Chapter 609 — A Pair of Embroidered Shoes

"They are like me — dead men long since. Twenty thousand years ago we should have died on the field of battle; only circumstance forced us to drag out our lives.

" The Woodcutter Sage laid his axe aside and said with feeling, "Vajra, do you know? In the age of Kaihuang, a little demon god like you, hopping and skipping about, would long ago have been sent to the God-Slaying Platform to have his head struck off. But these are not the old days. I admire you; I know your powers and your methods. You have never once summoned anyone from the Heavenly Court, but have attacked Taihuang Heaven with your own strength alone — from this I know you will not serve under another's roof. You have your own grand ambition and designs: to use Taihuang Heaven as a springboard and leap to the Kaihuang Heavenly Court. Your ambition is great indeed.

" Vajra smiled faintly. "A man in this world — if he has not a shred of aspiration, how is he any different from a dried fish?

" The Woodcutter Sage shook his head. "Have you never considered: if you seize the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, will you not be destroyed? When the birds are all gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning hare is dead, the running dog is boiled. You understand that, surely? The moment you storm the Wilderness and wipe out Jingping — that is the day of your death, and of your clan's.

The calamity of annihilation stands within arm's reach. You bear the name Vajra; you are the great sage of the demon race — you cannot fail to see it? " Vajra turned his neck, shifting to the right-hand face, and said slowly, "The Sage is skilled at attacking the heart. You seem to be thinking of my welfare, but in truth this is the way of attacking the heart. The reasoning you speak, I understand.

But I also know that I must find a way for my clan to live. As for whether the Heavenly Court will destroy me — that still hangs in the balance. At worst I bow my head and become a dog; surely the Heavenly Court will not go so far as to kill a dog?

" His left-hand face laughed. "A man in this world must be able to bend and to stretch.

Brother of the Way, if you insist on threatening me with Luofu Heaven, I need not kill you — someone will kill you of their own accord.

Brother of the Way, what harm is there in bending a little? " The Woodcutter Sage shook his head. "If I wished to be a dog, I could have been one twenty thousand years ago. If I can live standing, I would rather stand.

" Vajra's eyes flickered.

"But most men, when they die, are lying down still — like a dead dog. " The Woodcutter Sage laughed.

"Bones ground to powder, flesh smashed to bits — I fear it not at all.

I would rather die in smaller pieces. Set your mind at ease: I will not die lying down.

Before Shen Mu and the others arrived, you made me an offer — that I cede a portion of Jingping's territory to your demon race. Now that Shen Mu is here, I can give you my answer.

" His face went suddenly cold and grim. "So long as we live, not one inch of Kaihuang's soil will be yielded! " "Stretch your leg in, and I will cut off your leg; stretch your head in, and I will cut off your head!

If your demon race dares to enter Jingping, I will wipe out your demon race!

" He said coldly, "Kaihuang's soil — do not even dream of it! " Hearing his words, Vajra's three faces darkened in an instant, and he said icily, "Then there is nothing to discuss. In that case, let us sign the Pact of Tu Bo!

" He took up his brush and swiftly wrote out the oath, then raised his hand lightly, and the paper flew to the Woodcutter Sage opposite.

The Woodcutter Sage likewise wrote his oath, and they exchanged papers. Each pondered the other's oath, searching for loopholes, then took up the brush to amend it, exchanged the oaths back again, and examined them once more in fine detail, altering whatever they could not accept. So it went again and again, until at last they settled each other's oaths. The two rose to their feet and each swore his oath — Vajra in the demon tongue, the Woodcutter Sage in the divine tongue.

The divine tongue and the demon tongue sounded at once, each carrying its own hidden mysteries and subtleties, even clashing and warring with the other! Shen Mu was master of both tongues; whether divine or demon, he understood all, and he could not help but listen entranced.

Suddenly space quivered, and the altar beneath their feet, tall as a mountain, swayed and rocked; the people upon it hurried to steady themselves. Below the altar, Granny Zhu and the Black Tiger God were facing two other demon gods, and the earth beneath their feet too began to heave of itself; the four gods and demons hastened to steady their stances lest their foes seize the advantage. Granny Zhu swayed east and lurched west, as though her cultivation realm were insufficient; she fell back several steps, and one of her embroidered shoes slipped off unawares, so that she had to steady herself on one bare foot.

The demon sage confronting her brightened his pupils; giving her no time to react, he reached out and picked up that embroidered shoe.

Shoe in hand, the demon god stared at Granny Zhu's fair, delicate bare foot, chuckled, and held the shoe to his nose to sniff it. Granny Zhu flushed with anger, stretched out her hand, and said with a half-smile, "Give me back my shoe!

" The demon god laughed heartily and tucked the shoe into his bosom. "Little beauty, I pity you at first sight.

Your shoe — I will keep it. " Granny Zhu was furious. She pulled off the other shoe as well and flung it at him with a flick of her wrist. "You are a demon god, a being of lofty station — how can you be so frivolous?

" The demon god raised his hand and caught the other embroidered shoe, then stared at her pair of fair, small feet and chuckled, "Good! Now I have a pair! Little beauty, you are made so white and dainty — I have a few human concubines too.

If you will have me, I can make you the principal wife. Only say yes, and when I go back I will eat my own plain-faced wife! " Granny Zhu giggled.

"You eat your plain-faced wife, and then I must worry that one day, when I have become a plain-faced wife, you will eat me! My little shoes — you cannot wear them anyway.

I make you a gift of them.

" The Black Tiger God frowned deeply and thought, "What manner of woman is this? Her talk runs every which way, and here she is flirting with this demon god — a character as unreliable as Brother Shen!

" All around was shrouded in thick darkness, when suddenly firelight came out of the dark, and a pair of enormous horns rose slowly from the darkness beneath the altar. About the altar there was no light of sun or sky; that pair of horns twisted through nine bends and eighteen turns, towering as high as the clouds, far above the altar.

The Black Tiger God was greatly alarmed; the two hammer-heads in his hands fell to the ground unawares, and he hurriedly picked them up and raised his head to look at those horns still rising out of the darkness. After a moment, the shadowy form of Tu Bo revealed its head, and the two pairs of horns had thrust up to a height level with the stars beyond the sky. Tu Bo's tiger-like face was hidden in the darkness, the fire in his eyes lighting his face now bright, now dim, and the tall, towering altar too grew bright and dim beneath his gaze.

Tu Bo waited quietly for their oaths.

This was Tu Bo's shadow, not Tu Bo himself, but a projection of his power into this world, to witness the swearing of two mighty ones. Tu Bo could not descend in person; his fleshly body was too vast, and were he to descend, this fragile world could not bear it.

Shen Mu grew excited and waved vigorously at Tu Bo's shadow. Tu Bo's face was grave; he looked straight through him.

Shen Mu kept waving excitedly and called out loudly, "Me!

It is me!

Tu Bo, we have met before! I am Shen Fengqing — you sealed me yourself!

" Tu Bo continued to look straight through him.

Shen Mu kept waving excitedly.