Chapter 1505: When Two Powers Meet
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Wei Suifeng and the others did not know what had befallen them inside Pixiang Hall, but Shen Mu was grinding his teeth, and plainly he had come off badly. Shen Mu gave them the bearings of Jade Capital, and while he examined the Lame Old Man's wounds he said, "You two go on ahead. Carry Pixiang Hall into Jade Capital, and the moment the seals on it are triggered, leave at once. Whatever you do, do not linger." "Rest easy. I've been to that place before. I never reached the deepest parts, but I know a fair bit about how it is laid out." Shujun said swiftly, "With me leading the way, nothing should go wrong." Wei Suifeng put Pixiang Hall away and departed with him at speed. Shen Mu brought out medicinal ingredients and refined pills, which he fed to the Lame Old Man. The old man's breath was weak and flagging; carrying Shen Mu on his back through the seals of Pixiang Hall had damaged his life and injured his very source, and only after Shen Mu's treatment did he improve somewhat. But to return to the peak of his condition would take a long stretch of nursing. Shen Mu refined more pills, sorted them by kind, handed them to Granny Zhu, and told her when each was to be given to the Lame Old Man. Granny Zhu was startled—then she saw Shen Mu take out the Azure Heaven Banner of Lapis Lazuli and hand it to Yan'er, and summon forth from the vertical eye in his brow the souls of the Emperor of the South, Emperor Ming, and the others, entrusting them to the care of Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua. Granny Zhu was badly frightened. She hastily pulled Shen Mu aside and said, sick with worry, "Mu, don't frighten me like this. Did you take some incurable wound inside that hall?" Shen Mu shook his head. "I fell into a trap. Granny, for the next few days I must remain in dream, using the Buddha's teachings to fend off the assault of the Primordial Sage of Mira Palace. You must all guard me. If you see every one of me within the dream reciting sutras..." He hesitated, then took out a divine bow and handed it to Granny Zhu, and said through clenched teeth, "Then shoot my primal spirit dead!" Granny Zhu's face changed utterly, and she flung the bow aside. Shen Mu said hastily, "Even if my primal spirit is shot dead, I won't die. I can reconstitute my soul again; at worst I lose my primal spirit's cultivation and begin anew. But if that Primordial Sage of Mira Palace borrows my strength and comes out of Pixiang Hall, I fear even the Ten Heavenly Venerables joining hands could not deal with him! Granny, when the time comes, you must shoot my primal spirit. Do not hesitate!" Granny Zhu's expression was complicated. Silently she picked the bow up and handed it to the Blind Old Man. He took it, brooded a while, then shook his head. "I can't do it." He wanted to pass the bow to the Mute Craftsman, but he too shook his head. "I cannot raise my hand against a child I raised myself..." "Then I will do it." Granny Zhu snatched the bow back, drew a long breath, and said, in a voice like cut iron, "I was the one who picked Mu up back then. It's better that I do it with my own hand. My heart is hard!" She panted a few harsh breaths; plainly her heart was nothing like as hard as she claimed. Shen Mu said to Lan Yutian, "Whether to merge with your own remnant soul is a decision you must make for yourself. No one else can make it for you." Lan Yutian hesitated, then nodded. Yan'er had taken away the soul of the Vermilion Bird, the Emperor of the South. Mother and daughter were reunited at last, and naturally they had a great deal to say to one another. Only Emperor Ming's soul drifted over this unfamiliar land, somewhat at a loss. "Where is this? Didn't I die?" He looked up at the heavens and down at the earth; this world was so utterly strange to him. He did not even know how long he had been dead, nor why he had come to this place. "Don't leave this place!" A little girl blocked his way and looked up at him, her voice clear and sweet. "This is the Hundred Thousand Sa