Between the period of 960-1127, Northern Song Dynasty is at war with the Liao dynasty. Three sworn brothers; Xiao Feng, Duan Yu, and Xuzhu join forces to bring what's right and just in the martial world. The three of them each have their own char...
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He mused sadly: If I were to die like this, wouldn't I look ugly? My corpse would have a gaping mouth, would I become an idiot ghost or a hungry one in future? Fortunately, there is one good news amongst all this bad ones: When Miss Mu sees my grotesque corpse with my mouth wide open and my naked bottom, she might vomit at the ugly sight. Perhaps she might think less about me after my death. This would be better for her health.
Three thunderous 'Jiang-ang' growls reverberated noisily in the air. Then, came the sounds of pu pu pu. Something leaped out of the tall grasses.
Duan Yu froze, dreadfully. Aiyo! The King of all Poisons, the "Venomous Crimson Bullfrog" is here! Those two men said the moment one sees this creature, his or her own body immediately gets dissolved into a thick pool of blood. What am I going to do?
And then he thought, What a silly blockhead I am. Given a choice between turning into a thick pool of blood and dying as a corpse with a wide mouth and a naked bottom, which would be preferable? Definitely the former.
'Jiang-ang' noises echoed continually in the air; the newcomer has arrived at Duan Yu's right. Duan Yu was unable to look at it as his neck bones had stiffen so badly he couldn't even turn his head; he could only await his fate: to dissolve into a pool of blood.
Pu sounds were made again; fortunately for Duan Yu, the creature suddenly leapt at the direction where the marten Lightning was instead.
No words could describe Duan Yu's astonishment as the creature came into view. It was only a toad – a very tiny one. It couldn't have been longer than two cun*. Its body gleamed a crimson bloodlike colour from top to bottom and a golden aura radiated off its sparkling, glimmering eyes.
It opened its mouth wide; the flabby skin underneath its neck vibrated ferociously. A thunderous croak projected – the 'Jiang-ang' noise he has once compared to that of a buffalo's growl. It was incredible how a tiny little creature like that could produce such a sonorious cry. If not for the fact that the creature was right before his very eyes, Duan Yu would never have believed such a phenomenon existed.
He thought inwardly, No wonder it is called the 'Venomous Crimson Bullfrog'. Its growl resembles a bull's; its body crimson all over; there can't be a better name to describe it. Even so, there must be a mistake going on regarding the rumour going on about dissolving into a pool of blood upon seeing it. Furthermore, the name 'Venomous Crimson Bullfrog' was surely coined by one who has seen it before. How can a pool of blood think of such a suitable name?
Upon seeing the Bullfrog, the Lightning marten seemed to look slightly apprehensive. It turned his head as if to run, yet it dared not. In an instant it leapt into the air. The Bullfrog widened its mouth, projecting a thunderous 'Jiang-ang' growl, and a faint spray of scarlet mist shot towards Lightning.
Lightning happened to be in mid-air at the time; as the mist struck it, the marten somersaulted into the air and plunged towards the ground. Then suddenly, it pounced forward and sank its teeth into the Bullfrog's back.
In the end, Lightning emerges victorious over the toad. Duan Yu thought proudly.
He was wrong. Just as soon as the thought flashed in his mind, the marten fell limply and lay supine on the floor. Its legs quivered its last, and it would never move again.
Aiyoh! Duan Yu thought sadly. Should he be able to speak, he would have cried out loud. Although Lightning had bitten him to 'death', he knew that it was entirely his fault for rashly trying to tame the marten even when he had neither experience nor knowledge of doing so. As such, he didn't blame the marten at all. Seeing it die before his very eyes, Duan Yu felt miserable. Sigh. If Miss Zhong knows about this, she would feel so sad.
He watched helplessly as the Bullfrog leaped onto the marten's body, creeping towards its cheeks and began sucking at it. It started off with the marten's left cheek, followed by its right.
Duan Yu thought to himself: The Venomous Crimson Bullfrog sure isn't given the title "King of All Poisons" for nothing. The fatal venoms in Lightning's fangs did entirely no effect to the toad; instead, the poor marten got itself poisoned. Now, this Bullfrog is going to extract the venoms in Lightning's toxic glands. Lightning the marten is hyperactive and extremely cute; the Venomous Crimson Bullfrog has a scarlet body and golden eyes, its beauty almost unsurpassable. Who on Earth would suspect that beneath the exterior of such sheer beauty lay a river of venom so thick and deadly.... No, Dear Goddess, I wasn't referring to you....
The Bullfrog jumped off the marten's body when it's done, letting out two thunderous 'Jiang-ang' croaks. Suddenly, soft 'xiao xiao' hisses could be heard. The next instant, a huge centipede swam into view. Its body had brilliant spots of scarlet and black all over; it must have been seven to eight cun long.
The Bullfrog reacted quickly. It pounced at the nimble centipede, but missed it narrowly, as its poor victim was now fleeing for its life. Dissatisfied, the Bullfrog tried again a couple of times, yet none of its attempts succeeded.
It croaked out loud, ready to fire a blast of poisonous mist. Suddenly, the centipede changed its direction mid-way and headed for Duan Yu's mouth, which happened to be wide open ....
Duan Yu was stunned beyond words. Most unfortunately, he couldn't move. Not even close his mouth. He can't do anything except yell like mad in his mind, Hey! This is my mouth, brother! Don't be mistaken; it isn't a centipede hole....
He heard a faint hiss; the centipede crawled unceremoniously up its tongue. Duan Yu almost fainted from the fright. He felt a moving sensation with many, many legs crawling down his throat, and went further down his gullet. It wasn't long before it disappeared right into Duan Yu's stomach.
Worst still, such catastrophes never end so early. The Bullfrog jumped into the air and landed right on Duan Yu's tongue! Duan Yu felt something icy at his throat, and sure enough, the Bullfrog went inside his stomach to chase after the centipede. Having a rather smooth skin, the Bullfrog slid down his gullet rapidly.
He could hear 'Jiang-ang' croaks emitting from his own stomach. They sounded depressing. Duan Yu felt nothing could possibly be worse – or more hilarious – than this. He wanted to bawl out loud, yet at the same time, felt like bursting out laughing too. However, his muscles had stiffened so badly he could do neither of these.
At this point, tears dropped onto the ground beneath.
Suddenly, he felt a continuous lurching motion in his belly. The pain was unbearable. He wondered whether the Bullfrog had succeeded in catching the centipede, he could only yell out in his mind, Brother Bullfrog, go and catch the centipede quickly and climb out immediately once you're done. There is nothing fun to do in my lowly stomach.
A few moments passed, and his stomach finally stopped lurching. Vanishing along with it were the 'Jiang-ang' croaks. The pain, however, had not. Quite the contrary, it seemed to grow even more intense. Another few moments passed and Duan Yu suddenly closed his mouth and his teeth rammed painfully onto his tongue. Under excruciating pain, Duan Yu felt his tongue went back into his mouth.
Duan Yu, feeling surprised, called out loud, "Brother Bullfrog, come out quickly!" He widened his mouth, waiting for it to come out, but even after a long long time, nothing happened.
"Jiang-ang! Jiang-ang! Jiang-ang!" Duan Yu croaked, hoping desperately that the Bullfrog would be attracted to the sound and would then get out from there. However, it appeared as if the toad was oblivious of the sound. Perhaps ... it could tell there's something amiss with the croaks; therefore it was unwilling to be fooled by him and preferred resting in his stomach.
Now unnerved and frantic, Duan Yu inserted his hand deep inside his mouth and tried digging out the Bullfrog. Needless to say, it was impossible for anyone to attempt this. After quite a while, Duan Yu became aware that he could move his limbs again! He stood upright and stretched his back; the paralyzing feeling in his limbs had disappeared without a trace.
"This is strange! This is strange!" Duan Yu remarked aloud.
This King of Poisons must be intending to stay in my stomach permanently; what am I to do if it really decides to treat my stomach as its cosy home? Allow me to congratulate it for its new home. Duan Yu decided.
He did a handstand and supported his legs with a huge tree trunk nearby. He widened his mouth and shook his own body hard for quite a while. Still, nothing happened. It seemed as if the Bullfrog was insistent on using his stomach as a home and had decided to live there till it dies.
Duan Yu was left with no way out. He, however, had a rough idea of what has just happened, This King of Poisons and that centipede must have become food digested in my stomach. It must be that their venoms have neutralized the marten's venom in my body. To think that I have digested such a venomous creature, and at this point of time my stomach stopped hurting anymore. This sure is very weird.
He did not know that typical venoms from snakes and toads are only fatal when they come into contact with one's blood. Yet, if they were to be consumed, so long as his of her mouth, throat, digestive tract and the various digestive organs weren't damaged internally, there would be no harm done. Similarly, if he were to get bitten by a poisonous snake, he could suck the venom out of his wound and save his own life.
However, the various poisons and venoms in this world are varied – too varied for one to generalize the whole of them in a single breath. The Venomous Crimson Bullfrog may possess powerful toxins in its body; however, it is absolutely harmless when placed in the stomach of a person. Rather, its body had been dissolved by Duan Yu's digestive juices. To the Bullfrog, Duan Yu's digestive juices are the toxic venoms – it was they which dissolved the poor creature into a thick pool of blood.
Duan Yu stood upright and walked a few steps. Suddenly, his stomach burned as if they were coals in it; a gust of blazing heat had erupted within his abdomen. 'Aiyoh!' He yelped.
The sudden gust of energy rocketed wildly inside him; however, it met with walls everywhere and thus cannot be released away. Duan Yu attempted vomitting it out, but no matter how hard he try, he couldn't succeed.
This time, he took an extremely deep breath and exhaled all the air in him with all he could, hoping that the venomous gas the Bullfrog has dissolved into will too leave his body.
Little did he know that his endeavour to expel the air within him had transformed the blazing heat into a coil of heat, which flowed unhurriedly into his Ren Meridians.
All right, Duan Yu thought, Let us get this done and over with. Brother Bullfrog, you have flatly refused to spare me and tried haunting me – now my 'Ocean of Energies' shall become your place of burial. Whenever you feel like poisoning me, I shall return your favour anytime you wish.
He continued to inhale and exhale deeply. Indeed, he felt the warmth within him channel along the meridians he had cultivated and disappear inside his 'Ocean of Energies'. Soon, he no longer felt anything strange.
Despite his struggling with life and death for so long, Duan Yu felt as energetic as before. He gathered rocks and sand and piled them onto the body of the dead marten. When he was done, he prayed silently: Little brother Lightning, I will surely bring your master Miss Zhong to offer her prayers in front of your grave and at the same time offer you some poisonous snakes we could catch. Earlier you bit me unintentionally, I won't tell any of this to your master, for she will berate you if she knows about it – don't worry.
Out of the woods, Duan Yu saw Zuo Zi Mu running frantically with his sword in position. He must be chasing after Miss Mu, I shan't not interfere.
With that, he silently stalked the panicky man. At this point of time he had the combined internal energies of the seven No Measure Sword disciples; following Zuo Zi Mu up the mountain was no difficult task. Besides, Zuo Zi Mu was too bothered for the safety of his child to notice somebody following him.
Fearing that Zuo Zi Mu might suddenly turn behind and act rashly towards him – or perhaps even use this opportunity to hold him hostage for exchange of his child, just like the 'exchange for the general with the horse' tactic Miss Mu employed against Zuo Zi Mu – he maintained a fairly wide distance between himself and the man before him.
Soon after, Duan Yu reached the waist of the mountain. Knowing that his reunion with Mu Wan Qing is coming soon, his heart burned with longing. He, however, feared that the Divine Croc might lose patience and harm her; no longer able to control himself, he yelled out to her at the top of his voice.
