Chapter 204 — A Youth's Embarrassing Past
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
His face black as a pot, Shen Mu walked out into the courtyard, carried the pill furnace and the medicine cauldron indoors, and examined the two men's arms and legs. He drew out the Preserved Vigor Sword, opened a small gash in the lame old man's leg, and took a few drops of blood to study closely.
After a while he cut Old Huo's arm as well, drew a few drops of blood, and pondered them a moment. "Old Huo's arm has lost nearly half its vitality, but it has been well kept — as though someone used Buddhist true words to shake the blood-nature in the arm and keep the blood fresh. Nourish it with efficacious pills and medicines, restore its vitality, and it can be reattached. Refine it a few more years, and it will be as good as new."
Old Huo said, "My arm was placed in the Pagoda of Myriad Aspects. That pagoda holds the flesh bodies of the Tathagatas of every age, and the monks chant true words day and night to keep the flesh bodies alive."
Shen Mu started in fright, and the words burst out of him: "Are there truly a thousand Buddhas in the Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
Old Huo shook his head. "I never counted them. There should be."
Shen Mu steadied himself and examined the lame old man's leg. "Grandpa Lame's leg... the blood has gone bad. The leg is dead. It cannot be reattached."
The lame old man's face went pale, and the smile vanished from it. He cried out, "How can that be? The world calls me the Divine Legs. These two legs were refined to the divine realm. How could they die? And this leg was cut off only recently — a mere twenty or thirty years ago. I refuse to believe my leg is inferior to Old Huo's Divine Fist. It must still be alive!"
Shen Mu showed a plain, artless smile. "Grandpa Lame, bear your loss with equanimity. It is dead. It cannot be reattached. And just now I tasted your blood — there was five-spice powder in it, and a smoked savor. I'd guess the Imperial Preceptor Jingping made that leg into a cured ham."
The lame old man laughed in fury. "You little wretch, coming to hoodwink me again. Could the Imperial Preceptor Jingping be so poor he'd pickle my leg and eat it as cured meat?"
Then panic seized him again. "That fellow Jingping truly is poor. He wouldn't actually have made it into cured meat, would he?"
Shen Mu looked insufferably pleased with himself.
Old Huo said, "Don't frighten him. Thieves have little courage."
Shen Mu laughed. "Old Huo's arm and Grandpa Lame's leg have a little less vitality than Grandpa Tu's lower half, but the good fortune is that their vital force remains. I'll first nourish the vitality of your severed limbs with medicine. In ten days or half a month it should be raised to the point where it can revive. Then reattaching them will be no trouble. Grandpa Tu's lower half was grown onto the Wizard Venerable's body, so it left no hidden peril behind. Yours are somewhat worse off — they had no living flesh to nourish them."
Old Huo and the lame old man each breathed out in relief. Old Huo said, "So long as they can be reattached, that is all that matters."
The lame old man laughed. "I took one portion of every efficacious medicine in the imperial palace treasury. Have a look at which ones can be put to use. If any are still wanting, I'll go and... borrow some more."
"No need. The Taixue Academy's storehouse should hold these ingredients."
Shen Mu went out into the courtyard and was about to examine the varieties of efficacious medicine when suddenly Snow Fox's voice came from beyond the gate. "Young Master, the Imperial Preceptor Jingping has come to call."
"The Imperial Preceptor Jingping again? Could Grandpa Lame's affair have come to light, and he has tracked me here?"