Chapter 4 — Nether Demon Metamorphosis, Deer Hide Veils the Change
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
s it fell from the air, the hunchbacked old lady's tiny feet moved in a blur, using her fingers as needles and tapping at the hide without cease. Shen Mu concentrated on memorizing. He watched Granny Zhu deliver three hundred and sixteen taps before the hide touched the ground—each in a different place, each sending primordial qi into the hide. By the time the hide landed, it stood there like a living elk, shaking its head and wagging its tail, with no trace at all that it was only a hide! Shen Mu was stunned. Granny Zhu suddenly chuckled, spread out the hide, and swept it over him, wrapping him inside. She laughed, "This is the kind of garment a tailor like us should make." Shen Mu felt the hide grow tighter and tighter, as if it had grown onto his body. It pressed him until he could not help dropping both hands to the ground. He actually felt that he had become an elk, and even felt that he had grown a short, tiny deer tail! Granny Zhu took a bright mirror from the basket and set it before him. Seeing himself in the mirror, Shen Mu found that he had truly become an elk! He wanted to speak, but from his mouth came only the bleating cry of a deer. "The Nether Demon Metamorphosis Art! A fine art! Who would have thought that in a savage, desolate place like the Ruins, remnants of the Heaven Demon and demon whelps would be here teaching such harmful tricks!"