荒墟牧神 - 第162章 公子傾心 - 簡牘書房

"I cut it down from the heavens back then, so of course it is still alive."

Butcher Tu and the Blind Elder, one before the other, slowly drew away. Their steps were slow, yet their speed was great. Butcher Tu's voice came drifting back: "This is the hand I traded my lower half for. The divine flesh on it, I expect, has been made into elixirs and eaten by someone; only the bones are left."

"Shen'er, remember to come back to the village for the New Year!" the Blind Elder's voice came from far off.

Shen Mu watched them go, a faint smile on his face, and waved at their receding backs: "I will be back for the New Year, I promise!"

The Blind Elder seemed to see him waving; without turning his head, he raised his arm and waved.

"Blind Grandpa really is something."

Shen Mu marveled: "He can see that clearly from so far away."

Before long a heavy voice came rolling from afar, echoing endlessly over the grasslands: "Junior Brother Shen, Brother, Bro--"

Shen Mu recognized Libationer Bashan's voice and called out hastily at the top of his lungs: "I am here!"

The voice was still shouting: "Doctor Shen, Doctor, Doc--"

Shen Mu answered again, but Libationer Bashan's voice kept calling from afar. Shen Mu came to his senses: "Libationer Bashan must still be several hundred li away. His voice can reach here, but mine cannot carry that far to him."

Ling Yuxiu woke and said hastily, "Ox-boy, let me!" With that she waved her hand and loosed a flame divine art; a fireball burst in midair, waves of fire rolling out.

Shen Mu silently praised her cleverness and said with a smile, "It is no use. He is still several hundred li away; he cannot see it."

Snow Fox and the Green Ox woke too. The Green Ox looked this way and that, and not seeing Butcher Tu or the Blind Elder, asked, "Where is the old master?"

"He has gone."

Shen Mu heard Libationer Bashan still shouting, calling him by ever-changing names, and sighed. Libationer Bashan's voice was indeed loud, and he could certainly talk; it was hard to imagine such a rough fellow being so talkative. He said, "Let us head for the frontier pass first. If Libationer Bashan cannot find us, he will surely go there."

The Green Ox revealed his true form. Shen Mu took Snow Fox up onto the ox's back, and Ling Yuxiu jumped up as well. The Green Ox set off at a run toward the frontier pass. Shen Mu glanced at the girl beside him and asked, "Are your wounds healed?"

Ling Yuxiu nodded. "Not even a scar remains. Look, I took a sword thrust in the waist, and now it is completely healed."

She lifted her clothing, baring her waist, and turned sideways. "Right here."

Her skin was very fine; even at the waist it was white, so she must never have been out in the sun. Shen Mu's skin had once been somewhat dark; as a boy he had often swum bare-backed in the Yong River in high summer, sunburned until his skin peeled, and sometimes chased round and round by the great monstrous fish of the Yong River snapping at his heels.

These days at the Grand Academy, Shen Mu had no chance to strip off and run wild, and his skin had gradually grown white; but beside Ling Yuxiu he still seemed a little dark.

Shen Mu reached out a finger and touched her wound; he could still feel a slight ridge there.

Ling Yuxiu felt ticklish and giggled.

Shen Mu said, "Hold still. I will dissolve the clotted blood here for you, or it will stay swollen forever."

Ling Yuxiu hastily held still, holding up her clothing. Shen Mu turned his own vital qi into Azure Dragon vital qi; thread by thread the qi at his fingertip wove and darted, and with great care he guided it into her skin to dissolve the clotted blood.

Ling Yuxiu felt a tingling numbness and giggled again. "You are making me so ticklish. I have a ticklish spot there."

Shen Mu did not raise his head. "Bear it. It will not tickle in a moment; it will hurt a little."