Chapter 403 — The Old Man's Sudden Change

On the road back from the Wilderness Ruins, Shen Mu returned to Yincan Village, only to find the place had become the domain of plume-crested fire pheasant dragons — a clamorous, murderous horde, all but ready to go to war with millions of Tianyu clansmen.

Shen Mu killed the one making the loudest racket. Once he had roasted it, the fire pheasant dragons quieted down and dared not run wild again.

There was no one else in the village, and the Pill Master had not come back either. Shen Mu had no choice but to leave a note telling whoever returned to go to Granny Zhu's estate for the New Year, and only then did he take to the road again.

Mishui Pass.

The army garrisoning that mighty pass stared dumbly as millions drew near. The defenders numbered only a few tens of thousands — when had they ever seen a sight like this?

Fortunately Ling Yuxiu stepped forward and explained what these people had come for, and only then did the commanding general order the gates opened and let them through.

Feeding so many was a problem. The Tianyu clansmen ate only vegetables and touched no meat or fish; along the way they had eaten nothing but fruit, honey, and the roots and stems of plants and flowers, and their appetites were small.

Even so, the food consumed by millions upon millions was a problem of no small size.

Shen Mu questioned Yu Zhaoqing and learned that in the Tianyu World these people ate the fruit of the pill tree. The fruit of that plant was itself a spirit pill, and yet it was heavy with water, translucent and crystalline as gemstone, and carried the virtues of a spirit pill besides: one fruit, and a man could go days without food or drink.

Ordinary fruit could fill their bellies too, but it did not taste good.

"The pill tree... a plant that bears spirit pills for fruit. The Wilderness Ruins have none, and neither does the Jingping Kingdom."

Shen Mu asked after the properties hidden within the pill tree's fruit, and Yu Zhaoqing described them at length. Shen Mu tried his hand at refining spirit pills several times, and Yu Zhaoqing tasted every one, shaking her head at them all.

At last Shen Mu refined a whole furnace of Azurite Pills, spirit pills the blue of the sky, holding water vapor within, and it had cost him a great deal of thought.

Yu Zhaoqing tasted them and praised him: "The flavor is already five or six parts of the way there."

Shen Mu breathed out in relief and passed the pill formula to Yu Zhaoqing, telling her to seek out the pill masters among the Tianyu clan and have them refine it themselves, so that they would no longer have to wander everywhere gathering wild fruit to eat.

"These Tianyu folk are fit only for the warm lands of the south. That is what suits them."

Shen Mu's head ached over how to settle the Tianyu clan, and in the end he decided that a headache of this kind was best handed to Emperor Yanfeng — let Emperor Yanfeng do the aching.

At Mishui Pass a tower ship rose slowly into the air and sped swiftly toward the capital, bearing Shen Mu's memorial.

Shen Mu, for his part, summoned Lord Dragonkeeper within the pass. Lord Dragonkeeper revealed his true form, and his vast, towering body carried millions of people in a grand swim down the Yongjiang River — a spectacle of immense magnificence.

Yan Jingjing clicked her tongue in wonder. In the Xi Spring she had never seen a water creature of Lord Dragonkeeper's monstrous size, and she could not help her curiosity.

When they came to the south of Shuzhou, Shen Mu had the Tianyu clansmen encamp in the hills and woods outside Shuzhou City, while he himself took the girls straight to Granny Zhu's estate. Yu Zhaoqing followed him there as well, to await Emperor Yanfeng's decree.

When the party arrived at Granny Zhu's estate, they were astonished beyond measure. It was like a holy place of the mortal world; every corner seemed a fairyland, and the spirit aura and spirit power were so thick they could condense into droplets of water. What was more, the place was uncommonly bustling: a great many palace maids hurried to and fro, tidying this and setting that in order. Astonished, Ling Yuxiu called two maids over: "Jianqi, Qinqi — are you not the ones who attend the Empress Dowager? How did you come running here?"

These two maids were the very girls who had once escorted Shen Mu and saved him from the sneak attack of the Little Poison King, Fu Yuanqing. They hurriedly saluted her and Shen Mu, a dimple blooming on each cheek, one to the left and one to the right, setting each other off charmingly.

Jianqi laughed. "Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is here, so naturally we are here too."

Startled, Ling Yuxiu said, "The Empress Dowager is here as well? Why would she come to this place?"

Jianqi and Qinqi exchanged a glance, both wearing troubled looks. Qinqi hesitated a moment, then whispered, "She came chasing after Lord Jade... Princess, do not breathe a word of it. If the Empress Dowager learns of it, heads will roll!"

Jianqi leaned close to Ling Yuxiu's ear and murmured, "There is no end of women chasing Lord Jade. When Lord Jade showed his true face — and he has no face at all — it gave every one of them a fright, but not a single one left. Those women are fierce, all of them famous elders of the martial world, and some are even heads of their own sects. They kicked up a terrible fuss, and even the Empress Dowager could not quell them. In the end the Empress Dowager lost her patience and fought a great battle with those women, but still could not put them down, and so they all moved in..."

Worry on her face, Ling Yuxiu looked at Shen Mu. "Is Lord Jade also one of the village's people?"

"My grandfather, the Pill Master — he is also called the Jade-Faced Poison King."

Shen Mu was overjoyed. "Then Grandfather Pill Master must be here too! Those women have him boxed in — he cannot get away!"

Yan Jingjing looked about her. Besides the palace maids and serving girls passing to and fro, the estate held creatures of outlandish appearance: some were merfolk with human heads and fish bodies, their features savage, and others had human bodies and hideous, snarling fish heads, bustling about the estate making ready for the New Year.

There were tree spirits too, and flower demons, and strange monsters scattered across the hills and fields. The tree spirits had heads full of branches and twigs, with a few leaves still clinging, and were violently short-tempered, forever coming to blows with the deer demons.

"You little wretch — you've brought back all these girls for the New Year?"

Even as they looked on, a sudden sweet fragrance swept over them. They turned at the voice and were all struck dumb: a beautiful woman was walking toward them. She did not seem a being of the mortal world, but rather one who had stepped out of myth and legend, bearing a beauty like a god's, without a single flaw to be found.

The girls were all stunned, each a little ashamed of her own plainness, and yet unable to keep from feeling admiration, and a wish to draw near.

"Auntie!" Si Yunxiang stepped forward and said brightly, "You are here too!"

Granny Zhu said with a smile, "Girl Xiang, keep your distance from my Shen'er."

Si Yunxiang's face darkened. Angrily she said, "Auntie, we are family, after all. Why do you take an outsider's side?"

Granny Zhu left her standing there and walked over to the girls, sizing them up. She smiled. "I raised Shen'er myself; he is far dearer to me than you are. Girl Xiang, I never once held you in my arms when you were small. Shen'er, this girl Xiang is a fox spirit, full of sly little schemes — you must be wary of her."

Xue Hu'er jumped up and cried, "I knew she was a fox spirit! Granny, I keep the young master well in hand — I never give the little fox spirits outside a chance to get near him!"

Granny Zhu came to Shen Mu's side and raised her hand to pat his head, then said in annoyance, "You've grown! Well, then? Bend down!"