荒墟牧神 - 第8章 婆婆留下的換形皮 - 錦書坊

time. He cast aside his former cult-leader's widow and planned to marry the woman as his new widow, throwing the entire demonic cult into an uproar. On the night of their wedding, in the bridal chamber, the new cult-leader's widow ambushed Fan Xuanshu, ruined centuries of his cultivation, and stole the demonic cult's sacred scripture. The elders and patriarchs of the demonic cult all emerged from seclusion to hunt her down, but she still escaped. To this day, no one knows where she went..." "Such a thing happened?" Granny Zhu giggled. "When this old woman was young, I heard of a man who had refined both his legs to the level of gods. His two legs were hailed as divine legs. His speed was unrivaled beneath heaven, but instead of applying himself to anything proper, he took up thievery and loved stealing things. Thus he was called the greatest trickster beneath heaven. Though he had not yet become a god, his title already bore the word 'god,' and so he incurred the gods' jealousy. When he went to Jingping Kingdom to steal the Jade Register of the Celestial Emperor, the greatest trickster beneath heaven, who had never once failed, was discovered by the Jingping Imperial Preceptor, who severed one of his divine legs. Yet he still escaped the Imperial Preceptor's pursuit and vanished without a trace, taking the Jade Register of the Celestial Emperor with him. The Jingping Imperial Preceptor was hailed as the greatest man beneath the gods, yet even he failed to keep the Shadow Thief from escaping. He must still have the Shadow Thief's divine leg, waiting to return it to its rightful owner, must he not?" The smile on the Lame Old Man's face grew broader. He answered ingratiatingly, "Granny, we are all cripples from the same village. We agreed long ago that each of us had our own little secrets, and that we would not ask about one another's origins. From this moment on, I am merely the Silent Craftsman and the Deaf Elder. My lips are sealed." Granny Zhu snorted and walked toward the village with her basket in hand. "Was it Shen-er who told you to come and back me up?" The Lame Old Man shook his head. "The sound of your battle with those five old fellows was too loud, and the disturbance too strong. We all felt it from the village, so the village headman sent me to see whether you needed help." Granny Zhu's expression changed. She hurriedly asked, "Has Shen-er returned to the village?" "I did not see him when I came." "This is bad!" The two of them hurried back toward Hidden Cripple Village. Before they reached it, they saw the sun sink below the horizon. Darkness rose from the edge of the world, spread across it, and surged like a tide, climbing higher and higher as it devoured everything along its path and swept toward them. Granny Zhu returned to the village and searched it at top speed. Her face turned pale. "Shen-er has not come back?" The darkness swallowed Hidden Cripple Village whole. "Granny, there is no need to worry." The village headman was carried over by the Lame Old Man and the Alchemist. He stopped Granny Zhu, who was about to carry the stone statue outside in search of Shen Mu, and consoled her. "We have already taught him everything he needs to know. As long as he learned it, he should be able to survive in the Wasteland. There is nothing you can do by going out now. It is already dark." Granny Zhu sagged, knowing that the village headman was right. The darkness had drowned the Wasteland. If Shen Mu was still alive, he could survive the night without her going to rescue him. If he was already dead, there would be no point in carrying the stone statue out to search for him. "He still has that jade pendant to protect him..." Though she thought this, Granny Zhu knew that the jade pendant on Shen Mu's chest was meant only to protect infants, and its range of protection was limited. Shen Mu had already grown up. The pendant's light could shield only his chest. "Shen-er, you have to be clever..." Granny Zhu murmured.