Chapter 216 — Hooking Souls, Drawing Spirits

Back inside the compound, Shen Mu turned his head, and the sight of Wei Yong stopped him short for a heartbeat. Then his face broke into a smile and he waved. "Brother Wei! And Your Grace the Duke. What are you doing standing outside? Come in, come in."

Wei Yong grimaced and rolled his eyes for all he was worth. "Get out here, quick — I've come looking for you! Over this way. Something terrible has happened at the Imperial Academy!"

Fearing for Shen Mu's safety, he was bent on dragging him out of the pit. To himself he thought: "Brother Shen has likely just come out for a stroll. He has no idea this is where the Dark Demon Cult has come to settle scores, so he blundered in by mistake. How deadly is that? Those Dark Demon Cult villains are murderous devils; they cut down even a first-rank minister and a cult-master-level figure like Sun Nantuo in the blink of an eye. Brother Shen's little frame — they'd squeeze the marrow right out of his bones!"

The Duke of Wei saw that the old man and old woman on gate duty had cut off his line of retreat. The veins stood out on his forehead and the corner of his eye twitched. "That wretch Wei Yong causes more trouble than I do! And now, even if we wanted to leave, we likely couldn't!"

Shen Mu lifted a hand. The old woman behind the Duke of Wei hurried forward, and Shen Mu leaned over and said a few words to her.

She came back again, grinned wide, and said, "Your Grace, and the young gentleman of the Wei family — please, come in and sit a while."

The Duke of Wei's eye twitched again. He gave Shen Mu a long, searching look, drew a deep breath, and said to Wei Yong, "We're going in."

The two of them walked into the compound, which looked as though it had just been thrown up; everything was new, and the scent of timber still hung in the air.

Watching Shen Mu stride on ahead into the depths of the compound, the Duke of Wei and Wei Yong steeled themselves and followed. The Duke lowered his voice. "Yong'er, how close are you to young Brother Shen?"

"Closer than life itself!"

Wei Yong said gravely, "He saved me when he attacked the scholars' boat at the Dragon-Taming Gate!"

The Duke of Wei felt his head swell. "And have you ever saved him?"

Wei Yong shook his head.

"He saved you, you never saved him — then 'closer than life itself' is worth precisely nothing!"

The Duke of Wei's heart was heavy with dread. He thought: "For now I can only take one step and see what the next one brings. That little wretch has ruined me but good. I wonder whether my passing acquaintance with Fan Xuanshu — we have met a few times — might be of any use..."

They came to the center of the compound, where a platform stood, no more than a chi above the ground, built of timber.

The platform was not large — some three zhang across.

The Dark Demon Cultists in the compound were seated on the ground below it. The old woman at the Duke of Wei's side chuckled. "Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, young gentleman of the Wei family — just sit yourselves down. Don't worry. The ground has only just been mopped. Very clean."

Wei Yong looked down. Faint dark-red stains still marked the earth, and his heart misgave him. "I wonder whether they cleaned it up properly. What if there's a head lying about somewhere still..."

The Dark Demon Cult had wiped out the Nantuo Annex and Sun Nantuo himself — a first-rank minister — in a single exchange. Their strength was truly outrageous. The Duke of Wei, veteran of a hundred battles though he was, dared not make trouble here. He thought: "The Dark Demon Cult may have kicked up a great fuss this time, but the powerful men of the capital will absolutely not be alarmed — they struck too fast. Killing the two of us, I expect, would be just as quick..."

Below the platform, several hundred people sat upright in silence, waiting quietly for the Sage Master to come and give his instruction.

Wei Yong looked this way and that, then suddenly caught sight of Shen Mu. He waved hurriedly and cried out excitedly, "Brother Shen! Brother Shen! Over here!"

The Duke of Wei wished he could press this fat boy down into the earth and stuff a few pairs of foul socks into his mouth to stop his nonsense.

Fortunately, the Dark Demon Cultists all around seemed not to hear Wei Yong's shouting at all; every one of them sat as straight and upright as before.

Shen Mu smiled at Wei Yong and, gathering up the hem of his robe, walked up onto the platform.

Wei Yong was startled. He dropped his voice in a hurry. "Don't go up on the platform, don't go up — that's where their Sage Master gives his instruction..."

"Shut your mouth, you little wretch!" the Duke of Wei snarled.

Wei Yong shut his mouth in a hurry. The Duke fumed: "I have kept my lips sealed tight all my life — how did I ever get a descendant with a cracked gong for a mouth? Can you not see what is right in front of you?"

Wei Yong was struck dumb. Shen Mu walked to the platform, turned around — and the Dark Demon Cultists below rose and bowed in salute. "Cult Master! Sage Master!"

Shen Mu nodded. "No need for ceremony, all of you. Sit."

They all sat down again.

Wei Yong's mouth fell open, his face slack with astonishment. For a long while he could not pull himself together.

The Duke of Wei sighed and muttered, "I said long ago that there was something wrong with that Ban Gongcuo, that the Sorcerer Sovereign Louluo Sutra was somewhat unorthodox — and sure enough, something was wrong. Now it seems it must be the Dark Demon Cult's own Cult Master and Sage Master who has come in person. The Dark Demon Cult, choosing a youth as its cult master — no small audacity..."

On the platform, Shen Mu seated himself. "Who here is versed in arts and techniques for searching out souls and spirits?"

A woman rose and bowed. "Reporting to the Sage Master, I have some small accomplishment in that line."

Shen Mu nodded. All at once he deployed the Soul-Pulling Charm. Behind him a ghastly portal took shape, black mist pouring from it, so that even the light given off by the burning oil in the iron cauldrons dimmed.

And at that moment everyone saw the souls of Sun Nantuo and the assembled monks standing within the ghastly black mist.

"We obey your decree."

The mirror-light shone upon Sun Nantuo's soul, piercing it through and falling upon the air behind him. Images appeared in that mirror-light — the things Sun Nantuo had lived through, flashing past like flowers glimpsed from a galloping horse, running back from the instant of his death, until soon it came to the memory of the siege of Heavenly King Lu.

"Yun Boshan, Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince; Ting Yanju, Grand Guardian to the Crown Prince; Cui Mingzhi, Junior Preceptor to the Crown Prince; He Yanqing, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince; and..."

The Right Protector Envoy, Xue Bi'e, recorded the names that surfaced in Sun Nantuo's memory. Her gaze came to rest on the last of them, and her pupils narrowed. "And Ling Yuxia, Crown Prince of Jingping."

Shen Mu nodded. "Write them down. Find the moment. Send them on their way."

The Right Protector Envoy wrote down the name of the Crown Prince of Jingping.

The Duke of Wei was deeply shaken. He opened his mouth, but said nothing.

The Dark Demon Cult was insolent beyond all measure — to send even a crown prince on his way, and that crown prince of Jingping!

Yet it was not his place to speak. Though Jingping flourished in its time, its prosperity was no more than a matter of the past two hundred years and more; only after the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping rose did Jingping rise with him.

The Dark Demon Cult, by contrast, was a true colossus of unbroken lineage, its history so long that it had watched the rise of uncounted kingdoms and the turning of dynasties. The killing of its Heavenly King was not merely a blood feud of the deepest dye but a monstrous humiliation — a debt that could not go unpaid.