Chapter 7: This Night

“What conditions?” He Mu asked.

This time, Wenren Sheng learned his lesson and didn’t directly voice his wish for “family.”

He pursed his lips and answered obediently, “It’s a secret.”

He Mu couldn’t help but chuckle wryly.

“A secret?” he repeated.

“Yeah, a secret,” Wenren Sheng said. “I’ll tell you after I help you out.”

He Mu couldn’t resist pinching Wenren Sheng’s cheek and teased, “Oh, so young, and you’re already driving a hard bargain?”

Driving a hard bargain? What did that mean?

Wenren Sheng was a bit dazed. He was just about to say that all he knew how to knock was a wooden fish.

But He Mu waved it off and said, “No matter. I doubt you’ll ask for anything excessive. I promise you.”

Wenren Sheng’s eyes widened at that. He bounced in place from excitement, nearly shaking all the treasures loose from his bundle.

He… he agreed! Agreed just like that!

Wenren Sheng was so thrilled that his eyes turned a little red. He held back his tears and said in a voice thick with emotion, “I’ll do my very best!”

He Mu patted Wenren Sheng’s head and smiled. “Yeah, I believe you.”

In truth, this matter didn’t require any effort from Wenren Sheng at all.

Back before ascension, once He Mu forced out the location of the spirit root, he could have simply drawn his sword and killed the man.

But things were different now. He was part of the Immortal Registry, so he couldn’t act as recklessly or impulsively as he had in the jianghu days. Everything had to follow Heavenly Court rules.

The Heavenly Court imposed strict requirements on the Immortal Registry’s cultivation. So-called “upholding heaven’s will” and “slaying demons and eliminating evil” all came with conditions—like not abusing one’s divine graven, not punishing the innocent, not killing those whose crimes didn’t warrant death, and so on.

Only actions that met these criteria would elevate merit. Otherwise, they would degrade the divine graven, and in severe cases, one could even be demoted back to mortality.

The benefit was that for any evildoer who met the kill conditions, the Heavenly Court would issue an intangible “mandate.” He Mu would then have the authority to slay them by any means and bind their soul for reformation.

And this “mandate”—

He Mu untied a copper bell from his waist and held it out to Wenren Sheng.

“Hold out your hand,” he said.

Wenren Sheng obediently extended both hands, and He Mu placed the copper bell in his palm.

A chill instantly spread from his palm. Wenren Sheng cupped his hands slightly and gazed down at the intricately patterned copper bell.

It was a four-cornered bell with a bridge-shaped suspension loop on top, a tile-shaped body, and a glowing little orb at the clapper.

“This thing is called the Three Pure Ones Bell,” He Mu explained. “Shake it in front of a bad guy. If it rings, I’ll have the authority to execute them.”

In other words, this Three Pure Ones Bell was He Mu’s mandate for killing karma.

The Heavenly Court issued more than just this kind of mandate. For example, water marshals had to request a rain-making mandate before precipitation, and drought marshals had to request a rain-dispelling one before imposing drought.

For a killing god like He Mu, it was even more troublesome—he had to request a killing mandate every single time before taking a life.

Using spells without a mandate would degrade merit and divine graven repeatedly. So rather than calling it a “mandate,” it was more like a dog chain the Heavenly Court leashed around the necks of the Immortal Registry.

Wenren Sheng nodded, half understanding.

Anyway, this must be something important to the Mountain God, right?

Then he had to treasure it carefully.

With that thought, he carefully stowed the bell in his little bundle.

He Mu added, “In a bit, we’ll sneak into the Sword Sect under cover of night. If we run into Chen Lian, just shake this bell beside me. I’ll protect you.”

According to Wenren Sheng, Chen Lian perfectly fit the criteria for “evil.” There was no reason the Three Pure Ones Bell wouldn’t ring.

He Mu didn’t dwell on it much. He lifted the hanging curtain of the side room and beckoned to Wenren Sheng.

“Let’s go. The night is cold and the days are short—we need to hurry.”

This was Wenren Sheng’s first time playing the “hero.”

He felt a mix of tension and excitement, gripping the straps of his bundle tightly and not daring to lag a single step as he hurried after He Mu.

The teahouse wasn’t far from the Sword Sect. He Mu gauged the distance and decided against using the Earth Shrinking technique, instead leading Wenren Sheng quietly along a side path.

The Return to One Sword Sect had been thrown into chaos by He Mu during the day, so now the mountain gate was tightly shut. Only the discussion hall glowed with dim, subdued lamplight, faint shadows of people sitting rigidly visible within.

Word of He Mu being the “Mountain God” had likely spread. This group was probably holding an emergency meeting on how to make amends.

“I actually wanted to keep a low profile,” He Mu said, half-crouching on the wall with a stalk of grass in his mouth as he gazed toward the hall. “If everyone knows I’m cultivating in this area, won’t that alert the enemy? How am I supposed to catch any more villains then?”

Wenren Sheng struggled to cling to the wall bricks, his feet dangling in the air as he poked his head up with effort.

“V-very low profile!” he panted in reply.

He Mu glanced at the precarious Wenren Sheng.

The kid was so skinny it was pitiful. The apricot-yellow cloth robe hung loose on him, and his slender arms didn’t look strong at all—yet he insisted on climbing up by himself.

He Mu couldn’t bear it anymore and reached out to grab him.

But Wenren Sheng shrank back and shook his head in refusal. “Don’t help me.”

With that, he planted his feet against the wall again and huffed his way up another couple of inches, like a sparrow flapping desperately.

He was trying hard, but he was still way too far off.

By the time Wenren Sheng climbed up, Chen Lian would probably have died of old age. Where would they find that half spirit root then?

He Mu removed the grass stalk from his mouth and subtly hooked his finger, giving a little lift under Wenren Sheng’s feet.

Finally, Wenren Sheng hauled himself onto the wall. He grabbed He Mu’s robe corner and gasped for breath, swinging his legs over the edge.

“L-Look!” Wenren Sheng said smugly, hands on his hips. “I made it up.”

He Mu gave him a thumbs-up and grinned. “Yeah, impressive. I underestimated you.”

Praised like that, Wenren Sheng felt even more pumped. He itched to pull out the wooden sword right then and clash a hundred rounds with that invincible elder.

A cool breeze wound through his fingers, brushing his slightly flushed face and tousling the tuft of gray fur bobbing on his head.

Was this what it felt like to be a great hero?

So free!

It had been three years since he’d left Fragrant Ze Mountain. If He Mu hadn’t brought him down this time, Wenren Sheng would have thought he’d never see the endless sights below the mountain in his lifetime.

Turns out, heaven still had moments of favor for him.

Wenren Sheng pursed his lips, let go of the wall, and swung his legs happily.

“So happy,” he said.

“Happy about what?” He Mu asked.

He figured Wenren Sheng would say something like “becoming a great hero.” Instead, the kid curved his blue eyes and pointed to the ground at the base of the wall.

He Mu looked down. Moonlight pierced their backs, casting two blurry shadows on the earth.

One tall, one short. One big, one small.

One He Mu, one Wenren Sheng.

“Shadows,” Wenren Sheng said with a beaming smile. “There’s two now.”

This night, two people were no longer alone.

He kept the second half of that thought to himself.

After blowing in the cold wind for a while, Wenren Sheng reined in his relaxed mood.

He felt the Three Pure Ones Bell through his bundle and asked, “So now, where do we go?”

He Mu sat on the wall with one leg drawn up and pointed to a covered walkway beside the discussion hall.

“I took a quick look earlier. Chen Lian went off in that direction,” He Mu said. “Do you remember where he took you after grabbing you?”

“Hmm…”

Wenren Sheng frowned and thought hard for a moment before looking at He Mu in distress.

“It was like… a place full of books. There was a staircase going down, and below that, a furnace this—big.” Wenren Sheng gestured as he spoke.

Worried it wasn’t enough, he racked his brains and added, “Anyway, it was super hot. Bigger than two people, with a round lid, and, and…”

Luckily, He Mu waved him off. “No worries. That’s enough.”

The info was vague, but for He Mu at the Great Perfection Realm, finding the place was a piece of cake.

Wenren Sheng let out a breath of relief.

“So awesome,” he couldn’t help sighing. “If only I could be as strong as you.”

He Mu said, “It’s nothing special. Work hard, grow a bit more, and you can do it too.”

Those words lit a tiny fire in Wenren Sheng’s heart, flames dancing until his cheeks flushed faintly.

Right. As long as he worked hard, he could definitely find his own place in the world!

Before setting out, He Mu seemed uneasy and reminded him once more. “You can still back out now if you want. I’ll take you back to Fragrant Ze Mountain.”

Wenren Sheng shook his head firmly. “I’m fine. Let’s go beat that guy up now.”

“Sounds like a bandit,” He Mu laughed. “Listen up. Our plan is to first find your other half spirit root. If we run into bad guys along the way, shake the bell, then close your eyes and don’t worry about a thing. Got it?”

Wenren Sheng repeated He Mu’s words in his head, then nodded vigorously. “Shake the bell. Got it.”

After triple-checking, He Mu finally stood, scooping up Wenren Sheng and leaping silently off the wall.

The Return to One Sword Sect’s defenses were a bit tighter tonight. Not wanting to draw attention, He Mu took some extra effort to reach the covered walkway.

Nearby were two rows of side rooms for living quarters, none with plaques, so it was hard to tell who stayed where.

But He Mu was a god, after all. He’d probed Chen Lian’s spirit root earlier and knew his spiritual power aura.

He scanned briefly and quickly pinpointed Chen Lian’s location.

He Mu scooped up Wenren Sheng and nodded toward a locked side room not far off. He asked softly, “Look familiar? Feel like you’ve been there?”

Wenren Sheng stared at the utterly ordinary door for a long time but couldn’t tell anything special. He could only say vaguely, “Maybe…”

He Mu smiled. “Since you don’t remember, do you think it’s worth a try?”

Wenren Sheng answered confidently, “Yeah, definitely!”

No sooner had he spoken than his feet touched ground again.

He looked up to see He Mu had already soundlessly shifted to Chen Lian’s door.

Wenren Sheng hurried over. The two stopped like thieves at the entrance, eyes fixed on the big lock on the door.

He Mu stroked his chin thoughtfully. “He’s… under confinement?”

“It’s locked,” Wenren Sheng said. “What do we do? Should I bite it open?”

He licked his canine tooth.

When it came to bite strength, Wenren Sheng as a wolf demon had some confidence.

“No need,” He Mu waved. Succinctly, “I’ll pick it.”

With that, he drew a silver needle from his hair crown, crouched down, and worked it into the lock core, demonstrating in person.

Wenren Sheng’s eyes went wide. He couldn’t help stepping back half a pace.

Picking a lock?

Wasn’t that what thieves did?

“What’s wrong?” He Mu noticed his flinch and asked. “Want to go back?”

Wenren Sheng shook his head frantically and caught up.

“No, I don’t want to go back!”

He Mu nodded and kept fiddling with the lock.

It took Wenren Sheng a huge effort to accept that the Mountain God picked locks. He looked up at the jiggling lock and swallowed.

“You don’t seem like an immortal at all.”

He muttered softly.

He Mu kept his eyes on the lock and replied offhand, “Then what do I seem like?”

“Like one of those, um…” Wenren Sheng thought. “Jianghu wanderers.”

He’d wanted to say bandit, but that might be rude.

Wenren Sheng paused, then added, “The handsome kind. A hero.”

“Can’t jianghu folk cultivate?” He Mu chuckled. “I think those shut-ins who never leave their doors, the so-called ones purely devoted to the Dao, are the least suited for cultivation.”

Wenren Sheng half-understood. He said “oh” and went back to watching the lock.

The Great Dao, the jianghu…

Things as hard to grasp as this lock.

Seeing Wenren Sheng’s blank face, He Mu’s expression softened. Half-jokingly, he said, “I misspoke. No point lecturing big truths to a kid like you.”

“I want to listen to both big principles and small principles,” Wenren Sheng seriously retorted. “In the future, I want to become someone like you too.”

He Mu curved his eyes and said, “You really want to become an immortal who can pick locks?”

Wenren Sheng shook his head. “I want to become like you—super powerful-looking, with the strength to protect my family.”

“Family, huh…”

He Mu mulled over those two words between his teeth.

Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he turned his head to meet Wenren Sheng’s gaze.

“Oh, could it be that condition you mentioned—”

Before he could finish speaking, there came a click.

The lock cylinder turned, and the door opened.