Chapter 172 — The Insect Tide of Gua Prefecture
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
There were several dozen people on the deck of the tower ship; by their look most were merchants, along with the men of divine ability those merchants had hired, and a few officials. It was those officials and men of divine ability who held flying swords at his throat.
"Young man, and where are you bound? " The boat master came over bare-shouldered, his body covered in tattoos. He looked Shen Mu up and down, surprise on his face, and asked.
Shen Mu asked, "Is this ship bound for the capital?
" The boat master nodded. "For the capital. The fare is one hundred Dafeng coins.
" Shen Mu started and blurted, "So dear?
From Jiangling to the capital is only ten Dafeng coins. How has it multiplied tenfold in the blink of an eye? " "Times are bad. There is fighting every day, the whole road is unquiet, and naturally the fare rises. Heh heh, tenfold is a modest rise.
This is work with your head tied to your belt; a man must be paid a little more for his life. " Shen Mu allowed that it was so.
If he made his own way to the capital, with soldiers and chaos the whole road long, it would likely take a dozen days or more to arrive. To use the Sky-Skimming Divine Legs demanded extremely deep cultivation; he could not run long before his cultivation was spent. Taking ship was the easier way.
"The realm is unquiet.
I hear Qiu Dieyi of Lin Prefecture has rebelled as well. " Shen Mu paid his fare and listened to a few merchants chatting. An old gentleman said, "Qiu Dieyi is no small matter. Before he threw in with the court he was the Grand Palace Master of the Palace of Parting Sorrow, with cultivation that shakes heaven and earth.
The Palace of Parting Sorrow's power is immense; its disciples are many, and many of them serve as generals in the frontier armies. With its Grand Palace Master in rebellion, heh heh, the realm grows all the more chaotic. " "I have heard the Palace of Parting Sorrow is the greatest sect ever founded by a woman, of surpassing strength, hardly inferior to the Three Great Holy Lands. Many of the court's women generals came out of the Palace of Parting Sorrow. " "The Three Wonders Fort has rebelled too. In its day the Three Wonders Fort stood high in the imperial favor; Consort Che herself came out of the Three Wonders Fort, and they say she is the granddaughter of Che Zhengli, one of the Three Wonders!
Now that the fort has rebelled, Consort Che was thrown straight into the cold palace.
" "Why have so many sects rebelled?
" "Do you not know? Three months ago the Daoist heir went to the Grand Academy and blocked its gates. The Imperial Preceptor Jingping went to the Grand Academy to lecture on the sword, and there he was seen to be gravely wounded. They say his wound has begun to stink, and that he masks it with perfume on purpose, but even so the stench of the wound will not be covered.
" "When the news first came out, some sects did not believe it. Then came another incident: the master of the Dragon-Taming Sect paid a night visit to the Imperial Preceptor's residence and traded blows with him, and left alive!
The Dragon-Taming master's skills are hardly peerless; he keeps a flood dragon transformed from a snake, and can barely be counted a sect-master-level expert. Yet even him the Imperial Preceptor could not take down.
You can see how grave the wound is. " "Shh, say no more. Those officials are looking this way.
" . . .
Shen Mu's heart stirred slightly. He recalled that day before the Grand Academy hall, when the Imperial Preceptor lectured on the sword; the Imperial Preceptor had indeed looked somewhat sickly.
But Shen Mu himself was well versed in medicine, and he had often gone with Granny Zhu to buy rouge and cosmetics, so he could be certain that the flush on the Imperial Preceptor's cheeks was no sickness, but rouge.
As for the perfume masking the stench of a rotting wound that these merchants spoke of, Shen Mu had indeed smelled those two scents at the time, yet had thought nothing of them.