Chapter 143 — The Venerable Who Bestrides the Peak
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The entire Imperial Academy was in an uproar. One of the men of the Directorate of Education muttered, "Could it be that the scholar who defeated the Daoist Son has made his move again?
" Shen Mu's heart gave a slight jolt as well. Jingming the White-Browed Monk had come with the Buddhist Heart in tow, on the same errand as Danyangzi of the Daoist sect—to block the gates for three days, to humble the Imperial Academy's might, and to turn the hearts of Jingping's people against the court. Yet now, with three days not yet passed, Jingming had departed with the Buddhist Heart Child.
There could be only one explanation: the Buddhist Heart Child had been defeated! "But just now I was clearly at the back mountain drugging the green ox.
There is no way I could have run to the mountain gate and defeated the Buddhist Heart Child. .
.
" Shen Mu was at a loss. If it was not he who had defeated the Buddhist Heart Child, then who could it be? He thought back to what the Patriarch had said when they had met at the thatched hut.
The Patriarch's words had carried a hidden meaning—that within the Imperial Academy, apart from Shen Mu himself, there was another person capable of defeating the Buddhist Heart.
If Shen Mu did not make his move, the Patriarch would have that other person act. And this scholar who had defeated the Buddhist Heart Child was every bit as low-key as Shen Mu. After defeating Lin Xuan the Daoist Son, Shen Mu had never breathed a word of the matter to anyone; this person, too, had seized the window when the Academy's scholars and Libationers lay drugged by the Losing-Mind Incense, gone down the mountain alone, and defeated the Buddhist Heart. At that time, before the mountain gate, apart from the Buddhist Heart and Jingming the White-Browed Monk, there had been only the dragon-qilin.
Though the dragon-qilin could speak, it was a gourd with its mouth sawn off—not a single seed could be shaken from it; there was no hope of wheedling the truth out of that one. Unless one could bring it the green ox, the Bashan Libationer's mount, to devour, only then might one get it to reveal who that person was.
But now, drugging that green ox again would be no easy matter. "To have an expert within the Academy who can run neck and neck with me—that is a good thing. " Shen Mu smiled faintly, no longer pressing to learn who had made the move, and returned to the Scholars' Quarter with Snow Fox. Many in the quarter already knew that the imperial physicians had obtained from him the elixir formula that had laid low nearly every scholar in the Academy, and they looked upon him with a measure of dread.
Suddenly, a timid voice drifted over, speaking softly: "Senior Brother Shen, was it you who defeated the Buddhist Heart Child?
" Shen Mu followed the sound and saw that the speaker was none other than the gentle, quiet girl who had entered the Academy as a scholar alongside him—Si Yunxiang.
This girl was forever shy; Shen Mu had teased her a few times, sending her cheeks aflame with embarrassment and her hands fluttering in helpless confusion. Shen Mu shook his head. "Of course it wasn't me. When that person defeated the Buddhist Heart Child, the Grand Libationer had dragged me off for a scolding.
Sister Xiang, did you happen to see who it was? " Si Yunxiang shook her head.
"I was knocked out by some fragrance just now and have no idea what happened. I am still a little dizzy. But when I saw you looking so full of spirit, untouched by the drug, I thought you must have driven off the Buddhist Heart Child. " A glint flickered in Shen Mu's eyes, and he smiled.
"Truly not me. I should very much like to know who defeated the Buddhist Heart myself. " Seeing someone glance in their direction, Si Yunxiang hurried back into her courtyard and shut the door.