荒墟牧神 - 第293章 神魂本源 - 簡牘書房

"I was just measuring the water flow and got some mud on me. I ask the master of this house to forgive it."

Shen Mu looked over this young gentleman on the boat, and felt at once that he was no mortal man. He could not help sighing inwardly that a man could be so handsome after all, and said, "May I ask, senior brother, where you have come from?"

"Upper Heaven."

Xu Shenghua looked Shen Mu over. The youth was plainly of simple stuff, his gaze clear, seemingly without a trace of impurity — and yet there clung to him a wild, unbridled air. "And where does senior brother come from?"

Shen Mu thought a moment. He had never heard of a place called Upper Heaven; no doubt it was one more hidden holy land. "I come from Yincan Village."

Xu Shenghua had never heard the name either. He set Yincan Village down in his heart and wondered, "Could it be some hidden holy land?"

"Just now I saw senior brother wave his hand and bring forth dozens of strands of primal energy — very strange indeed. It seemed you had woven them out of sword, quite unlike the ordinary way of refining qi into strands. I could not help staring."

Xu Shenghua opened a packet of tea and began to brew. The four girls boiled the water, and they waited quietly a while; only when the boiling water had cooled a little did he drop the leaves in.

Xu Shenghua put the lid on the pot and said, "Your swordsmanship is extraordinary. Those dozens of strands of primal energy fell into the river just now, and stood perfectly upright on the riverbed. Each strand came to rest on a grain of sand, and not one pressed its grain down the least fraction, nor floated up the least fraction. The current runs so swift, yet it did not shift your strands a hair. Such control is truly admirable. Your attainments in the arts of calculation must be very high — have you studied the sword arts of the Daoist Sect?"

Shen Mu was startled. "Senior brother has keen eyes. I have indeed studied the Fourteen Chapters of the Daoist Sword. Primal energy strands are very hard to control — they have no weight, and to stand them upright and vertical truly takes calculation. I use geomagnetic primal-force computation; only so can I hold them motionless."

Xu Shenghua let the tea steep, then lifted the pot and poured for Shen Mu. "To control so many strands at once, exerting not a thread of force — that too is a great discipline, subtle to the last degree. So fine a control, and your swordsmanship must be high as well. If you turned that mastery of primal energy to the command of a sword, your swordsmanship would surely be terrible to behold. I imagine only the Daoist Sect's Fourteen Chapters of the Daoist Sword would demand sword control so delicate. And your strands are unusual besides — woven of sword qi. A strand of primal energy that is itself a sword art."

"The primal energy strand is the Sword-Coiling Form, created by the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping."

Shen Mu was startled again. He praised him: "You are a rare one. This is the first time I have met anyone like you, who can see through my primal energy strands at a glance. Many who have fallen to my hand never realize it. You are quite remarkable. No doubt Upper Heaven is remarkable too."

Xu Shenghua laughed. "I caught it by luck. It is Yincan Village that is truly remarkable, to have taught a disciple like you. Come, taste my Upper Heaven's Qingming tea."

Shen Mu breathed in the fragrance from the cup and took a sip. At first it was somewhat bitter, but at once a sweetness welled up from deep in his palate, unending, and made his mouth water.

The brewed leaves of the Qingming tea were a fine sight too — each one like a Maojian tip, like a sparrow's tongue, suspended in the middle of the liquor, some drifting up, some sinking down.

Shen Mu praised it: "Good tea. Might you spare me some?"

Xu Shenghua hesitated. "The Qingming I brought with me this journey is not much..."

Shen Mu laughed. "Another day I will treat you to wine!"