Volume Two – The General’s Tomb Chapter Eleven – The Art of Commanding Insects

Hearing these words, I was momentarily stunned. Li Kun spoke up, “The art of controlling insects?”
I glanced at the elder, my confusion evident. The old man smiled and said, “That’s right, the art of controlling insects.”
I asked, “May I inquire, senior, is the art you mentioned the very method you used to summon those poisonous creatures just now?”
The elder nodded, “Indeed. If you learn this technique from me, I can’t guarantee no one in this world would dare harm you, but with my skill, you would be able to walk unhindered wherever you go.”
I thought to myself, if I truly were to learn this skill for self-defense, it might be worth considering. But if I did, it would mean dealing with poisonous insects, snakes, and ants every day.
Moreover, judging by the elder’s solitary existence, it seemed that anyone who learned from him would end up just as lonely.
I turned to look inside the room, seeing glass jars everywhere, each containing venomous creatures. I shuddered—I certainly didn’t want to face such poisonous things daily.
With that thought, I bowed slightly to the elder and said, “Thank you for your kindness, senior. I am truly grateful, but I am actually quite afraid of these poisonous insects and creatures. I fear I cannot learn your unique skill.”
When I finished, the elder sighed softly. “To be honest,” he said, “I have been hoping to find a sole disciple in my twilight years, which is why I set up the Three Gates of Poison array here.”
Li Kun and I exchanged a glance. I asked, “Three Gates of Poison? May I ask, senior, are the Three Gates you refer to the corpse-eating ants, the poisonous scorpions, and those blood-red centipedes?”
The elder nodded, “Exactly. The Three Gates array is formed using these three types of poisonous insects. If someone can break my array, they may become my sole disciple.”
He let out a bitter laugh and shook his head, “It’s a pity. I have been here for precisely thirty years, and no one has managed to break my poison array until now. You two are the first to escape.”
Li Kun and I exchanged another look, startled. Thirty years? If the elder had been here for that long, then anyone who came searching for the master of the Hall of a Thousand Poisons must have perished here. That would mean, over these three decades, who knows how many have died within these walls?
We both saw the shock in each other’s eyes. No wonder the stall owner had said what he did when we entered. It turned out that no one who had come here had ever left alive.
Li Kun dared not say another word; all his previous complaints vanished, replaced by a look of profound anxiety.

This reaction was hardly surprising—if such a thing happened to you, you wouldn’t be calm either.
The elder shook his head at our appearance. “When I first entered this sect, I was just like you two, breaking the array as you did today. That is the rule of the Hall of a Thousand Poisons; this is not a place anyone can enter at will.”
He smiled gently at me. “But since you managed to break my array, it seems fate has brought you two youngsters to me.”
With that, he lowered his head and pulled open a drawer, retrieving two slender pieces of bamboo, each strung with a black cord.
He presented them to us. “Take these little trinkets as a gift.”
Li Kun and I nodded and respectfully accepted the bamboo segments.
They were very small, but extraordinarily smooth. At the tip, there was a tiny notch, about half the size of a pinky finger.
The elder said, “These little things may one day save your lives.”
Li Kun asked, “Senior, what are these used for?”
The elder smiled, “Don’t underestimate them. They closely resemble the insect-commanding tokens of my Hall of a Thousand Poisons, but these are hand-crafted by me—there’s not a third like them in the world.”
He took a sip of tea and continued, “Though these tokens can’t actually command poisonous insects, they can temporarily disrupt their actions, causing confusion.”
Li Kun pursed his lips, muttering, “What use is that?”
I gently tapped Li Kun, then bowed to the elder. “Thank you, senior.” As I spoke, I tugged at Li Kun’s sleeve.
Li Kun turned to look at me, confused by my winking and gesturing, but then bowed to the elder in thanks.
Perhaps Li Kun didn’t understand the significance of the bamboo token, but I knew well its power.

If the bamboo was as effective as the elder claimed, then the next time Li Kun and I ventured into a tomb and encountered poisonous creatures, we could use it to buy time and escape alive.
The elder, seeing us accept the tokens, nodded in satisfaction. “How did you two find this place?”
I recounted our journey, and the elder frowned. “A woman? Hmph. Did she not tell you this is not a place one can enter freely?”
Li Kun and I shook our heads. Upon hearing our story, the elder suddenly rose, and his expression darkened. The air around him grew tense, and his eyes blazed with murderous intent.
He spoke in a deep voice, “It seems my words from thirty years ago no longer hold any sway in the Ghost Market. In that case, I shall start with that woman.”
As soon as he finished, we saw his lips move, and a piercing sound issued from his mouth.
At that moment, I was struck by a sudden realization—the master of the Hall of a Thousand Poisons intended to kill the stall owner!
Alarmed, I hastened to speak, “Please wait, senior!”
The elder turned to me, his gaze full of violence. I took a deep breath and said, “Senior, my two friends are still with the stall owner.”
He frowned, then closed his eyes. But in the next instant, his words made me tense, “Are your two friends girls?”
I nodded. The elder snorted, “Hmph. Your two friends are about to be taken away.”