Chapter 277 — Killing Intent Arose Suddenly

"Last night Ban Gongcuo ordered a great shaman to work sorcery and kill me, and today he dares invite me to a banquet?

" Shen Mu was briefly taken aback. "Can he imagine that because it is sacred ground as well, the Golden Palace of Loulan might overbear the Celestial Sage Sect?

Or has he some other design?

" Libationer Bashan walked over and asked, "Shall I go with you? " Shen Mu shook his head.

"It will not come to that. If Ban Gongcuo dared to kill me in the open, he would not have used sorcery against me last night. I will go to the banquet alone and meet him. " The Jade Fragrance Tower was the largest tavern in the capital, laid out in garden fashion: one court, one courtyard, and in the courtyards rockeries, running water and fountains, and maidservants with strings and flutes and dancing.

Each courtyard stood apart from the rest, quiet and refined. Nor did those who came here to eat and drink come for the eating and drinking; they came only seeking a place where they might talk. Before the year of calamity came, its business had been fierce; even great officials and nobles had to reserve their banquet in advance.

But when the natural disaster broke out and the emperor himself took charge of the relief, the great officials and nobles of the capital were obliged to donate as well, and only then did the Jade Fragrance Tower's trade grow lean.

One supposed that once the effects of the calamity had passed, this tavern's business would surely flourish again. In the Green Bamboo Garden of the Jade Fragrance Tower, Ban Gongcuo came out to welcome him and said, "Sect Master Shen, my retainers gave great offense; now they are dead, and with death all accounts are settled. I beg the Sect Master's forbearance.

" Shen Mu walked into the Green Bamboo Garden and looked about him.

"The prince is too courteous. " This courtyard was named the Green Bamboo Garden; its gate was round as a full moon, and passing within it one entered the shade of slender bamboos that screened both sides of the path. The ear caught a murmuring of water; after two turns one saw clear water running down from a rockery heaped with strange stones. It was a thin stream, yet it carried the sense of a waterfall plunging headlong.

That waterfall fell into the jade vase held in the hand of a Bodhisattva image; the vase tilted, the water turned once within it and ran out again, falling into the pond to the south. Shen Mu glanced at it.

In the southern pond were sand islets like islands in the sea, spread out like stars, most diverting. On the pond were written the words: "Guanyin of the Southern Sea, whose great vow is deep as the sea. " The Bodhisattva was carved as one with the rockery, and some small spell had surely been laid on it so that the water never ceased.

The pond was not large, but it was wrought with such fineness that, gazing closely, one truly felt as though one hung in the sky above the Southern Sea, looking down over a boundless ocean. "After you, Sect Master Shen. " Ban Gongcuo raised a hand and invited Shen Mu along the long corridor to a private room beside the pond.

The windows were already open, and seated by the window one could see just the whole prospect of the garden.

At the banquet there were also two great shamans in yellow robes, expressionless, standing left and right inside the door. Ban Gongcuo waved a hand.

"You may withdraw.

Have them serve the dishes and the wine.

" The two great shamans of the Golden Palace of Loulan left the room, and after a moment maidservants brought in dishes and wine; into the courtyard came girls of graceful figure dressed in the garb of foreign tribes, blowing ox horns, striking the yangqin and beating the damaru drum, and other instruments besides, which sounded rather distinctive. "Last night it was not by my order that men were sent to kill you. " Ban Gongcuo gave Shen Mu a deep look. "When I want a man dead, I have no need of another's hand.

Last night's affair was only this: my retainer saw you kill too many disciples of the Golden Palace and was filled with resentment, and so entered your dream and killed you by sorcery.

" Hearing him raise the matter, Shen Mu could not help but be surprised; he had thought Ban Gongcuo would avoid it, and never expected that the first thing Ban Gongcuo did upon taking his seat was to speak it plainly. "So that is how it was. " Shen Mu smiled.

"Fortunately I am unharmed, and the man is dead besides. I believe the young prince had no part in the matter.

" Ban Gongcuo shook his head.

"There is still something you do not know. I knew he meant to kill you, and I did not stop him.

Does Sect Master Shen wish to know why? " Shen Mu was surprised again, and said modestly, "The young prince is full of surprises.

I would be glad to hear it in full.

" Ban Gongcuo poured wine for him. "The reason I did not stop him is that I knew you would surely keep Libationer Bashan in your chamber to guard against my working sorcery on you at midnight. He could not kill you, but he could delay you.

" Shen Mu raised his brows, lifted his cup, and the two toasted in courtesy and drank it off.

Ban Gongcuo went on: "You and I broke through the wall at the same time and entered the Six Harmonies realm. At that time I did not accept your challenge because I had seen that your strength in battle was truly no small thing, and I was not wholly sure of beating you. But after a single day, it is different. One day.

Only one day. " A faint smile appeared on his face. "When masters contend, a single day is enough to settle victory and defeat. You spent the afternoon meeting the Crown Prince, with no leisure to consolidate the Six Harmonies realm or discover its mysteries; at night you had to guard against my retainer's sorcerous attack, and again had no leisure to study the realm of the Six Harmonies. I, however, had that day to consolidate the Six Harmonies and raise my cultivation. A paltry day was enough to leave you without a single chance of victory.

" Astonished once more, Shen Mu studied his face. It still bore something of a boy's softness, yet his gaze was deep, with a gravity no youth possessed. He said in admiration, "The young prince of the grasslands is truly extraordinary. No wonder even Heaven's Blade is so wary of you.

You are only fourteen this year? " Ban Gongcuo poured wine for him again. "Thirteen. We grassland folk are weathered by wind and sun, our bodies coarser, and we look older.

Thirteen is my age in this life; if the Sect Master asks the lifespan of my soul, then it is already eleven thousand years. " Shen Mu laughed aloud.

"The young prince astonishes me more and more.

I did not expect him to speak even of this so lightly. " "There is no need for me to hide it from you. " Ban Gongcuo said, "Sect Master Shen is likewise most admirable.

You are a disciple of Heaven's Blade, are you not?