Chapter 18 — The Boy of the Ruins Is No Good Sort
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
" The monster cautiously peered out, staring in panic at Shen Mu entering the main hall, and said in a hoarse voice, "You are the demon!
You are the great, vicious devil! " Shen Mu made no reply. He went straight to the Buddha image, hesitated a moment, then finally decided to follow the advice of that old hand, the blind old man, and said respectfully, "This humble scholar has been frail since childhood, with deficient kidneys and primordial yang leaking prematurely. . .
" Hearing this, the monster rolled its eyes round and, coughing blood, sputtered with laughter: "Young fellow, you tell the Buddha image about kidney deficiency?
The Buddha image is not going to drain your essence! " Shen Mu glared at it: "Qike Duo Suomoye.
. . " The Buddha image quaked: "Wicked creature!
" The monster was scared out of its wits and hastily begged for mercy: "Stop chanting! Spare me! " Shen Mu stopped reciting, but the golden Buddha still intoned one true mantra, refining the monster until it vomited blood.
Shen Mu made a circuit of the place and found no valuables, but the mountain of white bones piled behind the Buddha startled him; obviously, countless numbers of people had died in this ruined temple, killed by this monster.
The youth could not help shaking his head.
"You hid the white bones behind the Buddha.
The Buddha image has become your accomplice, helping you cover up your crimes so that more people are deceived. If I used the Buddha's hand to refine you to death, it would only become the Buddha's merit, and I will not do that.
Demon, what treasures do you have in this temple? " Trembling, the monster said, "What treasures would I have? I was pinned down here by that bald thief, and he looted all my treasures away.
" "Qike Duo. . . " "Don't chant! " The monster put on an ingratiating smile.
"All these years I have run my affairs here. Apart from an occasional feast for my appetite, I did manage to scrounge up a few good things.
Take them.
" Saying this, it forced itself up and crawled unsteadily to the top of the main hall, poked about gently, and opened a movable hidden panel in the hall.
The contents of the panel tumbled down with a clatter: weapons, armor, and things of that sort, and besides these, several pieces of clothing, mostly women's bellybands, though judging by the material they were the sort only wealthy families could wear. "That is all there is," the monster said with an ingratiating smile. Shen Mu frowned and said with disappointment, "Only this? No miraculous elixirs or the like?
" "If there were any elixirs, I ate them. " The monster stretched its centipede-like body, joints cracking, and chuckled: "I have been shut up here too long. There is nothing I would not eat. Elixirs taste even better than these people do -- how could I let them go?
Do not underestimate these weapons.
They are fine goods.
These weapons are treasures born only within the Six-Expanse Divine Treasury; from birth they are nourished by their own primordial qi, and their power is terrifying.
They are called Primordial Weapons! " Shen Mu was dubious. He reached down and picked up a Roc-Plume Blade. It was shockingly heavy and solid in his hand, far heavier and solider than the Butcher's Blade on his back. But strangely, the Butcher's Blade was much larger than this seemingly ordinary weapon, and yet weighed less. The Roc-Plume was long and narrow; the Butcher's Blade was broad and thick.
Shen Mu drew the Butcher's Blade and clinked it lightly against the Roc-Plume. There was a clang, and the Roc-Plume snapped at the waist, its tip falling to the ground. The monster stared round-eyed, gaping at the Butcher's Blade in his hand, unable to speak. Deeply disappointed, Shen Mu tossed the Roc-Plume aside.
"That chopping-board blade of yours -- who forged it?