Chapter 272 — Ghost Possession

Shen Mu was sleeping in a daze when he felt someone crawling onto him. He had a temper in his sleep, so he kicked out twice and sent the intruder tumbling off the bed.

The other was just as drowsy; dragging the quilt, she climbed back up and burrowed into his arms, only to be kicked off again. In the end the three girls fell asleep in one another's arms, leaving him out in the cold. After the toil of the past days, both Shen Mu and Ling Yuxiu slept deeply.

Shen Mu did not wake until the small hours of the next morning; Ling Yuxiu had nestled under his arm, and he shifted his limb with the greatest care, afraid of waking her. In truth Ling Yuxiu was already awake. Being a girl, and a thin-skinned one at that, she dreaded the awkwardness of opening her eyes, and so feigned sleep.

Peeping through her lashes, she saw Shen Mu pick up his shoes and tiptoe out. Only when he had left the room did Shen Mu breathe easy. The twin palace maids had risen early and were talking in the courtyard.

One said, "Young Master Shen likes to box in his dreams. He gave me a fine kicking—look, my eye socket is swollen. " "You're one to talk! I got kicked too, right in the chest, and he knocked me off the bed.

He didn't take liberties with you, did he? " "No.

But the princess slept with the young master, and we were in the bed as well, all under one quilt. How are we to report this when we go back?

" The two girls were silent a moment, then said in one voice, "We won't speak of it, and neither will the young master or the princess. So it stays unsaid!

" It concerned the royal family's face; say too much and one might lose one's head.

They understood that well enough.

Shen Mu put on his shoes, coughed once, and stepped out. The two maids hurriedly bowed in unison. "The young master is awake?

We sisters were rash yesterday; had you not looked after us, we would have died at the hands of the Little Poison King. " Shen Mu returned the salute.

"And it was fortunate that you two were there. You wounded the Little Poison King and kept him from running wild. " The maids exchanged a glance and laughed together. "Young master, do not call us elder sisters.

We serve the Empress Dowager; we have no family names, only given names. I am Jianqi, and she is Qinqi. " Seeing him look from one to the other, trying to tell which was Jianqi and which Qinqi, they could not help laughing—and in that laugh Shen Mu saw it. Jianqi had a little fang on the left; Qinqi had one on the right.

"Young master, we have been out all night and must return to the palace early to report," Qinqi said.

Shen Mu nodded. "You slept, and the lingering poison in you has cleared; there is nothing serious. I still have a few detox pills here—take them with you.

" The maids thanked him and took the pills. They were just about to leave when Ling Yuxiu's voice came from the room: "Wait for me! I'll go back with you!

" The two stopped and turned. Ling Yuxiu came running out in a fluster, half-dressed in her white underrobe, her hair somewhat disheveled, an outer garment tucked under her arm, shuffling along in her shoes. A shoe slipped off; she hurriedly lifted her foot to put it back on, but her black hair came completely loose and spilled down over her shoulders like a waterfall. Then she tried to fix her hair, and the outer garment tucked under her arm fell. She was a sorry sight indeed.

Shen Mu looked at her, and saw that a pair of plump breasts were about to escape her clothing.

The youth hesitated inwardly, unsure whether to speak a warning or step forward and help tuck them back in. Jianqi and Qinqi exchanged a glance, went up, and escorted the princess back into the room to help her dress and do her hair. Her face burning red, Ling Yuxiu summoned her courage and asked in a whisper, "Will I get pregnant?

" The two maids' eyes went wide. "Why does the princess ask such a thing?

" "I heard people in the palace say that when a man and a woman sleep together, the woman gets pregnant.

" Ling Yuxiu said earnestly, "We slept nearly a day and a night.

I may well be with child.

" Jianqi burst out laughing. "Princess, you've got it wrong; it isn't like that.

Oh dear, it's hard to explain. The young master is a divine physician; he surely has ways to prevent conception. " Ling Yuxiu's eyes went wide.

"There are such ways?

" "Indeed there are. I've heard that some noble ladies who don't want children have alchemists prepare medicines, and then they don't conceive.

" .

. .

After seeing the three girls off, Shen Mu noticed that the yellow pear tree had come fully into bloom, its branches covered in blossoms.

"Spring has come at last. " The youth thought, "Once the first harvest of grain ripens, this year of disaster will be over.

" He washed and dressed. At home alone he had only the dragon qilin for company, and he had no mind to cook, so he decided to go down the mountain to eat. He had just stepped out of the courtyard when he saw the Libationer of Bashan coming with his robe draped over his shoulders, bellowing, "I just saw the princess and two maids going down the mountain with lanterns. Could they have come from your room? " "There's no such thing.

Senior brother, don't talk nonsense.

" Shen Mu said without a blush or a flutter in his heart, "Have you come looking for me about Ban Gongcuo, senior brother? Have you eaten breakfast?

" Bashan had always had a voice to rival the Duke of Wei's. If he learned that Ling Yuxiu and the two maids had spent the night in Shen Mu's room, the whole capital would know. To Shen Mu, it was a matter of feeling arising and being restrained by propriety; he had done nothing improper.

But by worldly reckoning it was no small thing. If word got out that he had slept with the princess, the emperor would have his head. Better to keep it hidden. "I ate at the foot of the mountain just now.

I knew you'd just come back from the palace, and after such a long stretch of weariness you're likely still hungry, so I brought you something to eat. " Bashan took out several oil-paper parcels and handed them over. Shen Mu thanked him hastily and opened them: one held a steamer basket of buns; another, meat of some exotic beast he could not name, boiled in plain water, with a red paste of fermented flour mixed with shredded scallion whites; and the last, pickled vegetables.

Shen Mu invited him inside, and they sat down to eat. Watching him wolf down his food, Bashan sighed. "The emperor is truly stingy—he sends you to heal him and doesn't even lay out a decent meal. By the way, Ban Gongcuo's Six Heavens Divine Treasury is more than half broken through. " "So soon?

" Shen Mu looked up, astonishment on his face.

To cultivate to the Six Harmonies realm was to become a wielder of divine powers. In cultivation, every realm required painstaking refinement; Shen Mu's breaking through the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury in two years was already considered very fast. He had labored nearly a year in the Five Luminaries realm and now stood at the threshold of the Six Harmonies realm, yet when he might succeed in breaking through the Six Heavens Divine Treasury, he had no idea.

When they last met Ban Gongcuo, he had been a green boy at the Spirit Embryo realm.

Now, only half a year later, his cultivation had already surpassed Shen Mu's, and he had become a divine-power wielder of the Six Harmonies realm!

This was by no means a normal pace of cultivation; it could only be called godlike speed! "There's something strange about that boy. " Bashan picked up a piece of pickled vegetable and popped it into his mouth.

"The Hall of Six Harmonies at the Grand Academy is where they teach the breaking through of the Six Heavens Divine Treasury. Scholars who have perfected the Five Luminaries realm all go there to hear the lectures. Shen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Shen Yu, Yun Que, Fatty Wei, and a few of the young lords have all gone, and this Ban Gongcuo is there too.