Chapter - 256 The Underground Old Lady (10)

Qiu Qianchi glanced at them and continued, "After a while Gongsun Zhi arrived; there is no need to describe the panicky state he was in when he saw Rou'er rolling about and crying out in pain in the Passion Flowers. I leaped out from behind the tree and held him with my two hands then threw him down into the thicket as well. The valley has an antidote to the Passion Flower poison that had been passed down from generation to generation; it is called the Passionless Pill. Gongsun Zhi struggled and picked himself up; he then helped that slut off the ground and rushed to the pill room, wanting to get the Passionless Pill to cure their poison. Ha-ha, guess what they saw?"

Lu E said, "Mother, what did they see?"

Yang Guo thought, "You must have destroyed all the Passionless Pills; what else could it be?"

Qiu Qianchi did indeed say, "Ha-ha, when he got to the room, he saw a bowl filled with frosty arsenic water and hundreds of Passionless Pills soaking in the bowl. If he wanted to take the Passionless Pill he would have to take in the poison of the frosty arsenic water; if he didn't take it, he would still die. The method of producing the Passionless Pill is a family secret. It is extremely difficult to get all the precious herbs and medicines to produce them. To make a batch of Passionless Pills requires the spring dew and autumn frost; it will take three years to make. He then rushed to the meditation chamber and begged on his knees for their lives. He knew that I would muse over on our marriage and wouldn't destroy all the pills, keeping some just in case. He struck himself across the face many times; he cried and swore that if I spared the two them he would send Rou'er away and never see her again. And he said he would never dare to do such a thing again."

"As I heard him beg, his mouth kept on talking about Rou'er. I was angry and took out a Passionless Pill and put it on the table. I said, 'There is only one Passionless Pill left. Only one of you can live. You know that it would be of no use if you each take half. You decide whether you want to save her or save yourself.' He immediately took the pill with him and hurried to the pill room. I followed after him. By that time, the bitch was in unbearable pain and was rolling about on the floor.

Gongsun Zhi said, 'Rou'er, go in peace. I'll follow you in death.' He then drew out a sword.

When Rou'er saw how loving he was, she was extremely touched and said, 'Good, good. We'll be a husband and wife in the underworld.'

Gongsun Zhi pierced her chest with the sword and killed her.

"I was outside the pill room looking in through the window and was slightly alarmed, I was afraid that the second move will go for his throat. When he raised the sword, I was about to call out to him to stop; but then I saw him wiping the blood away from his sword on Rou'er's body before putting the sword back into it's sheath. He turned to the window and said, 'Sister Chi, I'm willing to repent; I've killed that bitch with my own hands, just spare me." He lifted his hand towards his mouth and swallowed the Passionless Pill. This wasn't something that I had expected, but since it had ended this way and he was repenting sincerely, I was very pleased. He then planned a feast to apologize to me. I scolded him for awhile and he kept on saying that he deserved to die and he swore hundreds of poisonous oaths, saying that he would never betray me again."

Yang Guo thought, "You're falling into his trap!"

However Lu E was in tears.

Qiu Qianchi said angrily, "What? You pity that bastard?"

Lu E shook her head and didn't say anything. She was actually crying at her father's cruelty and heartlessness.

Qiu Qianchi continued, "I drank two cups of wine and chuckled; I then took out another Passionless Pill from my pockets and placed it on the table. I laughed, 'You might have acted a bit too fast; I was just testing what kind of person you were. If you had begged for just a little while longer I would have given two pills to you. You would have been able to save the life of that little beauty, wouldn't that have been great?"

Lu E quickly asked, "Mother, if he actually did beg you for a little while longer, would you have given him two pills?"

Qiu Qianchi thought for a while and said, "I don't know. At that time, the thought of saving that slut passed through my mind. If I saved her and sent her away, then Gongsun Zhi would have been touched by this and might have actually come back to me, not daring to do such things again. But all he cared about was his life and he quickly killed his own lover. That can't be blamed on me."

"Gongsun Zhi picked up the Passionless Pill and looked at it for a long while before he raised his cup and laughed, 'Sister Chi, that's in the past, why bring it up? It's better to kill that girl and tie things up neatly. Let's drink.' I was slightly suspicious when he kept on telling me to drink but I was feeling great and joyful and actually became quite drunk. By the time I woke up, I was already down in this grotto and the tendons in my arms and legs had been destroyed by him. That bastard did not have the guts to see me again. Huh, he must have thought that I'd died long ago."

When she finished talking about this, her eyes suddenly developed a fierce light and her expression was terrifying. Yang Guo and Lu E both turned away, not daring to look her in the eye. The three of them didn't say a single word for a long, long time.

Lu E took a look around and all saw that the only things in the cave were rocks, hair and grass; she said somberly, "Mother, have you been relying on these dates only for all these years?"

Qiu Qianchi said, "Yes. Do you think that bastard would send me food?"

Lu E hugged her and cried, "Mother!"

Yang Guo said, "Has Gongsun Zhi ever mentioned an exit to this grotto?"

Qiu Qianchi chuckled, "He never mentioned that there was such a grotto and pool beneath the manor in all the years we were married. If there was another exit, that bastard would not have put me here. He put those crocodiles in the pool afterwards; he was still afraid that that I would somehow manage to get out."

Yang Guo looked around and saw that indeed there was no other way out apart from the entrance. He lifted his head and looked at the hole in the grotto roof. It was at least a thousand feet off the ground, the tallest tree down there was just forty or fifty feet tall, even if twenty of them were stacked together they would not reach the roof. He thought for a while but couldn't come up with anything. He then said, "I'll take a look from the top of the tree." He then leapt on top of a date tree and saw that there were bumps and grooves higher up the stone walls; it wasn't like down below where it was all smooth and slippery. He then climbed up along the wall and was getting higher and higher; he was pleased and turned back to Lu E and called out, "Miss Gongsun, if I can get out I'll let a rope down and get both of you out."