Chapter 609 — A Pair of Embroidered Shoes

The corner of Tu Bo's eye twitched.

"Solemnity!

Do not speak to me. I am conducting serious business.

" Zhe Huali and Qi Jiuyi exchanged glances, their hearts chilled.

Vajra and the Woodcutter Sage finished reciting their oaths and signed the Pact of Tu Bo.

That towering head of Tu Bo glanced at Shen Mu, and Shen Mu waited in high excitement to speak with him. Qi Jiuyi hesitated, then stepped forward and saluted Tu Bo.

Tu Bo looked straight through him and said to Shen Mu, "Do not stir up trouble.

" He tossed out those words and slowly sank into the darkness, fading away little by little, leaving Shen Mu and Qi Jiuyi stranded on the altar. When the horns had wholly sunk into the ground, the darkness dispersed of itself, and light returned all around. The Woodcutter Sage stared at Shen Mu; Vajra stared at Shen Mu; the eyes of Zhe Huali and Qi Jiuyi too fell upon him. Tu Bo had always been the image of solemn majesty, the master of death, never given to jest; whenever a mighty one swore an oath and his power projected over to bear witness, the aura of it was dark and dreadful, pressing the breath from a man's lungs. But this time, Tu Bo's shadow had not only spoken, it seemed on most familiar terms with Shen Mu — which could not but make a man wonder whether, when one swore an oath to Tu Bo, Tu Bo would judge it fairly and without private feeling.

The very reason Tu Bo was chosen as the witness of oaths was that he had no private feeling whatsoever; and if Tu Bo ever did have private feeling, that would be a most dreadful thing. "One would not have guessed that Brother Shen stands so well with Tu Bo," Vajra said with a smile.

Shen Mu closed all three of his eyes, refusing to look at him, and grunted, "If we truly stood well, he would not have sealed me. " Vajra was set at ease — then suddenly he thought of Shen Mu's jade pendant, and his heart went cold: "The jade pendant is Tu Bo's seal?

That day I suppressed the seal, and that is why I released that demon king?

" His heart opened all at once, and a great stone dropped from it: "Sealed by Tu Bo himself — it seems he will never escape the seal. In that case I can deal with him at my ease.

Only, this boy dares not look at me now. " Just then a scream came from below the altar; everyone on the altar started and hurried to the edge to look down.

Below the altar, a demon god who had come with Vajra was clutching his legs and rolling back and forth in pain. On that demon god's feet was a pair of small embroidered shoes, so small they were but three inches long, and the shoes were full of needles that had pierced the demon god's great feet until they ran with blood. The demon god's body swelled and shrank by turns as he tried to shake off the embroidered shoes, but the shoes only shrank with him and never grew; by now the bones of both his great toes were shattered, and the pain was beyond words.

Beside him, the Black Tiger God and another demon god looked at Granny Zhu in panic, each edging away, not daring to come near. "The bones of both your feet are broken through," said Granny Zhu, all smiles and soft, gentle words, advising him in a tender voice.

"Best cut them off. If you wait until the embroidery needles swim to your heart and lungs, swim into your brain, it will be too late. " The demon god trembled all over with pain, clenched his teeth, and hissed, "You tricked me into wearing the little shoes.

. .

" Granny Zhu said in surprise, "You put them on yourself.

When did I ever trick you?

" On the altar, Vajra's brows twitched, and he said to the Woodcutter Sage with a cold smile, "Is this another of your disciples? The same style as you, Brother of the Way — striking from the shadows!

" The Woodcutter Sage was somewhat surprised too, and shook his head.

"Not exactly my disciple.

But her cleverness is a match for mine. " Vajra gave a cold snort, and his voice carried down below the altar: "Mutuluo, your divine arts are not fine enough; you cannot suppress her fine needles.

The longer you drag it out, the graver the danger to your life. Cut off both your feet.

" The demon god was doing all he could to suppress the embroidery needles flowing from the shoes into his blood vessels. The needles in the shoes were exceedingly fine, imperceptible, yet nimble and deft as slender swords, boring into his blood vessels. He transformed his vital essence into all manner of divine arts and hid them in his blood vessels to block and suppress the needles, but since it was within his own body, he could not bring forth divine arts of great power, and could not hold the fine needles back.

Hearing Vajra's words, he gave a shrill cry, tears in his eyes, and with a wave of his hand cut off both his lower legs. At the wound where his legs were severed, many fine silver needles flowed out like water. "The treasure-refining art of the Heaven-Craft God Clan! " From those silver needles Vajra recognized the treasure-refining art of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court's Heaven-Craft God Clan, and his heart jumped; suddenly he recalled that day, there had been an old blacksmith at Shen Mu's side. Granny Zhu's silver needles must surely have come from that old blacksmith's hand!

"A blacksmith, an embroiderer, a painter, a seller of fake medicine. .

.

what sort of crew has Shen Mu gathered around him?

" Even Vajra could not help but feel a headache coming on.