Chapter 71 — I Go to Take a Life
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
" The Sect Master's widow paid the Black Venerable no heed whatsoever. That silken thread rose higher and higher, and suddenly it swelled, growing thicker and thicker, until it was as thick as a bucket, and everyone's expression changed, for the thread was no thread at all, but a wondrous text formed of countless characters! Innumerable characters formed circles, the outer ones sheathing the inner, layer upon layer, how many layers none could tell; and when the writing shrank to its limit, one could no longer see it as characters, and would have taken it for a single thread. This was the Netherdemon Sect's treasure of treasures, the Dayu Netherdemon Scripture!
"The thing is genuine. You may all be certain of that now, surely? " The countless characters suddenly shrank, became a thread once more, and returned into the jade box.
The Sect Master's widow closed the box, sealed it again with the talismans of every past Netherdemon Master, and said with a smile, "But if you wish to look, you must think it through.
Whoever has seen the Netherdemon Sect's treasure is an enemy of the Netherdemon Sect; and then the Netherdemon Sect will not be hunting me — all of you who are here today will die.
Which of you will come take the jade box away?
" Every face changed drastically, and each heart wavered; the jade box was right before them, yet not one dared take it! Shen Feiyue's face darkened and cleared by turns. Others feared the Netherdemon Sect; he did not. However strong the Netherdemon Sect might be, it could not stand against the whole Kingdom of Jingping.
Yet if he took the jade box, he would become the mark at which every eye aimed, and whether he could walk out of the City Lord's mansion alive would be hard to say. The others harbored the same thought; even Fu Yundi hung back, unable to decide.
The Sect Master's widow took in every expression with relish, delighted by this scene that gave such a headache to men who counted themselves unrivalled; it was a kind of pleasure to her. A dead silence fell over the tower. Just then Shen Mu stretched and rose to his feet.
"I'm full!
Sister Yuxiu, thank you for bringing me here for a good meal. City Lord, do you charge for a meal at your table?
" He broke the silence, and the mood in the tower turned lively again. Everyone looked his way with half-smiles: this boy was plainly some country lad who had never seen the world, who had come here to cadge food and drink, and who, having eaten his fill, actually asked Fu Yundi whether he charged money. Fu Yundi coughed once to ease the awkwardness.
"A guest is a guest. Since I am host, though this young man was not among the invited, I will not take his money. " Shen Mu broke into a smile, bright as sunshine. "The City Lord will not take my money, but I must give it.
I carry little on me — will a hundred dragon coins be enough? City Lord, wait a moment; I will go kill a man, and when I have won the money I will pay you back.
" Fu Yundi frowned. Shen Mu, not waiting for an answer, walked straight down from Zhenjiang Tower, stepped out onto the lake, and paced step by step toward the platform in the water, saying in a clear voice, "Young Master Tingyue, I hear the Forsaken may challenge for the prize here, and the winner takes a hundred dragon coins. I am one of the Forsaken, so let me try.
" His steps were neither hurried nor slow, yet in a few strides he reached the platform and looked at the youth opposite. On the platform the blood of the Forsaken boy who had died at Fu Tingyue's hands was still bright red; slaves were tossing the corpse into the lake, then drawing water to wash the platform. There were great fish in the lake as well, churning up wave after wave as they fought over the boy's mangled remains. Shen Mu planted his feet on solid ground and looked at the youth across from him.
Fu Tingyue was the same age as he, but savagery lay in his brow and eyes; plainly he had killed more men than could be counted.