Chapter 217 — That Which Must Not Be Looked Upon

The Duke of Wei shot the plump boy a glare. This lad loved a commotion and never minded how big it grew: he had shoved his own family's old patriarch into the fire pit, and having shoved, meant to jump in after him. Beyond saving.

"Jade Heavenly King, Master Heavenly King, I must trouble you two to instruct Wei Heavenly King in a few matters of our Holy Cult."

Shen Mu looked around and said, "Gentlemen, tear this place down. Leave no trace."

Wei Yong and the Duke of Wei rose hastily to their feet. Figure after figure flickered past, and in but a moment the whole stockade had been dismantled clean, every plank and beam stacked neat and trim, not a hair out of place; even the iron cauldrons and the fire-oil stands had been gathered up and put away. So much work, done so cleanly in the space of a few breaths, that no one could have told a roaring night market had ever stood here.

"Break up," said Shen Mu.

Lanterns still burned in the distance: that was the night market beyond the city gate. Shen Mu rose and left too, leaving the four of them where they were. The Duke of Wei had only just entered the cult; Jade Heavenly King and Master Heavenly King would still have to explain the rules of the Dark Demon Cult to him, lest some trouble come of it.

Shen Mu walked on, stopping and starting as he pleased, savoring the capital's night market, admiring the lanterns, and before he knew it he had wandered back into the city. Bright lights burned on every side, gifted scholars and lovely women lingering there, loath to go home; men of letters showed off their wit and their airs, brawny fighting men paraded their powers, and now and then a woman's soft laughter drifted over.

"The capital truly is a place of ten thousand sights, a land that breeds the finest folk."

As Shen Mu sighed inwardly, all at once goose-feather flakes came whirling down from the sky, a great snow blowing wide, crystal flakes settling on the shoulders of those passersby who lingered. Many lifted their heads to look up, and many praised it: "Fine snow!"

Lit by the lamps of the city, the snow shone the brighter still; and not a few girls stood beneath the eaves of the shops along the street, stretching out their palms to let the cool flakes fall into them. Far from thinning, the crowds only grew.

"It's snowing, and the year's end is near. The Imperial Academy will soon be sending its scholars home for the New Year. I wonder whether Granny and the rest have gone back to the village."

Along both sides of the street stood many a stall steaming white and fragrant. Shen Mu sat down before a noodle stall. "Boss, two bowls of minced-pork noodles, heavy on the red oil."

"Right away!"

After a moment two great bowls of noodles were set before him, covered with a layer of glistening red chili oil; in the oil floated a few chunks of pork, three parts fat to seven parts lean, with a scattering of green garlic shoots besides, very fresh and savory. Shen Mu tasted it: hot, and bracing. He had eaten only once all day and was feeling hungry; head down, he ate until he steamed all over.

Just then a man laughed and said, "Brother Shen, I've finally run into you. You promised to forge me an iron-hulled ship, and this time you've no way out of it! Boss, four bowls of minced-pork noodles, extra hot; he'll settle the bill!" And with that he sat down across from Shen Mu.

Shen Mu looked up at him and smiled: "Brother Fan Yunxiao, what brings you to the capital?"

It was indeed Fan Yunxiao the Fire Bandit, a saber scar cutting across his left eye, a scar Shen Mu suspected had been pasted on.

"Don't even mention it. Bad luck."

Fan Yunxiao sighed. "Talking of it brings bitter tears. That ship of mine came apart, broke up in midair. It nearly killed every passenger aboard, and it took every scrap of strength I had to catch them out of the sky; but I couldn't deliver them to the capital, and I paid out a good deal in damages. I came looking for you this morning, but you weren't at the Imperial Academy, so I thought I'd take a stroll through the capital, and here by chance I've met you. You must forge me an iron-hulled ship. The world's at peace now, and I'm back in business!"

Shen Mu's expression turned odd. The world at peace; and this bandit clearly meant to take up his old trade again, no longer reformed, but a highwayman once more.

"Have you got enough dark iron and dark copper, and money?"

Shen Mu asked. "And the plans for a tower ship? Without the structural drawings, forging an iron-hulled ship is no easy thing."

"It's all taken care of. I bribed the registrar of the shipyard and got myself a set of tower-ship plans."

The noodles arrived. Fan Yunxiao took a great mouthful and praised it: "Hot, and fragrant! I've bought the dark iron and copper too, and stowed it at the merchant shipyard by the Hukou of the Tujiang River outside the city. I'm cleaned out now; all I can hope is to earn back a bit more with that iron-hulled ship."

Shen Mu laughed. "Fine. I'll have the ship built for you before the Academy lets out. Come find me tomorrow." And he took out a Da Feng coin and handed it to the noodle-stall owner.

The owner wiped his hands on his towel and smiled apologetically: "Sir, I can't make change for this. Have you anything smaller? Six bowls is only thirty coppers."

"Keep the change," said Shen Mu, and left.

Fan Yunxiao watched his back and sighed in admiration: "Now that's a rich man."

To this day Shen Mu had only the vaguest notion of what a Da Feng coin was worth. When he went out to eat, to buy vegetables and rice and flour, even at the most expensive restaurant a table piled with delicacies, made from the finest ingredients, came to no more than a dozen Da Feng coins or so. And at an ordinary street stall, a single coin dropped carelessly would leave the proprietor bowing in gratitude.

The next day Fan Yunxiao came to the Imperial Academy to find Shen Mu. Shen Mu brought Xue Hu'er, the Dragon Qilin, and the Demon King Dutian, and came to the Hukou merchant shipyard. The yard was full of martial artists and men of power: some smelted dark iron with true fire and cooled it with true water, forging the pill furnaces for the tower ships; some were masters of the arts of calculation, measuring the sizes of the fittings; others shaped molds with their vital essence; still others were strongmen at the forge, and giant strongmen at the great press, and carpenters shaving woodwork with sword-qi. The din was tremendous.

Fan Yunxiao came to a certain workshop. Shen Mu looked around: the shop held every manner of tool and gear, a great blast furnace for smelting, adamantine anvils of dark iron for hammering, scaffolding, approach bridges, greased timber rails, and dark iron and dark copper stacked in neat piles in the corner. The workshop was broad and high, room enough to hold six or seven great tower ships.

A registrar was already waiting there. Seeing Fan Yunxiao, he grumbled: "Why so late? This empty shop is yours for ten days only; after ten days it's sealed."

Fan Yunxiao bowed and smiled again and again: "Ten days is plenty!" And he pressed a purse of money into the man's hand.

The registrar weighed the purse in his palm. "For these ten days I'll turn a blind eye. Work fast; otherwise, when the Supervisor of Construction comes, I'll be in a hard spot too."

He left the workshop. Fan Yunxiao at once turned to Shen Mu with pleading eyes: "Brother Shen, can it be done in ten days?"

Shen Mu leafed through the plans, altered a dozen or so places, and said: "Doing it alone will be difficult. I'll need helpers. For the next few days my helpers and I will be forging the iron-hulled ship here, and you are not to enter the workshop. If you come in, the consequences are on your own head."

Puzzled, Fan Yunxiao nodded again and again: "Rest easy. I'm not such a curious sort."

Shen Mu nodded, drove him out of the workshop, and said to Xue Hu'er: "Go and fetch several people for me; have them come here by teleportation banner."