Chapter 43 — The Demon Spirit Treads the Moon, Racing Swiftly

On the ox cart, the others looked up. The blind elder, calm as ever, said, "Will he fall?"

The alchemist caught a handful of wind and sniffed it. He smiled. "He'll fall. This is a demon wind. There's a demon spirit traveling in it. When it notices him, it'll stop. Who's going to catch him?"

Shen Mu's steps were swift, and the wind was swift too. Before he knew it he had run more than ten li. The youth was exulting when suddenly he saw a snow-white fox flying up beside him, seated on a large banana leaf, its two forelegs stretched straight out and its hind legs folded beneath it.

He froze. The white fox froze too.

Man and fox screamed in unison. Then Shen Mu felt the howling wind die away at once, and he tumbled from the sky, flailing. The fox, still sitting on its banana leaf, raised a forepaw and pointed at him, shrieking — clearly utterly dumbfounded.

"Damn!"

Shen Mu's steps shifted rapidly. He used the Heaven-Stealing Divine Legs, thinking, "As long as I run fast enough, I can walk in the sky..."

Only then did he realize he was not running fast enough. His feet could find no purchase on empty air. He went hurtling down!

Shen Mu looked down, and his scalp prickled. Below was a stretch of mountain ground without a single tree, only scattered, jumbled rocks. If he fell on those rocks, he would be shattered to pieces!

Just then the white fox shrieking in the air came to its senses. The banana leaf shot through the sky like a streak of smoke. At once Shen Mu felt wind spring up beneath his feet, and he could tread the wind's edge again. He quickly tapped his steps, checking his downward plunge, and at last, just before he hit the ground, he planted his feet on the wind's edge and bounded up, treading the wind!

He let out a breath of relief, then saw the fox catch up on its banana leaf. Man and fox looked at each other. The white fox spoke in human tongue. Its voice was very pleasant, but it carried the reek of wine and sounded tipsy. Curiously it asked, "What are you doing? How did you get into my wind?"

Shen Mu was taken aback. "I wanted to see if I could chase the wind's edge and walk on it," he said. "I didn't know it was your wind. You can fly? And talk?"

"I use an art to command the wind, and so I ride it."

The white fox said, "I'm coming back from a banquet. It's getting dark and I'm in a hurry. I won't see you on your way — I'll go on ahead. If fate allows, we'll meet again another day!" With that, it swept up a gale and vanished.

Shen Mu felt the wind beneath him weaken. He quickly ran down slantwise from the sky and landed on the ground. Yincan Village lay just ahead. He looked up, but the fox was already gone from sight.

"Coming back from a banquet?"

Shen Mu was full of wonder. "A talking fox that knows magic arts, going to banquets too — are there really such amusing things in the world? Next time I meet it, I'll have to ask it straight..."

Two days later, an old man and a youth — two wandering Daoists, weathered and travel-stained — came to Zhang Family Stockade. They walked into the village, and the elder said, "Kind folk of the village, might you spare a bowl of water? We men of the faith are always on the road, and our stomachs are weak. We'd beg a bowl of hot water."

Villagers poured two bowls of water. The elder and the youth drank and thanked them. The old man, kindly of face and gentle of eye, smiled and said, "My disciple and I wander the four directions. We know a little of magic arts. I observe a demon aura about your village. Would you like us to exorcise it?"

The villager smiled. "The demon's already been dealt with. It was a great serpent hiding in a tree trunk, and a boy from a neighboring village cut it down!"

The old man looked surprised. "Then why do I still sense a demon aura here? Has anyone in your village died recently?"