Chapter 15: Walking on Water
Qin Mu sprinted at full speed, his primal energy growing stronger and stronger. He ran for who knows how many miles, but the villagers of the Cripple Village could always keep up with him. Even Blind, who was sightless, moved as if on flat ground, steadily following beside the group.
Just as Qin Mu burst into a stretch of forest, a pitch-black figure rose up from among the trees, roaring, "Little runt, die—"
The one bellowing was none other than the demon ape. Seeing "Little Runt" trespassing into its territory again, its fury was beyond imagination. One-Armed Master Ma glanced at the enraged beast, and the demon ape suddenly shuddered. It abandoned its territory without a second thought and immediately turned tail and fled.
There was not a trace of emotion in Master Ma's eyes just now, and this colossal creature couldn't help but feel a surge of terror, as if it would die in the next instant. So it dared not act arrogant and promptly made its escape.
The others paid it no mind. Qin Mu kept running, his primal energy churning vigorously. It wasn't until he returned to Cripple Village that he snapped out of his trance. Only then did he realize he was covered in filth—a thick layer of grime had formed on his body at some point, whether it was black blood or greasy, sticky fat.
Granny Si instructed, "Mu'er, go wash up by the river. Blind, accompany him and be careful not to let any monsters in the river snatch him away."
Blind, leaning on his bamboo staff, followed Qin Mu to the riverbank. Qin Mu immediately stripped off his clothes and jumped into the river to scrub away the dirt. Blind lightly tapped the water with his staff, startling a large fish that had been lurking near Qin Mu. It leaped out of the water and landed over a hundred feet away—it turned out to be a massive green carp over twenty feet long, its whiskers like eight tentacles each a yard in length.
After Qin Mu had cleaned himself, he suddenly caught sight of the rippling, emerald river surface. A surge of boldness rose from his youthful chest, blazing like a raging fire.
His primal energy immediately grew restless, rolling and surging, rushing straight up to his throat. It was as if he had suddenly unlocked the treasury of celestial music, and a deep, resonant roar burst forth from his larynx!
A long howl echoed through the forest, and the river's surface rippled!
Amid the howl, Qin Mu leaped out of the water and suddenly broke into a sprint, running across the surface of the water!
The moment his foot touched the river, the power stored in his sole merged with the settling primal energy. The two forces fused and erupted violently, and where his foot landed, water exploded in all directions!
Before the water could fall back, Qin Mu's body had already shot forward over ten feet, while his other foot came down on the water.
Tap, tap, tap, tap—
A crisp series of footfalls echoed across the river. Qin Mu raced across the water, quickly covering over two miles.
His howl grew more and more carefree, unrestrained and joyful, like celestial music drifting down, as if immortals were playing in a divine orchestra, phoenixes and dragons singing in harmony. His steps, too, were open and unbound, wild and free, as he sprinted gleefully across the river!
On the river, a gentle breeze stirred the ripples. The boy's pace was astonishingly fast, and he soon reached the opposite bank of the Surging River, then turned around and ran back across the water.
Blind stood by the riverbank, leaning on his bamboo staff. The river breeze came softly, stirring his white hair. The old man listened to Qin Mu's howl from the middle of the river, nodded slightly, and broke into a smile. Suddenly, he sang out, "Monkeys cry on both banks, the wind blows cold and your crotch is bare! Mu'er, running naked and wild across the river, your bare bottom swimming the river—don't you feel cold?"
A startled cry came from the middle of the river, followed by a splash as Qin Mu fell into the water.
After a moment, the boy swam to the shore, his face flushed red as he dried himself and put on his clothes.
He had just had an epiphany by the river and gotten carried away, completely forgetting he wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing when he leaped up and walked on water. That wild dash across the river had been refreshingly cool, a bare-bottomed river swim.
"Good thing Grandpa Blind can't see..."
After straightening his clothes, Qin Mu suddenly looked up and saw Master Ma, Mute, Deaf, and the others all standing in the forest by the riverbank. Even Granny Si had come, and the Village Chief had been brought over on a stretcher.
Qin Mu's face turned bright red. Stammering, he said, "Grandma, when did you all get here?"
Granny Si chuckled and said, "Mu'er, we've seen your backside plenty of times. What's there to be shy about? We heard your howl—your primal energy was so abundant—so we came to check."
The Village Chief coughed and said, "Mu'er, come here. You were chased by five martial artists at the Spirit Embryo realm, and it's hard to say if there are any lingering issues. Let the Medicine Master examine you."
Qin Mu stepped forward. The Medicine Master inspected him carefully and shook his head. "No serious problems. Just superficial injuries."
The Village Chief also checked him and signaled that he could leave. Qin Mu was immediately called away by the Butcher to practice his saber techniques.
The Butcher was very dissatisfied that it had taken Qin Mu over five thousand strikes to defeat Senior Brother Qu, and even more dissatisfied that he had finished the fight with a sword. So he intended to train him harshly.
"What did the Village Chief find?" the Medicine Master asked quietly, walking over to the Village Chief's stretcher and watching Qin Mu, who was energetically sparring with the Butcher.
"His primal energy cultivation—the rate of progress is alarming."
The Village Chief didn't hide it. "Extremely fast! From yesterday to now, the speed of his advancement is beyond imagination. I heard his howl just now—it was a sound produced by the resonance of primal energy and the throat, faintly carrying the tones of gods and demons. Even if he hasn't broken through the Spirit Embryo barrier, let alone a martial artist at the Spirit Embryo realm, no one could achieve divine-demonic resonance! If I were an ordinary person like him, it would take me twenty years to reach his level of primal energy cultivation."
Qin Mu's long howl on the river, with his primal energy and throat resonating, had unconsciously produced that sound. But unknowingly, he had also blended into it the demonic sounds he had heard in the canyon ruins.
What was even more peculiar was that while carefully pondering the dark demonic sounds last night, he had also listened to the divine sounds of the goddesses in the ruins, memorizing them in his mind. Every subtle fluctuation of those divine sounds was familiar to him.
Thus, his howl naturally incorporated the divine sounds of the goddesses as well.
To others, this meant nothing—they couldn't discern the mystery within—but to the Village Chief's ears, it was extraordinary. He perceived it with absolute clarity.
"Divine-demonic resonance?" The Medicine Master was startled. "How did he manage that? And to gain the power of twenty years of an ordinary person's cultivation in a single night—that's too terrifying. Could it really be the effect of the Four Spirits Blood?"
The Village Chief shook his head. "The Four Spirits Blood can enhance his body and primal energy, but it can't increase them this quickly."
The Medicine Master pondered. "Could Mu'er be a natural prodigy? Was he born to be material for cultivation?"
The Village Chief frowned. "If he were a natural prodigy, why would he still have an ordinary physique? A natural prodigy should be a spiritual body. Besides, divine-demonic resonance—which prodigy could achieve that?"
The Medicine Master asked, "His howl contains divine-demonic resonance. Is that good or bad?"
"I don't know."
The Village Chief said, "I can hear the divine-demonic resonance in his howl—divine sounds and demonic sounds battling and killing each other, very intense. But whether it's good or bad, I'm not sure."
The Medicine Master's eyes flickered. "The divine and demonic sounds in his howl—where did they come from?"
"I don't know!"
The Medicine Master's head began to ache, and so did the Village Chief's. It had been a long time since they'd had headaches from things they couldn't figure out. Ever since they adopted Qin Mu, the little boy who had floated down from upstream, the things they couldn't understand had only increased.
Night fell, and Cripple Village quickly sank into darkness. Qin Mu slept in the outer room, while Granny Si slept in the inner room. In the middle of the night, the dark demonic sounds unconsciously crept into Qin Mu's mind, followed by the divine sounds. The divine and demonic sounds attacked each other, and before long, the noise grew louder and more intense.
That sound of divine-demonic resonance gradually transformed in his mind into a clash between darkness and light, a brutal slaughter. Qin Mu felt as if he had lost his physical form, becoming a soul floating above the battle of gods and demons, staring blankly at the fighting between darkness and light below.
The place where darkness and light clashed resembled what he had seen in the canyon ruins the night before, but even more spectacular and grand. The darkness was like tentacles, continuously piercing the light, while the light erupted violently, sweeping away the darkness.
After a moment, Qin Mu saw clearly what the light and darkness truly were. In the darkness were countless demons and gods, surging like a tide toward the light. The demonic sounds weren't just simple sounds—they were the war cries of billions of demons and gods!
The light was the same—an ocean of deities, clad in golden armor, locked in battle with the surging demons!
He "stood" too high; these gods and demons were like tiny droplets of water, indistinct from afar. That's why he had initially mistaken it for a struggle between light and darkness. Now that he could see clearly, he felt only shock and terror!
Qin Mu suddenly woke up, drenched in sweat. He opened his eyes, but found his mind filled with those divine and demonic sounds, clamoring so loudly it felt like his head would split apart.
Just then, the jade pendant on his chest gently floated up, drifted to his brow, and settled softly. A cool stream surged through him, and the divine and demonic sounds in his mind vanished instantly.
He sat up abruptly, panting heavily, his heart filled with doubt and unease, not knowing what had happened.
After a moment, he stepped out of the house and went outside, examining the jade pendant by the faint light emitted by the village's stone statues.
Beyond the village lay darkness, and the jade pendant also gave off a soft glow. Qin Mu stared at the pendant, lost in thought, his gaze as dim as the pendant's light, unable to tear his eyes away from the small piece of jade for a long time.
Behind him, Granny Si had come at some point and happened to see this scene. Her heart ached. "We raised him, but Mu'er never truly belonged to Cripple Village. He's just a child we brought up here, and in the end, he will leave..."
She shook herself, a sharp light flashing in her eyes. "The outside world is far more dangerous than the Great Ruins! He doesn't have enough strength yet!"