Chapter 460 — The Liu Clan Within the Divine Burial Valley

Xiong Qi'er clasped the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl in both arms. The pearl was huge, the size of a grown man's fist, and she was so young that holding it was a strain.

Watching Liu Ruyin's bearing, Shen Mu knew at once that his guess had been right: this Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl could only bring out its full might in the hands of a pure and flawless little girl. No wonder the Western Lands set such store by their little princess.

Liu Ruyin veiled her face with her sleeve and showed a single eye, a ghastly white eye whose black pupil was no bigger than a soybean — a most uncanny sight.

"Sect Master Shen, do not misunderstand. " Behind Liu Ruyin came a ceaseless thud, thud, thud as one corpse-like body after another, half dead and half human, toppled into the coffins, whose lids closed of themselves.

Liu Ruyin sprang into a coffin after them, lay down, and giggled: "We only came to see whether the little princess had come to any harm.

Now that we see she is safe and sound, Ruyin is reassured. Farewell!

" The coffins sprouted legs once more and made to run for the cliff. Shen Mu said abruptly: "Chief Liu, wait. " Liu Ruyin had been about to shut the coffin lid; at his words she froze in alarm, then sat up again and said with a smile that was not a smile: "Sect Master Shen, leave us a road to live by.

Do not hunt us to extinction.

" Her voice quavered; plainly she was frightened out of her wits.

Shen Mu was perplexed. Was this not merely the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl?

Xiong Qi'er held it, and though she could draw out its power, it surely could not be so dreadful — was there any need for Liu Ruyin and the rest to be so terrified?

"Chief Liu, did you come this time at Zhentian Palace's bidding?

" Shen Mu's face was mild as he said: "Since it was at Zhentian Palace's bidding, then an expert of Zhentian Palace must still be among your clan. I should like to meet this expert of Zhentian Palace.

Might Chief Liu introduce me?

" Liu Ruyin started slightly. Shen Mu's expression was gentle as a spring breeze: "Chief Liu does not know. I came into the Western Lands this time with no ill intent — only to look upon its lands and customs.

As for bringing the little princess along, that is only natural; the little princess is, after all, a person of the Western Lands and knows its geography well. " "Knows the geography of the Western Lands well? " Liu Ruyin blinked. Xiong Qi'er was only five or six, had lived in Zhentian Palace since childhood, and likely knew no geography but that of Zhentian Palace; what impression could she have of the Western Lands?

To have Xiong Qi'er guide the way was no better than a blind man appraising an elephant.

"This Sect Master Shen from the Central Lands is a fine hand at lying. " Liu Ruyin said cautiously: "Sect Master Shen, a strong dragon does not crush a local snake. Your origins may be lofty, but my Liu family is not to be trifled with either — beware a fight that ends with fish dead and nets torn.

" Shen Mu said in surprise: "Chief Liu, what sort of talk is this?

I only wish to meet a senior sister of Zhentian Palace and dissolve the misunderstanding between me and Zhentian Palace. I mean no harm.

Had I meant harm, I would long ago have had the little princess rouse the Qingxuan Water Dragon Pearl — do you think you could have escaped? " Liu Ruyin's face shifted dark and bright by turns, but Shen Mu's patience was excellent; he stood steadily where he was, waiting for her answer. He said not a word, and the half-human, half-corpse bodies in the other coffins dared not stir either. After a moment, Liu Ruyin giggled: "Sect Master Shen has spoken; how dare I disobey?

Sect Master, please come into my coffin, and I will take you to the Liu family to meet those several senior sisters of Zhentian Palace.

I wonder whether Sect Master Shen has the courage to enter my coffin?

" Shen Mu laughed heartily: "And what harm could there be? " With that he gathered Xiong Qi'er in his arms, leapt down from the dragon qilin's back, and came before Liu Ruyin's coffin. He looked inside and could not help but pause.

The coffin looked small, yet its interior was startling: more than a hundred feet in length and breadth, fifty or sixty feet high, like a great house. Within were tables and chairs and a jade bed, and it was divided into several rooms, with places for living and dining and even quarters for servants; it was scarcely different from a small palace.

Shen Mu clicked his tongue in wonder. When Liu Ruyin had leapt out of the coffin just now he had been startled, thinking that a corpse had truly sprung forth; little had he expected the coffin to be merely her dwelling. He glanced at the other black coffins and thought: 'Can these coffins all be the same, all dwellings of the Liu family's disciples?

These coffins that sprout legs and walk of themselves have a certain subtle kinship with Sister Yiyi's moving city. ' "Fat Dragon, you may come in too!

" Shen Mu said, turning his head with a smile. The dragon qilin hesitated, then shook its head: "Sect Master, I am rather superstitious.

I had best not go in. " Shen Mu cursed him with a laugh, then carried Xiong Qi'er into the coffin, leaving the dragon qilin outside. Liu Ruyin banged the lid shut, and at once the flock of coffins struck out their legs and moved at flying speed, some of them floating in the air, crowding around Liu Ruyin's coffin, crossing mountains and ridges, racing into the depths of the ranges.

The dragon qilin hurried after them.

When they had passed several peaks, a vast tomb appeared among the mountains; the Liu family's black coffins, like black boats adrift in the air, drove one after another through a great opening into the tomb.

The dragon qilin shivered again and again, muttering misgivings to itself, but it gritted its teeth and followed the coffins into the tomb.

And within the coffin, Shen Mu sat down, Xiong Qi'er in his arms, Liu Ruyin seated opposite. The two faced each other, silent a while, the air somewhat heavy. Suddenly Shen Mu smiled: "Chief Liu, who is the head of your Liu clan?

" In Liu Ruyin's eyes the soybean-sized black pupils revolved in ring upon ring, then returned to the size of any ordinary person's, and she smiled: "Sect Master Shen is, after all, an outsider and does not know the affairs of my Liu family. I am the head of the Liu family. " Shen Mu was astonished, and leaning aside said: "Then my calling you Chief Liu was no mistake.

Sister Ruyin, your Liu family's cultivation method is very strange.

When I first saw you, I took you for corpses. Might you tell me the reason?

" Warmth rose in Liu Ruyin's heart, and she shot him a delighted, sidelong glance: "You have such a sweet mouth.

Among outsiders, and men above all, who would dare speak so sweetly to my face? To escape being frightened to death is already a blessing from Heaven! Those stinking men — some were frightened until they wet themselves, some had their souls scared clean out of them — yet you, Sect Master Shen, can still chat and laugh, and even call me sister.

" Xiong Qi'er was puzzled, thinking: 'Big brother seems to call every woman he meets sister. . .

' The corpse aura about Liu Ruyin thinned a little, and she smiled: "My Liu family's art is indeed unlike any other. The Liu family — in truth, in life we were not surnamed Liu; only after death did we take the name Liu. " Shen Mu was shaken, and blurted: "You are all. . .

" Liu Ruyin said: "The origin of our Liu family of the Western Lands is exceedingly ancient: a spirit was conceived within a corpse and came to have awareness.