Chapter 210: Admitting Defeat (Third Update!)
Qin Mu reattached Old Man Ma's arm and Old Man Cripple's leg, then placed the two elders in the medicine cauldron. He filled the cauldron with a full load of medicinal soup and boiled them, instructing Fox Spirit to tend the fire at the cauldron's edge.
He walked out of the room and saw that it was already late in the day. Qin Mu came to the courtyard and noticed that the Scholar's Residence was completely empty—everyone must have run off to take shelter. Only the Heavenly Demon King of Dutian was still standing in the alley of the Scholar's Residence, unable to move.
Qin Mu stepped forward and opened the belly of the divine statue. Inside the statue's belly were hundreds of intricate gears. Qin Mu reached in and fiddled with the gears twice. The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian immediately felt his legs and feet able to move again. He quickly turned to run, but after a few steps, a series of cracking sounds came from within his body, and all his joints locked up once more.
"Long Da, drag him back into the courtyard." Qin Mu said to the Qilin Dragon at the entrance.
The Qilin Dragon wagged its tail, waddled forward with its big belly, bit one of the Heavenly Demon King of Dutian's legs, toppled the demon king over, and dragged him clanking and clattering back into Qin Mu's courtyard, tossing him into a corner.
"Damn you! If you've got the guts, fight me for three hundred rounds!"
The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian cursed loudly: "What kind of hero are you, locking me up like this?"
Qin Mu paid him no attention, quietly mixing medicinal herbs. Suddenly, lightning radiance flickered on the divine statue's body, trying to fly out of the statue. But immediately, various runic marks surfaced on the statue's exterior. The runic marks grew bright, trapping the lightning radiance inside the statue.
The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian cursed furiously. The statue's surface was branded with the sealing runes of the Loulan Golden Palace—runic marks Qin Mu had learned from the talisman treasures in the Loulan Golden Palace's treasury. He had secretly imprinted them on the statue while refining it.
Qin Mu had also worried that the demon king might still escape after taking possession of the statue, so he had added this runic seal as well.
Qin Mu finished preparing the medicine, turned to the demon king in the corner, and said seriously: "If you teach me all the Netherworld language you know, I'll release you."
"Like I'd believe your nonsense!"
The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian roared angrily: "Don't think I'll fall for your tricks again!"
Qin Mu looked honest and sincere, speaking earnestly: "We can sign the Earth Lord's Pact, then you can rest assured."
"Rest assured, my ass!"
"Hey hey, why are you cursing at people, you demon king?"
"Love your ass! Don't think I'll believe a single word you say again. If I believe one word of yours, I'm your grandson!"
...
Old Man Cripple and Old Man Ma lay comfortably in the large cauldron. The medicinal soup in the cauldron bubbled and gurgled, popping as the bubbles burst.
"Little fox, add more fire."
Old Man Cripple squinted his eyes, watching his big gold chain float up from the water. He glanced back at the still-cursing Heavenly Demon King of Dutian and chuckled: "This kid Mu'er has really grown up. I originally thought you and I would need to make a move to get rid of this blasted demon king, but he handled it all by himself. Now I'm starting to worry—not about him, but about the people who oppose him. Speaking of which, who did this kid learn to be so cunning and vicious from?"
Old Man Ma stared at Old Man Cripple.
His big gold chain also floated up from the water, the gold paint nearly boiled off.
Old Man Cripple said puzzled: "Everyone in the village is a good person. Who did this kid learn such treachery from? Could it be that he turned bad after leaving the village?"
Old Man Ma continued staring at him.
Old Man Cripple chuckled: "What are you looking at me for? Do I have flowers on my face? You're making my skin crawl. Old Man Ma, did you used to be a constable? Every time you look at me, my heart feels uneasy."
Old Man Ma turned his head away and said calmly: "I worked as a constable in the Protectorate for decades, then took a post at the Grand Court. After solving a major case, my name spread across the land. That's when the Great Thunderclap Temple found me, and I stopped continuing that line of work."
"No wonder. Your gaze makes my skin crawl. Those monks at the Great Thunderclap Temple really are meddlesome—you'd already left the order, and they still came looking for you."
The two were boiled all night. During that time, Qin Mu changed the medicine once. When dawn broke, Old Man Ma and Old Man Cripple got up and washed up neatly. Qin Mu had already prepared breakfast, and the family sat down to eat a peaceful meal. Fox Spirit ran off to help Qin Mu wash the dishes. Old Man Cripple stood up and chuckled: "Mu'er, Old Man Ma and I won't be staying at your place anymore. We're leaving now."
Qin Mu quickly dried the water on his hands and said: "I'll see you two grandfathers off."
Old Man Ma waved his hand: "No need. Seeing that you're doing well, Cripple and I can rest easy. We're old now—you can already protect yourself."
Old Man Cripple still leaned on his cane, glanced at him, and chuckled: "Old Man Ma is getting sentimental again. Fine then, come see us off. If you don't, he'll be upset for two or three days."
Qin Mu followed them, escorting them all the way down the mountain, saying: "Old Man Ma, Grandpa Cripple, your arm and leg were just reattached. You can't use them too forcefully yet—you need to recuperate for a year or two. And you should also exercise your hand and leg regularly to avoid leaving lasting problems."
Old Man Ma nodded.
Old Man Cripple sighed: "I've gotten used to having one leg for twenty or thirty years. Having the chopped-off leg suddenly grow back feels strangely unfamiliar."
Old Man Ma agreed deeply: "Being crippled for half my life, and now my hand is back—I always feel like I don't need this hand."
Qin Mu escorted them to the mountain gate. Old Man Cripple chuckled: "Go back now, no need to see us off further."
Old Man Ma waved: "Remember to come home for the New Year."
"I'll definitely be back!"
Qin Mu nodded solemnly, watching the two leave.
Old Man Ma and Old Man Cripple walked out of the capital city. Old Man Cripple sighed emotionally: "The little kid we picked up back then has really grown up. We almost gave him away back then."
Old Man Ma nodded: "Almost. Good thing you stole him back."
"This little fellow has been taught by us not to be so easily taken advantage of or fooled. I always worried he'd suffer losses out in the world, but now I can go back to the village with peace of mind..."
Old Man Cripple stopped mid-sentence, and Old Man Ma also stopped. The two elders looked toward the Tu River ahead. On the river's surface, a middle-aged man stood at the center of the river. Waves surged violently beneath his feet, yet he remained perfectly still.
"National Preceptor, are your wounds healed?" Old Man Cripple raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile.
The Yan Kang National Preceptor nodded: "My wounds are healed. What about yours, you two?"
Old Man Ma flexed his shoulder and said in a deep voice: "Just barely enough for a fight."
Old Man Cripple shook his leg and sighed: "Mu'er said I shouldn't use too much force yet, but if we need to fight, I can manage with one leg. The National Preceptor certainly has patience—hearing us in the room that day, knowing I stole something from your house, yet still choosing to retreat and enduring until now. That's truly not easy."
The Yan Kang National Preceptor said calmly: "My wounds hadn't healed that day, so I had to yield. You two are both senior experts, not evil people. Even though you stole things, it was only for disaster relief. I don't want to fight with you two. As long as you hand over the Imperial Edict, I'll let you both leave without harming our goodwill."
"The Imperial Edict?"
Old Man Cripple exchanged a glance with Old Man Ma and chuckled: "That Imperial Edict thing—I studied it for over twenty years without figuring out any of its mysteries. Giving it to you wouldn't be a problem, but that thing has already been given away."
"Given away?"
Suddenly, a galaxy of stars appeared above the Yan Kang National Preceptor's head—a brilliant river of stars, the constellations wavering. Clearly, his heart was not calm: "Given to whom?"
"To the Court Physician of your Yan Kang Kingdom."
Old Man Cripple chuckled, then walked off side by side with Old Man Ma.
"The Court Physician?"
The Yan Kang National Preceptor was stunned for a moment. Watching the two leave, he did not make a move. He murmured softly: "The Imperial Edict was given to him? He actually dared to accept it? Is he planning to rebel? This Imperial Edict was bestowed by the gods upon the founding emperor, symbolizing imperial authority. And it's said to hide a secret... Should I go ask him for it back?"
He stood at the center of the river, pondering for a long while, then shook his head and turned to leave: "Imperial authority isn't decided by a piece of jade edict. Imperial authority depends on the will of the people—it has nothing to do with the Imperial Edict."
At the Scholar's Residence, Qin Mu poured out the medicinal soup, cleaned the cauldron and medicine stove, scrubbing them several times until no trace of stain remained, then placed them out in the sun to dry.
Fox Spirit also helped with the cleaning. She spotted a jade ring on the table and exclaimed in surprise: "Young Master, those two gentlemen dropped something!"
Qin Mu leaned over to look. Some of the text on the jade ring kept flowing and changing, looking very familiar. He said: "This is... Grandpa Cripple's Imperial Edict. He must have left it here. When I went into the darkness of the Great Ruins with the Village Chief, Grandpa Cripple hung this Imperial Edict around my neck, though it never came in handy. Why would Grandpa Cripple leave the Imperial Edict here? He's always been one to pick things up along the way—he's never lost anything..."
He shook his head, tied the Imperial Edict together with his own jade pendant, and thought to himself: "I'll return it to him when I go back to the village." Then he dragged the Heavenly Demon King of Dutian out again, opened the statue's belly, fiddled with it a bit, changed the gear trajectory, and said: "Demon King, you can move now."
The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian sneered: "You're mocking me. I won't move. You little brat—when my true body descends, I'll make you wish you were dead!"
Fox Spirit stood up on her hind legs, hands on her hips: "My young master already has a hundred ways to make you wish you were dead right now!"
Qin Mu said meaningfully: "Ling'er, that's too few. How could a hundred be enough?"
The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian laughed coldly: "Little brat, use whatever tricks you have. If I'm afraid, then I've failed tens of thousands of years of cultivation."
Qin Mu tried to persuade him: "Why bother? We're both practitioners of the demonic path—I'm demonic too. Teach me the Netherworld language you know, and I'll let you go. Wouldn't that be a win-win?"
"Pah!" The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian spat.
Qin Mu sneered: "I'll send you to the Qingyang Hall and have Zen Master Faqing recite Buddhist scriptures at you every day. Zen Master Faqing loves converting demons—he'd be more than happy to do it."
The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian sneered: "Heh heh, I'm a demon who became a god. Does he think he can convert me? That Zen Master Faqing you mentioned—let him come. We'll see whether he converts me, or I turn him into a demon!"
Qin Mu hesitated. The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian's demonic nature ran deep. If Zen Master Faqing came to redeem him, he'd most likely end up being converted himself—turned into a demon.
"Young Master, why hasn't he turned us into demons?" Fox Spirit asked puzzled.
The Heavenly Demon King of Dutian was furious and shouted: "You little fox demon—do you even need me to turn you into demons? You're already demons to begin with! I admit defeat this time! Just give me a quick death!"
Qin Mu shook his head and said softly: "I'm not that kind of person. Ling'er, from now on he'll follow you. I'll teach you how to operate the mechanisms here."
—Third update, brothers! If you have votes, please cast them~~