Chapter - 451 Will the Encounter While Lion-slaying Cause a Calamity? (7)

The surnamed Shou contemplated the options in his mind. In the end he decided that returning to their mountain was safer; thereupon he said, "I will follow Qin Wuge's instruction; let me return to the mountain and give report to Shifu." Straightaway both of them turned around to leave.

Zhao Min moved slightly and groaned lightly twice. Qin and Shou two people were startled. Turning their heads around they saw Zhao Min were moving. This time they looked carefully and saw that she was a woman.

"Who is this woman?" Qin Laowu was surprised. He walked into the room. Although the one surnamed Shou was a coward, seeing that it was a woman, a seriously wounded woman, he gathered up his courage and followed in.

Qin Laowu reached down to pull Zhao Min's shoulder. Zhang Wuji coughed and sat up. He took a meditation position with his eyes half open. Qin and Shou two people were extremely shocked to see him suddenly sit up, with his face full of blood and a terrifying appearance.

"Not good!" the surnamed Shou cried out, "It's a zombie. This corpse … this corpse is haunted by a ghost. Qin Wuge must … must be careful." He hastily jumped on top of the bed.

"Bad zombie!" Qin Laowu called out, "The one surnamed Qin is not afraid of you." Lifting up his saber, he ferociously hacked it down on the top of Zhang Wuji's head.

Zhanh Wuji had been ready with two Sheng Huo Ling tablets in his hands. As soon as the saber hacked down, he raised his tablets and placed them on top of his head. 'Bang!' the saber hacked the Sheng Huo Ling and immediately bounced back and smashed Qin Laowu's brain that he died immediately.

The one surnamed Shou was holding a saber in his hand, but he was trembling all over; how could he dare to slash it on Zhang Wuji's body? Zhang Wuji was waiting for him to attack, so that his Jiu Yang Zhen Qi might strike him dead.

Zhao Min saw that the surnamed Shou was not moving for a long time; she was getting anxious, "This coward is scared out of his wits and does not dare to make his move. If he throws his saber away and run out, how can we stop him?" She saw his teeth were chattering, and then 'clank!' his saber fell down from his grip.

"Chop me if you dare," Zhang Wuji said, "Strike me with your fist."

"Xiao … Xiao De [little/lowly one] don't have any guts," he replied, "Don't … don't dare to fight Laoye [old master]."

"Kick me, then," Zhang Wuji said

The man replied, "Xiao De … Xiao De do not dare even more."

"You are such a useless man [orig. 'nong2 bao1' – wrapping cloth of boiled wound], you'd better be dead," Zhang Wuji indignantly said, "Quickly chop me once or twice. If I see that your strength is not bad, I might spare your life."

"Yes, yes!" the man scrambled to pick up his saber. He took a glance on the wretched condition of the smashed skull of Qin Laowu, and thought that this zombie's magical power was superior, so it would be better for him to ask for mercy. Hence, he knelt down immediately and knocked his head on the floor, "Laoye have mercy! You have died an unjust death. It has nothing to do … nothing to do with Xiao Ren [little/lowly man]. Please don't … don't take revenge on Xiao Ren's life."

Listening to him addressing Zhang Wuji as a dead man, Zhao Min was angry. "Humph," she snorted, "I am surprised in the Wulin world there is this kind of peon with no future."

"Yes, yes!" that man said, "Xiao De has no future, no future. I am only a peon, only a peon."

The more he did not dare to act, the more Zhang Wuji was baffled. Suddenly he had an idea. "Come here!" he barked.

"Yes!" that man hastily replied. He crawled several steps forward, still in kneeling position.

Zhang Wuji stretched out his arms and placed his thumbs on that man's eyeballs. "I'll dig out your eyeballs first!" he roared.

In his great shock, without thinking that man raised his hands to ward off Zhang Wuji's arms with all his strength. Zhang Wuji was expecting this push; borrowing this strength, he slid his arms downward and sealed the 'shen feng' [lit. divine seal ('seal' as in official 'seal' on a letter)] and 'bu lang' [lit. walking/pacing porch] acupoints on his chest.

The man's entire body went numb and he slid down to the floor. "Laoye have mercy! Laoye have mercy!" he loudly cried, "Turns out Laoye is not a zombie. That's very good! Then … then you have even more reasons to spare my life." By now he was prostrating right in front of Zhang Wuji, after looking clearly that the other party was a living person.

Zhao Min realized that Zhang Wuji sealed the acupoints using a borrowed strength, but the sealing force was really too small. He could only immobilize that man's limbs for a short time; that man's strength was not completely gone. In less than an hour, the sealed acupoints would be opened; and then they would be in trouble. She also knew that there were so many questions she would like to ask him, so obviously they could not kill him yet.

"Your fatal acupoints have been sealed by this Master," she said, "When you take a deep breath, you feel a dull pain deep in the side of your left chest, don't you?"

Following her words, he took a deep breath and did feel pain on the muscle and bones of his left chest. Actually, it was the natural reaction when the flow of 'qi' and the blood was stopped momentarily; but that man did not know, so he wailed and cried for mercy even louder.

"Do you want to save your life?" Zhao Min asked, "I must use a golden needle to unseal the fatal acupoints. But it won't be easy."

The man kowtowed and said, "Miss, no matter the difficulty, you must save me. Even if Xiao Ren has to become an ox or a horse, I will still implore you."

Zhao Min smiled sweetly and said, "This is the first time I ever see a Jianghu character like you. All right, go find a brick and come back here."

"Yes, yes!" that man busily said. Stumbling out to the courtyard, he picked a brick and walked back.

"What do you need the brick for?" Zhang Wuji said in a low voice.

Zhao Min smiled mysteriously, "I have an ingenious idea."

With a brick in his hand, that man respectfully walked in. Zhao Min pulled a golden hairpin from her hair and placed the hairpin on that man's 'que pen xue' [lit. empty basin acupoint] on his shoulder. She said, "I am going to use this golden needle to unseal the blood vessels on the upper part of your body first, so that the deathly 'qi' from the fatal acupoint will not flow into your brain. If that happens, you are beyond help. But I don't know whether this Master is willing to spare your life or not."

That man looked at Zhang Wuji with a piteous face. Zhang Wuji nodded. That man jubilantly said, "This Daye [grand master] has agreed. Miss, please start immediately."

"Hmm, are you afraid of pain?" Zhao Min said.

"Xiao Ren only fears death, I don't fear pain," the man replied.

"Very well!" Zhao Min said, "Use the brick to tap this golden needle in."

That man knew that inserting the golden needle into his shoulder would mean his skin and flesh would be injured. But without wrinkling his brows, he lifted up the brick and struck the tail of the hairpin.