Chapter 203 — The Trustworthy Old Man
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
When Shen Mu heard the news, he frowned slightly and glanced at the Imperial Preceptor Jingping beside him. The Imperial Preceptor's face was filled with grief. "I must go to the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion and offer my condolences," he said.
Shen Mu asked in a low voice, "Imperial Preceptor, why has the Prince of Zhenbei rebelled?"
"He is not rebelling against the emperor. He is rebelling against me, for the Ling clan's throne."
The Imperial Preceptor said softly, "My power had grown too great. It made him uneasy; he felt certain I would overturn the Ling rule. You are right — I ought to take a wife. Keep Heaven's principle in the heart, yet grant human desire its share as well."
A strange expression crossed Shen Mu's face.
A man like the Imperial Preceptor, setting up a household and a family? It had a touch of the absurd — and yet it was precisely what was about to happen.
"I must first return to my mansion and change into plain mourning clothes. The Prince of Zhenbei rendered great service to the state. Though he never approved of the way I handle affairs, he was a man worthy of respect, and I must pay my respects."
The Imperial Preceptor parted from him, saying, "Once I am in the capital, my injury will no longer require your attention."
Shen Mu nodded. The Imperial Preceptor had once been gravely wounded in a surprise attack, yet his injuries had long since healed, which showed that a miracle physician must be at his side. Once in the capital, Shen Mu's treatment was no longer needed.
When the Imperial Preceptor returned to his mansion, he suddenly grew alert. He did not enter through the main gate but vaulted straight in over the wall. He cast his eyes around, and everything seemed in place — all the wards and seals of the house stood intact.
Still he did not relax in the least. He called out in a low voice, "Old Fu? Yuanqing?"
No voice answered. The Imperial Preceptor's mansion was strangely silent.
He walked deeper in, and when he reached the great hall he saw several of the mansion's servants and guards bound up tight and stacked on one another like a human pyramid.
The Imperial Preceptor frowned, and then he saw Fu Yuanqing. The Little Poison King had been stripped of his clothes, bound hand and foot with cords, and hung from the rafters of the hall. His tongue lolled out, tied with a golden cord from which hung a great iron weight of unknown heft.
A frown on his face, the Imperial Preceptor sent a flicker of sword light from his fingertip, slicing the golden cord and then the ropes about his body. Fu Yuanqing fell and hit the ground hard. Only then did the Imperial Preceptor realize that all of his cultivation had been sealed — even the divine storehouse inside him was sealed, and not a scrap of his power could be drawn out.
The Imperial Preceptor undid his seal, then removed the seals on the other servants and guards as well, and asked with a dark face, "What happened?"
"I don't know."
Fu Yuanqing shook his head, ashamed. "I was sealed before I saw a single thing, and then I was strung up. Still without seeing anything, my tongue was pulled out and an iron weight hung from it — I couldn't even call for help!"
"Master, has our mansion become haunted?"
The other servants looked terrified as well. "I saw nothing either, and the next thing I knew I was stacked up with the rest, unable to move!"
"Haunted?"
The Imperial Preceptor shook his head. "Not a ghost. It is simply that the man moved so fast none of you could even see him. I know who it is. He broke into my mansion for no other reason than to take back his leg while I was away. If I am not mistaken, the vault where I keep my treasures should already be empty."
He led everyone to the vault. The seal on the vault was still there, untouched.
Fu Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. "You've guessed wrong, Imperial Preceptor. The seal is still intact. I expect the thief couldn't break your seal, so he never touched the contents of the vault."