Chapter 125 — The Little Poison Lord of the Same Sect

Shen Mu was slightly taken aback. The girl looked a little familiar, but in the haste of the moment he could not place her. She was being swept along with the crowd, and as she went she waved and called, "Cowherd, where do you live?

I'll come and find you!

" "The Imperial Academy! " Shen Mu waved back to her, and of a sudden a light flashed through his mind: "Of course, she's Ling Yuxiu!

Why does she seem so different from before? " The Ling Yuxiu of old had stood about his own height; now she was a fraction taller than Shen Mu, and she had grown into a young woman, blossoming into a figure of delicate charm. When she had beckoned to him from the crowd just now, he had scarcely recognized her.

"Thank goodness her cheeks are still round and plump, at least that hasn't changed," Shen Mu said with relief.

Imperial Physician Qu and the others stared at him with the strangest expressions, but Imperial Physician Yu, the eldest among them, was kindly and soft-hearted after all, and he warned him, "Young Divine Physician, saying such things about a girl, and a princess at that, will cost you your head. " Puzzled, Shen Mu asked, "Why? When we of the Hidden Remnant Village praise a girl's beauty, we call her strong and sturdy, and good for bearing children.

Princess Yuxiu may not be what you'd call sturdy, but she's plump enough, and I'd say she'll bear children well. " And this was supposed to be praise for a girl? The old physicians exchanged knowing looks, every face wearing the expression of men who had concluded this fellow was beyond saving, and would sooner or later be beaten to death with the rod, flogged until he dropped.

Imperial Physician Mu said, "Young Divine Physician, let us return to the Imperial Academy.

This whole night's toil has wrung these old bones of ours quite dry. " After leaving the palace, Shen Mu parted from the imperial physicians and went back to Flower Lane, where he took breakfast at the Rain-Listening Pavilion.

Taking his leave of Fu Qingyun and the other women, he gathered his baggage and set off back to the Imperial Academy with Snow Fox. The Imperial Academy, the Scholars' Lodge.

Shen Mu made his way toward his own courtyard, and from the bundle on his back Snow Fox poked out her head, gazing about in curiosity. From a distance Shen Mu saw rows of scholars seated in front of his courtyard.

They sat bolt upright and solemn, a sword case standing upright beside each man, their left hands resting upon the cases, their faces stern.

The one at their head called coldly toward the courtyard, "Cast-off, it is time you were awake!

Or are you afraid of us? Since you are afraid, then crawl out here and wipe the words off your wall!

" Another scholar sneered, "We have patience to spare. If you have the nerve, stay cooped up in that room your whole life, and I would like to see how long you can hide!

" "Weren't you so arrogant yesterday? You actually went and spread the tale of how you ambushed us yesterday, until everyone in the Imperial Academy knew of it and we lost all face.

So why are you hiding in there today instead of coming out, playing the turtle with its head pulled in? " "The reason we left your words there is to humiliate you, to make you feel your shame! To let everyone at the Imperial Academy know that you are nothing but a cast-off from the barbarous wilds, and that we are the true lineage!

" . .

.

Shen Mu walked up and passed in front of them all, wondering inwardly, "When did I ever spread that story?

" The scholars stared blankly, dully watching him push open the door and walk inside before them all. They had assumed Shen Mu was hiding in his room, afraid to come out, and had never expected him to be returning from outside, which meant they had spent all this time shouting here for nothing. Shen Mu entered the main hall and set down his pack.

"Ling'er, go tidy the room and make up the bed. I'm going out for a bit.

" Snow Fox assented, and asked, "What is the young master going out to do?

" Without turning his head, Shen Mu said, "These people are too noisy.

If I don't beat them, I won't be able to sleep. " Snow Fox had no choice but to ride the wind and set the room in order. Just then a thunderous boom suddenly rang out, and she hurried to peer through the window lattice, only to see a scholar shoot skyward and then come plunging back down head over heels.

"Next," came Shen Mu's voice from beyond the room.

Thunder roared as if a bolt had exploded out of a clear sky. Snow Fox heard a whistling shriek, surely the sound of a body cutting through the air, yet she saw no flying man, only heard in the distance the crash of something heavy striking home. "Next," Shen Mu's voice came again.

Water surged and roared, great waves came pounding, frightful billows split the banks, and amid that booming flood a miserable scream rang out, then all fell still, and only Shen Mu's voice carried through: "Next.

" Snow Fox swiftly tidied the room, smoothed the bedding, made up the bed, and then drew the things out of the pack, thinking, "If I finish quickly enough, I can still go out and watch the fun! " Crashes came from outside, shaking heaven and earth, and screams rang out without cease.

By the time she had finished and ran eagerly out the door, she saw Shen Mu already walking in from the gateway, looking somewhat weary. "Young master, is it over?

" Snow Fox asked, a little disappointed. Shen Mu nodded, yawned, and said, "I'm sleepy. I'll go sleep a while first.

Don't go wandering about.

" Snow Fox nodded, poked her head out the door, and got such a fright: the paths of the Scholars' Lodge were strewn everywhere with scholars, some sprawled flat on their backs with limbs splayed, some draped over the neighboring wall, some hung from the trees head down and feet up, some embedded in walls off in the distance, some tumbled into the ditches beside the road, and some planted in the earth with only two legs left sticking out, twitching now and again.

Snow Fox stuck out her tongue and ran over, rummaging through the scholars, stripping from them their jade pendants, spirit pills, jade bracelets, hairpins and the like, and hauling it all back into the room. "Ling'er, what are you doing? " came Shen Mu's drowsy voice from within. Snow Fox said, with perfect righteousness, "The Dark-Tusked Demon Ape said it: win, plunder, that's the rule. " Shen Mu's snoring drifted out; he had probably not heard.

Snow Fox ran out again to fetch in the scholars' sword cases. One of the scholars woke and feebly raised a hand to seize his own case. Snow Fox spat out a whirlwind, which caught up the sword case and smashed it into the scholar's head.

His face came away smeared with blood, yet he stubbornly refused to faint.

Snow Fox struck him a few more times, and at last the scholar blacked out.

Snow Fox breathed a sigh of relief and carried the sword case into the courtyard on her wind. The scholar stealthily cracked one eye open, and only when he saw that the fox had gone far did he breathe easy. "Ah, awake again!

" Snow Fox caught sight of the open eye and cried out in surprise, and then the scholar saw a tornado lift a boulder the size of a small hill, poised to come smashing down on him, and he hastily fainted dead away. This time he truly was frightened unconscious. Snow Fox set down the boulder and went hopping and skipping along, plundering all the way, farther and farther off. Then in the distance a scholar woke, saw the fox stripping the treasures from the scholars, and frantically struggled to crawl away; Snow Fox spotted him and dragged him back to the Scholars' Lodge. The scholar howled piteously the whole way, then fell silent, knocked unconscious by the fox.

The estate of the Imperial Preceptor Jingping.