Chapter 63: Ten, Too, Gui
In the air, a thin strand of light flew in and hid among the village chief’s hair. The village chief acted as if nothing had happened, stepped down from the sky, and returned to the Cripples’ Village.
A hundred miles away, downstream of the Yong River, the river turned here, winding around a mountain and flowing through a canyon. The ice surge was blocked here, accumulating more and more, eventually clogging the river channel.
“Wu Girl, stop!”
The hundred-legged white-bone centipede woman carried Qin Mu through the air, writhing like a dragon as she moved swiftly forward. Upon hearing this, she landed on a peak on the left bank of the canyon and sneered, “Brat, why should I listen to you?”
Qin Mu jumped off her back and said with a puzzled look, “I saved you from your predicament. To repay me, you should naturally help me break through the ice dam.”
Wu Girl’s body shook, and she transformed back into Xian Qing’er. With chains dragging from her hands and feet, she hopped and skipped around Qin Mu, circling him a few times, the chains clattering. Then she leaned in from behind him, bringing her face close to his, and giggled, “You helped me, so I have to repay you? Have you forgotten? Last time, you made me suffer terribly! That old bald donkey almost refined me to death! And you stole all the treasures I’d hidden over the years! I should eat you first!”
Qin Mu smiled. “But you wouldn’t dare.”
Wu Girl’s neck suddenly stretched several zhang long, wrapping around Qin Mu a few times until they were almost face to face. She sneered, “I wouldn’t dare? There’s no old bald donkey to help you now. Why wouldn’t I dare?”
“I live in the Cripples’ Village. My family has nine adults, and every one of them could kill you easily.”
Qin Mu said with a faint smile, “No matter how you change your appearance or how far you flee, they can find you easily, kill you easily, and make you regret ever being born.”
Wu Girl shivered a few times, retracted her neck, and turned back into the cute, icy little girl. She shook the golden rings and chains on her hands as she hopped around, saying, “I’m afraid of your family’s adults, but that doesn’t mean I have to help you. That old bald donkey was right—you saved me, so I should go do evil, eat people, and wreak havoc! Why should I help you save people? I’m leaving!”
She turned and walked away, chains clattering.
Qin Mu suddenly said, “Wu Girl, the Buddhist saying ‘lay down the butcher’s knife and become a Buddha on the spot’ is too lenient, with no distinction between good and evil, and not worth believing. However, if you help me clear the dammed lake and save countless lives downstream, that will be your merit—far greater than that copper Buddha’s.”
Wu Girl stopped, twisting her head around to listen curiously.
Qin Mu continued, “If you come with me to save people, your merit and virtue will surpass that copper Buddha’s by a hundred times! The next time you meet him, will he still have the face to suppress you?”
Wu Girl tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then burst out laughing. “You make a good point. I’ll help you. Heh heh, that old bald donkey is all hypocrisy. He said I ate too many people and righteously suppressed me, claiming the surging river would wash away my sins. I told him, I eat people without distinguishing good from evil—I’m just hungry and need to eat, just like you humans eat rice, chicken, and vegetables. When you’re hungry, you eat.”
She looked down at the blocked river channel and said, “I have no feelings for the people I ate, so I treated them as food. You have no feelings for vegetables and rice, so you eat them. The bald donkey called it twisted logic and suppressed me. Fine by me—I’ll just eat people in his temple and make sure he gets no merit! But if my merit surpasses his, let’s see how he can still suppress me! Hmm, there’s too much ice in this river. If I still had my spirit weapon, I could break through it, but that bald donkey took it all…”
*Zheng!*
Qin Mu activated the Shaobao Sword, using his qi to control it, and slashed at the ice blocking the canyon below, shouting, “Wu Girl, help me!”
“This sword that cut the chains?”
Wu Girl’s eyes lit up. She immediately revealed her true form, all hundred legs moving at once as she flipped down the cliff. Qin Mu jumped, landing on her back. The hundred-legged white-bone centipede flew through the air, legs churning and body writhing, carrying Qin Mu straight toward the clogged ice surge.
“Chop!”
Qin Mu roared as the Shaobao Sword slashed toward the ice surge. At the same time, Wu Girl opened her mouth and spat out a terrifying surge of demonic primordial energy, which wildly poured into the Shaobao Sword.
The sword suddenly expanded, growing to a hundred zhang in length, and struck the ice surge!
The ice surge was growing higher and higher, with floating ice constantly being pushed onto the dam by the surging river, making it taller. If this continued, it would surely become a catastrophe for all life on both banks of the Yong River!
The Shaobao Sword cut through the air, the blade slicing the air and creating two visible walls of wind. Then the hundred-zhang giant sword struck the ice dam, cutting through it like tofu, slicing all the way to the bottom.
“Not good!”
Wu Girl’s face changed drastically. She tried to fly up, but it was too late. The ice dam, struck by the surging river, immediately collapsed. Countless chunks of ice, driven by the raging water, crashed down toward them!
This scene was clearly a disaster of epic proportions.
Before the collapsing ice dam even reached them, the hurricane-force winds pressed them down from the air. Wu Girl struggled to fly, trying to escape, but the falling ice and river water caught up.
*Chi chi chi!*
Countless ice shards flew everywhere. Suddenly, Qin Mu felt a sharp pain on his cheek as a piece of ice grazed it, cutting a gash.
His primordial energy was formidable, and his defenses were strong enough to withstand a beating from the violent ape without injury. But the ice shards were moving so fast that they could still hurt him. If the ice dam fell on him, the danger would be unimaginable.
Wu Girl carried him as they fled, with large and small chunks of ice and roaring waves whizzing past them. Then the hurricane, along with the ice and giant waves, slammed into them, sending the pair flying!
*Thump, thump.*
Two dull sounds came from the cliff face opposite them. Rocks shattered and flew as Qin Mu and Wu Girl were embedded in the cliff wall—one pressed into a “ten” shape, the other into a string of “gui” shapes.
Then, a piercing sword whistle sounded. Qin Mu heard it and knew something was wrong—the whistle was heading straight for him!
He quickly spread his legs apart, and with a *ding*, the Shaobao Sword nearly stabbed into his thigh.
*Whoosh!*
Qin Mu let out a long breath. Now he was in a “tai” shape, with the Shaobao Sword half a foot away from his body.
Beside him, the great demon let out a snorting laugh. Qin Mu couldn’t help but laugh too. Their laughter grew louder, echoing through the canyon.
Below them, the river roared and surged. A crisis had been averted by this strange pair.
After a while, Qin Mu and Wu Girl, who had transformed back into Xian Qing’er, sat on the cliff. They leaned back, hands propping them up from behind, and gazed at the blue sky and white clouds above, their hearts at peace.
“Who was that copper Buddha?” Qin Mu asked.
“From the Lesser Thunderclap Temple. He attained enlightenment as a non-human, just like me—a demon.”
Wu Girl swung the golden rings on her feet and said, “I heard that the founder of the Lesser Thunderclap Temple originally joined the Buddhist faith and became a disciple of the Greater Thunderclap Temple. Later, he rebelled and founded the Lesser Thunderclap Temple, calling himself the Lesser Tathagata. Rumor has it that the Tathagata of the Greater Thunderclap Temple forced him out, leaving him no place to stand, so he entered the Great Ruins and moved the Lesser Thunderclap Temple here. The successive abbots of the Lesser Thunderclap Temple have all been demons like me, but they call themselves the Lesser Tathagata. The one who suppressed me in that old temple was this generation’s Lesser Tathagata of the Lesser Thunderclap Temple. You cut his chains and freed me. Heh heh, you’re in for it!”
“Lesser Thunderclap Temple? Lesser Tathagata?”
Qin Mu was stunned. “This Lesser Thunderclap Temple is in the Great Ruins?”
“Of course. Demon monks aren’t rare. The monks of the Lesser Thunderclap Temple are petty and vengeful, especially their Lesser Tathagata!”
Wu Girl giggled. “Given that old bald donkey’s temper, he’ll definitely come looking for you!”
Suddenly, a furious shout rang out, “As a human, you’re consorting with a man-eating demon! It seems we disciples must uphold righteousness and eliminate evil today!”
Qin Mu looked over and saw several Daoists approaching—an old man and a few young men and women. The old Daoist had a righteous air, while the young ones looked excited, clearly strong cultivators from outside who had entered the Great Ruins for training.
“Honored Daoists, this demon and I just resolved a crisis by clearing this dammed lake, saving countless lives downstream.”
Qin Mu stood up and said solemnly, “This demon saved many lives. She is not…”
“Shut up, abandoned one!”
The old Daoist, full of righteous indignation, shouted sternly, “Consorting with a demon and aiding evil makes you even more deserving of death! Today, we’ll eliminate you both! Disciples, form the formation! Subdue the demon and vanquish the evil!”
“I’m hungry.” The little girl beside Qin Mu licked her red lips and said to him.
“Some people are worse than demons.”
Qin Mu, feeling dispirited, leaped from the river and plunged into the Yong River below. His voice came back, “Wu Girl, I’ve freed you today. You’re free!”
He fell into the river and walked away across the waves.
Up on the canyon, a series of bloodcurdling screams rang out. Wu Girl revealed her true form and went on a killing spree. Before long, the demon was full. She ran at full speed, then leaped into the air, writhing through the clouds until she disappeared.
“Cowherd boy, we’ll meet again if fate allows!” The demon cloud caught up to Qin Mu, and Wu Girl’s voice came from within before the cloud drifted away.