."

Huang Yuhan reported, "My subordinates have locked onto his tracks; he must be between the Bing and Ding defense zones, and I am arranging for my subordinates to investigate. The Dog Group disciples at the fourth post of the Gui zone were all killed, and they didn't even have time to send a signal. It was only after an incense stick of time that the dispatch discovered something was wrong and sent an action team to search and discover it."

"My subordinates have already sent experts to surround the area, and others are acting according to the system. I came this time to ask the Hall Master to send a few experts to assist, so as not to have too many casualties among the disciples in the hall, causing loopholes in the defense line." ===== CHAPTER 17 =====