Chapter 603 — The Vajra in His Eyes

"The Woodcutter Sage is the founding ancestor of the Heavenly Sage Sect, and yet he has never even heard of the Heavenly Sage Sect. The transmission on the stone was no more than a passing whim, something he gave the founding patriarch... If Granny knew of this, it would wound her deeply," he thought to himself.

The True God Pang Yu said, "Taihuang Heaven once launched a counterattack on Luofu Heaven. I was the commander then, though the counterattack failed; still, I know something of the terrain there. Luofu Heaven is all marshes, and there are mirror surfaces formed of space shards. You must be careful on the way. Sect Master Shen may see a mirror surface at any moment."

Granny Zhu fetched a white silk ribbon and bound it over Shen Mu's eyes. "There, that will do. Shen'er, you can release your primordial spirit and see through its eyes!"

The Imperial Teacher Jingping said hurriedly, "No! The Vajra's art is reflected in his primordial spirit as well. If the primordial spirit sees a mirror, it will trigger the Vajra's art too!"

Granny Zhu said in surprise, "The Vajra has such an ability? Shen'er, release your primordial spirit!"

Shen Mu did as he was told. His primordial spirit left his body and stood in the auspicious cloud behind and above his head. Granny Zhu turned the mirror on it. The primordial spirit looked toward the mirror's face, and at once its eyes fixed blankly upon it; in both its pupils the figure of the Vajra emerged and walked outward!

By now the Vajra had all but reached the surface of Shen Mu's pupils!

Granny Zhu studied it closely. Satisfied at heart, she put the mirror away, having at last settled a matter that had been weighing on her, and said with a smile, "True God Pang Yu, how do we get to Luofu Heaven?"

"I will open space and send you across!"

Shen Mu was blind as blind could be, able to sense his surroundings only with his other senses; his mortal eyes could see nothing of what lay around him. Granny Zhu took him by the hand and led him forward.

The True God Pang Yu tore space open, revealing another world. "Luofu Heaven is not like Taihuang Heaven. Perils are everywhere there. You must be on your guard."

Granny Zhu, holding his hand, walked cheerfully into the rift. The Dragon Qilin and the Snow Fox wanted to follow, but the True God Pang Yu had already sealed the rift, so they had to give it up.

The Pill Master said in a low voice, "We shall go to Fengdu in the Wasteland Ruins and seek the Village Headman, and think of something together. Ling'er, you often travel to Fengdu through the realm between life and death. You lead the way."

The Snow Fox agreed, and said to the forlorn Dragon Qilin, "The young master has gone to Luofu Heaven. Fat Dragon, come with us to Fengdu."

The Dragon Qilin felt hollow inside. He shook his head. "I will stay here and wait for the Sect Master to come back. He left in such haste he had no time to refine my rations..."

The Snow Fox laughed. "With Grandpa Pill Master here, will you go short of rations? The young master learned all his medicine and pill arts from Grandpa Pill Master!"

The Dragon Qilin was overjoyed. He hastily shook his body and revealed his true form, forty zhang long, and said with a fawning smile, "My lords, pray climb onto little dragon's back. Little dragon's steps are swift; I shall carry you all to Fengdu! I have been to Fengdu too, you know!"

The Lame Elder, the Butcher, the Blind Elder, and the others climbed onto his back. The Butcher laughed. "I always said that at New Year this fatty and the crest-crowned fire pheasant dragons back in the village would make a fine dish on the table. Who would have thought he would have more sense than those fire pheasant dragons? Those creatures have gone wild. Last time I went back to the village, they pecked my face till it ran with blood."

The Pill Master laughed. "What pills does Fatty Dragon eat? And how many?"

The Dragon Qilin said quickly, "Little dragon eats Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, Fire-Walk Divine Essence Pills, and Water-Walk Divine Essence Pills. One meal is... one dou!"

"One dou at every meal?"

The Pill Master was startled and blurted out, "Three kinds of pills, that makes three dou! Three meals a day, that makes nine dou! You have a big appetite. I am amazed Shen'er has not been eaten into poverty by you!"

The Dragon Qilin was startled too, and inwardly both alarmed and delighted. He had originally opened his lion's mouth wide, asking for a single dou of spirit pills a day; he had never expected it to become nine dou.

The Pill Master reckoned for a moment and said, "Nine dou of spirit pills is a bit much, but luckily I have money and a goodly store in hand. I can still afford to keep you..."

The Blind Elder was exceedingly envious. There were many rich folk in the village. The Pill Master earned a dou of gold a day treating the great and the noble, and many fine ladies of good families came to him drawn by his fame; the Deaf Elder's paintings were much sought after; the Butcher sold meat by day and the Silent Craftsman worked iron, and even they got by; the Lame Elder needed no saying; and Granny Zhu's Si family managed the treasury of the Heavenly Sage Sect, so of course she never wanted for food or drink.

Only the Blind Elder lived by fortune-telling, and his days were somewhat lean, and so he rather resented the rich of the village. He thought to himself, "Thank goodness the Village Headman is poorer than I am. A pity he is dead..."

The Snow Fox's eyes darted this way and that; she had not spoken the truth. She thought, "Fat Dragon eating so many spirit pills a day, when the young master comes back he is bound to be astonished. I want to see just how fat he will be by then..."

In Luofu Heaven, Shen Mu quietly raised his hand to peel away the golden willow leaf at the center of his brow that covered his third eye. Granny Zhu slapped his hand down with a crack and scolded, "There is something strange about that eye of yours. Do not go uncovering it!"

Shen Mu begged off. "Granny, I cannot see anything now and it is hard to walk. Surely you do not mean to lead me by the hand the whole way? If we meet with danger, I will only drag you down."

"Even so, you are not to uncover it!"

Granny Zhu thought it over and laughed. "Still, there is sense in what you say. Not being able to see does make it hard to move about. I will uncover it for you, but you must not stir the Three Elixirs of the Mystic Body art." With that, she pinched the golden willow leaf and peeled it away.

At the center of Shen Mu's brow the lids parted to either side, revealing the third eye, which rolled left and right and took in the surroundings.