荒墟牧神 - 第216章 勾魂引魄 - 簡牘書房

Back inside the compound, Shen Mu turned his head, and the sight of Wei Yong stopped him short for a heartbeat. Then his face broke into a smile and he waved. "Brother Wei! And Your Grace the Duke. What are you doing standing outside? Come in, come in."

Wei Yong grimaced and rolled his eyes for all he was worth. "Get out here, quick — I've come looking for you! Over this way. Something terrible has happened at the Imperial Academy!"

Fearing for Shen Mu's safety, he was bent on dragging him out of the pit. To himself he thought: "Brother Shen has likely just come out for a stroll. He has no idea this is where the Dark Demon Cult has come to settle scores, so he blundered in by mistake. How deadly is that? Those Dark Demon Cult villains are murderous devils; they cut down even a first-rank minister and a cult-master-level figure like Sun Nantuo in the blink of an eye. Brother Shen's little frame — they'd squeeze the marrow right out of his bones!"

The Duke of Wei saw that the old man and old woman on gate duty had cut off his line of retreat. The veins stood out on his forehead and the corner of his eye twitched. "That wretch Wei Yong causes more trouble than I do! And now, even if we wanted to leave, we likely couldn't!"

Shen Mu lifted a hand. The old woman behind the Duke of Wei hurried forward, and Shen Mu leaned over and said a few words to her.

She came back again, grinned wide, and said, "Your Grace, and the young gentleman of the Wei family — please, come in and sit a while."

The Duke of Wei's eye twitched again. He gave Shen Mu a long, searching look, drew a deep breath, and said to Wei Yong, "We're going in."

The two of them walked into the compound, which looked as though it had just been thrown up; everything was new, and the scent of timber still hung in the air.

Watching Shen Mu stride on ahead into the depths of the compound, the Duke of Wei and Wei Yong steeled themselves and followed. The Duke lowered his voice. "Yong'er, how close are you to young Brother Shen?"

"Closer than life itself!"

Wei Yong said gravely, "He saved me when he attacked the scholars' boat at the Dragon-Taming Gate!"

The Duke of Wei felt his head swell. "And have you ever saved him?"

Wei Yong shook his head.

"He saved you, you never saved him — then 'closer than life itself' is worth precisely nothing!"

The Duke of Wei's heart was heavy with dread. He thought: "For now I can only take one step and see what the next one brings. That little wretch has ruined me but good. I wonder whether my passing acquaintance with Fan Xuanshu — we have met a few times — might be of any use..."

They came to the center of the compound, where a platform stood, no more than a chi above the ground, built of timber.

The platform was not large — some three zhang across.

The Dark Demon Cultists in the compound were seated on the ground below it. The old woman at the Duke of Wei's side chuckled. "Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, young gentleman of the Wei family — just sit yourselves down. Don't worry. The ground has only just been mopped. Very clean."

Wei Yong looked down. Faint dark-red stains still marked the earth, and his heart misgave him. "I wonder whether they cleaned it up properly. What if there's a head lying about somewhere still..."

The Dark Demon Cult had wiped out the Nantuo Annex and Sun Nantuo himself — a first-rank minister — in a single exchange. Their strength was truly outrageous. The Duke of Wei, veteran of a hundred battles though he was, dared not make trouble here. He thought: "The Dark Demon Cult may have kicked up a great fuss this time, but the powerful men of the capital will absolutely not be alarmed — they struck too fast. Killing the two of us, I expect, would be just as quick..."

Below the platform, several hundred people sat upright in silence, waiting quietly for the Sage Master to come and give his instruction.