Chapter 161 — The Treasured Jade Returns to Its Master

The disheveled old man closed his eyes.

"If you fail to find the reincarnated Holy Child, you know the consequences. " The Witch Venerable bowed, and carrying the Butcher's lower half, withdrew from the Sacred Hall. After he had stepped out, he heard a sound of chewing from within, as though something were devouring the corpse of Witch King Gyatso.

The Witch Venerable's eye twitched again, and a fierce pain shot through his waist. He had only roughly set himself atop Witch King Gyatso's lower half, forcibly joining the two with his power, but their flesh and blood had not grown together; bone, tendon, meridian, blood, and vital essence had none of them connected. He would have to use secret medicine to merge the two, to make Gyatso's body his own. Ever since he had obtained the Butcher's lower half, he had believed his life's achievement could at last advance another step; never had he thought the Butcher was not dead, and would instead come seeking him. And the Great Venerable, his own flesh withered and ruined, dared not risk mutual destruction with the Butcher, so that he had no choice but to abandon the Butcher's lower half.

Though Witch King Gyatso's abilities were not weak, they were still no match for the Witch Venerable's former body; how long it would take to refine his way back to his former realm, he did not know. Enduring the pain, the Witch Venerable carried the Butcher's lower half down the mountain.

Shen Mu, the Butcher, and the blind elder had already come up, and met him halfway. The Witch Venerable set down the Butcher's lower half and bowed in greeting. "Heavenly Khagan. " The Butcher looked at his own lower half, then at the Witch Venerable's waist, and shook his head. "Why trouble yourself so?

You have nourished my flesh for over two hundred years; that my body did not die, I have you to thank. " The Witch Venerable's eye twitched twice more.

Shen Mu took out that gleaming golden lower half and said, "Witch Venerable, your body returned to you. Keeping it serves me no purpose.

" The Witch Venerable's facial muscles twitched, and he said hoarsely, "I have no use for it.

" "It could still be used to refine treasure. " Shen Mu said kindly, "I see your body has not yet been joined properly. I know something of medicine.

If you trust me, Witch Venerable, I can help you mend it.

" "You want to take the chance to harm me? " The Witch Venerable snorted coldly, and turning, left with his own lower half.

Shen Mu shook his head and sighed.

"A physician's heart is that of a parent.

I meant to use his body to practice my hand, and then help Grandpa Butcher reattach his body. . .

" The Butcher laughed.

"Your medical skill, I trust.

Of course, if we could go back and find the Alchemist, and have him do it himself, that would be even better—but returning to the Wasteland takes too long. " He suddenly raised his voice.

"Old fellow, are you still alive? " His voice rang out bright and clear, carrying over the whole mountain. From the Sacred Hall of Loulan's Golden Palace came an aged, shrill voice.

"Rest easy. So long as the Heavenly Blade has not died, how could I die?

" "That old devil, still alive after all. " The Butcher sneered.

"Sooner or later you will die!

Let us go!

" Shen Mu picked up the Butcher's lower half, and the three descended the mountain together.

The blind elder glanced back up the mountain and said thoughtfully, "That man inside is very strong. " The Butcher let out a breath and laughed.

"Without my lower half, I doubt I am his match—that is why I asked you to come with me, to deal with him. That old fellow has been reincarnated seventeen times, lived eighteen lives. His lifespan must be nearly ten thousand years, yet he still will not die. I have fought him several times—he is formidable. " Shen Mu blurted out, "Lived eighteen lives?

A lifespan of ten thousand years?

How is that possible? " "How is it impossible? In the Wasteland you should have seen gods and demons who have lived more than ten thousand years. In truth, there are still some terrifying things in this world—you are simply too young to encounter such beings.

" The Butcher said, "That old thing is not a god or demon, but he is not far from it. He knows many past events, many secrets. If he were not an enemy, I would not oppose him.

" The blind elder nodded. "There are indeed some terrifying beings.

Take my eyes, for instance.

. . " He shook his head and said no more.

Shen Mu's heart stirred slightly. The blind elder's eyes had been gouged out by someone, but who had done it, the blind elder had never said. What secret lay behind it? They left Loulan's Golden Palace, rejoined Ling Yuxiu, and set out for a barbarian city on the grasslands. In the city, Shen Mu bought some medicinal ingredients, then took a great cauldron from his cloth bag and said, "Grandpa Butcher, I will first boil your lower half, to refine away the Witch Venerable's blood and witch poison.

" He poured a great jar of water into the cauldron and added the ingredients one by one. When it came to a boil and the air was thick with medicinal fragrance, he placed the Butcher's lower half into the water. Snow Fox said anxiously, "Will it cook him?

" The blind elder said with a chuckle, "If you smell cooked meat in a while, then it is done.

" The Butcher said angrily, "My body cannot be split by gods—how could a pot of boiling water cook it?

" After it had boiled a while, Shen Mu observed the color of the liquid, opened a medicine jar, and from it took several dried toads, red and black, no bigger than a fingernail, and scattered them into the cauldron. The toads had been dried, but once in the water they soaked full and came back to life, darting wildly through the boiling water, absorbing the witch poison.

Before long, the toads died of the poison. Shen Mu changed the water and repeated the process, refining nine times in all, until the witch poison was purged clean. The blood in the Butcher's lower half returned to red, and the fresh blood, as though come alive, began to flow through the vessels of its own accord.

Shen Mu boiled another cauldron of water, this time with dozens of other ingredients, and cooked the Butcher's lower half again to rouse the vitality of the flesh. He kept at it until deep into the night.

Ling Yuxiu and the little fox were already asleep.

The Green Ox had gone to sleep as well. The blind elder sat on the ground, leaning on his bamboo staff, dozing. Only Shen Mu and the Butcher still kept vigil by the cauldron. Shen Mu drew the Chubao Sword and held it out to the Butcher.

"Grandpa Butcher, I cannot cut your body. You will have to do it yourself—cut away the membrane that has grown over the lower part of your upper half.

" "I have no need of your sword. I will use my own blade. " The Butcher drew the Slaughtering Knife, gritted his teeth, and cut at his own body, slicing away the membrane that had formed over the wound.

His cultivation was powerful, and he immediately sealed the wound with his vital essence, preventing it from bleeding. Shen Mu fished the lower half from the cauldron—the wound there was still fresh and needed no further cutting. Taking out jade bottles one by one, he carefully applied dragon saliva to the cut surfaces of both the lower and upper halves.

As soon as the dragon saliva touched them, fine sprouts of flesh began to grow at a furious rate, like little red worms writhing without cease.

He did not immediately join the two halves. Instead, he spun his vital essence into threads, plucking out tendons and nerves one by one, connecting tendon to tendon, nerve to nerve. The threads of vital essence pouring from his fingers and palms grew more and more, connecting sprout to sprout, membrane to membrane, organ to organ, spine to spine.