Chapter 825 — An Old Hand of the Jianghu

"This broken ship is far too eerie!

" Shen Mu, the Dragon-Rearing Lord and the Village Head felt every hair on their bodies stand on end. Such a thing they had never heard of — that a living, breathing soul could grow together with a great hall — it was appalling beyond words, and yet it had appeared before their very eyes! That different species might grow together into a single whole was possible enough, but those were living things grown together with living things; here it was a living thing grown together with a dead one.

Most terrifying of all, even the corpse of the Supreme Emperor, a being of such might, had not escaped, and had become part of this hall! The Village Head was first to step back into that hall, and said in a low voice: "Let us go and look. Be careful.

If there is danger, Shen'er, you rouse your teleportation art at once — pay us no mind, just flee! " Shen Mu shook his head: "My teleportation art is swift enough to carry you all out with me.

" The Village Head shook his head, knowing he could not dissuade him. They returned to the hall. Within, all was neat and orderly, just as before — save for those people grown together with the hall.

"Feng Qiuyun has fled.

" Shen Mu looked all around and did not find Feng Qiuyun.

The Village Head stared at the murals in the hall and shook his head: "She did not escape either. Look here.

" Shen Mu looked at the mural.

It showed the Feather Forest Army putting down a rebellion, gods and demons slaughtering one another, a scene of dreadful carnage; every man of the Feather Forest Army was valiant and skilled in war, of extraordinary strength.

In terms of brushwork, in the age of the Longhan Heavenly Court the Dao of Painting had only just awakened, and the craft was not exquisite, not to be compared with the Dao of Painting of Kaihuang and Jingping.

The Feather Forest Army in the painting seemed flat, whereas the Deaf Elder could achieve a world within the painting and a world without. The Dao of Painting, too, was a Great Dao created by the living beings born after.

The Heavenly Sage Cult had three hundred and sixty trades and three hundred and sixty halls; after Shen Mu became its leader he added a Hall of Learning. In truth, many of the trades of the Heavenly Sage Cult could serve as such acquired Great Daos — not among the innate, but Great Daos opened up by the living beings born after.

Yet in this painting, which seemed to Shen Mu so crude, there was a phoenix flying on beating wings, so vivid and so lifelike that it stood utterly at odds with the flat Feather Forest soldiers in the picture.

That was Feng Qiuyun.

She too had fallen victim as she fled; no doubt when she flew to the edge of the hall, time and space reset, and left her in the painting. "Where is the Earth Mother Kunyuan Sword? " Shen Mu blinked and cast his gaze about.

Feng Qiuyun had revealed her true form and become a phoenix, and that sword was clutched in her phoenix claws. This sword, after all, had been forged by the Earth Mother Yuanjun; its power was exceedingly strong, and the blade gave off a golden radiance that spun without cease, actually holding back the reset of time and space — it might leap out of the mural at any moment! Shen Mu tried whether he could pull the sword out, but could not grasp it, and could only sigh inwardly with regret.

Feng Qiuyun's eyeballs could still move, and she glared at him in a huff. Shen Mu turned a blind eye, and came to the imperial coffin.

In the coffin lay the corpse of a Heavenly Emperor of Beishanghuang, already rigid, struggling to roar, striving to break free of the assimilation — but it could not leap out.

"Shen'er, this imperial corpse still carries imperial might. Do not go near.

" The Village Head's voice came, and Shen Mu too sensed the dreadfully fearsome imperial might. This imperial corpse was exceedingly formidable, and even showed a tendency to break free of the assimilation, which made him shudder. The three of them made a circuit of the place.

The eight divine dragons had turned to stone once more, still guarding the Empress's coffin, and the Empress's coffin had already closed.

In the hall, apart from them and those sealed demigods and gods, there was no one else.

The Crimson Radiance Divine Son, the Ancestral Dragon King, Luo Wushuang the Divine Blade, the Prince of Qiuming and the rest were not here; no doubt they had escaped. The Village Head made his decision on the spot: "Shen'er, Feng Qiuyun and the imperial corpse will break free before long, and there is no telling whether they will turn on us. This ghost ship is enormous.

Let us leave this place at once and search elsewhere, to see whether we can find a way out!

" Shen Mu shook his head and walked toward the Empress's coffin: "I want to look at the Empress and Jue Wuchen once more. " The Village Head frowned, then suddenly felt somewhat comforted: "Shen'er has grown up.

He likes looking at pretty women now. The pig I raised with my own hands has learned to root up cabbages!

These past years Granny and the others always fretted that the boy had no clue, and now at last his eyes are opened.

" Shen Mu cast his art once more and opened the Empress's coffin. In the coffin, the Empress and Jue Wuchen lay side by side.

Shen Mu drew a long breath and roused the Mystic Body Three-Cinnabar Art; behind him a Heaven-Bearing Gate suddenly appeared! "Shen'er, what are you doing? " the Village Head said warily.

"Summon the souls of the Empress and Jue Wuchen, and question them clearly!

" Shen Mu at once worked his art and said in a low voice: "Rest easy, Village Head. I am not reviving them, only summoning their souls to question them. Once I have asked, I will send each of them back; I will not keep them here.

" The Village Head breathed a sigh of relief: "That is well.

Though sending Her Majesty the Empress's soul back is one thing — there would be no harm in keeping Jue Wuchen's soul.

.

.

" Shen Mu was taken aback and shot him a glance.

The Village Head's old face reddened slightly, and he said hurriedly: "I only feel the woman is too pitiable. If you think it better to send her away, then send them all away. I am growing old, and you are not often at home; sometimes I feel rather lonely, and could use a companion.

. .

" Shen Mu turned a deaf ear, unfolded the Soul-Pulling Art, and chanted the demon tongue of Youdu, now shifting to the divine tongue of Xuandu, the tongues mingling, the power of the divine art growing ever stronger.

After a while Shen Mu suddenly stopped: "How strange! " He paced round and round the Empress's coffin, muttering: "No soul — how can that be? It is impossible that there is no soul! Even though Mu Tianzun's soul scattered for a million years, I could gather his shattered soul for him.

This woman must have a soul. .

.

" "Shen'er, what is it? " said the Village Head. "Jue Wuchen has no soul.

" Shen Mu, doubtful and bewildered, said: "Just now I used the Soul-Pulling Art to gather her soul.

No matter where in the cosmos her soul had scattered, it could not escape the sensing of my art.

Yet when I used the art just now, I could not sense her soul at all — not even a mote of it! This body of hers is itself an empty shell! " "You mean. .

.

" The Village Head's expression turned strange: "Jue Wuchen may still be alive? She merely cast off this body of hers, and lives in the world under another face.

" "No. Even if she changes her flesh and changes her face, she cannot change her soul. My Soul-Pulling Art pulls at souls; even if she alters her appearance, her soul would be summoned by my art — and even if it could not be summoned, I would still sense where her soul is. " Shen Mu's expression grew stranger still, and he suddenly said with absolute certainty: "This woman Jue Wuchen was made by human hands!