Chapter 744 — The Seven Sage Venerables of the Immortal Pool
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Old Ox followed behind the two of them, beads of sweat the size of beans rolling ceaselessly down his face. The qi of Shen Mu and Kaihuang shifted without cease; though the two had not openly come to blows, in secret they vied with one another, neither yielding an inch! "These two are stubborn mules turned into spirits!
" Old Ox kept raising a hand to wipe the cold sweat from his brow, thinking, "I should never have listened to the Master and brought Shen Mu to see Tianyin Niangniang.
I should have stayed by the Master's side, slowly sipping tea and taking a few puffs from my water pipe. If Kaihuang loses, that's bad; if Shen Mu loses, that's bad too, and I'll have no good account to give when I return! I can't very well tell the Master that I delivered Shen Mu to the Ancient God Heavenly Court and Shen Mu gave Kaihuang a beating. . .
" He no longer knew whom he ought to help.
By the measure of closeness, he ought to help Kaihuang.
But what a fine youth Shen Mu was, treating him with courtesy, always addressing him as Senior Brother Sanduo; in his heart of hearts, he felt closer to Shen Mu. He was truly at a loss.
Still, he could see that both Shen Mu and Kaihuang were geniuses of the highest order.
Their qi transformed in a thousand ways; the slightest movement of the physical body, the faintest fluctuation of thought in the primordial spirit, the subtlest shift in vital essence—each would stir a sympathetic response in the other's qi, and each would respond in turn. With every step they took, their bodies underwent dozens of transformations. It was precisely because their vision and insight were so exalted that their transformations were aimed at the other's weaknesses; and so, the moment their qi clashed, their walk turned crooked and halting, limping and lame.
The two of them were like men drunk on wine: the farther they walked, the more wretched they became, yet they could not stop, each feeling as though he were riding a tiger and could not get off. Fortunately, they were not far from the great Kun's head; another two or three li and they would reach Yin Tianzi's side. Yin Tianzi was watching in high excitement as Tianyin Niangniang's carriage came driving toward them.
A great crowd had long since gathered on the great Kun's head, all of them gazing upward. Shen Mu and Kaihuang came staggering over, their whole bodies steaming with sweat, the vital essence spilling from their bodies growing ever more intense, each walking forward as though beyond his own control.
Yin Tianzi suddenly felt a stirring in his heart and hurriedly turned around.
Seeing Shen Mu and Kaihuang approaching, he at once sensed two different qi colliding—qi that came from Shen Mu and Kaihuang. "How did those two come to fight?
If they're fighting, that's good for me—I can befriend both sides, and both will be endlessly grateful to me. " Yin Tianzi was astonished, and then his hunter's heart rejoiced.
"The way these two fight is truly peculiar; this is the first time I've seen such a manner of contention. Why not separate them myself and make them grateful to me?
" His qi burst forth as he cut in between the two of them, smiling. "Brother Shen, Brother Mu, let me make peace between you.
. . " The moment his qi thrust between them, the warring, slaughtering qi of Shen Mu and Kaihuang suddenly surged toward him, as though a great flood had found an outlet!
Before Yin Tianzi could finish speaking, crushed by these two currents of qi, his mind went blank white, incapable of forming a single thought!
He felt only that the heaven and earth around him seemed to split apart and crumble in an instant, and that he was falling from a boundless height, while below him lay darkness—endless, infinite darkness! He had no strength to struggle, could only keep falling, keep sinking.
Gradually he saw in the darkness two opposing faces—the faces of "Mu Qing" and "Shen Kai," one on the left, one on the right.