Volume Two – The General’s Tomb Chapter Twelve – Shock and Fear

Hearing those words, Li Kun and I suddenly stood up, and I said, “Is it that woman?”

Li Kun replied, “Damn it, Old Liu, what are you waiting for? Let’s get over there right now!”

I nodded, turned, and was about to rush out, when the old man spoke slowly, “Hold on, you two.”

I quickly turned back and said, “Elder, please wait here, we’ll be back soon.”

He shook his head and said, “If you go now, it’ll already be too late. Before you even arrive, the person will have been taken away. Besides, that old woman isn’t someone you can deal with.”

I was taken aback—an old woman? Could the stall owner actually be an elderly lady?

The old man continued, “Just wait here. Your two little girls will be fine. In fact, I’ll use this opportunity to remind the people of this ghost market that although I haven’t acted for thirty years, not just anyone can trample on me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, we saw the old man gently close his eyes. Then he slowly raised a hand, took the insect command medallion from his chest, and placed it in his mouth. Soon, we heard the medallion inside his mouth begin to make a rhythmic sound.

At that moment, we felt the house start to tremble, dust falling layer after layer from the ceiling.

Li Kun and I exchanged glances, then heard a dense, skittering noise coming from the street.

The unsettling sound sent chills through us, and we hurried toward the wooden door.

Standing at the threshold, we were greeted by a terrifying scene.

The street outside was swarming with poisonous creatures. In just a few seconds, the entire street was crawling with them.

On the walls, roofs, and ground, the infamous Five Poisons had claimed every inch—and these were only a fraction.

Just beyond the door, two enormous black scorpions, each over a meter tall, stood at the center of the street, surrounded by scores of fist-sized black scorpions.

But even this was only part of the swarm; two giant black spiders and two massive blood-red centipedes also stood upon the ground, each encircled by smaller versions of themselves.

Seeing this, Li Kun and I gasped, and I couldn’t help but curse, “Damn it, what the hell are these things?”

Li Kun’s face was full of shock as he stared at the scene. “Old Liu, is something wrong with my eyes? Am I hallucinating? Oh my god, what are these things—giant spiders, scorpions, centipedes, toads? And that huge creature dripping green liquid from its mouth—is that a giant lizard? Oh my god…”

Just then, a shrill sound echoed from behind us.

We turned to see the old man glaring, his eyes now bloodshot.

As the sound rang out, all the poisonous creatures began crawling toward the center of the ghost market.

We swallowed hard, fear for the old man filling my heart. Thousand Venoms Hall, Thousand Venoms Hall—so this is what it truly is.

Meanwhile, Gao Feng and Tian Tian had been tightly bound, Tian Tian completely unconscious.

Gao Feng curled on the ground, terror on his face as he stared at the masked woman before him.

The woman stepped up to Tian Tian, placed a hand on her face, and said, “Hmm, this little girl’s body is quite good—perfect for my ingredients. And you…”

She turned to the cowering Gao Feng, “Your skin is quite nice. Since that’s the case, you’ll be used for my skin.”

The woman was still at the rear of her stall, but none of the onlookers seemed to care; they glanced and walked on.

She stood and slowly approached Gao Feng, who watched her in horror. In the next moment, he saw her pull from her sleeve a hand as thin as bone.

And what happened next made Gao Feng faint dead away.

The woman reached out her bony hand, then with the other hand, she tore the skin from it, as easily as removing a glove—except this glove was made entirely from human skin.

Witnessing this, Gao Feng’s mind was overtaken by terror, and he fell backward, lying flat on the ground, unconscious.

The woman smiled faintly. “Clearly, you’ve never seen the world.”

She walked to Gao Feng, raised her hand, and grabbed his arm.

She stroked his arm, “I suppose your two friends have already been eaten by those poisonous insects, not even a bone left. As for you two, hmm, this skin is really nice. What a pity.”

With that, she dug her nails into Gao Feng’s arm, leaving a blood-red fingerprint on his delicate skin.

Just as she was about to proceed, she felt the ground beneath her begin to tremble. The next moment, something seemed to climb up her body.

Pain stabbed at her calf, and she screamed in fright, springing to her feet and looking behind her.

As she turned, cold sweat drenched her body. From the right, people poured out in panic, their cries echoing through the street.

Then, to her horror, she saw two gigantic black spiders and two enormous blood-red centipedes perched atop the houses, staring unblinkingly at her.

And it wasn’t over yet. She saw two giant lizards, two black scorpions, and two massive toads standing in the street, their eyes fixed upon her.

Terror filled her mind, and she thought, “Why are all these things staring at me? Why are they here? Of course—Thousand Venoms Hall. It must be Thousand Venoms Hall.”