荒墟牧神 - 第19章 玄軀初醒震荒村 - 雲海書庫

house, with the Alchemist seated at one side; the Alchemist had brewed a pot of tea and was pouring out a cup for the Village Head, but because the Village Head had no hands, he lifted the cup and held it to the Village Head's lips. The two often drank their tea in this fashion — a little idle refinement, most agreeable. The Village Head had just got halfway through his cup when the shouting of the Blind Elder and Grandpa Ma reached his ears; the tea at once sprayed from his nose, his eyes, and his mouth, and from the little holes beneath his lower eyelids two thread-fine jets of water hissed out and shot up high. Crack. The teacup in the Alchemist's hand was crushed as well, and tea splashed all over the Village Head's face; the two men stared at each other, round-eyed and confounded, their mouths having fallen open unbidden and hard put to close again. The Alchemist came to himself and stammered: "The — the Overlord Body... has awakened?" The Village Head likewise wore a face of utter blankness; plainly he had not yet recovered his wits. The Lame Elder came limping over, nodding emphatically, and said with a laugh: "Exactly so — the Overlord Body has awakened! I looked him over just now; his primordial energy is a full three times as vigorous as it was this morning, and far purer; and between his brows the spirit embryo has awakened, giving off a strange undulation — it has clearly merged with his consciousness! These are precisely the tokens of spirit-embryo awakening!" Shen Mu walked over and saw that the Alchemist's mouth had opened even wider, as though two great duck eggs had been stuffed into it, while the Village Head's lower eyelids were still leaking water; and he thought to himself, 'Grandpa Village Head and Grandpa Alchemist are certainly surprised and delighted — but isn't this a little too much surprised, a little too much delighted?' The Alchemist shut his mouth and asked hastily: "Mu'er, has your Overlord Body truly awakened?" Shen Mu nodded. "It awakened while I wasn't paying attention," he said. The Alchemist nearly choked to death. "Awakened while you weren't paying attention..." he stammered. At last the Village Head shook off his daze and chuckled: "That Mu'er is an Overlord Body — of this there can be no doubt whatsoever. With discernment as vast as mine, how could I have misjudged? His awakening was only a matter of course... ahem, ahem, ahem!" The Alchemist's face turned inexpressibly odd, and he too hastily coughed a few times to cover it up, then smiled: "The awakening of the Overlord Body is a most excellent piece of news! But, Mu'er, now that you have but just awakened it, you must not grow proud. Your road of cultivation has only just begun — do you understand?" Shen Mu nodded in agreement. The Village Head said: "The Alchemist speaks very truly. The road of the Overlord Body is arduous beyond measure; you must not allow yourself the least slackening. Alchemist, I am a little tired — first take me back to my room." The Alchemist took his meaning and saw him back into the house. Inside the house, the two old men exchanged blank looks; after a long moment the Alchemist made an effort to keep his voice low: "Village Head — is Mu'er truly an Overlord Body?" "Of course not!" said the Village Head flatly. "Then how did he manage to awaken—" "How should I know?" The two old men exchanged blank looks once more, at a loss to explain the phenomenon of Shen Mu; after a considerable while the Alchemist ventured: "Can a mortal body open the spirit-embryo wall?" "A mortal body breaking through the wall? Never have I heard of such a thing. Mu'er would be the very first." The Village Head suddenly smiled: "Alchemist, who knows — perhaps Mu'er truly will become an Overlord Body and walk a road like no other. Wasn't that exactly our purpose at the start?" The Alchemist smiled as well: "The mortal body is the Overlord Body. Mu'er has already brought his mortal body to awakening; the road of his Overlord Body is abo