Chapter 515 — Lu Li of the Ghost Capital

" The monkey leaped up, and before it came down, a banana peel suddenly appeared beneath its feet; it fell flat on its backside, heels in the air. Furious, the monkey scrambled up to seek revenge on Xing'an, but Xing'an had already vanished without a trace.

"Chee-chee! What a petty fellow! " The monkey, in a rage, sprang up into a tree—but the thing its hand closed upon was another banana peel, and down it tumbled from the tree again.

That banana peel seemed to have marked him for its own: whenever he jumped, it would appear of itself under his hand or under his foot, and leave him half dead from the fall. The monkey, in a fury, picked up a stone and smashed the banana peel to bits.

By then Xing'an was already far away. He murmured, "That Lu Li may be formidable, but she cannot enter the world of the living.

Am I, Xing'an, a man to be pushed about at another's will?

She gives me thirty years of life, thinking to hold me by it—it will not be so easy! Divine Physician Shen says he has built the arcane model of the Divine Bridge's space and has already spread it abroad. I will go to Jingping; with my gifts and understanding, in a year or two I can become a god and shake off her control! " Suddenly Lu Li's voice came to his ear, laughing: "Little scamp. I cut fifteen years from your lifespan. " Xing'an was badly shaken and hurriedly looked all around, but saw no trace of Lu Li. "This is the world of the living; she cannot come here!

I must be hallucinating! " He had barely thought this when he suddenly came to his senses.

He hastened to open the Life-and-Death Divine Treasury, and saw that it connected to the Nether Capital—a place dim and dark, murky and grey—and in the darkness a single eye was giving off a faint ghostly gleam, watching him.

A chill spread through Xing'an's heart.

He knew he could never be free of her now; even if he became a god, he would find it hard to escape her grasp! "This person born out of the Nether Capital—who on earth is he? " Xing'an knitted his brows.

There were many people of seventeen or eighteen; where was he to go to find such a one? "Dragon Fatty, hurry!

It will be dark soon!

" Shen Mu urged: "We must find some ruins or a village before nightfall! " Darkness fell, surging in from the west.

Shen Mu came with the Dragon Qilin and the box into a stretch of ruins.

Inside the ruins were strange beasts of the Waste, each minding its own business in peace.

The box dug a broken stone stele out of the ground and was about to stuff it into its own belly, but the stele was too big and would not fit. Shen Mu went up to it and brushed the dust from the stele. Upon it were written such words as "the Northern Dipper, the Mystic Bright, True and Pure Heavenly Doumu, the Primordial Sovereign. " He thought: "This is a celestial court of the Kaihuang era, the dwelling place of the Northern Dipper Lady Doumu? This Lady Doumu must have been a mighty goddess.

What a pity that this place too has become ruins. . . " He rose and went to the gateway of the Palace of Doumu, looking out at the darkness beyond. The darkness was like a curtain, held back exactly by the screen of light at the palace gateway; dark and light were sharply divided.

Shen Mu hesitated, unable to decide.

He stretched out his little finger and slowly, little by little, reached its nail toward the darkness.

"Cult Leader, don't die—!

" The Dragon Qilin rushed over, seized his leg in its teeth, and dragged him back.

Shen Mu was dragged face-first along the ground, covered in dust and grime; he rolled over, got up, pinned the Dragon Qilin down, and beat it. Roar— The ruins fell into chaos.

Many strange beasts of the Waste and monstrously powerful beast lords were enraged; their roars shook the sky as they closed in on Shen Mu.

Cold sweat broke out on Shen Mu's forehead. He retreated step by step, watching the thousands upon thousands of beasts pressing in on him, and explained: "Gentlemen, hear me out—I did not mean to break the rules of the Waste.

It was this fellow Dragon Fatty who struck the first blow. . . " He backed up to the gateway and bumped into a stone pillar.

One after another the giant beasts beat their chests, bared their teeth, sharpened their claws, or gathered their divine powers, ready at any moment to blast this fellow who had broken the rules of the Waste to death! Shen Mu gritted his teeth, whirled around, and butted his head forward with all his strength—his head sank into the darkness. The beasts were struck dumb.

The Dragon Qilin hurried over, wailing loudly, and took Shen Mu's trouser leg in its teeth to drag him back; the other beasts hastily covered their faces—dragged like that, he would surely come out as a fleshless skull, or else with his neck cut clean through, dripping with blood!

"Dragon Fatty, get away. " Shen Mu kicked out with his leg, and the whole pack of beasts was frightened into a shiver, their hairs and scales standing on end! "Fake—fake—fake. .

. " One beast lord stammered, then suddenly roared: "The corpse has risen!

" Just then, with a pop, Shen Mu's whole body burrowed into the darkness.

Before the beasts could breathe a sigh of relief, a head suddenly poked out of the dark, looking this way and that.

Thud! One of the beasts toppled over stiff as a board, frightened into a dead faint.