荒墟牧神 - 第44章 幽魔祖庭現人間 - 雲海書庫

Mu, the pheasant dragon strutted back to its nest, only to find its eggs gone; in another fury, it pursued the boy again, hounding him relentlessly. After all the racket, Shen Mu summoned his spirits, brushed off the dejection of his defeat by the pheasant dragon, strapped his butcher knife behind his back, shouldered his sword satchel, added a great iron hammer, tucked a few Origin-Condensing Pills into his shirt, took up the Ximiluo, and left the village in high spirits. Today was his first time going hunting alone. Shen Mu had long looked forward to this day, though the blow from the pheasant dragon had rather dampened his mood. He had no sooner stepped out of the village than he saw an old man and a youth coming toward Hidden Remnant Village, like a pair of itinerant Daoists. They halted at the village entrance, glanced at the village head and the alchemist who were drinking tea, saluted the two, and said, "Might we beg a cup of tea?" The village head raised a brow slightly. "A guest comes from afar—how would I dare treat him lightly?" The alchemist poured tea for the pair; they sat down, the youth facing the village head, the old man standing off to one side. "Is this the boy who slew the serpent?" the old man asked, with a kindly brow and a smile, looking at Shen Mu. Shen Mu was about to speak when the village head said flatly, "Mu'er, none of this concerns you. Go attend to your own affairs." Shen Mu nodded and walked off into the mountains. Once he was far away, the youth opposite the village head spoke, in an extremely aged voice, "We've met before, haven't we?" The village head nodded. "We have." The youth showed a smile. "Of our generation, few are still alive. It is rare to run into you. I am glad." "So am I," said the village head without warmth. The youth smiled. "I've come to see Granny Zhu. Our sect has been without a Sect Leader for forty years. Granny Zhu owes us an account." The village head shook his head. "Once inside this village, one has nothing to do with the outside world." The youth's eyes flickered. "Then I won't go in. Have her come out—I have something to ask her." The village head shook his head again. "She is gone." The old man could not restrain himself and was about to speak, but the youth raised a hand, smiling, "We have waited forty years; no need to rush. Law Enforcement Elder, the Sect Leader's wife is not in the village. Summon the stalwarts and build a manor here. We shall pass the night." The old man bowed in compliance. From the crown of his head a demonic aura drove into the sky, condensing in midair into an enormous "command" character. The youth sipped his tea slowly. After two hours, the villagers of Hidden Remnant Village set down their work, walked out of the village, and raised their eyes. In the mountain forest, colossal, hideously muscled giants were moving through the woods, felling trees as they passed. Four of these giants strained together at every stone statue—and all the statues were Night-Quelling Deities—as they came up gasping; wherever they stepped, rocks were squeezed like mud and oozed out between their toes! The faces of these sixteen giants were flushed red; clearly the statues were immensely ponderous, and even such stalwarts as they could barely bear the weight. The sixteen giants set the statues down with extreme care, placing them at the four cardinal points around Hidden Remnant Village. Before long, another towered ship drew up by the river, and a hundred or more carpenters came ashore. They felled timber beside the village and built houses. An hour later, wooden towers had been raised, complete with all furnishings. The carpenters returned to the ship, brought down gold and silver vessels, pots, bowls, and spoons, then boarded again; the tower ship left the shore and sailed away full of canvas. Then another tower ship arrived, and painters disembarked to lacquer the furniture and the wooden towers. When they finished, they too boarded and departed. Then cam