Chapter 127 — Draw Your Blades

Shen Wanyun turned to look, and saw that a girl in blue robes had come to the Scholars' Lodge.

She wore a close-fitting martial outfit, her hair bound up and caught in a net of gauze, pinned through with a small golden sword-hairpin. She too was travel-worn, come from some far place, and could not long have stepped off the boat; behind her followed a giant, twice the height of an ordinary man, brutish and powerful, all rippling sinew. The giant bore the girl's bundle and followed at her heels into the Scholars' Lodge. Yue Qinghong came on with the giant in tow, paying no heed to the scholars who turned out to greet her; her gaze fell straight upon Shen Wanyun, and she walked directly toward him.

When the two were still more than ten feet apart, Yue Qinghong halted, and the giant behind her halted as well.

"Eldest Senior Brother," Yue Qinghong saluted. Shen Wanyun returned the salute.

"Junior Sister Yue.

From what place have you returned from your training?

" Yue Qinghong smiled.

"I have just come back from the battlefield in the Kingdom of Langjuxu. I hear that Eldest Senior Brother went to the battlefield as well?

" Shen Wanyun nodded. "Indeed.

I went to the battlefield of the Kingdom of Man Di, and fought the barbarians a few bouts. You have made no small progress. " Yue Qinghong laughed.

"Nor have you.

Now I worry that I still cannot beat you. Luckily, though, in Langjuxu I subdued a wolf slave. Wolf slave, come and pay your respects to Eldest Senior Brother!

" The giant behind her set down the luggage with a thud, then all at once shot out a hand to seize Shen Wanyun! His aura was fierce as fire; as his hand came, the air turned utterly parched, filled even with drifting sand, giving a sense of yellow dunes and vast desert, of blazing sun and leaping flame, rushing at one's face! Upon the wolf slave's bared chest there surfaced dragon-wolf markings, and many a scholar felt his heart turn cold at the sight; these dragon-wolf markings were in truth a variant of the Azure Dragon spirit body among the four great spirit bodies, called the dragon-wolf spirit body, and they were the totem of the Kingdom of Langjuxu!

Shen Wanyun betrayed nothing; he raised his palm to meet the wolf slave's great hand. With a thunderous boom, Shen Wanyun's robes flapped and cracked, and the wolf slave's towering frame swayed where he stood. The look he bent on Shen Wanyun had changed somewhat, and in a voice somewhat rolled and guttural, he said, "You are not weak. " "Nor are you.

" Shen Wanyun smiled.

"That Junior Sister Yue could subdue a wolf slave is proof enough that your strength has advanced by leaps and bounds.

" Suddenly a voice, ethereal and full, laughed. "Senior Sister Yue, Eldest Senior Brother, you flatter each other again.

When will the two of you be free of pride and impatience, as I am? " Another youth came walking up, his head bare, like a monk in white robes, yet with no ordination scars upon his crown.

"Junior Brother Yun Que," Shen Wanyun said politely.

This young monk must have cultivated the Buddhist path, yet his temper was plainly no Buddhist temper; full of rivalry and itching for a fight, he said, "I went to the Lan River, that land of rebellion. The Lan River Sword Sect was wiped out to the last soul; the other sects there rose in revolt, and I went with the great army to put down the rebellion. These past days I have gained a good deal of insight, and I would beg Senior Brother Shen and Senior Sister Yue to instruct me. " Yue Qinghong's eyes glinted. "The three of us have fought one another since the day we enrolled, and we were ever a shade weaker than Eldest Senior Brother; that is why he is the Eldest Senior Brother of our Scholars' Lodge.

But now that we have been through training, I fear the Scholars' Lodge will have no Eldest Senior Brother henceforth, only an Eldest Senior Sister! " Shen Wanyun said calmly, "I killed barbarians at the frontier and came back bearing a fierce renown; my killing intent runs too deep, and I fear that should I raise my hand there will be death or injury. But a ruthless one has come to our Scholars' Lodge, a savage fellow indeed, and most of the scholars here have taken a beating from him. Whichever of you can defeat him, I will yield the seat of Eldest Senior Brother with both hands!

" Yue Qinghong's eyes lit up. "You will not go back on it? " Shen Wanyun smiled. "When has Shen Wanyun ever gone back on his word? This fellow is named Shen Mu.

He wears brocade and keeps a white fox at his side, so he is easy enough to know.

I met him just now on his way down the mountain; he should be back soon. " Yun Que at once sprang away, laughing. "This Shen Mu, I, humble monk, shall go and convert.

Senior Sister Yue, do not snatch him from me; let me first have my fill of playing Eldest Senior Brother! " Yue Qinghong watched him go far off and smiled coldly.

"That bald thief plays the holy monk day in and day out, yet he has the least patience of anyone. If even Senior Brother Shen finds the man troublesome, he is surely no good sort. Senior Sister Qu, were all of you beaten by that Shen Mu?

" Senior Sister Qu and the others looked thoroughly embarrassed.

Yue Qinghong's eyes flickered.

"Will you tell your little sister what moves this Shen Mu used? " Her mind was meticulous; she questioned each of them closely about the moves Shen Mu had used to defeat them, and after a moment Yue Qinghong had formed her judgment. "This man has used spells and palm techniques, but never sword techniques. In the sword he can have little attainment.

.

.

" Qu Ting said hurriedly, "Senior Sister, at the grand examination he defeated Daoist Lingyun of Chunyang Hall with a wooden sword.

" "Defeated Daoist Lingyun?

" Yue Qinghong was startled. "In how many moves? " "One move! " Yue Qinghong's heart quivered. "To defeat Daoist Lingyun at the same realm is not so very hard; I could manage it too. But to defeat Lingyun in a single move, that I could not do. He defeated these junior brothers and sisters all in one move, whether by fist or by spell. That he can master all three arts — can he truly have no weakness to be found?

No, he must have a weakness!

On this trip to the battlefield of Langjuxu I saw those venerable elders of long renown, and even they had their flaws. How much more so a scholar newly enrolled? When Yun Que crosses hands with him, I will have my chance to see what is real and what is false!

" She set down her bundle and at once left with the wolf slave. Shen Mu took the little fox into the capital and found a restaurant of some quality, ordered a table of rare delicacies, and ate his fill. In a rare fit of generosity, Shen Mu ordered a pot of good wine for Snow Fox, and drank two cups himself; man and fox ate until their bellies were round. Snow Fox, muddle-headed, rode the wind through the air, returning with Shen Mu to the Grand Academy.

This little fox, once drunk, turned grave and proper; she sat motionless on the demon wind, her forelegs stretched out stiff and straight, her eyes fixed ahead without a blink, save that her furry belly had swollen several sizes. Two cups had done Shen Mu no harm; along the way he took in the sights and customs of the capital.

The capital was more splendid than brocade, a place to linger in. Man and fox entered the mountain gate. Shen Mu waved a hand before the little fox, and saw that Snow Fox's eyes were still round and wide, yet from her throat came a purring snore like a cat's; she had drunk herself asleep, and still this fox demon drifted onward on her demon wind.

Shen Mu did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He lifted the white fox out of the demon wind and hung her about his neck. Snow Fox's body went limp and half-coiled around his neck, her tail dangling down his chest, and she squirmed twice, found a comfortable spot, and slept on.

"A poor head for wine, and still she loves to drink.