The voice rang out abruptly, full-lunged; though it came from afar, it seemed to sound right beside their ears, setting the ears of Shen Mu—already transformed into an elk—buzzing. He followed the sound with his eyes. On a distant cliff stood several figures. From the foot of the mountain to the cliff was a distance of some six or seven li; Shen Mu could no longer make out their faces clearly, but to carry a voice so far and still so distinct—these could not be ordinary people. Granny Zhu, basket on her arm, laughed. "Heavenly Demon? What Heavenly Demon? This old woman is nothing but an ordinary person from beside the river, and this little deer is an ordinary deer, one I raised myself..." "Shen'er, run!" Hearing Granny Zhu's voice, Shen Mu's heart jolted. He wanted to speak but no sound came. He did not want to leave; he feared Granny Zhu would meet with danger. "An ordinary person from beside the river? With lungs that strong, able to send your voice to our ears so clearly—no ordinary old woman could do that." On the cliff, an aged yet resonant voice sneered. "Moreover, we Five Elders of the Lan River would never mistake the Nether Demon Metamorphosis. Skinning a body to make clothing, a thousand transformations—we have seen such vicious arts with our own eyes. Do you still hope to quibble?" Another elder on the cliff said in a low voice, "The Nether Demon Metamorphosis turns people into cattle and sheep, then drags them to market to be slaughtered and sold. You have done no small amount of that, have you? Many of our Orthodox Path's elders were even turned into cattle and sheep by you fiends, to plow and graze for a lifetime! Your arts cannot deceive us!" Yet another elder spoke with compassion in his voice. "A deer is also a life. You refined its hide and its soul alike into an evil thing. If you are not slain, who knows how many more lives will be buried by your hand? If not you, then who should be killed?" Granny Zhu pinched at the brow of Shen Mu, now transformed into a deer, and drew out a silver needle. "These old codgers cannot do anything to Granny, but with you at my side, Granny must divide her attention to look after you. Run—run back to the village!" Shen Mu hesitated no longer. He turned at once and sprinted. He had been turned into a deer and had thought he would be clumsy, but once he ran he knew he had worried for nothing. His transformation from man to deer brought him no discomfort at all; on the contrary, he ran with astonishing speed, as though he had been born a deer. "The little spawn still hopes to flee? If you let him escape, will he not bring calamity upon the world? Lan River Five, I brought you out this time for training—that deer before you is your trial. Cut him down and bring me his head!" "Yes!" Five clear voices, male and female mingled, answered in unison. The figures on the cliff flickered. They leaped from the precipice and ran down the cliff face, faster than galloping horses. At the bottom, where mountain waterfalls and streams had scoured out a deep pool, the five actually ran across the water, their feet treading the surface as they raced toward the elk that Shen Mu had become. Granny Zhu's heart sank. "Spirit Bodies! Their attainment in the Primal Embryo Spirit Treasury is not weak. Shen'er's speed cannot match theirs—they will surely catch him!" She was about to block them when four figures came treading the void from the cliff, in an instant alighting around her. One man still stood on the cliff, standing proud and aloof, and did not come. "The Five Elders of the Lan River are famous figures of the Southern Wilderness. What brings you to the Wastes?" Granny Zhu's eyes darted about. Seeing the four elders had surrounded her on all sides, she chuckled. "The Wastes are perilous indeed. Are you not afraid of losing your lives here?" One of the Five Elders, a black-bearded old man, said coldly, "We have heard that the Wastes are a den of filth, where demons and monsters who can no longer survive elsewhere hide themselves. So we Five Elders have brought our disciples to subdue demons and eradicate evil." "Who is the demon and who the monster, who subdues whom and who eradicates whom—that is not yet decided." Granny Zhu held the basket on one arm and fished a pair of scissors from it with the other, looking for all the world like a dim-eyed old crone. She laughed. "This old woman has not stretched her limbs in a long while, but fortunately her former skills are not wholly wasted. You five old devils—do you also wish to be made into clothing by me?" "Vile demon, you dare to be so insolent before us? Are you even worthy of insolence?" The four elders of the Lan River shouted, their forms shifting. The four crossed paths and charged at Granny Zhu. At that moment, Shen Mu, racing with all his strength toward Hidden Maimed Village, heard thunder rumbling behind him. With the thunder came peals of lightning; snow-white flashes lit the hills and fields, many times brighter than sunlight! He looked back. Where Granny Zhu stood, surging waves of qi were erupting, tearing up grass and loose stones, and several boulders weighing hundreds or thousands of catties were caught up by the sudden gale and hurled outward with a howl, swift as could be! "Will Granny be all right...?" Shen Mu's heart sank. Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps on the river—thud, thud, thud—and saw a young man and woman racing across the water's surface! The man and woman trod the river, their bodies not sinking into it at all. Their feet fell and lifted so swiftly—far faster even than his own running—that the water had no time to cover their insteps before the two had already vanished into the distance! "These two have reached what Lame Grandpa calls walking on waves. I cannot do that yet—their strength is greater than mine!" The man and woman ran on across the river's heart, soon overtaking Shen Mu, and headed from the water toward the bank. It seemed they meant to cut him off ahead. Shen Mu looked back. Another was pursuing him from behind, while two more wove swiftly through the ridges to his left, their figures now and then leaping up from the dense woods, treading the treetops as they raced with a whistle. But they could not keep it up for long, and soon had to drop to the ground to catch their breath. Even so, they would soon overtake Shen Mu and cut in ahead of him. "I cannot let them cut me off! I must reach the village a step ahead of them, so Lame Grandpa and Master Huo and the others can go save Granny!" Shen Mu gritted his teeth, avoided the riverside, and dashed diagonally into the woods. To keep running along the river would surely mean being blocked—the two in the river's heart were too fast, while the two running through the woods were somewhat slower. Charging into the woods was the only path of escape. "Little spawn, you and that demon hag killed a deer and refined an evil thing—do not think you can escape!" Shen Mu had just charged into the woods when one of the two lying in wait for him suddenly surged in speed, overtaking the other—but he was still a step too late, and the elk that Shen Mu had become rushed past before him. "Do not worry, he cannot escape!" Ahead, the man and woman looked calm. The woman gave a light laugh, her sleeves fluttering, and her speed suddenly increased; she leaped and bounded among the treetops like a flying thing, chasing the elk through the woods. The other man, unhurried, directed the remaining three to flank and close in, heading toward Shen Mu. Shen Mu ran madly, but he could never shake off the five. Not only could he not shake them, he was driven farther and farther from Hidden Maimed Village, deeper and deeper into the Wastes. He had lived in Hidden Maimed Village for fourteen or fifteen years, and the farthest he had ever gone from it was no more than ten-odd li. Now he had gone far indeed; the paths around him grew stranger and more desolate, until there was no path at all. Suddenly Shen