Chapter 413 — The Cultivation Perfected
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
In the mountain villa, great cauldrons had been set up one after another, each of them guarded by a deer demon that kept feeding the fire, and in those cauldrons masters of the arts were being boiled one by one, the fragrance of medicine drifting on the air.
Beyond the cauldrons stood steaming baskets of enormous size, and in them some of the masters were being steamed. Shen Mu came to make his rounds, inspecting the medicinal broth, changing out the ingredients several times, and adding needles to those masters whose spirit treasures had been injured, using hollow silver needles to channel the steam into their bodies.
Emperor Yanfeng lay bristling with silver needles from head to heel, watching Shen Mu with a black scowl.
Shen Mu pressed the emperor down into the steaming basket; Emperor Yanfeng sat bolt upright again and went on glaring at him.
Shen Mu smiled. "Does Your Majesty have some matter to discuss?"
Emperor Yanfeng's expression changed all at once, and with a benign and gracious face he said, "My dear Shen has labored hard and rendered great service. Would you like a promotion?"
Shen Mu was bewildered. The emperor's face grew even kinder. "You are still only of the fifth rank, and yet you have won so much merit: rebuilding the tower ships, casting the true-yuan cannon and the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, opening waterworks and roads with the crown prince, saving Us from peril time and again, and now bringing in the Tianyu clan as well. Too many deeds by far. We cannot but reward you. Speak, then. What do you want?"
Shen Mu scratched his head, thought it over, and ventured, "Your Majesty, treating your injuries this time has cost a great deal in medicine, and buying the cauldrons, the silver needles and the steam baskets took no small sum besides. I advanced that money out of my own pocket. Might Your Majesty consider..."
Emperor Yanfeng's face went black on the instant. "That does not count as a reward! The Ministry of Revenue has money now. Go ask them for it! The reward We mean to give you is something the Ministry could never give. What do you want?"
Shen Mu weighed the question a while. Money? He had never lacked for money. Office? He had little interest in it. Reputation? The Master of the Dark Demon Sect already bore a fearsome name; what reputation did he need?
Treasure?
He had plundered so many precious things, scraped together a good deal more from Lord Huanlong, and Xue Hu'er had even brought him a hundred heavy treasures out of the Golden Palace; he had the Carefree Sword and the Sword Pill besides. He seemed to lack for nothing there either.
Heavenly materials, earthly treasures, elixirs, wonder drugs? No need for those either, for Shen Mu was himself a divine physician.
Shen Mu shook his head, and at last he understood what the Imperial Preceptor Jingping had felt: when the emperor's gifts are beneath contempt, naturally one wants none of them, every single time.
"Think again."
Emperor Yanfeng led him along, step by patient step. "There must be something here that you want. It need not be an object. It need not be an office. It might be a person..."
Light broke upon Shen Mu, and he smiled in perfect understanding. "So Your Majesty means to reward me with a few palace maids. I am forever on the road and have no need of maids to wait on me, but Granny lives here, and the ones about her are all sprites and goblins, and ugly ones at that. If Your Majesty would grant me a few palace maids to keep the villa in order, your servant would certainly not decline! I think those two girls Jianqi and Qinqi in the Empress Dowager's service are quite fine. Pretty, too, and gentle and thoughtful, quick to understand another's heart..."
Emperor Yanfeng flew into a fury, lying stiff as a board in the steaming basket. "Out!"
"By your command."