Chapter 209 — The Gate of Kunyuan

Old Fu saw how matters stood and said, "You have guests, and this old servant will not intrude. I still have other households to repay. Two of them were robbed so badly that if I do not return their money, they will likely go hungry for days to come.

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" The Lame Elder and Lord Huo came over, the Lame Elder's face shining with glory, while Lord Huo wore the look of a man for whom poverty and honor alike had nothing to do with him.

Shen Mu invited the two in and asked, "Where have Grandpa Cripple and Lord Huo been these past days? " Lord Huo said, "The Lame Elder dragged me off to Lizhou, to relieve the famine. " The Lame Elder laughed: "The rebellion over there has brought down both heaven-sent calamity and man-made ruin upon Lizhou, and the bodies of the starved lie strewn across the land. Lord Huo and I have made a little money of late, so we went to relieve the famine. Do not be taken in by our fine clothes - they are all fakes.

This gold chain is wood with a coat of gold lacquer, and this jade pendant is a counterfeit too.

The genuine ones Lord Huo carried off and pawned, and with the money he bought rice and flour and sent them to Lizhou. Your Dark Demon Cult fellows were there relieving the famine as well, and we handed the money and grain over to them. " Shen Mu laughed: "Then Imperial Physician You has done a good deed after all.

" He told the two elders of the demon summoning, and the Lame Elder said in astonishment, "Such a thing truly came to pass? You have not disgraced me by letting that Demon King cheat you, have you?

This should have been left to Lord Huo - the Horse King God has three eyes, and subduing demons and quelling monsters is his specialty.

" Lord Huo's brow suddenly split open, revealing a ball of white flesh, which turned half a circle to the side and disclosed an eye; Buddha-light blazed forth and shone upon Shen Mu's brow.

At once a strange squealing rose from Shen Mu's brow, and a voice cried out shrilly, "Refine me to death, and you die with me!

" Shen Mu said in alarm, "Lord Huo, I have sworn a covenant with him - there is the covenant of Tubo! " "The covenant of Tubo? " The Lame Elder and Lord Huo were both shaken. Lord Huo hastily shut the third eye on his forehead, his face grave: "Shen'er, you are too bold.

How perilous are Tubo's Nine Oaths - how could you swear such a covenant with a man so lightly? And the other party is not even a man, but a demon god of another world!

" The Lame Elder shook his head: "Sheer folly!

You are wagering your own life! Why swear the Tubo covenant with him at all?

You had only to tell us, and we would have finished him off! " Shen Mu said, "I wished to learn the Youdu tongue.

" "Even then there was no need for the Tubo covenant. Hand him over to Zaifu - I warrant Zaifu will wait on him so comfortably that in three or five days he will confess everything.

" The Lame Elder shook his head: "Zaifu loves nothing better than toying with gods and demons; in three or five days he can bring them to long for the mercy of a single blade.

Let Zaifu have at him - and if he fails to finish him off, then I will teach you myself!

" Shen Mu flushed with shame: "The covenant of Tubo is sworn and cannot be altered. Now I mean to summon the demon, and I must trouble you two grandfathers to lend a hand.

" Lord Huo said, "Summon them by all means, and we will simply destroy them. " Shen Mu went to the storehouse of the Grand Academy to buy some bones, took out his talisman-treasure, and began the summoning. The Grand Academy taught every art and method under heaven, whether of the righteous path, the demonic path, or the Buddhist path, and since some of those arts required human bones for their practice, a supply was kept in the storehouse as well.

He went about it as one long practiced, and soon had the runes covering a demon god statue all alight. This time no such terrifying spectacle as at Tianbo City appeared, nor did Shen Mu glimpse the realm of Dutian; plainly the demon god summoned now was not the equal of the Demon King of Dutian in might.

Above the Grand Academy the heavens suddenly changed, and a vast, mighty demonic power burst through the sky and came down from on high, striking straight down like a black pillar, shooting toward the Scholars' Quarters of the Grand Academy! In that instant, countless students of the Imperial College and scholars within the Grand Academy were startled, and the Libationer and the Grand Libationer were startled, and the powerful ones of the capital were startled, and all turned their eyes this way.

Yet in Shen Mu's courtyard in the Scholars' Quarters the summoning went on. The wooden demon god statue gave off a crackling roar, growing taller and taller, larger and larger, until a voice brimming with demonic power howled: "This lowly world - prepare to receive the fury of the Jiahe Demon God of Dutian! " At that very moment, above the Grand Academy, Buddha-light blazed up. A great Buddha sat in midair, stretched out a palm tens of acres across, and pressed downward; with a crackling roar, the consciousness and magic power of that Jiahe Demon God, just as they descended, were ground to powder together with the ever-swelling wooden image!

The many Imperial College students and scholars in the Grand Academy were astonished afresh, while the powerful ones of the capital and the great armies guarding it took comfort from the sight: "It is the Grand Academy, after all - a place thick with masters. Such attainment in the Buddha's dharma is seldom seen even at the Great Tingming Temple! So the Grand Academy still harbors experts of this caliber; they are not to be made light of! " Pei Wujiu came hurrying to the scene with the Grand Academy's Imperial College students, and Shen Mu poked his head out of the courtyard and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, you come at a fine time.

Just now a demon god leapt out, and my elders struck him dead. " Pei Wujiu's heart gave a lurch; with a half-smile he said, "Lord Shen, be careful, and do not wreck the Scholars' Quarters. Well then, disperse, all of you. Lord Shen's elders have arrived, and the Grand Academy will come to no harm.

" The Imperial College students looked at one another. Pei Wujiu had always been at odds with Shen Mu - why was he so accommodating now? "This is plainly Lord Shen summoning demons; why does Grand Libationer Gu not make things hard for him?

" Doubt filled their hearts: "Summoning demons in the Scholars' Quarters of the capital is a crime that warrants beheading! Why does the Grand Libationer let him do as he pleases? " Pei Wujiu left a step ahead of them, cold sweat rolling down his brow: "Their elders have come - is it that blind old man who lifted the Yong River with a single staff, or the Lame Elder who made off with my scabbard?

Or that murderous half-bodied old man?

No wonder His Majesty said I could not afford to provoke him; truly I cannot!

These dreadful creatures dare to walk out of the Wilderness Ruins - the capital is truly not at peace, when every kind of monster and demon comes running here. .

. " Shen Mu shut the door of his room, and the Imperial College students, their hearts leaping with fright, hastily called the other scholars out of the Scholars' Quarters, saying, "This place is perilous beyond measure. Do not lodge in the Scholars' Quarters for the time being, lest you die without even knowing how. Scholars all, go hide outside for a couple of days and come back once it is peaceful! " The many scholars in the Scholars' Quarters, their souls still unmoored by the demon god and the Buddha that had so suddenly appeared, knew well that the Scholars' Quarters was no safe place, and hastily fled far from it.