97. A Swarm of Hornets Pursues Ding Xuanming

Xie Wouji arrived at the dining house and leaned against the doorframe, watching the disciples busily at work inside.

“Senior Brother,” one disciple said as he came over. “So it is Senior Brother Xie. I never expected the honor of your visit.”

“Ha, I just wanted to ask whether you have any honey here,” said Xie Wouji.

“Honey?” The disciple frowned and thought for a moment. “Unfortunately, we’ve run out of honey recently. What do you need it for?”

“Honey attracts bees, doesn’t it? Hmm… then do you know where there might be a hive around here?”

The disciple pointed into the distance. “Over there there’s a hornet nest. And it’s no ordinary one either. The poison is ferocious. It’s a kind called the Golden Needle Hornet. Several of our disciples have already been stung by them.”

He pointed toward two disciples lying on a couch in the distance; one was twitching, the other was foaming at the mouth.

“Golden Needle Hornets?” Xie Wouji took out the beast compendium he carried with him and flipped it open. Only then did he discover that this world truly had many venomous hornets and wasps. This Golden Needle Hornet, in particular, had little cultivation, but its poison was savage.

When Xie Wouji reached the rear hill behind the kitchen, there was indeed a hornet nest. The hornets he had known before had nests no bigger than a watermelon, but the one before him now was absurdly enormous.

Dense swarms crawled over the hive, swarming back and forth, with great clouds of hornets bursting out from time to time.

Xie Wouji even saw two hornets carrying a sparrow back into the nest. He realized that hornets ate meat, and that these were the size of an adult man’s fist. Their bulk was truly terrifying.

Though hornets also gathered nectar, most of what they ate was meat. Xie Wouji was not sure whether these hornets would respond to the Hundred Fragrance Pill.

“If that is so, then the fragrance of the Fragrant Fart Pill is not even a tenth of the Hundred Fragrance Pill’s. If that is the case, then if I swallow the Fragrant Fart Pill, would these hornets be drawn to me as well?”

He pondered briefly, and in the end made his decision. He would take the Fragrant Fart Pill. As long as he found Simon Gate, everything would be resolved.

With that thought, Xie Wouji took out the Fragrant Fart Pill and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it furiously.

Puff.

A long, drawn-out sound rose as a sweet fragrance spread outward.

At that moment the hornet nest trembled in waves. A giant hornet, as large as a male dog, actually wriggled out from the hive and sniffed about everywhere.

The queen bee!

Xie Wouji was greatly startled. Right then, the surrounding hornets slowly flew toward him, as if they still were not certain where the source of the fragrance lay.

Puff, puff...

Xie Wouji let loose another one.

This time, the hornets finally locked onto his direction. Suddenly, a huge swarm poured out from the nest, which was as large as a small cart, surging forth like a black cloud.

Xie Wouji had never imagined the hornets would be so sensitive to scent. Crying out in alarm, he turned and fled.

Fortunately, his running skills were still excellent. Though the hornets pursued him closely, Xie Wouji ran even faster.

The kitchen helpers were still cooking when they suddenly saw Xie Wouji racing toward them from afar. As he ran, he shouted, “Move aside! Get down!”

“What?” The disciples had not yet reacted when several hornets struck them in passing.

In that enormous kitchen, the disciples collapsed one after another, foaming at the mouth, limbs convulsing...

As Xie Wouji ran, the hornets chased with all their might. Glancing back at the swarm, he cursed his own misfortune. If he had known, he would never have taken such a risk.

All throughout the Purple Cloud Sect, Xie Wouji became a strange sight: he ran, and the hornets chased after him in a relentless stream, while he kept pushing himself to full speed.

Just then he passed by the Hall of Health, where the seven great elders lived. Suddenly, Xie Wouji noticed the hornets stop in their tracks and turn to look toward the hall.

Xie Wouji was puzzled, but very quickly he sensed something was wrong. Could it be that there was something here even sweeter than the Fragrant Fart Pill?

Yet the hornets swarmed toward the Hall of Health in one great mass.

Inside the main hall, several old men were drinking tea. Ding Xuanming looked smug. “How is it? Fragrant, isn’t it? Just now I took a walk outside. Whether male disciples or female disciples, they all told me that my smell had truly vanished, and now I’m covered in a marvelous fragrance. I feel invigorated beyond words!”

“Uncle-Master, please... could you spare a little for me as well? This disciple got sprayed badly last time too,” said Shi Zhentian, rubbing his hands together with a lecherous grin.

Ding Desheng looked somewhat embarrassed and quickly covered it with a cough. “Let’s not mention what happened last time. Besides, this pill formula is still under study. Once the formula is worked out, your master will give you two pills. Keep one on your person as a sachet, and swallow the other. Once those pill formulas are obtained, even if the Alchemy Hall is occupied by Dongmen Yong and the others, our medicines will still sell better than theirs.”

“Master is wise!” Shi Zhentian said.

Ding Xuanming held a cup of tea. “What I cannot understand is this: that Simon Gate’s mouth is like iron. No matter how he was tormented, he refused to speak. What on earth did Xie Wouji do to coax the alchemy secrets out of him?”

“Who cares what method he used? So long as Xie Wouji keeps failing to find proof to clear his name, he’ll end up the same as Simon Gate! Simon Gate can never leave alive, and once Xie Wouji leaves the sect, as long as he no longer has the title of Purple Cloud Sect disciple hanging over him, we’ll have a thousand ways to finish him,” Ding Desheng said.

His words made Bai Li Qingyan beside him faintly frown.

At that moment Bai Li Qingyan had resumed male attire, draped in a long robe and wearing light iron-scale armor, looking heroic and dashing.

Just then, a disciple came rushing in in a panic. “Bad news! Outside there’s a whole swarm of—”

He spoke while running, even rolling along the ground, looking utterly wretched.

Ding Desheng stood up. “Take your time. What exactly happened?”

Before the disciple could answer, the door suddenly swung open. Brilliant light poured in from outside, and everyone looked over, only to see a black cloud pressing close.

Ding Desheng said, “What is this?”

“A swarm of hornets! The Golden Needle Hornets from the back hill, the ones that have injured countless people!” said the disciple.

Right then, all the hornets locked onto Ding Xuanming. The sweet fragrance on his body was overwhelming, naturally drawing all of their attention.

Ding Xuanming was still holding a cup of hot tea and had not the slightest warning. Before he could react, the hornets came roaring in and had already surrounded him inside and out, sealing him off so tightly that not even a drop of water could have leaked through.

Ding Desheng’s face changed. “Brother, hurry and move aside! Get out of the way! You’ve eaten the Hundred Fragrance Pill!”

Only then did Ding Xuanming react, but it was already too late. A huge swarm of hornets lunged at him. Bai Li Qingyan’s hand flickered with a trace of blue fire as he was about to help Ding Xuanming, when Ding Desheng suddenly stopped him. “Qingyan, do not rush. Don’t strike your Uncle Ding by mistake!”

Ding Xuanming snorted coldly. “These beasts actually dare provoke this old man!”

With that, he produced a horsetail whisk and swept it casually. Dozens of hornets were knocked down at once.

But there were too many hornets. At first they came in through the door, but soon they were surging in through the windows, the drains, almost all of them swarming in from every direction, pressing toward Ding Xuanming.

Ding Xuanming had not expected so many. One hornet viciously pierced his rear, bringing forth a howl of misery.

But once the venom entered his body, its numbing effect set in, and in an instant Ding Xuanming could no longer move. From every direction, hornets pressed in.

These hornets were carnivorous by nature, and Ding Xuanming, having swallowed the Hundred Fragrance Pill, carried a wonderful fragrance in every inch of flesh and every strand of hair.

The hornets’ sharp jaws immediately tore and bit at him, and Ding Xuanming screamed in agony.

Just then, Xie Wouji also reached the doorway. Seeing Ding Xuanming rolling on the floor inside the hall, he realized things were bad. He had caused a disaster.

The scene had already descended into utter chaos. Ding Desheng rushed over to help Ding Xuanming escape, swatting hornet after hornet away, but there were simply too many. And not only hornets; ants and cockroaches of all kinds were mixed in as well, crawling out from the cracks in the surrounding stone.