Chapter 269 — The Beauty in the Painting

Shen Mu left Shenglin Mountain and returned to the Taixue Academy. Pei Wujiu came running over at once and laid out a banquet to welcome him back and wash the dust of travel from him.

Shen Mu's eyes went wide; not knowing whether to laugh or to cry, he smiled and said: "Why must you go to such trouble, Lord Gu?

" Pei Wujiu laughed: "We are both of the demonic path; naturally we should support one another. Sect Master Shen, is the Chubao Sword still working well?

" "It works.

I am not giving it back.

" Shen Mu explained: "The rules of our Wilderness Ruins.

. . " "I know! " Pei Wujiu roared with laughter. "I lived in the Wilderness Ruins for two hundred years; I know the rules there. Whatever is cheated or snatched away by one's own ability is never returned! Am I being too formal with you?

Look at you, standing on ceremony with me again!

Hahahaha!

I lived in the Wilderness Ruins for two hundred years; the Wilderness Ruins are half my homeland, so you and I are half fellow townsmen! The Sect Master has come back from my homeland, so surely I owed you a meal to ease your homesickness. " Shen Mu was struck dumb, and sighed: "Lord Gu, your attainments are lofty indeed. This little brother is in awe. " "I dare not, I dare not! It is Sect Master Shen who is young and gifted, a hero by birth.

" After the two had praised each other for a while, Pei Wujiu said with feeling: "The first time I set eyes on you in the Wilderness Ruins, I knew you were no common talent, that one day you would rise high; but I never thought that day would come so soon.

Sect Master Shen.

. . tsk, calling you Sect Master Shen is being too formal, is it not? Sect Master, with this upheaval, there are many vacancies among the first- and second-rank officials at court. Might the Sect Master put in a word for me? " Shen Mu was caught between laughter and tears: "Lord Gu, I am a mere fifth-rank official. .

.

" "If the Sect Master would not be so formal, you may call me Li Nuan. " Shen Mu steadied himself and said: "I am only a fifth-rank Grand Master of the Palace, with no real power in my grasp. How could I have the standing to meddle in the promotions of first- and second-rank grandees?

And to tell you the truth, the sword that killed the Crown Prince is this very Chubao Sword that I swindled out of your hands, Lord Gu.

The emperor does harbor a grudge over it in his heart, and he has his misgivings about my Tiansheng Cult as well. If I were to advise the emperor to promote you, Lord Gu, I would be doing you harm. " Pei Wujiu laughed: "That is the way of it. The Sect Master is brilliant.

Let me drink a cup to the Sect Master. " He was a man who understood things, and the purpose of inviting Shen Mu to this banquet was not to have Shen Mu petition the emperor for his promotion, but to establish a connection with Shen Mu and dissolve their former enmity.

Whether or not Shen Mu stood in the emperor's favor, he had to make this connection. The demon sect master of the Nether Demon Cult, an existence on a par with the Tathagata and the Dao Lord: to be on good terms with Shen Mu was equivalent to being on good terms with the Tathagata and the Dao Lord, and one banquet could accomplish it. Naturally, it was a bargain with everything to gain and nothing to lose.

After the banquet, Pei Wujiu personally escorted Shen Mu back to the Scholars' Lodge. Along the way Shen Mu noticed some foreigners in the Taixue Academy and could not help but feel puzzled. "After this disturbance, the new Crown Prince ordered the abolition of the treaties signed by the traitor, and the recovery of the lands.

Some foreign states took fright, and so they sent Kang envoys to come and study Jingping's culture. " Pei Wujiu saw through his doubt and said: "The Crown Prince graciously approved it, permitting foreigners to study in Jingping; certain sons of foreign noble houses study at the Taixue Academy.

" Shen Mu nodded. Suddenly he caught sight of a familiar face, and after a small start he smiled at the youth: "Banggongcuo! " The youth was a barbarian of the grasslands; he turned his head and looked at Shen Mu with bewilderment in his eyes.

Many foreign attendants followed at his side, two of them great shamans of the Golden Palace of Loulan. Banggongcuo asked something of those beside him in a low voice, and one of the shamans hastily whispered something back; Banggongcuo's face cleared, and he returned Shen Mu's greeting with tepid courtesy: "So it is the Sect Master of the Nether Demon Cult. Has the Sect Master business with me?

" Shen Mu was taken aback again, then shook his head: "None.

" Banggongcuo walked off with the others.

Shen Mu frowned slightly. Pei Wujiu saw it and said: "Sect Master, do you know this Banggongcuo?

" "He is Banggongcuo, the youngest son of the Great Khan of the Man-Di Kingdom. I once saw him drilling his fists at the frontier pass; there was a very peculiar bearing to his boxing, and he must have an unusual constitution. " Shen Mu looked at Banggongcuo's retreating back and mused: "He once challenged Libationer Bashan, saying that one day he would surely defeat him.

It left a deep impression on me. Only, why does he look at me as though he were meeting me for the first time. . .

" Pei Wujiu laughed: "A young man's temper.

Most likely he has simply forgotten. " Shen Mu returned to the Scholars' Lodge.

Dragon Qilin lay sprawled outside the room; Shen Mu entered and felt it cold and cheerless, and somehow could not get used to it.

"If Ling'er were here, it would be better," he thought with feeling. If Xue Hu'er were here, she would have tidied the room until it was neat and orderly, not a thing out of place, and she would have arranged everything so comfortably.

Suddenly Dragon Qilin's voice came from outside, gruff and muffled: "Miss, who are you looking for? " "Is your Sect Master Shen in?

" A very pleasant voice came from outside.

"He is.

" "I am coming in.

" "Mm.

" Shen Mu hurried out of the room, and saw Ling Yuxiu push the door open and enter. The girl was fair and lovely, red lips and white teeth, wearing a red gown, though not all red, for only the lapel and collar were red. As she walked into the courtyard she brought with her a rush of youthful vitality that made Shen Mu's heart beat faster. "Cowherd! " The girl's eyes were bright as she came over smiling, and said: "That big dog at your gate is very agreeable!

" "At the New Year he goes on the table and gets eaten.

Keeping him is useless even for guarding the door! " Shen Mu said viciously.

Dragon Qilin's voice came from beyond the courtyard: "Sect Master, I heard all of that. " "I meant you to hear it!

Every day you do nothing but eat and sleep!

" Shen Mu studied the princess closely.

She had grown ever more radiant, though her cheeks still held a baby's softness; and yet she was taller than Shen Mu. She was a grown girl now, and her spring gown could hardly conceal her freshness and grace, as though a cluster of blossoms were about to burst out of that fine garment, so that once a man's eyes fell on her it was hard to look away. Lately Shen Mu had begun to grow taller too, shooting up like the wild grass of the wastelands when spring arrives. He thought of how, when first they met, this princess had been a wild girl in men's clothing, most free and easy. Ling Yuxiu came to the yellow-pear tree in the courtyard.

The yellow pear was putting out buds, but the pear blossoms would open first, each pistil thrusting its head out from tender petals. Ling Yuxiu reached out a slender white hand to hold a blossom, and laughed: "You do have a sense of romance, planting a yellow pear on Jade Mountain.

When the pear blossoms open, I must certainly come to admire them. .

. " "Do not move! " Shen Mu's eyes lit up.

"Hold that pose. Wait for me! " He hurriedly brought out brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, mixed his colors, and began to paint.

Ling Yuxiu grew a little anxious: "Are you done yet?