Chapter 244 — Wreaking Havoc Upon the Living

Even the village head was somewhat flustered. He turned his head away and called, "Blind elder, blind elder!"

The blind elder came forward toward Granny Zhu with his bamboo staff, unhurried: "Is it Cult Master Li, or is it Old Lady Si?"

The lame elder said angrily, "Cult Master Li, of course, the pervert! Old Lady Si can't hold him down anymore! You can't see her face — you come and suppress Cult Master Li!"

From Granny Zhu's mouth came a rough, weathered voice, and she smiled bewitchingly: "The lady is no match for me anymore; she is suppressed by me now. Look at me — am I beautiful?"

She laughed with great delight, infatuated with her own beauty, her breath like orchids. Though her voice was coarse, her tone was tender: "Before I married the lady, I already knew I was not worthy of such a beauty. Not I alone — no stinking man in this world is worthy of her! But I was resolved to marry her all the same. I knew she was unwilling to marry me; after all, I was her master. But she could not resist. I knew too that she meant to kill me on our wedding night, and I was glad to let her kill me. Because..."

She raised her wrist and studied her own flawless white skin, whiter than mutton-fat jade, finer still; even the translucent, flawless jadeite bracelet became a mere foil, unworthy of that wrist.

Cult Master Li covered her mouth and giggled: "Because I envied her too much. It was not that I wanted to marry her — I wanted to become her. She kills me, I become her: is that not the best of both worlds?"

The blind elder came on with his staff. Though she was exceedingly beautiful, it had little effect on him. He said calmly, "Cult Master Li, you go too far. Have you forgotten that you were once a man?"

"A stinking man — what is there in that worth clinging to?"

Cult Master Li's bearing was bewitching and alluring; she gave him a glare. "Dead blind elder, your eyes are blind and your heart is blind; you understand nothing of the advantages of being a woman. Do not think to stop me — you cannot stop me. I am leaving. I mean to live another life as a woman!"

Shen Mu shut his eyes tight and would not look at her, yet could not help opening them again: "Cult Master Li, you have become something of a pervert! You and I are both Cult Masters and Sage Masters of the Heaven-Sage Cult; I hold your conduct in contempt!"

The blind elder came to a halt, leaning on his bamboo staff, and laughed: "Well said, Shen'er."

Cult Master Li glanced at Shen Mu, and at once his mind went blank; there was no thought left in his heart, only the sense that she was beautiful.

"One more word out of you, and this concubine will kill you and make herself Holy Cult Master again," Cult Master Li said with a smile, her fingers shaped in the orchid gesture.

Shen Mu's heart pounded wildly. He felt that if so beautiful a woman wanted his life, he would give it willingly.

"No, no! She is Granny Zhu... bah, bah, that is Fan Xuanshu, Cult Master Li, a foul old man! Bah, bah — even if she were Granny, that would not do; she is the Granny who raised me!"

Cold sweat rolled down Shen Mu's brow; he had nearly bred an inner demon of his own, and hastily shut his eyes.

Cult Master Li walked toward the edge of the village, the demonic aura about her growing heavier and her demonic nature stronger with every step. On the road before her stood a blind elder and a bamboo staff.

The two struck almost at the same instant. In a flash of lightning, in the space of a single breath, the victory was decided.

A surging tide of qi rushed out in all directions. Yincan Village was full of treasures, and one after another the treasures were triggered by the dreadful aftershocks of the two clashing, blazing with light; wave upon wave of terrifying tremor burst forth and scattered the white clouds from the sky!

Cult Master Li clutched her chest and sank slowly down: "Blind elder, my lady's cultivation is too poor. Otherwise I would not be your inferior — I would be stronger than you..."

The blind elder leaned on his bamboo staff and said mildly, "You and I never crossed hands before. How do you know you were stronger than me?"

Shen Mu hurried at a run into Granny Zhu's room, fetched out a human-skin mask and ragged clothes, and threw them over Cult Master Li. Cult Master Li became a little old woman again, and cried out harshly, "I will not become this! I am the most beautiful woman in the world; I will not become this hideous thing! I want to wear the loveliest clothes and be the loveliest woman!"

Lord Huo came over quickly, reciting the Buddha's name to suppress her demonic nature, and pressed Fan Xuanshu down. After a moment Granny Zhu woke with a long sigh, her voice restored, and thanked Lord Huo.

The alchemist hurried forward, examined her wounds, and healed them, saying, "Blind elder, you struck a little too hard. Shen'er, you refine elixirs faster than I do — you make the spirit elixir."

Shen Mu answered in assent and set to refining the medicine with all speed.

The blind elder sighed: "I had no choice but to be hard. Granny's cultivation has risen too fast; she is already near the Life and Death realm. Cult Master Li's primal spirit must have merged with her too deeply. And Cult Master Li's Great Unification Art is truly overbearing; I could not but strike hard."

Granny Zhu rose, swallowed the spirit elixir Shen Mu brought her, and said, "I am fine, much better."

The village head drifted over and shook his head: "Granny, you are fortunate to be in the village. Had you been outside, and Cult Master Li taken your body, he would have brought calamity on the nation and its people. His demonic nature is too heavy; wreaking havoc on the world would be nothing to him. Even the emperor, seeing you, would not be able to hold himself; in a few years even Jingping Kingdom could fall into Cult Master Li's hands."

Lord Huo said, "Your inner demon grows stronger by the day. Dragging on like this is no solution. My Buddhist dharma is not as deep as Old Tathagata's; perhaps Old Tathagata can help you suppress Cult Master Li. You had best make a trip to Great Thunderclap Temple."

The butcher touched his face and found his hand covered in blood; in his haste to shave he had cut his cheek with the slaughtering knife, but he had been so drunk on Granny Zhu's beauty that he felt nothing. Now that Granny Zhu had put on the old woman's skin, he noticed, and was aghast. He said hurriedly, "No time to lose — Granny had best set out at once! The longer you delay, the more peril we are in!"

The village head coughed and said, "We go to Great Thunderclap Temple to ask Old Tathagata to suppress Granny's demonic nature, not to wipe out a household. There is no need for many to go. Lord Huo knows the way well and must go; the blind elder can ignore Granny's looks, so he goes too. Shen'er is quick-witted, has cultivated the Creation Heaven-Demon Art and can lend a hand, and is skilled in medicine besides. You three accompany Granny to Great Thunderclap Temple."

His face was grave, and he said in a low voice, "Remember: on no account let Cult Master Li get out, or the world will fall into chaos!"