Chapter 92 — The Journey Through the Passes

Shen Mu reached out a hand and touched it lightly, yet he could find no trace at all that that world had ever existed. The Village Head hesitated, then told him what he had seen and heard in the Realm of the Living Dead; Shen Mu's eyes went wide.

The Village Head had had such a wondrous experience as that? "The Realm of the Living Dead has a Yama King; it should not be the World of the Heavenly Demons, but rather a relic from before the darkness, a part of the Wilderness Ruins from before the darkness descended.

" The Village Head reasoned: "The Yama King of the Realm of the Living Dead is surely a kind of divine office as well, like the Sun Guardian and the Moon Guardian. Only, the Land of No Sorrow is not there.

As for where it truly is, I could not get that out of him either. The reason your jade pendant was drawn away to fly into the Realm of the Living Dead is likely that the Soul Boat, like your jade pendant, came from the Land of No Sorrow. " He sighed. "The world of the Wilderness Ruins is truly too vast. I lived here in the past and never once imagined that there could be multiple worlds within it. There are at least three!

" Shen Mu nodded. The Wilderness Ruins by day, the Dark Realm by night, and within the Dark Realm the Realm of the Living Dead — in that one night they had seen three worlds of the Wilderness Ruins, and such a marvelous experience was not a thing to be spoken of to outsiders, for even if it were told, few would believe it. They hurried back.

Passing the small village by the river where they had met the ghost couriers the night before, Shen Mu halted and looked toward it. It was utterly dilapidated, cobwebs everywhere — plainly no one had lived there for a very long time. Yet what they had seen the night before was nothing like this. The night before, an old man had been there, carrying a lantern and pasting a paper boat.

This was the wonder of the Wilderness Ruins, its uncanniness, its inscrutability. "Are the Realm of the Living Dead and the ghost couriers connected? " Shen Mu asked.

The Village Head shook his head. "I do not know either. But my view is this: the ghost couriers do not belong to the Realm of the Living Dead.

The Yama King of the Realm of the Living Dead is probably only the Yama King of the Wilderness Ruins, whereas ghost couriers and villages like this I have encountered in the outer world.

They are gods of the underworld. . . " Shen Mu scratched his head.

The underworld? The Realm of the Living Dead?

The Yama King? The ghost couriers?

It was all too complicated; think on it too closely and his head would burst. "The Land of No Sorrow is even more mysterious than this Realm of the Living Dead; such a hidden, secret place will not be found in a moment. " The Village Head said: "Shen'er, if you wish to find out your origins, I fear you must wait a while longer.

Rest assured, so long as the Land of No Sorrow lies within the Wilderness Ruins, it can surely be found. " Shen Mu nodded and said, "When I have grown strong, I can go seek my origins myself.

Village Head, I. .

.

" He hesitated, but the Village Head understood his heart and smiled: "You want to leave Hidden Maimed Village, leave the Wilderness Ruins, and go out into the world to temper yourself? " Shen Mu nodded, his heart ill at ease. "The Patriarch of the Demon Cult sent letters — one for you, one for Grandmother Zhu; I read them too.

He has seven years of life left. By every measure of feeling and reason, you ought to go to Jingping Kingdom and see him. " The Village Head said slowly: "A fledgling must one day leave the nest and go see a broader world. Before the darkness came, Master Dan, Granny, and the others and I had already discussed this matter, and they all agreed.

" Shen Mu's eyes lit up. The Village Head went on: "They said that so long as you pass their trials, you may leave the village and go rove the world to temper yourself.

" Shen Mu slumped.

After all that talk, he still had to pass trials before he could leave the village. The Village Head laughed. "And I am your ninth trial.

Shen'er, once you pass these nine trials, you will be counted an adult and may soar freely. " Shen Mu's face darkened further. The eight passes set by Old Huo and the others were already extremely hard, and the Village Head's pass felt to him like a towering mountain he could never climb.

How was he to get through these nine trials? Suddenly Shen Mu felt warm currents surging within the space between his brows, pouring into his four limbs and hundred bones; body and mind, soul and spirit, all felt at ease, and his vital essence began to circulate vigorously of itself. He could not help uttering a cry of surprise.

A subtle change came over the Village Head's expression; he sensed the youth beside him brimming with vital essence, and it felt to him as though a small sun were hidden between the boy's brows! "Shen'er, has your spirit fetus awakened? " the Village Head asked.

Shen Mu said, "It has.

My spirit fetus seems no different from before. .

. only my vital essence is somewhat unlike what it was. " The Village Head knew very little about the Overlord Body that he himself had created, and could do nothing to help with the difficulties Shen Mu faced. He consoled him: "A spirit fetus awakening four times — such a thing I have never encountered either. So long as it is a good thing, do not take it too much to heart.

Is the change in your vital essence a good thing?

" Shen Mu nodded again and again, and the Village Head smiled: "Then that is good.

" Hidden Maimed Village. The darkness receded, the morning sun rose. It was already the mild spring of the third month, yet the mornings still carried a touch of chill. Shen Mu rose very early, stripped to the waist, and drew up a bucket of cold water from the village well, pouring it over himself with a splash to wake himself up.

His vital essence burst forth and became Vermilion Bird essence, evaporating the water from his body; before long he was bright-eyed and full of vigor. "Shen'er, bring me a bucket too.

" The Butcher came over, propping himself up on both hands.

Shen Mu drew up another bucket and poured it over the Butcher's head.

"Ah, that's refreshing!

" Flames blazed all around the Butcher, turning the bucket of water into snow-white steam. Then he beckoned with his palm, and the Slaughtering Knife flew to him; seizing the great blade, he shaved his beard by the steam, scraping with a hiss and a rasp. Old Huo pushed open his door, lifted its two leaves off and set them to either side, and stretched, his bones crackling all over.

An Azure Dragon coiled about him. He raised a hand and sealed his divine treasuries — Five Luminaries, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars, Heaven-Man, Life-Death, and the rest — leaving only the Primordial Fetus divine treasury, and shouted: "Damned Lame One, are you up yet? " "Up. " The Lame Old Man limped out of his room, combing his hair with a little comb and dressing himself neatly, like a gentle, refined old fellow, and said with a smile: "Today is a great day; of course one must rise a little early. Is the Deaf Old Man up?

" "What is all the noise?

" The Deaf Old Man was in his study grinding ink and painting; iron plugs were thrust into both his ears, and he did not raise his head. The Silent Smith was pouring out furnace slag; Master Dan was at the window feeding a few fire-spitting birds. Then the birds flew to the Village Head's house and pecked at the window lattice, and from within came the Village Head's voice: "I know, I am awake. " Grandmother Zhu was at the stove stir-frying and steaming rice in a wooden bucket.

The Lame Old Man ran over and lifted the pot lid, and got a rap from Grandmother Zhu's spatula. She glared at him: "What is the hurry?