Chapter 40: The Crest of the Wind
Qin Mu's eyes widened. This unremarkable staff could buy Dragon-Inlay City?
"This staff is called Xi Qi Luo, with four prongs and twelve rings. It was forged by the Tathagata of the Great Thunderclap Monastery. It can also be used to strike people, and its value should be comparable to Dragon-Inlay City."
Elder Ma introduced. "However, this staff is more useful for cultivation. When you grasp the staff, your heart moves and the rings move. Once the rings move, the distracting thoughts in your heart will vanish. It is a treasure for eliminating inner demons. The twelve rings can sever twelve kinds of distracting thoughts and eliminate twelve kinds of inner demons. When an inner demon arises, the rings will ring, and the inner demon will be trapped by the rings and refined into ashes. The staff is divided into four prongs, to sever the four births, contemplate the four truths, cultivate the four equalities, and enter the four meditations. Holding this staff while cultivating will double your results."
Grandma Si's eyes immediately lit up. She stared at the staff in Qin Mu's hands and smiled. "Mu'er, lend the staff to your grandmother for a while. There's a big inner demon living in my heart that has been pestering me for a long time!"
Qin Mu handed the Xi Qi Luo staff to Grandma Si, curious. "Grandma, what inner demon lives in your heart?"
"An old fellow."
Grandma Si sighed, her brow furrowed. "An old fellow that no matter how I refine him, I can't kill. I've killed him a thousand times, but he's still alive, always living in my heart and causing me trouble! If I can rely on this staff to refine him to death this time, I can finally be at ease."
Qin Mu still didn't know what the old demon in her heart was, and Grandma Si didn't say more. As soon as the staff fell into her hands, it immediately clattered loudly, all twelve rings shaking together, deafening.
Grandma Si's demonic nature erupted, and a terrifying, heart-stopping aura emanated from her. This aura didn't resemble her at all; instead, it seemed like another person!
Qin Mu was horrified. There was actually another person living inside Grandma Si!
Blind, Elder Ma, Lame, Medicine Master, and Mute also had their hair standing on end. They quickly stepped back, feeling that this terrifying aura was extremely dangerous even for them!
After a moment, Grandma Si slumped, returning the staff to Qin Mu. "This thing is useless. It can't do anything to that old demon. Damn it all, why can't I kill him!"
Qin Mu took the staff and wanted to stick it on his back, together with the bamboo staff, but the staff was too long. If he put it on his back, he couldn't walk, so he had to hold it in his hand.
"Throw this thing on the oxcart. You're not a monk."
Elder Ma said. "Today's market, you've passed. You've passed the test. There's no need to fight anymore. Being able to defeat a disciple of the Great Thunderclap Monastery is a great achievement in itself. However, that Ming Xin is not a disciple of the Tathagata; he's far from it. Do you understand?"
Qin Mu casually threw this extremely precious staff onto the oxcart, curious. "How strong are the Tathagata's disciples?"
Elder Ma said calmly, "I was once a disciple of the Tathagata. When you can defeat me, only then will you be a true Overlord Body."
Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly. Every day when he and Elder Ma practiced boxing, Elder Ma only used the cultivation of the Fetal Soul realm, but even so, he still beat Qin Mu black and blue.
One had to know, Elder Ma only had one arm. If he had both arms, how terrifying would his strength be?
Qin Mu knew that he still had a long way to go in the Fetal Soul realm.
The market at Grandmother Temple would last for two days. By evening, many people began to pack up their goods and move into Grandmother Temple. This temple was very spacious, with stone statues guarding it, quite extraordinary. Hiding here, the darkness couldn't invade; it was a safe place.
Qin Mu drove the oxcart into Grandmother Temple. He looked up and saw the setting sun hanging over the mountain peak, illuminating this Celestial Wolf Palace.
After entering the temple, he understood why the Celestial Wolf Palace on the map was called Grandmother Temple. The main hall of the temple enshrined a kindly, amiable old woman.
That old woman had a kind face and kind eyes, like a little old lady from a neighboring village. There was also a hint of cunning in her eyes. The carving was very expressive and lifelike.
Qin Mu actually thought she looked a lot like Grandma Si. He took a few more glances, but when he used his Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye to look, he was startled.
This kindly old woman actually exuded a monstrous aura! Her divine light formed an incredibly tall and massive giant wolf, roaring up to the sky, as if it wanted to devour the heavens!
Besides the main hall, there was also a front hall and two side halls. In addition, there was a large garden and a pond, but the garden had no flowers or plants, and the pond was dry. At the bottom of the pond were a few bones.
Qin Mu leaned in to look. They should be fish bones, but they were very large, about six or seven zhang long. Strangely, these fish bones had skulls like dragons!
Medicine Master called him back, took out some medicine, and applied it to his wounds. On the other side, Blind and Mute were frying an egg. That hen-dragon had laid a coconut-sized egg and was clucking "cluck-cluck-cluck."
In Grandmother Temple, other villagers also began to light fires and cook. The sun was setting. After dinner, they would go to sleep.
Just then, a young man suddenly ran in from outside the temple, his face full of anxiety. He shouted loudly, "Is there a midwife here? A midwife! My wife is about to give birth!"
Everyone in the temple stood up and looked at him, but no one spoke.
Grandma Si stood up, trembling. "I've delivered babies before. I'm experienced. Can your wife wait a little longer? It's almost dark. If she can wait until tomorrow, I can go over..."
The young man fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly. "We can't wait! Please, good midwife, use your skilled hands to save us! The child is in a difficult labor! The village midwife can't handle it!"
Grandma Si looked at the setting sun, a troubled expression on her face.
"Save us! Save us!"
The young man kowtowed until his forehead bled, crying loudly. "My wife has been pregnant several times in the past few years, but she lost them all during childbirth. They were born dead! If this one is also lost, my family will have no descendants!"
Grandma Si was surprised. "They all died during childbirth?"
The young man nodded repeatedly. Grandma Si asked suspiciously, "If she can get pregnant and go into labor, it's impossible for them to be born dead. There must be something strange about this. Is your village far from here?"
"Not far! It's less than twenty li from Grandmother Temple!"
Grandma Si glanced at the setting sun and breathed a sigh of relief. "Less than twenty li? You're from Zhang Village Stockade. Zhang Village Stockade isn't far. We can make it before dark. Blind, Mu'er, come with me. There's something suspicious about this."
Qin Mu was surprised. Grandma Si usually had a strange temper, but he didn't expect her to be such a warm-hearted person.
The man quickly got up and sprinted off towards Zhang Village Stockade. He should be a martial artist, very fast. Afraid he wouldn't make it in time, he was about to turn around and urge Grandma Si and the others, but he saw that Grandma Si and Blind were steadily following behind him, and even that eleven or twelve-year-old boy had caught up.
"Your pace is too slow."
Blind said calmly, "Mu'er, carry him on your back. Speed up a bit, so the sun doesn't set."
Qin Mu immediately rushed forward, and without any explanation, he hoisted the man onto his back. "Be careful, there's a knife on my back. Don't let it cut you."
The man quickly said, "Put me down! You won't be fast carrying me..."
Before he finished speaking, suddenly the sound of wind whistled past his ears. Qin Mu leaped up, jumped out of the forest, and with the man on his back, he stepped on the leaves and sped away!
The man was horrified. The wind in his ears grew louder and louder, and he felt the boy's steps getting faster and faster. He was shocked. "How did this little brother cultivate? He's so much stronger than me!"
While running wildly, Qin Mu felt a sensation of walking on the wind. His heart stirred. "Grandpa Lame said that when he tempered his body, he was in the Fetal Soul realm, stepping on the crest of the wind to walk on the wind. If I can find the crest of the wind, can I also walk on the wind? But what is the crest of the wind?"
He had no time to think deeply while running. The man on his back was still worried about whether Grandma Si and that blind man could keep up, when suddenly he saw these two old people sitting cross-legged, following behind Qin Mu. They were being carried along by the whirlwind created by Qin Mu's mad dash, their speed no slower than Qin Mu's!
"What kind of movement technique is this?"
His mind went blank. The sun finally set behind the western mountains. Darkness rolled in from the west, covering the sky and the earth, swallowing everything in its path.
Qin Mu was extremely fast. He saw Zhang Village Stockade in the distance and immediately sprinted towards it. Just before the darkness could catch him, he finally rushed into that village!
Whoosh—
Although he stopped his body, the strong wind behind him still howled forward. Grandma Si and Blind sat calmly in the wind, floating forward more than ten zhang before stretching out their legs and standing steadily on the ground.
Qin Mu was stunned, then ecstatic. "The crest of the wind! So this is the crest of the wind!"