ot make any sound.” You TanZhi replied: “Yes!”

AhZi again took out a small cloth bag from her bosom, she open the bag, inside was a few lumps of yellow, black and purple spices. She pinched a little spice from each of the lumps and placed it in the tripod, she lit her flint and made a fire, afterwards she closed the cover of the tripod, she said: “Let’s go wait by that tree side.”

AhZi sat down under a tree, You TanZhi dare not sit beside her, separated by a few zhang, he sat on top of a rock facing the wind. Cold wind blows, the wind carried the faint scent of her body, You TanZhi cannot refrain from being delirious with passion, he actually get to experience such a moment in life, even thought he suffered greatly all this time, it was not in vain. He hope that AhZi will sit at this tree forever and he will get to accompany her forever.

As he was getting drunk with passion, suddenly he heard a rustling sound in the bushes, a scarlet creature is moving within the grass, it is a large centipede, its body glisten, a tumor protruded on its forehead, it’s obviously different from regular centipede.

The centipede detected the fragrance from the wooden tripod, it weaves its way towards the tripod, it entered the tripod from a hole at the bottom, and it did not come out again after that. AhZi took out a thick piece of brocade from her bosom, her foot step lightened and she gingerly approached the wooden tripod, she covered the tripod with the brocade and wrapped it firmly, fearing the centipede might escape, she put the tripod in a leather bag hanging off the horse, she smiled and said: “Let’s go!” she mounted the horse and left.

You TanZhi followed behind her, wondering: “That wooden tripod is extremely bizarre, but it’s most probably due to the burning of spices that attracting the large centipede. What’s so fun about that large centipede, Miss has to travel such a long way to this mountain valley to catch it?”

When AhZi returned to the Beginning Fortune Palace, she instructed the guards to arrange accommodation for You TanZhi at the side of the Palace. You TanZhi was elated, he knew that from now on he would be able to see AhZi frequently.

Sure enough, on the next morning, AhZi summoned You TanZhi, she led him into the main hall of the Palace, she closed the door leaving the two of them alone in the hall. AhZi walk towards a clay urn to the west, she removed the urn cover, laughing she said: “You see, isn’t it magnificent?” You TanZhi peered into the urn, he saw the large centipede which they caught yesterday moving around swiftly.

AhZi took out a big rooster that has been prepared in advance, she took out a short knife, chopped off the rooster’s beak and claws, and threw the rooster into the urn. The big centipede climbed onto the rooster’s head, and start sucking its blood, after a while the rooster died due to poisoning. The centipede’s body gradually swells, blood starts dripping out of its red forehead. AhZi’s expression was joyful, she whispered: “It’s done, it’s done! This set of martial arts can be completed!”

You TanZhi pondered: “So, you catch centipede for the purpose of practicing martial arts. Is it called Centipede Skill?”

She fed the centipede for seven days, every day the centipede will suck the blood of one big rooster, on the eighth day, AhZi again summoned You TanZhi to the main hall, she smiled and said: “Iron Clown, how well did i treat you?” You TanZhi said: “Miss shown great kindness towards me, it’s as weighty as a mountain.” AhZi said: “You said you are willing to go through hell and high water for me, risk you own life, it is true or false?” You TanZhi said: “Subordinate dare not lie to Miss. Miss only has to order, subordinate will never defy.” AhZi said:” Very good. Let me tell you, i want to practice a set of martial arts, but it requires assistance from others. Are you willing to assist me in practicing this art? If i succeed, i will definitely reward you heavily.” You TanZhi said: “Subordinate will naturally listen to your orders, i don’t require any rewards.” AhZi said: “Very good, we will begin practicing now.”

She sat cross-legged, her hands rubbing each other, she closed her eyes and channeled her energy, after a while she said: “You go stick your hand into the urn, the centipede will definitely bite you, you must not move at all, let it suck your blood, the more blood the better.”

These past seven days, You TanZhi saw that the centipede only need to suck a few mouthful of blood from the rooster, the healthy and lively rooster would drop dead immediately, it can be deduced that the centipede’s poison is no small matter, when he listen to AhZi, he cannot help but hesitate and did not reply. AhZi’s expression became grave, she ask: “Why, you are not willing?” You TanZhi said: “It’s not that i am unwilling, but … but” AhZi said: “But? But this centipede is extremely poisonous, you are afraid of dying is that correct? You are a human or a rooster?” You TanZhi said: “I am not a rooster.” AhZi said: “Precisely, the rooster will die when its blood is sucked by the centipede, you are not a rooster, how will you die? You said you are willing to go through hell and high water for me, risk getting your body and bones crushed. This centipede will only suck a little bit of your blood for fun, your body and bones will get crushed?”

You TanZhi was speechless, he raised his head and look at AhZi, he imagine seeing her red lips open, any scornful thoughts he had of this lady, it immediately vanish and he was mesmerized, it was as if he was spellbound by the devil, he said: “Yes, i will follow your orders.” He clenched his teeth, closed his eyes and slowly inserted his right hand into the urn.

As his fingers reach into the urn, he felt pain on the fingertip of his middle finger. He cannot help but withdraw his fingers a little. AhZi cried: “Don’t move, don’t move!” You TanZhi forcefully endured it, he open his eyes, the centipede has bite his middle finger and is currently sucking his blood. His hairs stood on its ends, he wanted to fling it on the ground and crush it with his feet, although his back is facing AhZi, he could feel her sharp gaze penetrating his back, it’s like being pierced by two sharp daggers, he dare not move an inch.

Fortunately, when the centipede is sucking his blood, he did not feel extreme pain, but as he saw the centipede gradually swell up, he also saw a faint purple coating covering his middle finger. The purple became deeper and deeper, slowly it turned jet black, after a while, the blackness spread from his middle finger to his palm, and finally it spread from his palm to his arm. You TanZhi had already disregarded his life, he was calm, the corner of his lips revealed a smile, but this smile was hidden by the mask and AhZi did not see it.

AhZi’s gaze was on the centipede, she gave it her undivided attention, not the slightest bit of neglect. The centipede finally released You TanZhi’s finger and it fell back into the urn and stopped moving. Violet cried: “Gently place the centipede into the wooden tripod, be careful, don’t injure it.”

You TanZhi complied and lifted the centipede, he placed it into the wooden tripod. AhZi closed the tripod cover, after a while, black bood start dripping down from the hole in the tripod.

AhZi’s face revealed great happiness, she quickly extended her palm to catch the blood droplets, she sat cross-legged and channeled her energy, the blood droplets diffused into her palm. You TanZhi pondered: “That is my blood, but she absorbed it into her body. It seems she practicing Poison-Centipede Palm.”

After a long period, black blood stopped dripping, AhZi lifted the tripod cover, the centipede was stiff and had died.

AhZi rubbed both her palms together, she look at her palm again, her palm is still white and flawless, without the slightest bit of bloodstains, she knew that the practicing formula she eavesdrop from her master was correct, she lifted the wood tripod and emptied the dead centipede on the ground, she left the Palace hurriedly, she did not even give You TanZhi a glance, it seems he was the same as the dead centipede, both of them outlived their usefulness.

You TanZhi stared at AhZi’s back, until her back vanish from his view and her clothes cannot be seen anymore, but the blackness had spread to his armpit, in addition his arm start to feel numb and itchy, in an instant, it was as if millions of fleas was biting him at the same time.

He burst out screaming, he jump up and start scratching, once he start scratching, the itch became worse and seems to go deep into his bone marrow, bugs were crawling around his heart and lungs, wriggling and moving. Pain can be endured but this itch is impossible to resist, he kept jumping up and down and screaming, “Dang Dang” sound rang out as he bang his head on the wall, he pray that he can faint immediately and lose his consciousness to avoid having to bear this strange itch.

He kept knocking and banging himself, an item fell out of his bosom, the oilcloth wrappings loosen, revealing a yellow book, it’s the Sanskrit manual picked up by him the last time. Under the severe itch, he did not bother to pick up the book, but he saw the book flipped open. The itch is really hard to bear, You TanZhi roll on the floor, after a round of random scratching and knocking, he bent over and pant, tears, mucus and saliva all flow out of the mouth hole of the iron mask, dripping onto the Sanskrit manual. In his drowsy state he did not keep track of time, but the page of the book was soaked full of tears and saliva, inadvertently, a drawing of a monk appeared among the curvy writings. The monk’s posture was very strange, his head was between two outspread legs, extending out, his hands were clutching his feet.

He was not in the mood to think of the odd posture, he can’t even breathe due to the itch, he lie on the ground, randomly tearing his clothes into pieces, he violently rubbed his skin on the ground, in an instant, blood oozes out from his skin. He was rubbing randomly, suddenly, he slipped and his head cross over between his two legs. He was wearing an iron mask, he was stuck and could not withdraw his head, his stretched out his hand to assist, his right hand clutched his right foot. But he was too worn out and dead-tired, he couldn’t move, he had to temporarily stay his hand and regain his breath, inadvertently, he saw the book in front of him, the book depicted a skinny monk, the posture is similar to his current posture, he felt amazed and found it funny, but the strangest thing is after maintaining this posture, his bodily itch felt bearable, his breathing also became smoother, thus he did not try to withdraw his head from his legs, he continued lying on the ground, he heartily followed the monk’s posture depicted in the drawing, his left hand clutched his left foot, chin touching the ground. This way, his posture was completely identical to the monk and he found it easier to breathe.

As he maintained the posture, his eyes got closer to the book, he look at the monk again, two large yellow words were written beside the monk, it was crooked and strange, there are many small red arrows on the word. As You TanZhi maintained this posture, he was extremely tired and immediately let go of his hands and stood up. Once he stood up, the itch became so bad that he can’t breathe, he quickly stuck his head between his legs, hands clutching his feet, chin touching the ground, as he made this odd posture, his breathing immediately became smoother.

He dare not move anymore, after a long time, he became bored, he look at the drawing of the monk and at the two strange words. He look at the small arrows on the word, he instinctively pondered about the small arrows, the strange itch on his right arm seems to turn into a line of warm energy, it circulate a few times around his throat and chest, it slowly dissipates and disappeared from his shoulders and from the top of his head.

He kept looking at the small arrows on the word and pondered about them repeatedly, each time a line of warm energy will pass by his head and the strange itch on his arm will reduce slightly. He was surprise but he did not bother to think about the underlying reason, he just followed the same steps, after completing thirty cycles, he only felt a slight itch on his arm, after another ten cycles, his fingers, palm and arm was completely itch-free.

He withdraws his head from his legs, extend his palm and look at it, the black cloud on his palm had vanished, he was pleased, suddenly he exclaimed: “AiYo, this is not good! I transferred all the centipede’s poison into my brain! The strange itch is already gone, but how come a strange monk appeared in the drawings? I even unintentionally make the same posture as the monk? This monk must be a Buddha, he came to save my life.” Immediately he knelt and respectfully kowtow to the drawing of the strange monk, “Dang Dang” sound rang out as his iron mask knock on the floor.

He did not realize that the drawing in the book is drawn using special herbal solution from India, it will only reveal itself when wet, it will disappear when it’s dry, thus both AhZhu and Xiao Feng never saw the drawing. The figure in the drawing depicts the proper way to channel energy, the Sanskrit writings provided the explanations, eminent monks from Shaolin’s previous generation had knowledge on Sanskrit, although they don’t know the mystery of the drawing, they could still practice the Tendon-Changing Sutra base on directions given by the writings. When You TanZhi suffered the strange itch, his tears and saliva flowed freely, luckily it landed on the page and revealed the drawing. The drawing is an ingenious method to neutralize external poison when practicing the skill, it was created by an ancient master from India as part of a set of secret Yoga techniques. When You TanZhi made the posture, it was not completely by chance or coincidence, it was also due to natural human instincts. When he had trouble enduring the strange itch, its natural human behavior to lower the head to the ground, nothing strange or surprising, but his tears and saliva dripping on the page, it’s really pure luck and coincidence. He was dumbstruck for a while, his exhaustion reached its limit, immediately he lie down and slept on the floor. On the morning of the second day, AhZi hurriedly entered the Palace, she saw his naked bizarre appearance and gave an “Ah!” cry, she said: “Why aren’t you dead yet?” You TanZhi was shock and reply: “Subordinate….subordinate is still alive!” he secretly felt depress: “It seems she thought i had died long ago.”

AhZi said: “It’s good that you are not dead! Quickly dress yourself properly and follow me to catch poison bugs.” You TanZhi said: “Yes!” AhZi followed and he asks for clothes from Khitan soldiers. The head of a group of Khitan soldier was very welcoming towards him, he gave him a set of clean clothes to change into.

AhZi brought You TanZhi to the deserted mountain valley, she still use the Divine Wooden King Tripod to attract poisonous bugs, use rooster blood to feed the bugs, and then let them suck the blood of You TanZhi, and then use the blood to practice her skill. The second bug was a green spider, the third bug was a large scorpion. You TanZhi followed the drawings on the book to neutralize the poison.

At XingXiu Sea, whenever AhZi saw her master practice this divine skill, she will see a dead corpse every time, the people were all captured from nearby villages under the orders of their master, she expected You TanZhi to die when he got poisoned by the bugs, but unexpectedly he didn’t die, and she cannot help but feel secretly surprise.

This catching of bugs for practicing of skill went on continuously, after three months, the number of poisonous bugs within 10 li of Nanjing city gradually decreased, the bugs attracted by the fragrance were all weak and frail and not to AhZi’s liking. Thus, both of them have to move further out to catch the bugs.

On this day, they arrived at a place 30 li away from the city, spices burnt in the wooden tripod, after waiting for more than two hours, they finally heard something rustle in the bushes, it seems to be some kind of snake or worm. AhZi said: “Lay low!” immediately You TanZhi lowered his body, he heard a loud sound, it was not normal.

The sound was mixed with a vomiting stench, You TanZhi held his breath and did not move, he saw the long grass parted, a white body black-striped python slithered out, the python’s head is triangular, a tumour protrude from the top of its head. Snakes are rare in Northern area, but such a strange shaped python, nobody has ever seen it before. The python slithered next to the wooden tripod, it circled and revolve around the tripod, the python body is 2 zhang long, its body is thicker than human arm, how can it fit into the small tripod? But as it smell the spices and the fragrance of the wooden tripod, it used its head to ram the tripod.

AhZi didn’t expect to attract such gaint snake, she was extremely shock, at the moment she did not have any idea on what to do, she quietly sneak beside You TanZhi and whispered: “What should we do? If the python breaks the wood tripod, won’t it be ruin? ”

You TanZhi notice her tone was gentle when discussing with him, he felt overwhelmingly flattered, at once his courage received a huge boost, he said: “Don’t worry, i will drive away the snake!” he stood up and took big strides towards the snake. The snake hear a sound and immediately coiled its body together, it raised its head and stick out its blood-red tongue, hissing and waiting to pounce. After seeing such display of power and influence, You TanZhi dare not approach rashly.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a burst of cold wind on his body, he saw a line of fire burning at the western corner, in no time it burned in front of him. As the line got nearer, he saw that it’s actually not a line of fire but something crawling among the vegetation, green grass immediately dried and charred when the thing touch it, at the same time the air became colder and colder. He stepped back a few steps, the yellow line changed its direction and move towards the wooden tripod, the thing is actually a silkworm.

The silkworm is like pure white jade, with a tinge of green, its two times larger than regular silkworm, it’s like an earthworm, its body transparent and crystal-like. The python was originally aggressive and overbearing, but now it seems to be extremely fearful, it withdraw its large triangular head and hide within its body. The crystal silkworm was unusually swift and climbs onto the snake’s body, as it climbs up its like a red-hot charcoal, it scorched a line on the snake, when it reached the top of the snake’s head, the python’s body cracked and split into two, it moved right next to the snake’s venom gland, sucking the venom, after a while its body swell, looking from afar, it looks like a crystal bottle filled with purple liquid.

AhZi was delighted, she whispered: “This silkworm is so powerful, it must the king of all poisonous creatures.” But You TanZhi was secretly worried: “If such venomous silkworm suck my blood, i will really die this time!”

The silkworm circled around the wood tripod, it crawled up the tripod, immediately, burnt mark appeared on the tripod. The silkworm seems to have psychic power, it went one round on top of the tripod, it seems to know that if it enters the tripod it will be in danger, thus it did not behave like other poisonous creatures, it climbed down from the tripod and went northwest.

AhZi was excited and anxious, she cried: “Quick, chase it!” she covered the tripod with brocade, picked up the wooden tripod and chase after the silkworm. You TanZhi followed behind her, they track the silkworm by using the scotch mark it left behind. Although this silkworm is a small bug, it crawls like the wind, in a blink of an eye it travelled several zhang, luckily it leaves scotch marks on places it travelled and they didn’t lose track of it.

Both of them chase for over three to four li, suddenly they heard the gushing sound of water, they reached a small stream. The scorch mark reached the edge of the stream and disappeared, on the opposite side of the stream, there was no scorch mark, obviously the silkworm fell into the stream and was washed away. AhZi stomp her feet and complain: “You should have voiced out and ask me to chase faster, where are we suppose to find it now? I don’t care, you have to find it for me!” You TanZhi was very apprehensive, searching around randomly, how can he even find it?

Both of them search for a more than two hours, it was getting dark, AhZi was feeling tired and lost patience, she said angrily: “I don’t care, you have to catch it back, otherwise you don’t need to see me again.” She turns around and went back to the city alone.

You TanZhi was extremely worried, he followed the stream and search downstream, he search for over seven to eight li, as dusk falls, he suddenly spotted scorch mark among the opposite vegetation. You TanZhi was overjoyed, he rushed out and shouted: “Miss, miss, i found it!” but AhZi had went back long ago.

You TanZhi waded across the stream and followed the scorch mark. He saw scorch mark heading towards the mountain. He gathered his energy and ran quickly, beside the mountaintop was a magnificent great temple.

He quickly draws near, a plaque in front of the temple reads “MinZhong Temple Built According To Imperial Edict”. He did not have time to look at the temple, he chased after the scorch mark. The mark bypass the temple side and led to the back of the temple. He heard the sound of wooden fish and chanting of scriptures inside the temple, the monks were carrying out their prayer sessions. He is wearing an iron mask, he felt ashamed and fearful of being seen by the monks, thus he followed the foot of the wall and quietly travelled, he saw the scorch mark pass through a big mud ground and reach a vegetable garden, he pray that the silkworm is eating vegetable and he will be able to sneak behind and capture it, as he got near the fence of the garden, he heard someone cursing loudly, he stopped advancing.

He heard the person rebuke loudly: “Why don’t you abide by the rules, sneaking out alone to play? You made me worried for half a day, i feared that you will never return again. I brought you afar from the Kunlun Mountains, you are too ungrateful, you don’t know the trouble and pains i went through. If you continue like this, you won’t have any future prospect, you will destroy your own future and no one will pity you.” Although the voice was very angry, it also possess compassion and expectation, it seems to be a father lecturing his unruly child.

You TanZhi pondered: “He talked about Kunlun Mountains and bringing him from far away place, most likely a master or elder, not father.” He quietly move beside the fence, he saw the person is a monk. The monk is really fat, his stature short, he resembled a big meat ball, his finger pointing the ground, reprimanding endlessly. You TanZhi look at the ground, he was surprise and happy, the monk was reprimanding a silkworm.

The appearance of the monk is already very strange, but talking to the silkworm, it’s even more bizarre. The silkworm is moving on the ground rapidly, it seems to be trying to escape but it keep running into some kind of invisible wall and it turns around immediately. You TanZhi focused his gaze, there is a yellow circle on the ground, the silkworm rush left and move right but it can’t escape the circle, he immediately understood: “The circle is drawn using some medicinal herb, this medicine must be that silkworm black-star.”

The monk scolded for a while, he retrieved something from his bosom and gnawed on it, it’s a cooked lamb head, he ate with relish, he picked up a gourd near the pillar, unplugged it, lifted his neck and drank from it endlessly.

You TanZhi caught a whiff of alcohol, he knew the gourd contained wine, he thought: “So his a monk that eat meat and drink wine. It seems he raised this silkworm, he treasure and love it very much, so how should i go about stealing it?”

As he was pondering, he heard someone shout from the other end of the garden: “HuiJing, HuiJing!” when the fat monk heard it, he had a huge shock, he quickly hid the meat and gourd in a pile of rice straw, the person continue to shout: ” HuiJing, HuiJing, you didn’t attend the prayer session, where have you been hiding?” the fat monk quickly grab a nearby hoe and start digging the garden, he replied: “I am planting vegetables.” the man came over, his a middle-aged monk, he coldly: “Everyone has to attend morning and night prayer sessions! You can dig the fields anytime, why you choose to dig during night prayer sessions? Go, go quickly! Finish the prayer session before coming back here to dig the field. Since you are at MinZhong Temple, you have to observe the rules and regulations here. Your Shaolin Temple don’t have any rules and regulations?” HuiJing replied: “Yes!” he put down the hoe and followed him, he did not turn back to look at the silkworm for fear that the middle-aged monk will notice it.

You TanZhi pondered: “So this short-fat monk is from Shaolin Temple, all the monks from Shaolin know martial arts, i have to be extra careful since i am stealing his silkworm.” When the two of them was far away, the surrounding was quiet, he squeeze through the bamboo fence, he saw the silkworm moving swiftly in the yellow circle, he thought: “How to catch it?” after a while he suddenly came up with an idea, he retrieve the gourd from the haystack and gave it a shake, there’s still half a gourd of wine, he drank a few mouthfuls and poured the rest onto the vegetable plot, he place the rim of the gourd on the ground and slowly move it near the yellow circle. When the gourd rim just move past the yellow circle, the silkworm gave a “Chi” sound and went into the gourd. You TanZhi was elated, he quickly replace the stopper and sealed the gourd, he carried the gourd with both hand and squeeze out of the bamboo fence, after walking for a while he quickly ran and escape.

After leaving MinZhong Temple for 10 zhang, he felt the gourd was unusually cold, it’s even colder than ice, he transferred the gourd from his right hand to his left hand, and then from his left to right, the cold is really chilling to the bone, the gourd can’t be held constantly. Without any good idea, he place the gourd on top of his head, this was even worse, cold air spread through the iron mask, his head was freezing and it felt extremely painful, it was as if the blood in his body was about to turn to ice. The pressing situation gave rise to a bright idea, he took off his belt and tie it around the gourd, holding the belt in his hand, the belt cannot transmit cold and thus he was able to hold onto it. But the gourd still gave off cold air, after a while a layer of frost formed on the gourd surface.