Chapter 143 — The Venerable Who Bestrides the Peak
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Shen Mu seized the chance to peer into her yard, but before he could make out anything within, her door had already closed. He had no choice but to return to his own dwelling. "This Si Yunxiang is deeply suspect. " He steadied himself and murmured, "She was never drugged by the Losing-Mind Incense at all.
A person who has taken it does not look like that. Losing-Mind Incense is a narcotic; even after waking, one remains unwell for two or three hours.
She showed no sign of discomfort just now.
" Snow Fox said, "Young Master, among the scholars who were laid low before the Hall of Imperial Physicians, there was no Si Yunxiang. " Shen Mu's heart stirred slightly. After the Young Patriarch's lecture, he had asked Shen Mu to stay behind and help watch over the scholars and the men of the Directorate of Education.
Shen Mu and the little fox had both been lending a hand, with the little fox trotting about intending to gather "spoils of war" until he stopped her.
At the time, Snow Fox had seen the face of every person drugged. If she said Si Yunxiang was not among them, then that was so. "She is indeed lying. " Shen Mu blinked.
"She had no reason to come out of her own dwelling specifically to lie to me. So that being the case, she actually wished to show off.
What she said to me concerned the defeat of the Buddhist Heart Child, and what she wished to show off was precisely that.
The one who defeated the Buddhist Heart Child was her. " It suddenly occurred to Shen Mu: why had the Young Patriarch been so certain that someone in the Academy could defeat the Buddhist Heart? Could it be that he had long known Si Yunxiang possessed such an ability?
Why did the Young Patriarch know this girl, who had only recently become a scholar of the Academy, so well? One had to consider that even Shen Mu—the Young Sovereign Lord himself—had required trial after trial before the Young Patriarch could be certain of his strength and capability.
This showed that the Young Patriarch knew Si Yunxiang thoroughly, better even than he knew Shen Mu.
And this girl was surnamed Si, and she had that little habit of showing off. . . "Grandmother really knows how to play her games! " Shen Mu muttered sullenly.
"I won't expose her just yet—let me see what she intends to do. " He was about to close the door when suddenly the Bashan Libationer's voice came from outside: "Niu Niu, bring my luggage over.
" "Yes, master.
" The Bashan Libationer pushed open the door and walked in, followed by a burly green ox carrying a large pack on its back. This green ox had not yet fully taken human form; it walked like a man but still kept its bovine shape—none other than the very ox Shen Mu had drugged.
"Which room shall I take? " the Bashan Libationer asked Shen Mu.
Shen Mu was taken aback, but the Bashan Libationer was already making himself at home.
He laughed.
"The west room, then.
Whoa, so much money!
Scholar Shen, you are quite well-off! Niu Niu, we're rich!
Grab a handful and go down the mountain to buy some wine!
" "Is there wine to drink? " Snow Fox cheered, bounding over in little hops, landing on the ox's head to squat there. "I'll come with you! " she laughed.
The green ox carried her out, saying, "You drink too?
Do you know any drinking games? " The Bashan Libationer set down his luggage, tidied the room, and laid out his bedding. Glancing over and seeing Shen Mu still outside, he laughed.
"The Grand Libationer ordered me to stay by your side at every moment, so naturally I'll be rooming with you, lest you go around making more trouble.
Was that calligraphy at the gate yours? " Shen Mu nodded.
The Bashan Libationer clapped his hands hard in approval.
"Beautiful writing! Your characters have real savor—far better than those fellows in the Hall of the Painting Sage. I've never understood what that hall is even for, yet they have the nerve to draw a court salary! By the way, do you snore?
" Shen Mu shook his head.