The Gusu Qin Clan

Helian Tieshu stared at Qin Zheng and felt thoroughly baffled. "What would I want an antidote for? I haven't been poisoned..." The words had barely left his mouth when he suddenly toppled headfirst from the saddle. The Western Xia warriors carrying the banners toppled one after another as well. Before long, every subordinate he had brought sat sprawled on the ground, strengthless from head to toe. Only then did Helian Tieshu grasp what was wrong. He stared at Qin Zheng in terror, eyes wide. "When did you poison us?" Qin Zheng said calmly, "The moment you showed yourselves. My poison just isn't as quick as Heart-Softening Clear Breeze. It takes a full quarter of an hour to take effect." Helian Tieshu gnashed his teeth. "You are the Great Hero of Guanzhong, and you stoop to something as despicable as poison? Aren't you afraid the heroes of the world will laugh you to scorn?" Qiao Feng spoke up. "Against a treacherous wretch like you, never mind poison—any method at all is carrying out Heaven's justice!" "..." Helian Tieshu was struck speechless. That wasn't what you said when I was the one using poison just now!! While he was left with nothing to say, the jianghu people present chimed in one after another in support of Qiao Feng. "Hero Qin is peerless in martial arts and was already unmatched in the world. This time, to save us, he did not hesitate to damage his own reputation. Truly admirable!" "Hero Qin, don't listen to this Helian Tieshu. He was poisoned because his own skill was lacking. Hero Qin used their own methods against them. Worthy indeed of a descendant of the Gusu Qin clan!" "Ah, aren't you talking about the Murong of Gusu?" "Where in the jianghu are there still any Murong of Gusu? Even Murong Fu's Yanziwu has been taken by Hero Qin!" Listening to the crowd speak up for Qin Zheng, Helian Tieshu was filled with despair. Now he could not even use reputation to press Qin Zheng down. This time, he was finished for good. Just then, a troop of well-fed, powerfully built men with a fierce bearing came in from beyond the woods. At their head was none other than the old woman at Qin Zheng's side who was charged with gathering news. At her direction, the group searched the warriors of the Western Xia First Rank Hall with practiced hands. Before long, the old woman came before Qin Zheng with an armful of bottles and jars. "Boss, all the medicines have been found!" Qin Zheng opened the bottles one by one and sniffed them, then frowned. "There is Heart-Softening Clear Breeze, but no antidote." Helian Tieshu made one last desperate struggle. "The antidote is on Li Yanzong. Let me go, and I'll go demand it from him!" Qin Zheng glanced at him and sneered. "With the poison in hand, why fear we can't devise an antidote? You are dead today. No one who comes can save you. "If you dare come stirring up trouble in our Central Plains, you had best be prepared to die!" With that, he waved a hand. The fierce bandits under his command drew their blades and swords at once and executed the several dozen Western Xia warriors on the spot. Helian Tieshu lay in a pool of blood. His pupils gradually lost focus, and regret filled his heart... Why had he ever gone and provoked Qin Zheng for no reason! After this battle, more than half the experts of the Western Xia First Rank Hall were lost, and they would be unable to stir up trouble again for some time. Qin Zheng used Bao Butong to test the medicine, and at last, before dusk fell, he produced an antidote to Heart-Softening Clear Breeze and administered it to everyone present in turn. Bao Butong glared at Qin Zheng, beard bristling and eyes wide. Supported by Deng Baichuan and the others, he left Apricot Grove in silence. Elsewhere, Murong Fu had been carried to safety by Murong Bo. After a course of treatment, he finally came to. Looking at the somewhat familiar face before him, he could not help but tremble, and cried out, "Father? What Qin Zheng said is true. You really aren't dead!" Murong Bo nodded, his expression heavy, and sighed. "Alas. Back then I feigned death to slip away, hoping to stir the winds and rain in secret and create an opening for the great plan to restore the kingdom. "I never expected Qin Zheng to expose the truth and bring years of planning to ruin in a single stroke. This Qin Zheng is truly the bane of our Murong family." With that, his face turned utterly grim, and he went on, "And that deep-scheming Xuanci. I never thought that all my years of plotting were nothing but sewing a wedding dress for him. "The Shaolin Sect has lorded it over the jianghu for centuries as the foremost power of the martial world for good reason. Even I was used by him!" Murong Fu said, full of high spirits, "Father, there is no need to grieve over this. Gains and losses of the moment count for nothing. Whoever walks to the end is the final victor!" Murong Bo started, looked his son over a few times, and a satisfied look came over his face. "Fu'er, to see that your will is even firmer than your father's fills me with comfort!" Murong Fu smiled with confidence, glanced around the empty wilderness, and said, "Father, there is something you do not know. Your son has already found the Heirloom Seal of the Realm of the First Emperor of Qin. "From this it is clear that the restoration of our Murong clan is ordained by Heaven. These setbacks are only Heaven testing us!" Murong Bo's body shook. He said in disbelief, "You found the Heirloom Seal of the Realm? Where did you find it?" Murong Fu told him how he had come by the seal, then said, "I left the seal with A'Bi. Once we find her, Father, you will know at a glance whether it is real!" Murong Bo said in great excitement, "My son bears Heaven's mandate. Truly, the ancestors protect us! The Murong clan's century-long plan to restore the kingdom will at last be fulfilled in the two of us, father and son!" As they spoke, Bao Butong had already followed the marks Murong Bo left and found his way here. Seeing both father and son present, Bao Butong said in shock, "My lord, you are truly still among the living? Young Master, why are you dressed like this?" Seeing A'Bi return safe and sound, Murong Fu was overjoyed at once. He waved a hand. "Third Brother Bao, we'll speak of this later. A'Bi, quickly, bring the seal!" A'Bi took out the seal and placed it in Murong Fu's hands. In excitement, Murong Fu opened the yellow cloth, cradled the seal in his palms, dropped to one knee, and held it up before Murong Bo's eyes. "Father, this is the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. With it, the realm is ours, the Murong family's!" "Congratulations, Father. You may ascend as emperor!" Looking at this rare treasure of the ages in his hands, Murong Bo could not help but weep old tears. "It is exactly as the ancient records describe. It truly is the genuine Heirloom Seal of the Realm..." He held the seal and stroked it for a good while before reluctantly returning it to Murong Fu, and instructed him, "Fu'er, the seal must be kept safe. It must not be lost or damaged. "I am going to Shaolin now to assassinate Xuanci, lest he keep the martial world of the Central Plains firmly in his grasp. That would not favor our great cause of restoring the kingdom!" Murong Fu bowed and respectfully saw him off. "Father, take every care!" Murong Bo gave a slight nod, then used his lightness skill and set out through the night for Shaolin. Also hurrying back to Shaolin was one Xiao Yuanshan. Even before Murong Bo set out, Xiao Yuanshan had already taken the road back to Shaolin, his heart full of rage. Qiao Feng was not his son? Xuanci had deceived everyone? Not only had Xuanci been carrying on with Ye Erniang—had he secretly taken up with Kang Min as well? What in the hell was going on!! Until he got the matter clear, he could find no peace in his heart. He would go straight to Qiao Sanhuai and ask whether Qiao Feng was truly his own son! At the same time, in the imperial palace of the Duan clan of Dali. Emperor Baoding lured the newly returned Duan Zhengchun into the palace, sealed his acupoints, and set to thrashing him furiously with a ruler. Even as he struck, he cursed, "You bastard. It isn't enough that you dally with so many women—you even went and fought Jiumozhi over Ma Dayuan? Have you lost your mind! "You've thrown away every last shred of the Duan clan of Dali's face. Today, before the ancestral tablets, I am going to beat you to death, you bastard!" His acupoints sealed, unable to speak, Duan Zhengchun looked utterly bewildered. Who was Jiumozhi, and who was Ma Dayuan? Were they very pretty?