Chapter 4 — Nether Demon Transmutation, a Change Hidden in a Deer's Hide

hidden harm. His primal qi is simply that strong, and has already begun to raise the quality of his body." The Village Head was dazed as well. For all that he had once commanded the winds and clouds and seen much and known much, he had never seen a case like Shen Mu's, a man who had cultivated the commonest of arts to such a degree; it had gone beyond the common view of the Essence-Drawing Art. "Shen Mu, today you will learn to make clothes with Granny. No boxing today." Granny Zhu called Shen Mu over. This hunchbacked old woman carried a small basket with needles and thread and notions in it, and went out on her little bound feet; Shen Mu hurried to follow, took the basket from her hands, and asked, puzzled: "Granny, shouldn't we be making clothes here in the village? Why are we going out of the village?" "Today we learn to make clothes outside the village. Real clothes." Granny Zhu chuckled. "These days Old Ma and the Lame Elder and the rest have taught you a great many real skills, and Granny cannot be stingy either. Today I will teach you the thing a seamstress is truly good at." The thing a seamstress is truly good at? Is that not still making clothes? Puzzled, Shen Mu followed Granny Zhu out of the village and downstream along the river. Hunchbacked she might be, but her steps were swift; Shen Mu had to run full tilt with the leg work the Lame Elder had taught him just to keep up. They went some ten li and came to the foothills, where a herd of elk grazed and sported among the trees about two hundred paces off. Granny Zhu pulled an embroidery needle from the knot of thread in her basket and flicked it with her finger; the silver needle flashed and vanished, and then Shen Mu saw one of the elk two hundred paces away topple over with a gurgle, while the rest took fright and scattered. Granny Zhu went forward on her little feet, and Shen Mu followed. The elk lay on the ground, but it was still alive, only pinned by Granny Zhu's silver needle through the center of its brow, unable to move. "Mu'er, watch closely. This needle pins its Heaven Soul." Granny Zhu had Shen Mu note the place of the silver needle in the brow, then took another embroidery needle from the knot and pierced the elk at the brow wheel. "This needle pins its Earth Soul." She took a third needle and pierced the elk's navel. "This needle pins its Life Soul. With the three souls pinned, there remain the seven po. The first po is named the Corpse Hound; the Corpse Hound is at the crown of the head, that is, the heavenly spirit." She took up another silver needle and set it at the brow wheel, saying: "The second po is named the Crouching Arrow, and the Crouching Arrow po is at the brow wheel. Note that the Crouching Arrow po is easily confused with the Heaven Soul; the two needles share the same place, but one goes deep and one goes shallow, so do not mistake them." "The third po, the Sparrow Shade po, is at the Adam's apple. Feel your own Adam's apple: is there not a triangular notch there? That is where the Sparrow Shade po hides. This needle pins the Sparrow Shade po." "The fourth po, the Swallowing Thief po, is in the pit of the stomach, where the heart's apertures gather. Right here." "The fifth po, the No-Poison po, is at the navel. Take care not to confuse the Life Soul with the No-Poison po." "The sixth po, the Filth-Eliminator po, is at the perineum, the place where filth is discharged." "The seventh po, the Stinking Lung po, is in the lung chamber, the place where the old is breathed out and the new drawn in." Granny Zhu pinned the three souls and seven po of this elk, then said: "This is the most crucial step before making clothes: locking the souls, locking the three souls and the seven po. Mu'er, have you seen it all clearly? If you have, we begin to make the clothes." Shen Mu did not understand what this had to do with making clothes, but he still carefully committed the positions to memory and said: "I have them." Granny Zhu took a pair of scissors from the basket and slit the elk open at the lips, and before long she had peeled off the whole hide. Strange to tell, though the hide was stripped away, not a drop of blood flowed out. "Just now, when I locked the souls, I locked its blood, its essence and spirit, its souls and po, all into this hide. The deer is dead, but the hide is alive. Yet to truly refine it into a garment, certain methods are needed. Watch closely, Mu'er, and note the places my fingers touch!" Granny Zhu tossed the hide into the air. As it fell, the hunchbacked old woman moved her little feet with great speed, and with her fingers for needles she struck at the hide again and again. Shen Mu devoted himself to memorizing. Before the hide touched the ground, Granny Zhu had struck three hundred and sixteen finger-points, no two of them in the same place, each one sending primal qi into the hide. When the hide landed, it stood there like a living deer, tossing its head and swishing its tail; no one could have told it was only a skin! Shen Mu was stunned. Granny Zhu suddenly laughed, spread the hide wide, and swept it over Shen Mu, wrapping him up in it. "This is the garment we seamstresses ought to make." Shen Mu felt the hide draw tighter and tighter, as though it were growing onto his body, wrapping him so tightly that his hands were forced to the ground. He actually felt that he had become an elk; he even felt that he had grown a short little deer's tail! Granny Zhu took a bright mirror from her basket and set it before him. Shen Mu saw himself in the mirror, and he really had turned into an elk! He wanted to speak, but from his mouth came only the yow-yow call of a deer. "The Nether Demon Transmutation Art! A fine spell! To think that in a place as wild and desolate as the Wastes one can still meet remnants of the Heaven Demons, and their demon whelps, teaching such ways of doing harm!"