Chapter - 140 Changchun Admits Defeat (10)

Qiu Chu Ji was enraged, thinking: "Fantastic, you're going to take advantage of my precarious situation." Aloud, he retorted: "That's right, now what?"

Zhu Cong continued, "But we also have a small feud with Dragon King Sha. One inept disciple of ours once single-handedly defeated Dragon King Sha's top four disciples. We've also heard that Dragon King Sha and Chief Peng are the fastest of friends. Since we've offended Dragon King Sha, then we've also offended Chief Peng."

"Heh heh, how dare I?" said Peng Lian Hu.

Zhu Cong laughed. "Since Chief Peng and Priest Qiu both have feuds with the 7 Freaks of Jiang Nan, won't you then be on the same side against a common enemy? Haha, what are you still fighting for? Won't Chief Peng and I also be on the same side? Come, let's get to know each other." Zhu Cong stretched out his hand for a handshake.

Having listened to this warped nonsense, Peng Lian Hu thought: "Quan Zhen Sect saved the 7 Freaks' disciple, so they're obviously in it together. I won't fall for your trickery. Want to cheat the antidote from me? Not so easy." Seeing Zhu Cong's outstretched hand, Peng Lian Hu laughed and said: "Splendid!" He tucked his Brush back into his waist and slipped on his Poison Needle Ring.

Startled, Qiu Chu Ji said: "Brother Zhu, be careful."

Zhu Cong ignored this and stretched out his hand. With a slight crook of his little finger, he had hooked down the Poison Needle Ring from Peng Lian Hu's finger. Peng Lian Hu did not realize this and went ahead with the handshake, both parties exerting strength.

Suddenly, a small pain assaulted Peng Lian Hu's palm and he struggled to let go. Raising his hand, he saw three holes in his palm that were much bigger than that of his Poison Needles, with black blood oozing from it. Instead of pain, the wound felt both numb and itchy and the sensation was rather nice. He knew that the more potent the poison, the less painful the wound would be because the numbness would be overpowering. Both angry and frightened, he had no idea how he had fell into this trap.

Looking up, he saw Zhu Cong hiding behind Qiu Chu Ji, holding up an object in each hand. In between two fingers on his left hand was Peng Lian Hu's Poison Needle Ring. In between two fingers on his right, however, was a black object shaped like a chestnut with a sharp tail, and it was stained with blood.

Nicknamed the "Scholar with Nimble Hands", Zhu Cong's skill with his hands was near magical and impossible for any human to detect. To first pick Peng Lian Hu's ring then pierce his palm with the poison caltrops was child's play to him. Fuming, Peng Lian Hu attacked.

Qiu Chu Ji raised his sword and warded off the blow, shouting: "What are you going to do?"

Zhu Cong grinned. "Chief Peng, these poisonous caltrops are my Elder Brother's specialty projectiles. Once you're hit, it doesn't matter if your name is tiger [Peng Lian Hu – 'hu3' means tiger], lion, leopard, pig, dog or any other beast on this earth. You will still not live beyond 4 hours."

"Big Brother Peng, he's insulting you," said Hou Tong Hai.

"You talk too much," Sha Tong Tian reproached. "Do you think Big Brother Peng hasn't realized that?"

Zhu Cong chuckled and quipped: "Good thing Chief Peng has 1000 hands. Allow me to give you a piece of friendly advice – why not chop off this hand that has been poisoned? You'll still be left with 999. It's just that you'll have to alter your nickname a bit to become the 'Butcher with 999 Hands'."

By this time, the numbness had already spread to Peng Lian Hu's wrist. Panic-stricken, he couldn't be bothered with Zhu Cong's taunts. Beads of cold sweat dripped from his forehead.

"You have your poison needles, I have my poison caltrops; these are two completely different poisons that require completely different antidotes. If you can't bear to give up the nickname of "Butcher with 1000 Hands", how about we exchange antidotes?" suggested Zhu Cong. "We're on the same side, after all."

Before Peng Lian Hu could reply, Sha Tong Tian said quickly: "That will do. Hand the antidote over."

Zhu Cong said, "Elder Brother, pass him the antidote." Ke Zheng'E retrieved two small medicine packets from his robes and handed them to Zhu Cong.

"Brother Zhu, don't fall for his trap," warned Qiu Chu Ji. "Let him hand over the antidote first."

Zhu Cong said cheerily, "We are all men of honor, I'm not afraid."

Peng Lian Hu reached into his robes and felt for the antidote, and his expression changed at once. He said in a low voice: "Oh no, the antidote is gone."

Qiu Chu Ji flew into a rage. "Hmph, up to your tricks again! Brother Zhu, don't give it to him."

Zhu Cong laughed. "Take it!" He said. "We said we'd give it to you. The Quan Zhen 7 and the 7 Freaks of Jiang Nan are all men of our words."

Sha Tong Tian knew that Zhu Cong was skilful with his hands. Not wanting to be taken advantage of, he extended his iron stick horizontally. Zhu Cong placed the antidote on the stick and Sha Tong Tian fetched it. Bystanders were all perplexed, not understanding why Zhu Cong gave him the antidote so casually without forcing him to handover his. Suspecting that the antidote was not genuine, Sha Tong Tian said: "The 7 Freaks of Jiang Nan are renowned figures in the pugilistic world. Surely you mustn't use bogus medicine to harm others?"

Zhu Cong laughed, saying: "Of course, of course." He then returned the poison caltrops to Ke Zhen'E and started leisurely fishing out item after item from his robes. There was a handkerchief, some notes, a few pieces of loose silver and a white snuff bottle.

Peng Lian Hu was dumbfounded. "These items are all mine! How did they end up with him?" he thought.

What happened was that Zhu Cong, while using his right hand to shake hands, employed his 'empty magical hands' with his left. As a result, all the items in Peng Lian Hu's robes had long been picked.

Zhu Cong uncorked the snuff bottle. It was divided into 2 compartments; one side contained red powder, the other side contained grey powder. "How is this applied?" he asked.

Though sly and aggressive by nature, Peng Lian Hu's life now hung on a thread and he dared not be crafty. "The red is for consumption, and the grey for topical application."

Zhu Cong said to Guo Jing, "Hurry and fetch some water, and two bowls."

Guo Jing bolted into the inn and fetched 2 bowls of clean water. He gave one bowl to Ma Yu and aided him to drink the antidote. He then applied the grey powder on Ma Yu's palm and was just about to give the other bowl of water to Peng Lian Hu when Zhu Cong said, "Hold it. Give the other bowl to Priest Wang."

Though confused, Guo Jing followed Zhu Cong's instructions and gave the water to Wang Chu Yi. Wang Chu Yi also did not understand, and accepted the bowl of water.

Sha Tong Tian said, "Hey, how is your antidote applied?"

Zhu Cong replied, "Don't be anxious, nobody will die in such a short while." He reached into his robes and took out over 10 packets of herbs.

Guo Jing was delighted. "Yes, yes, that's the medicine for Priest Wang!" He opened all the herb packets and laid them in front of Wang Chu Yi. "Priest Wang, you pick the ones that you need."

Wang Chu Yi recognized the herbs and picked out "Tian Qi", "Xue Xie" and two other herbs. He chewed on them and swallowed with water.