Chapter 235 — A Youth Borrows a Boat

Daoist Lingjing let out a breath. "He is younger than I am, with a sturdier frame. In those days he was a disciple of the Tathagata of the previous generation, and a fellow disciple to the Old Tathagata of today. When the previous Tathagata lay near death he passed the seat of Tathagata to his senior disciple; this one burned with resentment, believing the seat had been withheld from him because he is of demonkind — and so he fought his way out of Leiyin Temple and founded Little Leiyin Temple. By the way, why are you walking alone in the depths of the Desolate Ruins?"

Shen Mu measured out several medicines and boiled a decoction. "The grown-ups of my village have gone missing. I came out to look for them."

"The grown-ups of your village?" Daoist Lingjing was doubtful.

"The Old Sword God, and several other grown-ups: among them the Jade-Faced Poison King, the Shadow Thief, the Horse King God, and the founder of my Youmo Sect. Has Brother come across any of them?"

Daoist Lingjing was dumbstruck, then suddenly roared with laughter until tears ran from his eyes; the wound that had just closed split open again, and the pain made the old man hiss through his teeth. "The Old Sword God and the Netherworld Demon Patriarch have lost themselves? Those two old rascals — to think they could lose themselves!"

He laughed till he could not catch his breath. Shen Mu said hurriedly, "Do not laugh — the wound has burst open again. Has Brother seen them?"

"No." Daoist Lingjing shook his head.

Shen Mu took out portraits of Old Master Huo, Old Granny Zhu and the others. "And these people?"

Daoist Lingjing looked them over, his face turning thoughtful. "I have seen this blacksmith with the box. He is very swift, his skills no weaker than mine; when I met him we even tried our speed against each other. He did not say a single word — an odd temper indeed. Such a strong man is rare, and yet I had never heard of such an expert."

Shen Mu's spirits surged. "That is Grandpa, the Silent Craftsman of our village! Does Brother know where he went?"

Daoist Lingjing said, "He went into one of the forbidden zones of the Desolate Ruins. It is a perilous place, one of the death grounds there. I chased him as far as the edge of that death ground and halted; I did not go in. He is a Silent Craftsman? No wonder he would not trouble himself to answer when I spoke to him."

"Grandpa the Silent Craftsman has gone into a forbidden zone of the Desolate Ruins?"

Anxiety seized Shen Mu's heart again. He thought a moment, then said, "Has Brother ever heard of the Land of No Sorrow?"

"The Land of No Sorrow?"

Daoist Lingjing shook his head. "Never heard of it."

Shen Mu brooded a while. Daoist Lingjing often wandered the Desolate Ruins and knew many secrets unknown to others; if even he did not know where the Land of No Sorrow lay, then Shen Mu's own hope of finding it must be faint indeed.

Turning it over and over in his mind, Shen Mu said suddenly, "Brother, may I ask one more thing of you? I wish to go once more to the Realm of the Living Dead."

Daoist Lingjing laughed. "That is simple enough. When night comes, I will take you there."

Shen Mu settled his mind and treated his wounds. By the time night fell, Daoist Lingjing was seven or eight parts healed and out of danger; at once he led Shen Mu walking through the darkened Desolate Ruins. "The Realm of the Living Dead is King Yama's domain. It is a world of deep mystery, appearing only at night, when the two worlds overlap. To enter the Realm of the Living Dead, one must have Fengdu coins. I made a pact with King Yama: after death I may not enter Youdu, only Fengdu."

He looked around, took out a token and shone it into the darkness. "The origin of Fengdu is most strange. It has no fixed dwelling, drifting forever through the Desolate Ruins, a world unto itself, deeply mysterious. I hold a Fengdu tablet; I need only activate it, and an envoy of Fengdu will come to receive us."

Even as he spoke, a shaft of light came shining out of the darkness between two great mountains. Daoist Lingjing at once led Shen Mu toward it; the light flickered bright and dim, drawing them onward.

Before they knew it they had passed through several great mountains and drawn near that light, which proved to be a will-o'-the-wisp — and in an instant it vanished.

At Shen Mu's chest the jade pendant gave off a faint glow and slowly floated up, pointing out the way.

Daoist Lingjing led Shen Mu and the others forward, as if passing through an invisible barrier; the scene before them changed in a blink, and the vast, uncanny Realm of the Living Dead opened out before them. Among countless mountains of white bone and a boundless sea of mist, a small flat boat came drifting slowly toward them.

Daoist Lingjing brought Shen Mu and the rest aboard. The skeleton on the boat poled it with a punt deep into the mist, and after a long while they reached the dock.

The stone stele of the Realm of the Living Dead stood before them.

Daoist Lingjing asked, curious, "Demon Sect Master, what have you come here to do? Your cultivation is too weak — even if you sold your own soul, Fengdu would not take it."

Shen Mu walked on, past a village now utterly deserted, over the great mountain ahead, and gazed at the immense soul-boat lying before Fengdu, like a giant three-legged toad bearing a hull of inconceivable size on its back. In a low voice he said, "I have come to borrow a boat for my journey!"

"Borrow a boat for your journey?"

Daoist Lingjing was taken aback. Shen Mu raced forward at speed, and in no time he soared into the air, covering the distance to the soul-boat in a few bounds.

The jade pendant he had worn at his chest since childhood floated up, and the light bursting from it grew dazzling.

The Demon King Dutian looked about him, shaken to the core, and murmured, "Is this the work of gods?"

"A visitor from the Land of No Sorrow..."

On the soul-boat, all in ruins, dying stars in the sky kept falling as fireballs, most perilous. A strange voice came, quavering: "You are of the Land of No Sorrow! What have you come for? I am no traitor — I merely ran away! Their deaths are not my fault. Heh heh, not my fault. I was only a coward, that is all..."

Shen Mu followed the voice forward to the very heart of the soul-boat, and there, among several enormous pillars, a face some acres across lay pressed to the deck, staring in terror at the jade pendant floating up from Shen Mu's chest.

"Not my fault — I did not betray my people—" the face screamed shrilly.

Shen Mu hesitated, let out a foul breath, and reached out a palm toward one of the pillars. Daoist Lingyun frowned. "I have been here. There is nothing else in this place but this madman. I examined these pillars too — nothing out of the ordinary."

"Do not touch it!" the face cried in despair.

Shen Mu's palm touched the great pillar, and suddenly a power of unimaginable terror came surging into his body, pouring into him with mad force. Cracking reports rang out from within him; his frame grew taller and taller, larger and larger, as that churning divine power rolled in and worked an earth-shaking transformation upon his flesh!

He felt his tailbone growing madly, and soon a third leg sprouted behind him, planting itself firmly on the ground; under his arms bone and flesh grew swiftly as well, becoming arm after arm.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One after another Shen Mu's palms reached out and gripped the other great pillars. Everything around him seemed to be shrinking at furious speed — though in truth nothing around him shrank; he was the one growing larger, growing taller.