Chapter 39 — The Red Sun Hangs in the Sky, Refining the Yang Soul
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 3
tter. If the chance comes, our end will be no better than the Wu girl's! As for Old Man Ma..." She shook her head. Old Man Ma had passed on the techniques of the Great Thunderclap Temple to outsiders — that alone violated the gravest taboo of the Great Thunderclap Temple! Shen Mu, not understanding, asked, "Then why don't we simply kill him and be done with it? Why must we wait for him to come looking for trouble?" Granny Zhu's eyes lit up and she praised him. "Mu'er grows ever more the bearing of an Overlord Body! Alchemist, Mute, Blind Old Man — shall we simply finish off this old bald donkey and his little bald donkey?" Though the old monk had already gone some distance, hearing this he quickened his steps, rose with a whoosh into the air, and carried Mingxing off in a great stride, the thought of settling anywhere near Hidden-Maim Village never again entering his mind. Granny Zhu and the others did not give chase, but went on with their own work. The Hard-of-Hearing Old Man said suddenly, with feeling, "The Wasteland Ruins grow more useless by the day — demons and ghosts of every stripe now dare intrude there and stir up trouble." The Blind Old Man nodded in deep agreement. "They rob us honest folk of our peace. Old Master Ma, hiding like this is no solution. The day you say we go to the Great Thunderclap Temple, these old bones of ours will happily walk there with you." Old Man Ma was moved, though he let none of it show. He lifted the khakkhara and said, "I fought my way out of the Great Thunderclap Temple once; I can certainly fight my way back in. I need no help from any of you. Mu'er, this is what you won — it is yours." Shen Mu took the khakkhara and found it nothing like as heavy as he had expected; the staff had sunk the table leg deep into the ground, yet it sat light as a switch in his hands. Puzzled, he asked, "Is this staff so valuable? Why would Grandpa Ma stake his head on it?" "Valuable? Not especially valuable." Granny Zhu sized the khakkhara up and said with a smile, "You know Crimson Dragon City, I take it? This staff would fetch, at the very most, about one Crimson Dragon City."