Chapter 159: The Blind Man's Eyes
That was a pair of gazes. The owner of those gazes flew through the air, patrolling the grasslands. Two beams of light fell downward, brilliant gold, illuminating the prairie, sweeping past the small village at the foot of this hillside before fading into the distance.
Qin Mu let out a breath of relief, opened the door, and looked up at the sky. He saw those two great stars trailing pillars of light behind them, covering an area of six or seven li around, growing farther and farther away.
"I wonder how Senior Brother Bashan is doing..."
He was genuinely worried.
What had just passed should have been an expert from the Loulan Golden Palace—a being at the level of a Witch King—searching all the way along. The green ox had left no traces, and this village was hidden among the woods. The villagers were all elderly, sleeping early with no lights on, so this Witch King hadn't discovered the village.
But the fact that this Witch King had flown all the way here searching for them meant that Sacrificial Wine Master Bashan hadn't managed to hold him back. It was very possible that Sacrificial Wine Master Bashan was already injured, or had fallen into a siege.
"Sleep!"
Qin Mu tossed a small jade bottle to Ling Yuxiu and said decisively: "Sister, dragon saliva has miraculous effects on your wounds. Apply it to your body first, then go straight to sleep. We'll set out at dawn tomorrow!"
Ling Yuxiu nodded and went inside. After a moment, the girl opened the door and poked her head out. Her jet-black hair cascaded down her chest, revealing half of a smooth shoulder while the rest of her body stayed hidden behind the door. She looked a bit shy: "Cowherd, there are some places I can't see. It's inconvenient to apply..."
"I'll help you!"
Fox Ling'er rushed over eagerly, laughing: "I'll help you apply it! No need to trouble the young master!"
Nothing more was said that night.
The next day, before the sky was fully light, Qin Mu was already up, stretching his limbs. Several of the village elders were also awake—the sound of feeding chickens drifted over, along with the noise of sheep being driven out of their pens, and the old folks exchanging morning greetings. For a moment, Qin Mu felt as though he had returned to the Crippled Elderly Village in the Great Ruins.
"You two lovebirds, up yet? Breakfast is ready! Come eat at my place!" came the voice of the old granny from outside the door.
Qin Mu acknowledged her, called for Ling Yuxiu and the green ox to get up, then fished Fox Ling'er out from under the blankets before walking out of the rundown house.
Just then, a voice came from outside the village: "There's a village here. Let's go ask for directions."
"Ask what? There's no way I'm lost!"
A voice full of fiery temper sneered: "I've been there before! I even blocked the place for a hundred days! How could I possibly be lost?"
Qin Mu froze, an expression of disbelief spreading across his face. He hurried toward the village entrance.
"Asking for directions can't hurt. You say you remember the way, but you've been leading me around in circles on this grassland for so long. I'm not like that bastard Cripple who can run so fast..."
Qin Mu quickly arrived at the village entrance. There he saw a blind man hobbling along, tapping the ground with a bamboo staff, and beside him a half-bodied old man with a scruffy beard, two butcher knives strapped to his back, looking utterly ferocious.
Qin Mu was overjoyed. He rushed over and, without a word, scooped up the half-bodied old man in a tight embrace, squeezing him hard. Then he tossed the half-bodied old man aside and wrapped his arms tightly around the thin, withered old blind man.
"Butcher, I told you we went the wrong way again!"
The blind man quickly turned his head to avoid Qin Mu, struggling as he called out to the Butcher, who was now sitting in the corner looking dazed: "You said you were taking me beyond the border, and what happened? You led me right back to the Great Ruins, back to our village! Mu'er, let go! You're squeezing me to death! Where's the Village Chief? Did Granny come back too? Pharmacist, Pharmacist, stop hiding! I can see you!"
After a moment, the Blind Man and the Butcher greeted the village elders. Seeing that these two were even older than themselves, and crippled to boot, the elders were deeply impressed, silently praising them as old but still going strong.
Ling Yuxiu walked out of the house, having just washed her hair. When she saw the two old men, she was startled and quickly ducked back inside, her heart pounding: "They're the two old men who scared me and Young General Qin on the Yong River that day!"
Qin Mu moved away from the village elders, took out the cloth pouch at his waist, lifted its bottom, and reached inside to rummage around. After a moment, he pulled out a pair of legs, then dragged out half a torso, saying: "Grandpa Butcher, is this gleaming golden lower half the one you lost?"
"No. That's not my body."
The Butcher examined the gleaming golden lower half. After a moment, he sliced into one of the legs with his knife, touched the golden blood that flowed out, and said suspiciously: "This body seems to be a Witch Lord's. I fought that old bastard once, so I'm familiar with his blood. This lower half is mostly dead already—useless."
Qin Mu also stepped forward to touch the golden blood. It was half-coagulated, but still contained traces of fiery nature. One drop of blood was even swimming around his fingertip, trying to burrow into his body.
Qin Mu quickly activated his primordial qi, transforming it into Vermilion Bird primordial qi, and burned it continuously. It took considerable effort before he managed to burn that drop of blood dry. He said: "Since this is the Witch Lord's lower half, then Grandpa Butcher's lower half must be on the Martial Lord."
"That old bastard admired me so much he went this far?"
The Butcher stroked his beard, puffing up with pride: "So then—is the son he fathered his son or my son?"
The stubble on his face was as hard as steel needles, and when his hand ran over it, it made a crackling sound.
The more he thought about it, the more pleased he became, and he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The Blind Man said unhurriedly: "If he really did give birth to a son for you—or a whole litter of sons—would you acknowledge them or not?"
The Butcher froze, then his face fell. All his earlier smugness vanished without a trace.
The Blind Man's single remark struck the Butcher down into dejection. He then turned to Qin Mu: "Mu'er, what are you all doing here?"
Qin Mu explained the whole sequence of events. The Blind Man exclaimed: "You actually went to block the gates of the Loulan Golden Palace? That's bold of you. I came out this time with the Butcher because we were also heading to the Loulan Golden Palace. We found out that the Butcher's lower half was seized by the Golden Palace. The Butcher says he's going to retrieve it, though we don't know if it can still be reattached."
Qin Mu laughed: "If the lower half is dead, then it definitely can't be reattached. But since Grandpa Butcher's lower half is on the Witch Lord, that means the Witch Lord must have attached it while Grandpa Butcher's lower half was still alive. As long as we find the Witch Lord and cut off his lower half, I can help Grandpa Butcher reattach his body!"
The Blind Man smiled and said: "That's a small matter. That bastard Butcher will finally be whole again. Before, he didn't even have a bird."
The Butcher flew into a rage: "I can manifest my body with primordial qi! How could I not have a bird? I can piss and shit just fine!"
The two started arguing again, giving Qin Mu a headache.
Qin Mu quickly interjected: "Senior Brother Bashan is still trapped in the Loulan Golden Palace, and we don't know if he's alive or dead. Grandpas..."
The Butcher shook his head: "Don't worry about that bastard. He's got no filter on his mouth—he blabs everything out, chattering endlessly. When I met him in Yankang, I was surprised he hadn't been beaten to death for saying the wrong things. I found him too talkative and was afraid he'd latch onto me, so I left."
That said, he immediately wanted to set out for the Loulan Golden Palace. He was still worried about Sacrificial Wine Master Bashan's safety.
Fox Ling'er and Ling Yuxiu had already packed their bundles. Ling Yuxiu went to the old granny's and the old man's home and left a few gold ingots. Though they had only stayed for one night, they had been well cared for by the village elders. And since all the villagers were elderly with no young people around, leaving some money would help them get through their remaining years.
The Butcher glanced at Ling Yuxiu. Clearly, he didn't remember this Seventh Princess. He laughed: "Not bad taste, you little rascal. That girl's not bad looking."
Ling Yuxiu gathered her courage and stepped forward to greet him and the Blind Man, saying: "The green ox ran out early this morning to graze. He hasn't come back yet."
"Let's go find him."
The group left the village and saw a giant green ox grazing on the grassland. As he chewed, tears streamed down his face like rain, and he muttered to himself: "Ever since I followed my master, I've always eaten vegetables. I've never eaten grass. My master even built me a vegetable patch of several mu, and planted flowers for me too..."
Fox Ling'er ran up and said: "Ox Two, stop crying. Your master's master is here! Your master is saved!"
When the green ox saw the Blind Man and the Butcher with only his upper half remaining, his ox face twitched. He had some doubts about these two's abilities.
Everyone climbed onto the ox's back. Qin Mu said: "Green Ox, don't worry. They're very powerful. Let's hurry to the Loulan Golden Palace and rescue Senior Brother Bashan."
The green ox had no choice but to start running back along the road they had come. On the ox's back, Ling Yuxiu looked back and saw that the small mountain village had vanished into the woods, no longer visible.
"Those elders said that the Khans beyond the border are busy killing each other—you attack me, I attack you. That shows that the lands beyond the border are feeling the pressure from Yankang's rise."
Ling Yuxiu steadied herself and said: "They also want to establish a unified empire, gathering all their strength to contend with Yankang. This Khan of the Mandi Kingdom should be an ambitious ruler with grand aspirations. If he manages to unify the lands beyond the border, I'm afraid Yankang will be in trouble. Right now, Yankang is plagued by internal strife..."
Qin Mu nodded: "There must be instigation from the Loulan Golden Palace behind this. After all, the Loulan Golden Palace is a sacred land. If they support the Khan of the Mandi Kingdom, unifying the lands beyond the border wouldn't be difficult. I suspect the Loulan Golden Palace is also hesitating—worried about nurturing another Yankang and losing control over the borderlands. That's why the Mandi Kingdom hasn't unified the borderlands yet."
Ling Yuxiu thought about it. Indeed, that made sense.
But the three sacred lands within Yankang—the Daoist Sect, the Great Thunderclap Monastery, and the Heavenly Demon Cult—none of them supported Yankang. Not only did they not support it, some sects were even causing rebellions.
If the Mandi Kingdom received full support from the Golden Palace, they might well have the strength to attack Yankang.
The green ox galloped along for most of the day when suddenly the Blind Man said: "Stop."
The green ox quickly halted. The Blind Man pointed southwest and said: "Go that way. I can see people fighting over there."
The green ox was puzzled. The Blind Man could see people fighting over there? How could he see?
But he didn't dare ask, so he could only turn and gallop southwest.
Ling Yuxiu was also confused. She looked at Qin Mu, who explained: "Grandpa Blind is the one with the best eyesight in our village."
The Blind Man looked smug. Ling Yuxiu looked at his "eyes"—his eye sockets were empty, with nothing in them. She thought to herself: "Why would a blind man have the best eyesight? What kind of logic is that..."
The green ox hadn't run far when, in the distance, they could see flashes of blade light crisscrossing a mountain peak. But it was too far away—only faint glimmers were visible. Only then did the green ox feel genuine admiration for the Blind Man.
Ling Yuxiu was astonished: "Is he really blind?"
The Butcher also praised: "The Blind Man's eyesight is truly excellent."
Read the full chapter at: