Chapter 60 — The Veteran General and the Seventh Young Master

Shen Mu seemed to have foreseen it. One hand seized the Fanji Twelve-Ring Zen Staff, and with a great heave he swung the Xuanliao Demon Ape up together with the staff and smashed the pair of them savagely into the ground; the five fingers of his other hand snapped out one after another, and with six explosive cracks in a row he shattered the curved blades congealed from Snow Fox's vital essence.

"Aaaang—"

The dragon-elephant suddenly threw its strength into all four legs, and while Shen Mu was still locked against the Xuanliao Demon Ape and Snow Fox, it lowered its head and charged, ramming him with a thunderous boom and sending him flying.

In the very instant it knocked him away, its trunk shot out to a great length, coiled around Shen Mu in midair, and dragged him back; then, whipping the trunk about, it drove him headfirst into the earth.

The dragon-elephant hauled Shen Mu back out of the ground and made ready to smash him again, when all at once his legwork shifted, kicked the trunk aside, and landed a hundred-odd kicks in succession on the dragon-elephant's face, sending that colossal brute hurtling away.

"Little runt, down!"

The Xuanliao Demon Ape, azure dragons coiled about its incomparably mighty frame, brought one palm down and flattened Shen Mu—who had just kicked the dragon-elephant away—into the ground. The demon ape roared, lifted its thick, stubby leg, and stamped down viciously at Shen Mu.

Lame Grandpa's Heaven-Stealing Leg Technique: Trample Mount Sumeru to Dust.

Flattened to the earth, Shen Mu rolled over at once and came up on a single leg, his body level with the ground, his other leg rising to meet the demon ape's enormous foot.

The move he used was likewise Trample Mount Sumeru to Dust, only his execution was offhand and unorthodox—and yet its power was every bit as terrifying.

The Xuanliao Demon Ape grunted and staggered back, then seized the dragon-elephant by the tail and swung the huge beast up to smash down on Shen Mu. At the same moment Snow Fox's tail lashed, the wind howled, and curved blade after curved blade came tearing through the air, spinning madly like cartwheels as they chopped at Shen Mu.

Suddenly a whirring came through the air. Shen Mu's heart stirred; he dodged clear of Snow Fox's and the demon ape's attacks and followed the sound with his eyes. A hundred or so men and women in armor were leaping through the mountain forest like so many birds, hastening toward the upper reaches of the Surging River.

A few of them noticed Shen Mu as well and halted, glancing about. One man looked at Shen Mu, the demon ape, and the white fox, and said in astonishment, "A hunter?"

"Don't meddle. Let's go, quickly!"

Another said in a low voice, "The ship will be here soon! We must have the formation laid on the river before it arrives!"

"That's not wise, is it? We've been seen; if word gets out, it will only do us harm..."

"The Wasteland is thick with masters who live in seclusion. Don't invite complications. Let's go—his ship is fast, and if we miss it we'll regret it beyond remedy!"

The group sped off with the wind at their heels and vanished into the mountain forest.

Puzzled, Shen Mu murmured, "These people don't look like they're from the Wasteland. They're rushing upstream—it seems they mean to lie in wait for someone. And that fellow just now looked ready to kill us to keep us quiet, so they're no good sort... Ling'er, big fellow, you see? Honest, simple folk like us always come off the worse. Any moment we could be killed to seal our lips."

The little white fox nodded and nodded, deeply in agreement. The Xuanliao Demon Ape curled its lip: "Believe? Like hell!"

Shen Mu was about to speak when the dragon-elephant came charging over and knocked him flying with its head. The demon ape flew into a rage, pinned the dragon-elephant to the ground, and gave it a sound thrashing. "Rest. Understand?"

The dragon-elephant howled piteously under the beating. Shen Mu had wanted to wallop it too, but seeing that the demon ape had already pounded the blockhead past all recognition, he let the matter drop.

This dragon-elephant was a strange beast from the canyon beside the Palace of Averted Calamity, and it ruled a territory of its own; there was a remarkable brute strength in its body. The dragon-elephant and the Xuanliao Demon Ape did not get on, and the two beasts fought often. Time and again the dragon-elephant would come running to the demon ape's ground to plunder its prey. But ever since Shen Mu became lord of the canyon of the Palace of Averted Calamity and began teaching the demon ape cultivation, the dragon-elephant was no longer its match.

The demon ape often came calling for revenge, and beat it a dozen times over; in the end the dragon-elephant could not take it, and simply surrendered, becoming the demon ape's mount—a most imposing sight.

It was only that the dragon-elephant was somewhat stupid, not so clever as the demon ape and the little fox.

Shen Mu's eyes flickered. All at once he sprang up, vaulted the waterfall, and came out upon the ridge. Beyond the ridge lay the Surging River, running beneath the cliffs.

The river came surging down with blocks of ice; floes still crowded the surface, and at this season there were ordinarily no boats at all upon the water.

Just then Shen Mu saw a tower ship come sailing up the river, breaking the ice as it came, swift as could be. To press upstream, and against the floes at that, and still make such speed—it was scarcely believable.

The Xuanliao Demon Ape, Snow Fox, and the dragon-elephant climbed up too and sat down beside him. The demon ape pulled up a pine tree, stripped off a handful of needles, and held them out to the little fox.

Snow Fox hastily shook her head. The demon ape said, "Eat. Strong!"

Snow Fox laughed. "I don't eat that."

The demon ape held the pine needles out to the dragon-elephant. "Eat. Strong!"

The dragon-elephant shook its head. The demon ape seized its head and gave it another thrashing. "Eat!"

With tears in its eyes, the dragon-elephant ate the pine needles in silence. Only then was the demon ape content. It sat down on its haunches and began leisurely nibbling pine needles itself. Snow Fox could not help saying, "Big fellow, do you know? Dragon-elephants don't eat plants—they eat meat. They take after the dragon, not the elephant."

The dragon-elephant was deeply moved and nodded and nodded.

The demon ape sneered. "Plants. Strong! Me, plants, strong!"

Tears streamed down the dragon-elephant's face as it went on eating pine needles.

The tower ship drew near, and Shen Mu saw that it bristled with armored officers and soldiers, with canopies fluttering above; beneath one canopy sat a young general, planted there in bold and martial state.

On the broad deck stood several painters at work, and before each painter was set a bronze mirror more than ten feet tall.

Beside them were soldiers dressed like herdsmen, who kept opening iron cages and releasing golden eagles one after another from the ship.

Shen Mu quietly opened his Heaven-Reaching Celestial Eye, and saw that pictures had indeed surfaced upon those bronze mirrors—green hills and blue waters—and the pictures were ceaselessly changing.

Suddenly an eagle's cry came. Shen Mu looked up and saw a golden eagle circling above their heads.

He understood at once: "The pictures in the mirrors are what these golden eagles see! What sorcery is this, to turn what the eagles see into images in a mirror... Of course—those painters are drawing a geographical map of the Surging River!"

They release the eagles; the eagles soar high and survey the land about the Surging River, and it is reflected in the bronze mirrors, and the painters set down these mountains and rivers. Thus, sailing from the lower reaches to the upper, they can map the whole of the Surging River's terrain.

"Who are these people? Why would they draw a geographical map of the Surging River? What do they intend to do with it?"