Chapter 262 — The Madman and the Sovereign

Shen Mu studied Emperor Yanfeng and saw that the emperor was like a torn sack stuffed full of rice grain: the sack leaked grain, but he leaked blood on every side, and his state was far from good. His vital essence and blood were withering at a furious rate; as they drained away, his spirit treasury gave off one tremor after another, like the rumbling of sky and earth collapsing again and again.

With his primal vitality and blood streaming off and his spirit treasury caving in, if he were not treated in time, the emperor would not last the hour before he breathed his last. "So it is the Court Counselor.

" Emperor Yanfeng forced his eyes open and said, his voice barely a breath, "Can We still be saved? " Shen Mu examined his wounds in close detail, his ten fingers flying as he swiftly sealed the emperor's spirit-soul with the Heaven-Demon Art of Creation, locking his soul within his body.

At once Emperor Yanfeng could not even speak; his eyeballs could not stir.

Shen Mu fetched some dragon saliva and smeared it over his wounds; looking up, he saw that the Blind Elder and Old Master Huo had not lingered but had simply gone.

"Have they drawn off the pursuers? " Shen Mu wondered, and said to the dragon-qilin, "Back to Granny's courtyard. " The dragon-qilin turned about.

Seated on its back, Shen Mu made Emperor Yanfeng swallow more dragon saliva, massaged his body to squeeze out the congested blood, and after reckoning a moment in his heart, brought out a few spirit pills. When he had first comprehended the Grand Unification Art, its grave flaws had left his body depleted of both vital essence and blood and his spirit in decline; at that time he had refined two kinds of spirit pills to save his life -- the Spirit Buddha Pill to replenish the spirit, and the Blood-Glory Pill to replenish vital essence and blood -- and in the end, by the great tonic power of the Spirit-Return Pill, he had devoured a Red Dragon Carp King, and only then made good the deficits of his body.

The spirit pill in his hand was the Blood-Glory Pill.

Shen Mu hesitated.

As things stood, with Emperor Yanfeng's vital essence and blood withered and ruined, there was still hope of saving him; but if he took the Blood-Glory Pill and his vital essence and blood suddenly blazed up, it would likely shatter in an instant the spirit treasury already so precarious and crumbling. Emperor Yanfeng's cultivation reached to heaven and earth; if the energy in his spirit treasury burst out all at once with nowhere to pour, the emperor's whole body would explode in a single instant, and even Shen Mu and the dragon-qilin would be blasted to powder by the runaway energy. Yet if he did not replenish the emperor's vital essence and blood, his present condition would turn perilous indeed.

"I must draw the energy out of his spirit treasury, and then replenish his vital essence and blood. " Shen Mu pondered for a while. The best method should be to draw off that violent energy with silver needles, but the needles, thrust into his spirit treasury, would likely melt away at once, too swiftly to draw off the energy dispersing within. Next would be sealing -- keeping the energy in Emperor Yanfeng's spirit treasury sealed within his body. But Shen Mu had no such mighty power of dharma as to seal Emperor Yanfeng's cultivation.

Third would be a "spirit pill," or rather a poison to dissolve cultivation, to melt away Emperor Yanfeng's power.

But such pills were generally refined from deadly poisons; one careless slip, and even the emperor's body would be dissolved away. Shen Mu decided on the second. He had not the strength to seal Emperor Yanfeng, but Granny Zhu should.

"Still, even if he is saved, he will be nothing but a cripple. " Shen Mu's heart ached with pity. Emperor Yanfeng was in the prime of life, his body sound, and could have lived two or three hundred years; but after this ordeal he would be no different from an ordinary man, with only a few decades of life left to him.

A generation's great sovereign, turned into a common mortal -- Emperor Yanfeng himself surely could not accept it.

Shen Mu wondered what desolation he would feel when he woke.

"The second method is perhaps the best -- seal the energy in his spirit treasury within his body; who knows, he might even repair his spirit treasury. . .

" Shen Mu shook his head. The odds were very slim.

The dragon-qilin returned to the courtyard in the mountain forest where Granny Zhu lived. Shen Mu's primal vitality surged forth, and he bore Emperor Yanfeng up in that vitality, smooth and steady, without a single jolt. Granny Zhu came out at the sound and said in astonishment, "Shen'er, what are you up to now.

.

.

the emperor? Do you mean to flay the emperor and make yourself emperor? You little wretch, you grow more and more capable!

" Granny Zhu was delighted, then said with worry, "But the emperor's three thousand beauties in the rear palace are all little fox-spirits; be careful they don't bewitch you to death. " Shen Mu said helplessly, "I am not going to flay him and make myself emperor.

Granny, help me seal the energy in the emperor's spirit treasury -- don't let him explode. I am going to fetch some medicinal ingredients -- don't you go and cook the emperor up!

" Granny Zhu's face showed worry: "You must be back before dark, or that little wretch Fan Xuanshu will be only too happy to put on the emperor's skin and run off to be emperor!

" Emperor Yanfeng woke, heard their talk, and thought, "Who is this granny of the Court Counselor's? What a vicious, savage sort.

And Fan Xuanshu -- was he not dead? Why is he here too. .

. ?

" His wounds were too grave; he sank once more into deep sleep. Shen Mu hurried out the door, got his bearings, and ran toward the nearest city. The nearest city was Yan City, a small place; because of the disaster, the apothecaries there had many gaps in their stocks, and Shen Mu had to go round several shops before he had gathered enough ingredients to replenish vital essence and blood; then he raced back.

When he reached the courtyard it was not yet dark, and Shen Mu breathed a sigh of relief. He examined the emperor and saw that Granny Zhu had already sealed the energy in his spirit treasury within his body, hidden away inside his flesh.

Emperor Yanfeng was still alive; only his bodily functions had begun to break down, while his soul was none the worse. "Once you undo the Heaven-Demon Art of Creation, his flesh will no longer hold his soul, and he will surely die! " said Granny Zhu.

"He won't die!

" Shen Mu said in a low voice.

"I can keep his soul in the mortal world; so long as there is a breath left in his body, I can bring him back! " Granny Zhu shook her head. "I will go and cook first.

After supper you must be on your guard -- the old demon will be coming out. " Shen Mu's heart went cold. Then he gave Emperor Yanfeng some Blood-Glory Pills and Spirit Buddha Pills, used his primal vitality to help the emperor dissolve the medicine's power, and covered the emperor's whole body with silver needles to guide the potency; then he refined a few more spirit pills. Granny Zhu finished supper and called Shen Mu to eat.

The two finished their meal; Granny Zhu turned and went into her room; Shen Mu went on tending Emperor Yanfeng. After a while a rustling sound came from outside, and Granny Zhu laughed coquettishly: "Shen'er, how is His Majesty?

" The voice left Shen Mu's soul unsettled and his wits astray, but he showed nothing of it: "Sect Master Li, you too are a sect master of our Holy Sect -- why behave like this?

" At once the voice turned aged, and laughed aloud: "I have already died. I am no longer one of the Heavenly Sage Sect; I have passed the Great Nurturing Nether-Demon Scripture on to you.

Now I do whatever I please -- what business is it of yours? Give me the emperor.