Chapter 45 — The Surging River's Water Palace Opens the Dragon Gate

Shen Mu stepped forward and, through the lattice of the window, saw the white fox holding a bamboo tube in her paws, cheeks puffed out, blowing at the firewood under the cooking stove. He coughed and said, "Is anybody home?

" The white fox in the cottage started, hastily hid the bamboo tube, and in an ancient-sounding voice barked, "Who is that bawling and bellowing, disturbing this old immortal's tranquil cultivation?

I am a demon of a thousand years, and I shall grind your bones to powder and scatter your ashes. . . " Shen Mu laughed.

At the sound, the fox hastily looked up, and seeing the youth outside the window, she breathed a sigh of relief; her voice resumed its normal tone, very pleasant to the ear: "Oh, it's the young man who borrowed the wind from me the day before yesterday. I attended a feast that day and drank too much—a little discourteous of me, I am afraid. Don't stand outside. Come in. " Shen Mu walked into the thatched cottage, looked this way and that, and was secretly astonished: the place was exceptionally neat and clean.

There was a bed, a rice jar, furniture, a folding screen, and even a vanity table. The white fox rose on her hind legs and made a curtsy to Shen Mu: "My poor hut is bare and humble; I hope the young gentleman won't laugh at it. " Shen Mu returned the greeting and asked with curiosity, "Are you cooking? " The fox said, "Yesterday a sister of mine played host, and I had a few cups too much.

I woke with a headache this morning, so I am boiling a bowl of hangover soup. Please sit, young gentleman.

" Shen Mu marveled inwardly.

This white fox was even more clever than the Dark-Fanged Demon Ape, for she actually knew to cook herself some soup. It was only that she was greedy for wine and got drunk every day.

He noticed a bookshelf off to one side and went over. The shelf held some old volumes. He pulled one out; it discussed methods for breathing and guiding the breath, and included a few spells, but all were incomplete and fragmentary.

"Young gentleman, can you read? " The white fox had finished making the hangover soup. Catching sight of Shen Mu reading with rapt attention, she exclaimed joyfully, "I cannot read the characters in these books; I could only cultivate by looking at the pictures.

If you know the words, could you read them aloud to me?

" "Why not? " Shen Mu sat down. The white fox's tail stirred, and a bowl of hangover soup drifted on a breeze to the table. The fox sat opposite him, eyes bright and intent.

Shen Mu opened the first page and read aloud, "Circulate the qi through Mount Fangcun; lift the elixir of primal qi; the tiger moves below lungs and bowels; cold shakes the sea of qi.

. . " The white fox sipped her soup, listening intently, and suddenly asked, "Where is Mount Fangcun?

" "Mount Fangcun is between the eyebrows. " Shen Mu said, "Between the brows lies the spirit treasury of the primal womb.

Circulating qi through Mount Fangcun means guiding your primal qi to the brow.

However, when the qi travels to the brow, a divine sound comes from beyond the nine heavens and blocks your qi.

" The white fox tried it, then shook her head. "I heard no divine sound. " Shen Mu frowned.

Whenever he himself had guided his primal qi to the brow, a divine sound had always stopped him from breaking through the wall.

He had expected the fox to encounter the same, but she said she had not. "Is the spirit treasury of the primal womb structured differently in humans and foxes? " He did not dwell on it but went on explaining, and before long he had finished the entire scroll.

The cultivation method recorded in it had truly distinctive merits, but it did not fit Shen Mu's Overlord Body, so he could not practice it.

The white fox was clever, and absorbed the contents of the book. She laughed and said, "I used to cultivate by the pictures, thinking I had learned what was written in this book. It never occurred to me that I had cultivated many parts incorrectly. Thank you for clearing my doubts, young gentleman.

My name is Xue Hu'er. May I ask yours? " "My name is Shen Mu. It means a cowherd surnamed Shen—I am no gentleman.

" Shen Mu laughed.

"I happen to live not far from here. Where did you get these old books?

" Xue Hu'er drank some hangover soup, felt the fuzziness in her head lessen, and said, "Sixty li west of here there are ruins. One time I went out and came back late, so I hid from the darkness in the ruins. By accident I opened a stone chamber and found these books and a bottle of elixir pills. I took the pills, and suddenly my eyes and ears grew keen, and consciousness opened in me. I thought the books were good things, so I brought them back. It is only that I cannot read, so I have always had nothing but the pictures to study. All my spells I learned from these books. " "Sixty li west? " Shen Mu was astonished, and fell into thought.

"Could that be the Dragon Emperor's palace on the Surging River?

" Xue Hu'er's eyes lit up.

"There really are many dragon carvings there. But inside it is hazardous and full of terrible danger. I did not dare go deep, so I brought a few books back and left.

" Shen Mu promptly said, "Can you take me there?

" The little white fox said, "It is very fierce in there, not a place one should enter lightly. I had barely reached the entrance when I was frightened.

.

. " She was too ashamed to finish; presumably she had been scared out of her wits and fled in undignified haste.

Shen Mu grew excited.

"Don't you want to see the Dragon Palace? There might even be a Dragon King inside! " "No.

" Xue Hu'er thought for a moment, then blinked with a sly glint.

"If Young Master Mu is willing to come often and explain these old books, I will take you there. But I won't enter. " "Deal!

" Shen Mu laughed and raised his palm.

Xue Hu'er hesitated a moment, then raised a furry paw and tapped it against his. Afterward she drained the hangover soup dry.

The two, a man and a fox, left the thatched cottage and headed west. "Whose feast did you attend the day before yesterday? " Shen Mu asked, recalling the day before yesterday's business. "It was a feast given by King Meiluo, in honor of all the great demons of every kind.

After I obtained the ancient books from the Surging River Dragon Palace, my spiritual wisdom expanded enormously, and I became a great demon of some little renown around here. But I cannot beat those brutes with their raw strength, so I rank last among the great demons. " Xue Hu'er jumped onto a banana leaf, worked her art, and raised a gust of demonic wind. The wind lifted the leaf into the air, and she said with a laugh, "King Meiluo has already cultivated a human body—a truly formidable feat. All the great demons for a thousand li around, whether beast lords or not, must obey his commands.

" The demonic wind blew the banana leaf, carrying the white fox into the sky. Shen Mu leaped into the air, treading the wind-ridges as he headed west.

Meanwhile, two or three li from the thatched cottage, a colossal Taotie beast was peering this way and that, deeply puzzled: "By my reckoning, Shen'er should have arrived long ago. This time I have disguised myself as a strange beast, so he certainly won't recognize me. . . How odd. Where has the little brat run off to?

Hmm? A fox's demon wind! The brat goes out hunting for the first time and is bewitched by a vixen! " A hundred li from Hidden Remnant Village, over the river, a breeze stirred a banana leaf a full zhang long.

On the leaf sat a white fox, and beside it a youth was running along the wind. They were none other than Shen Mu and Xue Hu'er. "With my cultivation, I cannot fly. I can only stir a demonic wind with my magic and ride the blown leaf through the air.

If I were running in the wind like you, I would certainly fall. .