Chapter 11 - Hanging Punishment

Ma Rulong was startled. How could there be poison in the wine? Who poisoned it? Was it possible that Xiaowan had learned that Qiu Fengcheng would kill her so she decided to poison the wine first? Ma Rulong drank from the same wine pot. Right now Qiu Fengcheng got poisoned to death, why didn't he feel anything?

There were so many questions, and all of them were complicated. Besides, things happened so sudden. His mind was in turmoil, and he couldn't even answer even the simplest questions. Right now, the smartest thing to do was to leave this place immediately. It was very much posssible that this was a well-engineered plan to trap him. He'd already thought this much. What a pity that while he was thinking, he'd already been trapped. The plan was precise and venomous. No matter who fell into this trap, he wouldn't be able to escape.

There were four lamps in this room, four extremely expensive Persian crystal lamps. Expensive things were things of quality. Even these lamps fell to the floor, they wouldn't break. The four lamps were placed nicely and firmly on a table.

Suddenly a 'bo' sound was heard, and the lamp shades cracked. Lights flickered.

At that very moment, Ma Rulong felt an enormous wave of pressure crushing down on him from all sides. His heart thumped hard and fast. His breath almost stopped. His nose bled profusely, and he could taste blood in his throat. His eyeballs felt like they would pop out. He nearly passed out. But in his daze this strange and frightening pressure vanished as four people appeared in the room. The first man he saw was the merciless monk, who had no heart nor emotions.

Since the merciless monk had arrived, of course Feng Chaofan was also here. The third person was a very skinny monk with dark complexion, like an ascetic monk who practiced self-torture. And although he was wearing a gray, ragged monk robe that had been repaired over and over again, he was holding a string of priceless jade beads.

The last person was a taoist in a broad-sleeved robe, wearing hemp sandals with no socks. He had a bun on top of his head, and his skin was glowing white, making him look like a figure carved from white jade. He made a sharp contrast with that harsh-looking ascetic monk.

The four people had come in from four directions, and preceding them was their inner energy, which had been cultivated over decades. These people sent out their energy to block Ma Rulong's escape routes and prevent his attack.

They'd used this ultimate measure against Ma Rulong because they were certain that he would do anything to escape.

Just now, when their energy had struck him, the forces from the east and west were far more formidable than those coming from the north and south. Coming from the east side was that ascetic monk, and the jade taoist arrived at the scene from the west wing. The two people possessed inner energy that was even more powerful than that of the world-famous merciless monk.

Ma Rulong didn't have to see them to know who they were.

The Buddhist name of the ascetic monk was 'Chiku' (enduring hardships). He had indeed endured a great many hardships. He had traveled to India but he certainly didn't go there to seek Buddhist scriptures. Instead, he'd roamed the land in search of Bhuddhist mysterious kungfu. No doubt, his trip hadn't been in vain.

And the jade taoist was the former 'One Sword Without Hindrance,' who had shaken Jianghu years ago. All the world's heroes trembled in fear of him, and all the beautiful ladies gave their hearts to Young Master Yu (jade).

Having seen the four people, Ma Rulong's heart sank. Certainly, there was nobody in the world who could run away from them, and nobody could rescue someone from their cluthes either. Such was an uncontestable fact.

The lights hadn't been blown out. This was because they didn't want them extinguished. When these people felt like doing something, they definitely would and could do it. If not, nobody could ever force them to act. It looked as if they didn't see Ma Rulong because their eyes were fixed on Qiu Fengcheng.

Qiu Fengcheng had already stopped breathing, and the wine pot and cups were all turned upside down and scattered on the floor. Monk Chiku picked them up and sniffed. Then, like a sharp blade, cold lights flashed in that pair of deep-set eyes. He'd followed Tang Sanzang(1)'s westward route to India, and this path was certainly not easy to travel on. While he was passing through barren mountains, wild rivers, and forest swamps, everything was fatally poisonous -- poisonous insects, poisonous snakes, poisonous flowers, and poisonous plants. He'd seen almost all poisons in the world and, in this regards, he was almost as good as the Hundred Herbs Shen Nong.(2)

Although the merciless monk had been a man of religion for many years, his impetuous temperament didn't change at all.

Unable to bear it, he asked, "How is he?"

Monk Chiku said nothing and shut his eyes. The merciless monk became even more anxious.

If Monk Chiku couldn't figure out what poison Qiu Fengcheng had drunk, certainly there was no one else in the world who would know. Fortunately, Monk Chiku finally spoke.

"There is no poison in the wine jug."

"Where is the poison then?"

"In his last cup."

"What poison is it?"

"It's the 'Autumn Worm Powder' made from three kinds of poisonous herbs – Qianji, Duanchang, and Xiaohun."

"How do you know?"

"This kind of poison is colorless and tasteless. It works best in wine because with wine the poison will manifest itself real quick."

"How quick?"

"The poison acted as soon as it went down his throat. And when it reached his intestines, he would be just like an autumn worm."

"Then the poison in his body was already in effect."

"So the poison had to be in that last cup of wine."

"Can he be saved?"

"One doesn't always have to die from this poison. If we are fast enough, the poison can be detoxified."

"Can you do it?"

"I can't but he can."

Monk Chiku turned his head to look at the jade taoist. He said, "Nobody in the world knows poisons better than I do but when it comes to treating poisons, I'm not as good as you."

The jade taoist asked, "How do you know you aren't as good as me?"

Monk Chiku replied, "Because you were a fickle lover, I was not."

The jade taoist smiled. He had no choice but to concede the point. Since he turned sixteen, nobody knew how many women had tried to kill him with poison. This was because he had loved too much, and he'd been indiscriminate. Because he was too adorable, and they couldn't let him go. Because they all knew that they had to poison him to death. If not, sooner or later his mind would change. His being poisoned regularly turned out to be good because he finally became familiar with the substances.

How could he not know how to treat poisons?

Monk Chiku said, "If he doesn't know to treat this poison, the man here is already dead."

Merciless monk asked, "If he can't treat this autumn worm poison, is there anybody else who can?"

This time the jade taoist answered the question himself. He said, "No."

Ma Rulong finally understood. This was not just a trap. It was a rope, a rope that would be used to hang him. The poison was in that last cup of wine. By the time Qiu Fengcheng drank his last cup, Xiaowan had already died so she couldn't possibly be the poisoner. But if Qiu Fengcheng poisoned himself, who would believe that he did so?"

And so, Ma Rulong was of course the poisoner.

Qiu Fengcheng was poisoned in the exact same way Shen Hongye and Du Qinglian were. Undoubtedly, the poison in the wine jug at the Winter Plum Valley was this Autumn Worm Powder.

And so, the poisoner at that time was also Ma Rulong.

Qiu Fengcheng had earlier known that the merciless monk and the party would come. He'd already known that he would be saved. Therefore, he poisoned the wine.

He'd told Ma Rulong just now that he was the real culprit but there was no one other than Ma Rulong who had heard his admission. Nobody in the world would ever believe that he could implicate himself. And so even if Ma Rulong told people the truth, nobody would believe him.

And since people thought that Ma Rulong was the one who poisoned Qiu Fengcheng, they would also believe that he'd strangled Xiaowan to death. They wouldn't investigate why he had to kill Xiaowan. Would there still be anything that a murderer like him couldn't do?

All killers had to die. As of now, Ma Rulong had already been sentenced to hang.

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(1)Tang Sanzang AKA Tang Seng AKA Tang monk = that monk in 'Journey to the West'

(2)Shen Nong – An emperor in Chinese history who tried a hundred herbs himself to test their effects so he could help people.