Chapter 172 — The Insect Tide of Gua Prefecture

The three Sect-Protecting Heavenly Kings fought their way out of the Xiaolei Forbidden Zone at great cost, only to see Shen Mu flicker away again and again, his figure growing ever smaller, ever farther from them. The three of them sighed.

"Had I known this task would be so brutal, I would never have taken it.

.

. " Heavenly King Lu wiped the black soot from his face and muttered, "This generation's Holy Sect Master is far beyond anything we expected.

" The other two elders felt much the same. Heavenly King Shi said, "At least it is over. The Holy Sect Master is young still, but he has already shown his edge; he is a blessing to our Holy Sect.

Now that matters here are settled, we should go look into the affair of Heavenly King Qian. " Heavenly King Lu and Heavenly King Yu felt a chill and straightened their faces.

"We must indeed look into it, and find out just who is striking at our Holy Sect! " Heavenly King Shi's face was grave, his voice heavy. "What worries me most is not that, but whether our sect's teleportation banner has been leaked abroad.

Troubled times.

. .

" His eyes dropped. "Look below. That looks like Gua Prefecture. " "Gua Prefecture? Our sect's holy land has traveled to the sky above Gua Prefecture?

" Heavenly King Yu's heart quivered. He let out a foul breath and said, "Gua Prefecture has rebelled.

The imperial kinsmen and their noble houses have risen, and their momentum is no small thing.

If the Holy Sect Master descends into Gua Prefecture, I fear. . .

" Shenglinshan lay hidden within the Xiaolei Forbidden Zone, suspended beyond the heavens, and that holy land did not stand still; it moved without cease. On Shenglinshan there was a place called the Gazing Abyss, and standing there, gazing down into the deep, one could see the land directly beneath Shenglinshan; even the ants upon the ground were clear to the eye.

But this time they had been too hurried, and none of them had found the moment to go to the Gazing Abyss and look, and so when the holy land came above Gua Prefecture, Shen Mu had slipped out of it. "Let us hope the Holy Sect Master did not fall into a battlefield," Heavenly King Lu murmured.

Shen Mu plunged down out of the sky.

Snowfox stirred up a demon wind, and Shen Mu walked upon it, and before long his feet were on solid ground. His primal essence was more than half spent, but he had come down safely, at least.

"It has been a long while since I went to the Grand Academy. I am its first Erudite, and the emperor granted me office besides, and yet I have sat in on only one lecture. " He looked around and had Snowfox take the Jingping geographical map from their bundle.

Shen Mu studied the lie of the mountains and matched them against the map until he found a range that answered. "Gua Prefecture. But still far from the city.

" Just then he saw a ship drifting leisurely across the sky.

His heart stirred; he roused the Sky-Skimming Divine Legs and ran along the mountain foot in pursuit of that tower ship. The tower ship flew a merchant caravan's flag; it was a vessel built for both cargo and passengers.

In these chaotic, war-wracked days there were still no few merchant ships and passenger ships, and even in rebel country boats came and went.

Shen Mu ran faster and faster. Suddenly he trod upon empty air and rose upon it, racing through the sky as though on flat ground, and in a few breaths he had caught up with the tower ship; with a flicker of his body he landed on its deck. Shhk, shhk, shhk!

The sound of drawn swords rang out, and the instant he landed, dozens of flying swords were leveled at his throat, before him and behind him and on every side. "Gentlemen, no alarm, I beg you.

I only wish to take passage.

" Shen Mu hastily raised both hands, speaking with great care.

There were several dozen people on the deck of the tower ship; by their look most were merchants, along with the men of divine ability those merchants had hired, and a few officials. It was those officials and men of divine ability who held flying swords at his throat.

"Young man, and where are you bound? " The boat master came over bare-shouldered, his body covered in tattoos. He looked Shen Mu up and down, surprise on his face, and asked.

Shen Mu asked, "Is this ship bound for the capital?

" The boat master nodded. "For the capital. The fare is one hundred Dafeng coins.

" Shen Mu started and blurted, "So dear?

From Jiangling to the capital is only ten Dafeng coins. How has it multiplied tenfold in the blink of an eye? " "Times are bad. There is fighting every day, the whole road is unquiet, and naturally the fare rises. Heh heh, tenfold is a modest rise.

This is work with your head tied to your belt; a man must be paid a little more for his life. " Shen Mu allowed that it was so.

If he made his own way to the capital, with soldiers and chaos the whole road long, it would likely take a dozen days or more to arrive. To use the Sky-Skimming Divine Legs demanded extremely deep cultivation; he could not run long before his cultivation was spent. Taking ship was the easier way.

"The realm is unquiet.

I hear Qiu Dieyi of Lin Prefecture has rebelled as well. " Shen Mu paid his fare and listened to a few merchants chatting. An old gentleman said, "Qiu Dieyi is no small matter. Before he threw in with the court he was the Grand Palace Master of the Palace of Parting Sorrow, with cultivation that shakes heaven and earth.

The Palace of Parting Sorrow's power is immense; its disciples are many, and many of them serve as generals in the frontier armies. With its Grand Palace Master in rebellion, heh heh, the realm grows all the more chaotic. " "I have heard the Palace of Parting Sorrow is the greatest sect ever founded by a woman, of surpassing strength, hardly inferior to the Three Great Holy Lands. Many of the court's women generals came out of the Palace of Parting Sorrow. " "The Three Wonders Fort has rebelled too. In its day the Three Wonders Fort stood high in the imperial favor; Consort Che herself came out of the Three Wonders Fort, and they say she is the granddaughter of Che Zhengli, one of the Three Wonders!

Now that the fort has rebelled, Consort Che was thrown straight into the cold palace.

" "Why have so many sects rebelled?

" "Do you not know? Three months ago the Daoist heir went to the Grand Academy and blocked its gates. The Imperial Preceptor Jingping went to the Grand Academy to lecture on the sword, and there he was seen to be gravely wounded. They say his wound has begun to stink, and that he masks it with perfume on purpose, but even so the stench of the wound will not be covered.

" "When the news first came out, some sects did not believe it. Then came another incident: the master of the Dragon-Taming Sect paid a night visit to the Imperial Preceptor's residence and traded blows with him, and left alive!

The Dragon-Taming master's skills are hardly peerless; he keeps a flood dragon transformed from a snake, and can barely be counted a sect-master-level expert. Yet even him the Imperial Preceptor could not take down.

You can see how grave the wound is. " "Shh, say no more. Those officials are looking this way.

" . . .

Shen Mu's heart stirred slightly. He recalled that day before the Grand Academy hall, when the Imperial Preceptor lectured on the sword; the Imperial Preceptor had indeed looked somewhat sickly.

But Shen Mu himself was well versed in medicine, and he had often gone with Granny Zhu to buy rouge and cosmetics, so he could be certain that the flush on the Imperial Preceptor's cheeks was no sickness, but rouge.

As for the perfume masking the stench of a rotting wound that these merchants spoke of, Shen Mu had indeed smelled those two scents at the time, yet had thought nothing of them.

From childhood he had studied under an alchemist, learning to distinguish and to know medicines, and both scents were the scents of ordinary drugs and ordinary spices. Shen Mu frowned.