Chapter 98 — The Hidden Waters

His hand reached into the river, yet could not touch the woman's face. "Why are you still here? Do you still mean to watch over me...?" Shen Mu wept. Struggle as he might, he could not grasp the woman in the water; when he stopped, the woman in the water stopped as well, yet it was as though a whole world lay between them, and they could not touch each other. "Are you my kin?" "What happened?" "Why did you carry me away? Why flee to Yincan Village?" "Did you stay here only to see me?" ... To these questions the woman in the water could no longer give answer; she could only gaze at him, dim and far away, her eyes seeming to hold both tender pity and quiet joy. Feng Xiuyun came hastening over, driving the tower ship by her magic power; she had meant to strike at the corpse in the water, but when she saw Shen Mu kneeling upon the river's surface she could not help but start, and stayed her hand. The corpse in the water looked upon the youth of Yincan Village. Fourteen years before, she had drifted to this place; the current had slowed, and instead of being swept away by the river she had sunk to the bottom. One obsession had kept her in the water, waiting in silence, until Shen Mu passed this way aboard the tower ship; the familiar jade pendant roused that obsession, and drew her to float beneath the surface, watching the youth on the ship through his own reflection. "Look. I grew up. I lived..." Shen Mu looked at the woman in the water, tears brimming in his eyes, and smiled. Softly he said, "You can rest easy now. I will go and seek out my origins, I will find my homeland, I will seek out your past, and I will remember your name forever..." The woman in the water seemed to smile, just faintly; then slowly she sank down into the deep water, fading, vanishing away. Shen Mu knelt there on the river's face in a daze, and only after a long while did he rise. He felt that he had truly grown up; he was no longer a muddled boy. He returned to the tower ship, and the mist gradually lifted from the river. With the woman beneath the waters gone, the mist vanished with her, and the river's face grew clear once more; far off in the distance stood a mighty pass straddling the Yong River. This pass was in truth a vast camp wrought of countless warships joined together, garrisoning thousands upon thousands of troops. Chain after iron chain locked the river, leaving a single channel through them, and by that channel one could sail out of Mishui Pass and into the territory of the Kingdom of Jingping. "Young Master, this is Mishui Pass." Feng Xiuyun urged the giant towing beast to draw the tower ship into the waterway. "At the heart of the fortress is the Vision Mirror. The people there are all mine, so set your mind at ease, Young Master." Shen Mu looked around. The troops and horses of Mishui Pass were mighty; fine horses galloped from ship to ship at furious speed, and there was scarcely a gap between the vessels. Fitted together by mortise and tenon, they no longer resembled ships but rather an unbelievably intricate building. Yet let the mortise and tenon be shifted apart, and the ships were ships again, ready to sortie at any moment. "Whoever built this place had the craft of heaven itself!" Shen Mu exclaimed. Something stirred in his heart, and his admiration deepened. Now at last he understood why the Imperial Teacher of Jingping was determined to subdue the Youmo Cult. The cult's strength was surely no match for the armies of Jingping, but it possessed craftsmen of every kind — three hundred and sixty trades, three hundred and sixty halls — rooted deep among the common folk of market and lane. When the tower ship reached the heart of the fortress, several merchant vessels were waiting to be inspected, forming a long queue in the waterway. Feng Xiuyun steered the tower ship into a side canal instead and moored it there, then led Shen Mu ashore. Snow Fox hurried after them, and in a few bounds leaped onto the bundle on Shen Mu's back and burrowed inside, leaving only its little head poking out, gazing about in curiosity. "Young Master, there is the Vision Mirror." Shen Mu looked where she pointed. A flying bridge spanned the waterway, and at its center stood a mirror gleaming with bright light, turned toward the channel; whatever passed through that waterway would be reflected in it. Every merchant ship going by had to halt beneath the bridge, and every person aboard had to pass under the mirror's shining. But Shen Mu had already come ashore, skirting around the Vision Mirror, so he need not fear being discovered by it. Mishui Pass was guarded at every third step and fortified at every tenth; the inspections were severe. Fortunately, with Feng Xiuyun leading the way, they met no challenges along the road. Feng Xiuyun brought him to the merchants' quarter in the fortress. "Young Master, rest here in the fortress tonight," she said. "Tomorrow a caravan leaves Mishui Pass; once the wharf gates open, you may set out with them." She hesitated, then said, "Jingping has been unquiet of late. If you travel alone, Young Master, I fear it will not be safe. It would be best to go with a caravan." Shen Mu was surprised. "Unquiet?" The girl glanced cautiously around, then leaned close to Shen Mu's ear. "Some of the powerful ones in the kingdom heard that the Imperial Teacher of Jingping had invaded the Wasteland with a great host and met with defeat, so they seized the chance to assassinate him on the road. They say the Imperial Teacher was gravely wounded and nearly died. When word of this got out, the people fell into panic, and certain sects that will not submit to the court's authority took the chance to make trouble — some carving out their own domains, some seizing territory, and bandits are everywhere..." The fine hair at her temples brushed the youth's collar, tickling him, and Shen Mu's ear was tickled too by the breath of her words. Seeing his earlobe redden, Feng Xiuyun realized she had been too familiar, and hastily drew a little away from him. This youth was the future Holy Hierarch, a personage of the highest honor; how could she be so frivolous with him? "There is one more thing." Feng Xiuyun steadied herself, looked Shen Mu up and down, and smiled. "Young Master, that outfit of yours needs changing. Jingping is not the Wasteland; there is no need to wear clothes so sturdy." The garments on Shen Mu's body were sewn of animal hide. Grandma Zhu had thought he wore out his clothes too fast, tumbling and fighting in his daily training, and so had dressed him in hides since he was small; and though they were hide garments, the material was of the finest. His clothes were made from the pelt of the snow-cloud marten, a strange beast; strip away the fur and keep the lining, and worn against the body it was warm in winter and cool in summer. The cut was fine enough, but the look of it was nothing to admire. After Shen Mu learned to make clothes himself, he too used the snow-cloud marten, and every garment on his body was of his own making. Ordinary silk or cloth would be torn to rags in less than a day, given his daily training and his bouts with the Blind Elder and the Butcher. "Sister, do you know where good cloth can be found?" Shen Mu asked. Feng Xiuyun led him to a cloth shop, and together they went in to choose fabric. After a turn around the shop, Shen Mu had found nothing to his liking. He called the proprietor over and said, "Does your shop carry cloth like this?" He took out the handkerchief Ling Yuxiu had given him. The cloth-shop proprietor was startled at the sight and shook his head in haste. "That is woven of Tianxiang silk, tribute goods, for the imperial house alone. How would a little cloth shop like mine carry such superior stuff?" Feng Xiuyun smiled. "Incense Master Qu, this is the Young Master." The proprietor gave a start and made haste to bow low, but Shen Mu raised him up. "This is Mishui Pass, crowded and full of eyes. There is no need for cer