Chapter 41 — One Push of the Blade Shows True Mastery

Before Shen Mu could find his footing, the two great doors of the courtyard flew up like scraps of paper: the serpent had smashed the gates aside, and a reeking wind struck his face as it came at him in a fury. That blood-bowl mouth and those fangs made Shen Mu's heart quail; he dared not meet the serpent head-on, and could not help wanting to call on the blind elder.

And behind the serpent, the blind elder stood there utterly unruffled, taking no notice of the scene at all.

Something stirred in Shen Mu's heart. "Does Blind Grandfather think I can handle this serpent? If he thinks I can, then I can! Lingxiao Heaven Eye, open!"

His primal qi surged into motion at once and rushed into his eyes, where it formed layer upon layer of gorgeous qi array-patterns, until a complex pupil-pattern took shape in both of them.

With the Lingxiao Heaven Eye open, he felt at once that the world before him had been rebuilt anew: the dim village, the scattered houses, the serpent lunging at him -- all became sharper, more certain, and he could easily catch the serpent's every movement.

Shen Mu shifted his step and evaded the lunge by a hair's breadth, his knife slashing across the eye of the head that swept past him.

He leaped up, and in a hair's breadth dodged the body that swept through the air.

Every motion of the great serpent now fell clear and unmistakable upon his eyes; from the run of muscle beneath the hide and the angle of its exertions, he could know precisely its next move, and dodge accordingly.

All of it seemed entirely natural, requiring no guesswork at all.

The first level of the Ninefold Heaven Gazing Eye Art, the Lingxiao Heaven Eye, could not only see through appearances -- it greatly heightened his perception as well!

The serpent, its left pupil split open by that stroke, hissed in agony and lunged at Shen Mu the instant he landed; then its other eye went dark, for Shen Mu had cut open the right one too.

Suddenly the serpent went silent and still, and Shen Mu too went silent and still. Man and serpent were no more than a dozen feet apart.

Along both sides of the village road, many villagers had by now come out of their houses to watch, staring dumbly at the sight of this boy of eleven or twelve fighting the serpent.

Night had fallen. In the little village of a dozen-odd households, dim lamplight shone through the window lattices and could not light the road.

Everyone held their breath, daring make no sound at all.

Suddenly a little girl, frightened, burst into wails -- and the serpent moved. It shot madly toward her, blood-bowl mouth gaping, and lunged down at the family of three, frozen stiff with terror!