Shen Feiyue steadied himself and said to the Black Venerable, "The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping has no interest in the Dayu Netherdemon Scripture." The Black Venerable lowered his eyelids and chuckled. "The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping has no interest — and has General Shen any interest?" Shen Feiyue's heart went cold; he knew that whatever he said could never dispel the wariness this savage, murderous man held toward him. Then an old man seated below Shen Feiyue raised his white brows a fraction and said, "I am old, and have not many days left in me, and so I dearly wish to set eyes on this Dayu Netherdemon Scripture that is said to make gods and demons of men. I beg the Sect Master's widow and the Black Venerable to grant it." "Easily said." The Sect Master's widow cast her fair eyes about and smiled. "Who else wishes to set eyes on the Dayu Netherdemon Scripture?" A sallow-faced woman seated below Fu Yundi said with a laugh, "If madam does not mind, I too would like a look at this demonic canon that makes gods and demons." The Sect Master's widow turned to Fu Yundi. "And the City Lord?" Fu Yundi laughed aloud. "Madam, take no offense. It is not that I harbor any designs on the Dayu Netherdemon Scripture, only that I wish to see this so-called mystic art that makes gods and demons, and to compare it against my own. I bear madam no ill will — indeed, I even feel a certain tenderness for a fair lady. The Netherdemon Sect has hunted you so long, ferocious and merciless, and you stand alone, ill able to bear up under it. I too wish to share your burden." Shen Mu blinked and let his gaze travel from one expert to the next. In Zhenjiang Tower every last one of them had professed an interest in the Dayu Netherdemon Scripture, and it was precisely for that reason that none of them dared to move openly against the Sect Master's widow. For even if one of them seized the Dayu Netherdemon Scripture from her, he would himself become the mark at which all the others aimed. The Sect Master's widow, glancing about with grace, suddenly burst into a giggle and spread her slender jade hands. A jade box appeared in her palm. "Inside this is the Dayu Netherdemon Scripture; the talismans on the outside are the seals of every past Netherdemon Master." The air in Zhenjiang Tower turned abruptly and immeasurably grave. Shen Mu at once felt one overbearing, terrifying aura after another lock onto him, and Ling Yuxiu gave a stifled grunt as well. These auras were not aimed at them, but at the Sect Master's widow at their side; only, because the two of them stood so close to her, Shen Mu and Ling Yuxiu were caught like innocent fish in a doomed pond. The Sect Master's widow paid it no mind. She opened the jade box, and from within came what seemed like strains of music; then a thread, like a spirit snake, poked its head from the box and rose slowly into the air. "It really is the Dayu Netherdemon Scripture!" The Black Venerable tapped his staff and said flatly, "Madam, put it away, if you please." A strange look came over Shen Mu. He leaned in toward the jade box, an unspeakable eeriness in his heart. What lay in this jade box was no Dayu Netherdemon Scripture at all — it was plainly the ball of thread from the basket that Granny Zhu always carried on her arm! He remembered that ball of thread. Granny Zhu kept it in her basket, wound about a jade hairpin, and now the hairpin was inside the box. When he was small, Granny Zhu would set him in the basket while she sewed; once Shen Mu could not hold it in, and left a pile of filth in the basket that smeared the Dayu Netherdemon Scripture foul with stench. "She really is Granny Zhu!" The boy's heart was caught between laughter and tears. "So that is why the old woman would not stay at the inn — she has dressed herself up this fine to come out and show off and amuse herself..." 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. The youth was sizing him up, his gaze holding a beast's ferocity. In Zhenjiang Tower the mood suddenly went still again. Those in the tower were all long-famous experts,