Chapter 209 — The Gate of Kunyuan
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Old Fu saw how matters stood and said, "You have guests, and this old servant will not intrude. I still have other households to repay. Two of them were robbed so badly that if I do not return their money, they will likely go hungry for days to come.
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" The Lame Elder and Lord Huo came over, the Lame Elder's face shining with glory, while Lord Huo wore the look of a man for whom poverty and honor alike had nothing to do with him.
Shen Mu invited the two in and asked, "Where have Grandpa Cripple and Lord Huo been these past days? " Lord Huo said, "The Lame Elder dragged me off to Lizhou, to relieve the famine. " The Lame Elder laughed: "The rebellion over there has brought down both heaven-sent calamity and man-made ruin upon Lizhou, and the bodies of the starved lie strewn across the land. Lord Huo and I have made a little money of late, so we went to relieve the famine. Do not be taken in by our fine clothes - they are all fakes.
This gold chain is wood with a coat of gold lacquer, and this jade pendant is a counterfeit too.
The genuine ones Lord Huo carried off and pawned, and with the money he bought rice and flour and sent them to Lizhou. Your Dark Demon Cult fellows were there relieving the famine as well, and we handed the money and grain over to them. " Shen Mu laughed: "Then Imperial Physician You has done a good deed after all.
" He told the two elders of the demon summoning, and the Lame Elder said in astonishment, "Such a thing truly came to pass? You have not disgraced me by letting that Demon King cheat you, have you?
This should have been left to Lord Huo - the Horse King God has three eyes, and subduing demons and quelling monsters is his specialty.
" Lord Huo's brow suddenly split open, revealing a ball of white flesh, which turned half a circle to the side and disclosed an eye; Buddha-light blazed forth and shone upon Shen Mu's brow.
At once a strange squealing rose from Shen Mu's brow, and a voice cried out shrilly, "Refine me to death, and you die with me!
" Shen Mu said in alarm, "Lord Huo, I have sworn a covenant with him - there is the covenant of Tubo! " "The covenant of Tubo? " The Lame Elder and Lord Huo were both shaken. Lord Huo hastily shut the third eye on his forehead, his face grave: "Shen'er, you are too bold.
How perilous are Tubo's Nine Oaths - how could you swear such a covenant with a man so lightly? And the other party is not even a man, but a demon god of another world!
" The Lame Elder shook his head: "Sheer folly!
You are wagering your own life! Why swear the Tubo covenant with him at all?
You had only to tell us, and we would have finished him off! " Shen Mu said, "I wished to learn the Youdu tongue.
" "Even then there was no need for the Tubo covenant. Hand him over to Zaifu - I warrant Zaifu will wait on him so comfortably that in three or five days he will confess everything.
" The Lame Elder shook his head: "Zaifu loves nothing better than toying with gods and demons; in three or five days he can bring them to long for the mercy of a single blade.
Let Zaifu have at him - and if he fails to finish him off, then I will teach you myself!
" Shen Mu flushed with shame: "The covenant of Tubo is sworn and cannot be altered. Now I mean to summon the demon, and I must trouble you two grandfathers to lend a hand.
" Lord Huo said, "Summon them by all means, and we will simply destroy them. " Shen Mu went to the storehouse of the Grand Academy to buy some bones, took out his talisman-treasure, and began the summoning. The Grand Academy taught every art and method under heaven, whether of the righteous path, the demonic path, or the Buddhist path, and since some of those arts required human bones for their practice, a supply was kept in the storehouse as well.