One-Eye

From a geographical standpoint, Withered Forest Chan Temple was not far from Shanyin County. This was also a general rule for temples and monasteries everywhere under heaven.

They could not be too far from towns, lest they lose the offerings of pious men and women; nor could they be too close, lest they lose their peace and purity.

As Zhou Si and the others neared the county seat, they bade Su Che farewell, then said goodbye to the young bookboy before going to find familiar buyers to settle the medicinal herbs.

Goods entering through the city gates incurred an additional tax. Completing the transaction outside the city saved them some expense.

After Su Che had the gate clerk inspect the seal of the Ministry of Personnel, the man led him straight toward the county yamen.

The roads within Shanyin County had been rebuilt in the early years of Great Liang's founding. One broad avenue paved with bluestone ran north to south, and another east to west; all other streets and alleys were paved with yellow earth.

Shops stood shoulder to shoulder on both sides, their colorful signs dazzling the eye.

Beneath banners such as "Century-Old Diao Family Establishment," "Goods from North and South," and "Wu Blades and Shu Brocade," shopkeepers often stood with folded arms, chatting among themselves.

Yet there were few pedestrians on the streets, every one of them lifeless in expression.

Shanyin County Town seemed as though it had overslept and could not wake up.

A worn-out, weary air seeped from every corner.

The county yamen stood in the very center of the county seat. Its buildings stretched horizontally, and according to court regulations, there was a side gate on either side and a main gate at the front. This was why the jianghu called government offices the "Six Gates."

To the left of the yamen stood a warning stele. Its inscription had been decreed by the previous dynasty, bearing sixteen words: "Your salary and stipend are the people's fat and grease; the common folk are easily abused, but Heaven is not easily deceived."

"County Commandant, this is the court's warning stele. By established procedure, a newly appointed official must bow three times before it before taking office. Officials of this county must also bow once whenever entering or leaving the yamen, to show due solemnity."

"Mm." Su Che grunted.

According to court rules, a new official had to bow three times to the warning stele here as a sign of respect.

Yet when Su Che looked at those sixteen words, all he wanted to do was laugh.

The first eight words—"Your salary and stipend are the people's fat and grease"—were indeed worth a thousand pieces of gold apiece.

But then came: "The common folk are easily abused, but Heaven is not easily deceived."

Corrupt officials abused the people, and the people could only pray for Heaven to intervene. It was enough to make one laugh one's teeth out.

As they said, Heaven and Earth were unfeeling, treating all things as straw dogs.

"In summer's thaw, rivers overflowed; men might become fish and turtles. Through a thousand autumns of merit and guilt, who had ever passed judgment?"

Su Che spoke on a sudden impulse. That was why someone had written, "There has never been any savior, nor do we rely on immortals or emperors."

"County Commandant, please wait a moment. I will go have the gatekeeper open the gates."

The clerk leading the way took his leave.

The county yamen's main gates were not ordinarily opened; people usually entered through the side gates.

A new official assuming office was indeed an occasion worthy of opening the main gates.

Su Che did not wish to bow to the warning stele, and the gate clerk did not dare make things difficult for him.

The county commandant could refrain from bowing to the warning stele. If he did not bow, no one would find fault with it.

But the gate clerk could not leave the central gates unopened. Even if the county commandant did not take offense, who knew what Magistrate Jiang might think? Would Registrar Tian reprimand him as a favor to curry favor with the county commandant?

And how much attitude would the inspectors and patrol officers under the county commandant give him in order to please their superior?

To serve as a gate clerk, he naturally knew how to read the situation. Once inside the yamen, he passed on a few messages: first, he found the clerk customarily used by the county magistrate and told him the county commandant would soon enter the yamen, instructing him to begin the prepared welcoming procedures ahead of time.

Then he found one of the registrar's trusted men and had him rush to the east gate to inform Magistrate Jiang and Registrar Tian that the county commandant had arrived.

After making those arrangements, the gate clerk summoned the gatekeeper and several servants, and together they opened the main gates.

Perhaps the yamen gates had not been opened for a long time. They labored for quite a while before finally forcing them open.

The commotion on the yamen's side naturally drew the neighboring residents over to watch, eager to see what the excitement was about.

Several yamen runners stationed inside came swaggering out, gripping black-and-red water-and-fire staves. With their nostrils turned toward the sky, they shouted for the crowd not to come closer.

"What are you gawking at? A court official is taking office—what birdshit business is it of yours? Go home and gnaw your wives' feet!"

"Xue Third, I don't have a wife. But your wife's feet are fair and tender—let me have a gnaw."

"You looking for a beating?"

"Move along, move along. You poor bachelor, what are you competing with the masters for? Besides, even if anyone gets to gnaw, it won't be you. Xue Third is standing guard here, so naturally his wife's feet are being gnawed by his father for him. You're his uncle—you'll have to wait even farther back."

Su Che watched coldly, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

Because the Sword Case he had been carrying on his back was trembling softly.

When a spirit weapon gave warning, there had to be a reason.

The moment the county yamen gates opened, a foul wind sprang forth.

Su Che saw only an unbreakable mass of yellow vapor rolling out from within the gates.

A wave of fishy stench swept over him.

Once the yellow wind rolled past, where had everyone gone?

The gate clerk was gone, the yamen runners were gone, and even the watching townsfolk had vanished.

The surroundings were empty. Only the warning stele engraved with those sixteen words stood there.

"Hungry..."

A man in green walked out from the yamen.

He stood nearly a zhang tall. No features could be seen on his bald head; at the very center of his face was only one eye as large as a bowl. He wore a green kasaya, his bare feet broad as palm-leaf fans, his toes like a hawk's talons.

"Give me back my arm."

"Give me back my arm!"

He extended his right arm. A mouth split open in the center of his palm and howled without cease.

Could this be the thing he had cut down in Withered Forest Chan Temple last night?

"Monk, what are you doing here?"

Su Che steadied himself and asked.

The green-clad monster froze at his words.

"I had two arms. One was a mouth, through which I devoured the essence of Heaven and Earth. One was an ear, through which I listened to the six desires of the mortal world. Tell me, is my arm with you?"

"Your arm fell off. Why are you looking for me instead of your arm?"

The one-eyed demon monk was taken aback, and a faint ghostly gleam flashed through One-Eye.

"Good, good, good."

The bubble of illusion burst, and he woke as though from a dream.

A breeze passed through. Where was the green-clad monster now?

"County Commandant, please."

The gate clerk, along with a group of clerks and aides, had opened the gates and was waiting for Su Che to enter.

At that moment, within Withered Forest Chan Temple.

A sphere of azure light suddenly appeared in the courtyard.

It drifted and darted up and down as though drunk.

The plants within Withered Forest Chan Temple seemed to come alive, wandering about.

The flowers and grass danced with graceful charm, like delicate maidens.

The pines and cypresses frolicked and clamored like old men.

In the end, that sphere of azure light could no longer suppress its injuries and leaked a stream of Yi-Wood Essence.

"You lot are getting a bargain. Drink well, drink well."

The azure light laughed hoarsely, as though the one whose very foundation had been hewn was not itself.

"One-Eye, I told you not to go, but you insisted. See? In the end, you still suffered a loss."

A sweet, coquettish voice rang out from midair. Every word seemed to contain a thousand kinds of allure.

"I advised you last night not to seek trouble with that man, but you would not listen. In the end, one strike of his sword damaged your vital essence and injured your foundation."

The sweet voice suddenly turned husky, carrying the flavor of mature charm, as though it possessed endless elegance.

"And now you went looking for him again. Did your Calling-the-Soul Art manage to seize even a thread of his foundational vital essence?"

At those words, the azure light shuddered wildly.

"My dharma body was broken by him. If I cannot retrieve it, the very foundation of my path to enlightenment will be severed..."

"Why are you in such a hurry? With Black Mountain Freak here, why fear that your foundation cannot be restored? What did you see on this trip? Tell me and ease my boredom."

"Why didn't you go yourself?" One-Eye drew in his azure light, apparently unwilling to speak much with her.

"The Su fellow's Sword Qi is formidable. This little woman would never go test it..."

One-Eye said bitterly, "I called to him with the Calling-the-Soul Art. Not only did he not answer, he questioned me instead. Then I knew he had already broken the art. So I intended to seize him, but before I could even get close, the Sword Qi within my body suddenly surged like the tide..."

"This was the method of a seventh-rank sword cultivator, Sword-Forged Thread. That man's origins should lie with the East Sea Sword Palace. Their lineage loves nothing more than chopping bald donkeys, followed by killing demons. You idiot fit both categories all by yourself. It would be stranger if you were not unlucky."

The sweet, coquettish voice laughed several more times.

"Speaking of which, Mystic Mountain stirred again last night. Lord Dushan sent me to find you and ask whether you wanted to investigate it again. But looking at the state you are in now, forget it."

"Within Mystic Mountain lies a precious treasure of my sect." One-Eye snorted coldly. "Whenever you investigate again, just call for me."

"...You dim-witted donkey..." The sweet voice asked, "That thing did not move sooner or later, so why did it move the moment that man arrived?"