Chapter 342 — Heart-Piercing Pain

Shen Mu accepted the Canon of Calculation, gave his thanks, and said with meaning, "Your master, the old Daoist Lord, is in Little Jade Capital as well, is he not? His allotted years are nearly spent. If there were a method for repairing the Spirit Bridge, and the spatial numerology..."

Linxuan the Daoist Lord's frame gave a slight shudder, and he said nothing.

Shen Mu walked out of the Jade Void Temple, called to Xiong Xiyu and her daughter Xiong Qi'er, who had been waiting outside, and went down the mountain.

Linxuan the Daoist Lord let out a breath of turbid air and looked at the many elders in the temple; the old priests and nuns were looking at him in turn.

Suddenly he rose and said in a low voice, "Summon all in the Daoist sect skilled in the arts of calculation. We go down the mountain, to the capital."

"Daoist Lord, think thrice!"

An old Daoist priest said in alarm, "Do you truly mean to join hands with the Nether Demon Sect? The Nether Demon Sect has the ambition of a wolf cub, and this generation's Nether Demon Sect Master is a man of grand ambition and great ability, and a treacherous heart besides. In the battle at the capital, who knows how many of our brothers he killed!"

Another old nun said, "The Nether Demon Sect's Master Shen is indeed more devious and more ruthless than Fan Xuanshu, and harder to deal with than Fan Xuanshu! Bringing the golden book this time, he surely means to draw us into his snare!"

"The enmity between our sect and the Nether Demon Sect runs deep. This Nether Demon Sect Master glares like a wolf and stares like a kite—no good man. Daoist Lord, think before you act!"

"The capital—we must go! The method to become a god—we must have it!"

Linxuan the Daoist Lord flicked his sleeve and said calmly, "Say no more, martial uncles. Sect Master Shen spoke truly: even if we do not aid him, he can still break the contents of the golden book. And besides, the Imperial Academy and Little Jade Capital have adepts of calculation of their own; working out the spatial-numerical model is only a matter of time. If our sect lags one step, it will lag at every step thereafter, overtaken by the Nether Demon Sect—left behind by the age!"

He turned to pack his bags. "Our sect needs a god of its own, a living deity to guard the Daoist sect. In an age of great upheaval, a holy ground that does not change has no way to live!"

The old Daoists did not argue further. Each went to pack his gear and to choose the disciples most outstanding in the arts of calculation, making ready to hurry to the capital.

Suddenly an old Daoist priest let out an earth-shaking howl: "Which accursed wretch has stolen the sect master's whisk?"

From another quarter came a furious voice: "Who ate my fish?"

"Who stole my landscape screen? A treasure I have kept for years!"

"Has anyone seen my Qiankun Bay? It is the potted mountain in a basin, refined from the Qiankun Bay I collected."

"This poor nun left her hairpin on the dressing table—who took it? Speak up!"

At the foot of Jade Void Mountain, Shen Mu passed the mountain gate. The old Daoist who kept the mountain stood outside his thatched hut and returned Shen Mu's clothes to him, saying, suspicious, "The Old Shadow Thief has been stealing our sect's treasures again, hasn't he?"

Shen Mu took the clothes and shook his head. "I did not see him on the mountain."

The old Daoist stamped his foot. "Worse and worse! If you had seen him, he would have had to lie idle a while; since you did not, these three days are enough for the old villain to turn every ancestral grave twice over!" With that he whistled up the big yellow dog and hurried up the mountain, leading it by the leash.

The big yellow dog was nimble beyond measure, bounding to and fro over Jade Void Mountain, nose to the ground, sniffing everywhere. Then of a sudden barking rose from the mountain, chickens flying and dogs leaping.

"If we do not go now, the Daoist sect's masters will come charging down the mountain after us," the headman in the basket warned Shen Mu.

Shen Mu came to his senses and hastily urged on the Dragon Qilin. "Run, quickly!"

The Dragon Qilin bolted away, racing out toward the vast Kunlun range.

After a long run they broke free of the Kunlun mountains at last. Worry lay on Shen Mu's face. "Can Grandpa Lame get out..."

Before he had finished, he saw the Lame Elder seated in the shade of a great tree ahead of them, as though he had already waited a long while.

Shen Mu was struck dumb. He was about to speak when the Lame Elder sprang up as if his backside were afire and sprinted off, already vanishing into the air, his voice drifting back from far away: "Shen, my boy, you two go on to Little Jade Capital first—I will be right behind you!"

A huge dog came crashing down to earth, and on its back sat several old Daoists, men and women alike, bristling with murderous intent.

The dog sniffed at the foot of the tree, clouds gathered beneath its paws, and it soared into the air, giving chase in the direction the Lame Elder had gone, dreadfully fast, a flitting gleam, a passing shadow.

Shen Mu stared blankly, glanced at the Dragon Qilin, and said, mild of voice, "Dragon Fatty, can you catch that dog?"

The Dragon Qilin shook its head. "That wretch runs too nimbly. I cannot catch him."

"He runs faster than you even when he is eating dung!"

Shen Mu said in anguish, "And you still have the nerve to eat spirit pills with every meal!"