Chapter 232 — The Old Man's Clay Jar

" Qiu Yue said, "After I kill you, I can go home for the New Year. . .

" Her face darkened, her gaze bleak: "I forgot — my home no longer exists.

It was destroyed by you and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping. . .

My home was the Three Marvels Fortress. My grandmaster was Daoist Lord Tian, my honored master was Tian Youfei. At the Battle of Daxiang City, the Nether Demon Cult teleported the great army of Jingping into the city and killed I know not how many of my senior brothers and sisters.

My master covered my escape, but my master died at the hands of the Champion Grand General.

. . " She seemed to smile yet not smile, to weep yet not weep, her eyes falling on Shen Mu with a cold gleam, and she said softly, "Cult Master of the Nether Demon, by then you were already the Cult Master, were you not? To be able to command so many masters of the Nether Demon Cult — within the cult, only you had that power. It was you who commanded the Nether Demon Cult's masters, destroyed our righteous army's great cause, destroyed my Three Marvels Fortress! " Her gaze turned grim.

"I stole back to the Three Marvels Fortress, and it was already broken and ruined. My family too were condemned as rebels, beheaded and their heads displayed. Cult Master of the Nether Demon, tell me — ought I to kill you? " Shen Mu sighed. "You ought.

But you should not have risen in rebellion. When you rebelled, you should have thought what would become of your family if the rebellion failed. " Qiu Yue stepped forward and cried sharply, "For justice, someone must always risk having their head cut off to uphold it; for what is right, someone must always strive with their life!

Otherwise where would justice be, where would right be? Though I come from the demon path, I am willing to be such a one!

Cult Master of the Nether Demon, no more words. Come — I shall see you on your way! " Shen Mu was filled with solemn respect and said gravely, "Those whose paths differ cannot take counsel together. Young lady, after you. " Qiu Yue gave a sharp cry, her sleeves flying, and countless gu worms surged at Shen Mu from every direction.

These gu worms were of countless kinds, too many to number.

All swelled in the wind: the great ones to one or two zhang, the small ones to the size of a washbasin, and some did not swell at all but shrank instead. These last were the most perilous — the smaller they were, the harder to guard against, slipping into the body when one's guard was down to gnaw at the five viscera and six bowels; and some gu worms could devour souls, or absorb another's vital essence and cultivation. Shen Mu lifted the lid of the broken clay jar, and vital essence poured into it. The scorpions in the jar leapt out, and with a sudden howl swelled until they were more than twenty zhang long.

Their black shells were covered in magnificent, uncanny runes and marks that lit up again and again, and the dreadful aura that shook from them sent the swarming insect tide around them dropping like rain! Qiu Yue was startled and hurriedly sprang away, when suddenly the tail-hook of one great scorpion lashed out, lengthening like an iron chain, and the next moment it had hung the woman upon the hook, killing her with a single blow. Shen Mu sighed.

He saw the scorpions fighting over Qiu Yue's corpse, thrashing the river's surface into surging waves and towering billows. He hastily drove the clay jar, and the scorpions shrank and flew back into it, still battling one another inside. Qiu Yue's corpse had already been torn to pieces and fell into the river, swept away by the rushing waters. Carrying the jar, Shen Mu returned to Yincan Village.

At the entrance the Dragon Qilin studied him curiously, and seeing that he was somewhat unhappy, said nothing. Shen Mu set down the jar, dragged the Dutian Demon King over, and punched and kicked him; then he called up wind and thunder and struck the Dutian Demon King with dozens of bolts, and only then desisted.

The Dutian Demon King lay on the ground unable to move, a dozen or more of his parts battered off, feeling greatly aggrieved: "How did I provoke you this time? " After beating the Dutian Demon King, Shen Mu felt a little better. Suddenly he heard someone outside cry, "The Cult Master of the Nether Demon is here!

Everyone come quickly!

" Shen Mu's face darkened. He went to Granny Zhu's room, took out the mirror she used for her toilette, and walked out of the village.

Several divine arts practitioners were hurrying toward him. Shen Mu held the bronze mirror on his palm, vital essence pouring into it; he shone it at the approaching practitioners, and the several of them in midair had their souls scattered and their bodies fell.

The youth returned to the village and put the mirror back on Granny Zhu's dressing table, thinking: "Is there no end to this? Will they not let a man have a peaceful New Year?

"