Chapter 1028 — The Most Minute of Scales

"A visitor from the Worry-Free Land?"

The blind elder and the mute artisan exchanged a glance, and their welcome was nothing like what Kaihuang had expected.

In truth, as far as the Worry-Free Land was concerned, it had always been Shen Mu alone who ached to find the place. To the rest of the folk in the Village of Hidden Remnants, were it not for Shen Mu's sake, they could not have cared less where the Worry-Free Land might lie.

The mute artisan least of all. He was a survivor of the Heaven-Craft God Race, whose ancestors had built the Far Shore Ark and who counted themselves the descendants of Indra, the Heavenly King Buddha Li Youran. Yet at the close of the Kaihuang Era, Kaihuang had taken a band of people and fled to the Worry-Free Land. The Heaven-Craft God Race forged a second Far Shore Ark, but before they could reach the Worry-Free Land, the armies of the Heavenly Court slaughtered them to the last man.

The remnant of the Heaven-Craft God Race was trapped inside a three-dimensional space seal, scraping out a living; by the mute artisan's generation, only he remained.

In the end, on the verge of death, his parents had pushed him—still a child—out through the seal, to face the darkness and the perils of the Desolate Ruins alone.

Of them all, the mute artisan had the least patience for the Worry-Free Land. The Far Shore Ark still lay in the Desolate Ruins; never once had he thought of repairing that great ship and sailing to the Worry-Free Land. However bitter his own lot, the thought had never crossed his mind.

"You come from the Worry-Free Land? A rare guest indeed. In the days before the Jingping Tribulation broke out, we had a visitor from the Worry-Free Land as well—one Celestial Master Zixi, a past master of formations. I learned no small amount from her."

The blind elder went on, "But when the Jingping Tribulation broke out last time, Kaihuang issued a single order, and she took every god of the Kaihuang Era and ran, leaving us to face the tribulation alone. You come from the Worry-Free Land—surely you are not here to deliver some command of Kaihuang's?"

Kaihuang shook his head. "Celestial Master Zixi has gone back to the Worry-Free Land. I heard her speak of the Jingping Reform, and so I came to see it with my own eyes."

The mute artisan drew the blind elder aside, his hands flying this way and that.

The blind elder said, "It is not as bad as all that."

Kaihuang asked curiously, "What does this mute fellow Daoist say?"

"He is cursing Kaihuang. He says Little Shen did a great many things for Indra, the Heavenly King among Kaihuang's Four Great Heavenly Kings: he put down the Heavenly Court's forces across the twenty heavens of the Buddhist realm, he shouldered a monstrous injustice on Indra's behalf, he saved Tian Shu, Heavenly King of the Dark Capital, and settled the old grievance between Tian Shu and the Nether Capital, and he even brought Heavenly King Diyiyue back from the dead."

The blind elder relayed the mute artisan's words: "Little Shen is also the second disciple of Kaihuang's Woodcutter Celestial Master, and two of the Four Great Celestial Masters—the Fisherman and Zixi—are old acquaintances of his, on the best of terms. Little Shen likewise helped the Martial Combat Celestial Master solve the trouble that the warriors of the Douniu Realm cannot become gods without a Divine Bridge; what a favor that was. Even Fengdu was preserved only because Little Shen had such credit with Heavenly Venerable You and Tubo. And yet Kaihuang is a man with no decency: at the Jingping Tribulation he issued one order and pulled every god away, running faster than a rabbit, the worthless bastard..."

The blind elder's eyes were bright as he watched the agitated mute artisan, whose hands were still flying through their signs. His own head began to ache, and he urged, "The man is a guest from afar—stop cursing him... you cannot curse him like that; after all, Kaihuang is Little Shen's own ancestor, and you are cursing Little Shen along with him! It is nothing, nothing—he is not cursing you, he is cursing Kaihuang, and it is rather ugly besides... Ah, yes, our guest comes from the Worry-Free Land; he has nothing to do with Kaihuang, has he? What is your honorable surname, and how should we address you?"

Kaihuang had meant to bring out the Worry-Free Sword and let the two of them verify his identity. Hearing this, he at once abandoned the notion and said, "I am only an ordinary god of the Worry-Free Land, surnamed Ye, given name Kai. I usually do a little research there, and when I saw the two of you discussing the microscopic structure of crystals, I came to seek your instruction. I never expected this mute fellow Daoist to harbor such a grudge against the Worry-Free Land."

The blind elder let out a breath and smiled. "So long as your surname is not Shen, all is well... Mute Artisan, stop cursing!"

The mute artisan sullenly dropped his hands, then could not resist signing twice more. "Aba!"

"Yes, yes, a worthless bastard," the blind elder said helplessly.

Kaihuang cleared his throat and asked, "This Little Shen you speak of—could he be Shen Mu, Heavenly Venerable Mu?"

The two old men brightened at once. The blind elder laughed. "You know Little Shen too? He is the one we taught!"

Kaihuang said, "There is something the two of you do not know. Some days ago, Heavenly Venerable Mu arrived in the Worry-Free Land."

The blind elder's and the mute artisan's eyes blazed at once. The blind elder said hurriedly, "Did Little Shen see Kaihuang? To go to the Worry-Free Land and be restored to his clan—that has been his lifelong wish!"

Kaihuang nodded.

"Did they fight?"

The blind elder pressed him, "I mean, did Little Shen and Kaihuang come to blows?"

Kaihuang said helplessly, "They came to blows."

The two old men were instantly smug. "That is Little Shen's temper; meeting Kaihuang, of course they would fight. Ye Kai, did Little Shen beat Kaihuang badly?"

Kaihuang did not know whether to laugh or cry. "How do the two of you know it was Heavenly Venerable Mu beating Kaihuang, and not Kaihuang beating Heavenly Venerable Mu?"

The two old men brimmed with pride. The mute artisan set down his box and planted his hands on his hips; the blind elder leaned on his bamboo staff and swung one leg. "If it were a fight at the same realm, Kaihuang would never get the better of Little Shen—that is certain! How was the beating? Was it vicious?"

Kaihuang could only say, "It was very vicious indeed."

"Well beaten!" The mute artisan's voice boomed like a great bell and gave Kaihuang a start.

The blind elder was beside himself with delight. "Of course Little Shen fought well—our years of careful teaching were not wasted! This Kaihuang and the Worry-Free Land must have gone to ruin; he deserved the beating, and a hard one at that!"

Kaihuang's face could not hold its composure. He cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, the microscopic structure of this divine gold..."

"Divine gold, mystic gold, and ordinary gold—all because their microscopic structures differ, their toughness and strength are as far apart as heaven and earth."

The blind elder explained, "So we mean to alter the fine structure and refine mystic gold into divine gold. That is the research we are at now. Since you are from the Worry-Free Land, you must have studied such matters?"

Kaihuang shook his head, bewildered.

The mute artisan signed with contempt.

The blind elder said, "Do not blame him; blame the muddle-headed emperor."