Chapter 43: Journey of the Fairies

On the morrow, Qin Mu was startled awake by the clamor of villagers. He rose to inquire, and only then learned that the night watchman had died a sudden, violent death during the night, casting a pall of fear over the village.

The previous night, Qin Mu had cleaved a tree, and from within the felled timber burst forth a great serpent, already a terrifying sight. To his astonishment, the dead of night had brought yet another calamity: the night watchman's sudden demise, plunging the villagers into a state of anxious whispers and unease.

A husband and wife approached, bearing a platter draped with a red cloth. Upon the cloth lay several gifts, tokens of their appreciation. "Old Granny, little brother," the husband said, "we are but humble folk, possessing naught of great value. Please, you must accept these trifles."

Qin Mu was about to decline, but the Blind Man interjected, "Mu'er, accept them. Do not let their kindness be forgotten."

Qin Mu took the gifts from the red cloth and offered his farewells to the couple. The man chuckled, "Little brother is brimming with skill and talent, truly outstanding. In the future, you will surely be a dragon among men!"

"What is so good about being a dragon among men?"

Granny Si scoffed, "Dragon liver and phoenix gall are merely delicacies on the dining table. Do not aspire to become a dragon or phoenix; become one who dines on dragons and phoenixes!"

The couple exchanged bewildered glances. Granny Si waved her hand. "Go back. Mu'er, Blind Man, let us continue on to the market!"

Qin Mu followed the small old woman, his voice brimming with curiosity. "Granny, what happened last night? Was the one performing the magic that night watchman? How did he die? And also, what about the silver pill that floated into my glabella last night? Didn't you say everyone in our village is ordinary? I can't help but feel that ordinary folk from other villages are somewhat different from ours."

"Where do you come up with so many questions?"

Granny Si's head felt as large as a bucket. She looked to the Blind Man for succor, but he merely strode forward merrily, only to collide with a tree with a resounding thud and faint dead away.

Granny Si stomped on the Blind Man's face several times in rapid succession, but he remained unconscious, seemingly oblivious to his fate.

Qin Mu quickly helped the Blind Man to his feet, his eyes full of hopeful anticipation as he gazed at Granny Si. From her basket, Granny Si produced a needle and plunged it into the Blind Man's buttocks. A stream of blood spurted forth with a sizzle, yet still he did not awaken.

Granny Si sighed, defeated. She blinked her eyes. "The night watchman was indeed that demonic path expert who raised snakes. His abilities were not weak; he employed the Magic Shadow Illusion, a divine ability of the Heavenly Demon Sect, exceedingly fierce and difficult to defend against. I used the technique of 'Contain Sand, Shoot Shadow' to injure his shadow, thereby harming his physical form. My heart demon, however, played a trick; I had once sworn an oath never to harm disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect, so I could only make him realize the difficulty and retreat. The one who dealt the fatal blow was not I, but the Blind Man."

Qin Mu blinked his eyes. "What about the silver pill? Wasn't that a sword pill? Isn't Granny skilled in sword arts?"

Granny Si's eyes blinked in response, a silent exchange between the old and the young. They blinked until their eyes grew sore. Granny Si gritted her teeth and plunged the needle into the Blind Man's buttocks once more, yet he still did not stir.

"The silver pill? *Cough, cough*. Are you referring to this?"

Granny Si flipped her palm, revealing a silver-colored pill resting within. Qin Mu quickly nodded. "Granny, teach me your sword arts!"

Granny Si let out a sigh. "It's not that I don't want to teach you, but I cannot. While my sword arts are renowned, they are not the foremost in the world. If you learn my sword arts, others will be unwilling to instruct you, so I would rather die than pass them on to you."

Qin Mu's face fell in disappointment, but his spirits immediately lifted. "The foremost sword arts in the world? Are they from our village?"

"Do not speculate wildly."

Granny Si warned, "If you go and beg him, he will be even less likely to teach you. Only when he has made up his mind will he impart his knowledge! You currently possess several profound techniques, none of which you have truly mastered. Wait until you can, within the same realm, defeat Grandpa Horse with your fists, cleave the Butcher with your blade, parry the Blind Man with your spear, and outrun the Cripple, only then should you consider tempering your sword techniques! At that time, if he does not teach us, we will force him to!"

The Blind Man let out a yawn and slowly remarked, "He has the highest insight and the deepest cultivation. These past years, he has grown increasingly terrifying. Even if we combine our strength, we might not be able to defeat him."

"You are finally awake?" Granny Si was furious and plunged the needle into his buttocks once more.

The Blind Man slid down from Qin Mu's back and propped himself up with his crutch. "It is best for you to explain this matter fully; I cannot do it justice. I can, however, shed some light on the killing of the night watchman. His Magic Shadow Illusion was exceedingly powerful; he had already achieved the ability to exchange body and shadow, where his body was not his body, and his shadow was. To confront him, if one were to merely attack his physical form, his shadow would deal the fatal blow. When he attempted to kill me, I used my bamboo staff to impale and kill his shadow, nailing him to the ground."

Qin Mu mused for a moment. "Then what was he cultivating using the innate essence and soul of infants through raising snakes?"

The Blind Man turned to Granny Si. "Granny, you are most proficient in demonic path techniques. You explain."

"This technique is called the Self-Attained Innate Skill."

Granny Si explained, "This skill is from the Heavenly Demon Sect, a technique that transforms the acquired into the innate. However, he likely acquired only a remnant chapter and practiced it incorrectly, resorting to using unborn infants for cultivation. The true Self-Attained Innate Skill, though a demonic skill, is nonetheless righteous and proper, disdaining such base and vulgar methods of cultivation. Instead, it swallows and spits out the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, drawing upon the essence of the sun and moon for cultivation."

A look of worry crossed her face as she whispered, "To think that someone from the Heavenly Demon Sect has appeared nearby. It seems the Great Ruins cannot remain peaceful any longer. These individuals often appear like a swarm of bees..."

The three returned to Granny Temple, where the market was still in full swing. They remained until the afternoon, at which point people from each village began to depart, returning to their respective homes. Qin Mu, too, climbed back onto the ox cart and made his way back to Cripple Old Village.

"Mu'er, from now on, you can go out hunting alone."

Grandpa Horse, seated on the ox cart and bouncing with the uneven road, suddenly spoke. "You have grown up."

Qin Mu's heart warmed. He turned back and smiled, the herding boy from Cripple Old Village's smile as bright as the early spring sunlight.

"However, you are only permitted to hunt strange beasts, not challenge the lords of strange beasts."

Granny Si added, "Moreover, you must return every evening to herd the oxen and ensure they eat more grass."

The herding boy's face immediately darkened. The two oxen quietly pulling the cart also let out an angry cry, tears welling in their ox eyes, appearing unusually wronged.

Seeing this, Qin Mu looked at them suspiciously. "Granny, are these two oxen also not ordinary folk?"

"You guess," Granny Si chuckled with a *heh heh*.

Qin Mu decided not to guess.

A gust of wind blew from behind. The youth's heart swayed with the wind. He suddenly sprang to his feet and leaped from the ox cart, chasing the wind. He yearned to catch up to the tip of this wind and walk upon it in the sky!

His speed was incredible. He leaped out of the pine forest, his feet stepping on the treetops of the pine trees as he raced forward. His speed increased exponentially, and finally, he caught up to the head of that gust of wind. He leaped up, soaring into the mid-air. Though he was airborne, a wondrous upward supporting force immediately manifested beneath his feet.

The youth cheered. His footsteps moved with the speed of flight in the air, stepping on the tip of the wind and running.

The few people on the ox cart raised their heads to watch. The Blind Man, ever the ancient sage, remarked, "Will he fall?"

The Medicine Master sniffed a handful of wind and laughed, "He will fall. This is a demonic wind; there is a demon in a hurry within the wind. Upon discovering him, it will stop. Which of you will go and catch him?"

Qin Mu's footsteps were exceedingly fast, and that wind was also moving at a rapid pace. Unbeknownst to him, he had run more than ten *li*. The youth was in a state of exhilaration when he suddenly saw a snow-white fox, entirely white, sitting on a large banana leaf and flying towards him. Its two front legs were stretched straight out, while its hind legs were tucked beneath it.

He froze in astonishment. The white fox also froze.

One person and one fox screamed in unison. Then, Qin Mu felt the whistling wind abruptly cease. He couldn't help but flail his limbs as he fell from the air. The fox, however, remained seated on the banana leaf, raising a front paw and yelping at him, clearly bewildered.

"Trouble!"

Qin Mu's footsteps changed in rapid succession, employing the Steal Sky Leg Method. He thought to himself, "As long as I run fast enough, I can walk in the sky..."

Only then did he realize he wasn't fast enough. His feet simply couldn't find purchase in the air, and he was still whistling downwards!

Qin Mu looked down, his scalp tingling with dread. Below was a stretch of mountainous ground, utterly devoid of trees, only a chaotic scattering of rocks. If he fell onto those stones, he feared his body would be smashed to pieces!

Just at that moment, the white fox, which had been screaming in the air, came to its senses. The banana leaf swooshed towards him from above. Qin Mu immediately felt wind beneath his feet, and once again, he could step on the tip of the wind. He quickly moved his feet, halting his downward momentum, and finally, just as he was about to hit the ground, he stepped on the wind tip and leaped up, walking upon the wind!

He breathed a sigh of relief, only to see the fox, still seated on the banana leaf, catching up to him. One person and one fox stared at each other, four eyes meeting. The white fox spoke in human tongue, its voice pleasant, but it reeked of alcohol, clearly in a drunken haze. It said with curiosity, "What are you doing? How did you run into my wind?"

Qin Mu was surprised. "I wanted to try and catch up to the tip of the wind and walk on it. I didn't know this was your wind. Can you fly? And you can speak?"

"I use magic to drive the wind, then I can control the wind and go."

The white fox said, "I am returning from a banquet. It is getting dark, and I am in a hurry. I will not accompany you. I will take my leave first. If fate allows, we shall meet again another day!" With that, it stirred up a strong wind and vanished from sight.

Qin Mu felt the power of the wind beneath his feet gradually weaken. He quickly descended from the air at an angle, landing on the ground. He saw that Cripple Old Village was just ahead. He looked up, but the fox was already nowhere to be seen.

"Returning from a banquet?"

Qin Mu was filled with a myriad of questions. "This fox that can speak knows magic and even attends banquets? What a strange and fascinating thing! The next time I meet it, I must ask for a clear explanation..."

Two days later, an old man and a young man, both itinerant Daoists, arrived at Zhang Village Fort. Travel-worn and weary, they walked into the village. The old man said, "Good people of the village, may we have a bowl of water to drink? We are outsiders who often travel, and our stomachs are not well. We beg for a bowl of hot water."

The villagers poured two bowls of water for them. The old and young drank them down and thanked the villagers. The old man, with kindly eyebrows and eyes, laughed. "My disciple and I travel about, and we understand a little bit of magic. I perceive demonic energy in your esteemed village. Do you need us to eliminate the demon?"

The villager chuckled. "The demon has already been eliminated. It was a great serpent hiding inside a tree, and it was cleaved by a youth from a neighboring village!"

The old man was surprised. "Why do I still sense demonic energy here? Has anyone died recently in your esteemed village?"