Chapter 1696 — The Eighth Ancient Tree

"The World Tree and Guixu — their places in the cosmos never change, not through all eternity."

The old man said, "Once the positions of the World Tree and Guixu are fixed, we have a point of reference, and the distribution map of the Dao trees of the sixteenth epoch can be matched one to one against the ultimate void of the seventeenth epoch. With that in hand, finding where Taiyi lies should not be difficult."

Shen Mu nodded, his heart light and easy, and laughed. "Once we find Taiyi, he should have a way to wake the Paralytic. And once I deal with this forest of obelisks, I can set the Paralytic free."

He made it sound simple enough, but both the old man and the old woman knew the difficulty in it.

Taiyi was not imprisoned here; he must be imprisoned somewhere else. Here, Taiyi had broken through the seals — but there, no one had. So Shen Mu would have to break them himself.

"There may be peril on this journey. Take Little Shang with you."

The old man said, "Though Shang Jun attained the Dao through killing, he is no wanton slaughterer. With him beside you, young master, the road will be far less dangerous. And he knows the distribution of the Dao trees well; he can help you find Taiyi the sooner."

Shen Mu nodded. Taking Shang Jun away from this place should not be too hard.

"Then..."

He looked around the circle and smiled. "Gentlemen, will you tell me now whose Dao tree the eighth one is?"

Counting the pig and the Paralytic, there were only seven people in the village — yet there were eight Dao trees. Clearly, besides these seven, there was an eighth.

The woman laughed. "The young master jests again. There is only us here. Where would an eighth person be?"

Shen Mu was startled and looked at the others. The girl with the horn braids said, "There truly is no eighth person here."

The pig head on the platter said, "We would not deceive the young master. There truly is no eighth person such as you describe. And not only is there no eighth person — there is no eighth Dao tree either."

The old woman's heart stirred, and she said quickly, "Young master, you have been speaking all along of eight Dao trees. Surely you were not merely testing us?"

Shen Mu laughed despite himself. "I told you long ago — I am kind, charitable, a good man brimming with compassion. Would I test you? ... Wait. You do not know that there are eight trees in your village?"

The old woman's face turned grave, and she nodded.

The others nodded as well, one after another. The air grew heavy.

The old man said, "All this time we thought the young master was testing us, and that was why he spoke of eight trees. But in our eyes there are only seven trees here, and only we seven are imprisoned here."

A faint sense of foreboding rose in Shen Mu's heart. He asked in a low voice, "You cannot see the eighth tree?"

They all shook their heads.

The air grew heavier still.

Shen Mu could see that Dao tree because the vertical eye in the center of his brow was truly powerful — it could see through even chaos itself. But they had no such holy pupil.

Suddenly the girl laughed. "Young master, you are joking, aren't you? Don't frighten Yaya..."

The pig head on the platter gave a sudden shudder; its two ears pressed down over its eyes, yet left a crack open, and it stole glances all around.

Shen Mu's thoughts stirred, and he withdrew his sword Dao. The pig god at once felt the sword wound that had blocked the restoration of its flesh vanish, and hastily pieced its body back together.

Shen Mu smiled. "Most likely my divination arts were taught by the Celestial Master of Martial Combat, Zhuo Cha, and I have reckoned wrongly. I can take one person out of here. To take all of you out, I would have to break the obelisk forest, and I do not yet have the strength for that. I can only trouble you all to remain here a while longer, until I have strength enough, and then I will return to break the obelisk forest and rescue you."

The old man walked to a tree, his brow furrowed with care, and smiled bitterly. "The whole purpose of my staying here is to guard the Paralytic. While the Paralytic does not wake, I cannot leave. Even if the young master breaks the obelisk forest, I still cannot leave this place."

He sat down on a stone, lit his tobacco, and puffed at his water pipe, his dim old eyes glancing at Shen Mu from time to time.

The old woman tottered over to another tree and chuckled hoarsely. "Old monster, I will stay here and keep you company." She sat down, basking lazily in the sun, and lifted a hand to take the hairpin from her hair.

Shang Jun walked toward the edge of the village. "I will wait for the young master outside the village. Do not tarry too long."

Zhu Santong hoisted his Dao tree onto his shoulder and laughed. "This fight was a case of not knowing each other till blows were exchanged. I, Old Zhu, misjudged the young master before. I beg the young master's pardon. I will go plant my tree first."

The girl, cradling her Dao fruit, skipped over to her own Dao tree and laughed. "I still have to hang my Dao fruit on the tree."

The woman sighed. "I had meant to invite the young master to a simple meal, but so much has happened. Young master, I must see to the Paralytic's clothes. Once they are washed, I will hang them on the Paralytic's Dao tree to dry."

She picked up the basin, went to the Paralytic's Dao tree, and hung his clothes on it.

That done, the woman went to the tree by the old well, took out her washing bat, and began beating the other clothes.

At the village entrance, Shang Jun stood beneath his own Dao tree, the veins standing out on his hands. Only half a blade remained in his grip; though Shen Mu had cut the saber in two, it had not much diminished his strength.

The girl poked her head out from the crown of her Dao tree, her face anxious, staring fixedly at Shen Mu's movements.

The old man smoked his water pipe; the old woman combed her hair; Zhu Santong planted his Dao tree and, transformed into a black wild boar, rooted at the soil with snout and tusks, packing the earth firm, his small eyes rolling shiftily all the while.

The woman beat at the clothes now and then, forgetting to add water.

In their eyes, Shen Mu shifted his steps and came to an empty patch of ground, where there was nothing at all — yet Shen Mu raised his hand and reached gently forward.

Their nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Suddenly, Shen Mu seemed to touch something.

The hidden eighth Dao tree!

The instant Shen Mu's fingertip touched that Dao tree, six figures burst forth!

The girl plunged down from the tree like a swallow skimming water, her body hugging the ground, her toes touching and instantly lifting her into flight; she bit her tongue hard, spat out Dao blood, smeared it on the Dao fruit in her hand, and the fruit blazed with light!

The woman swung up her washing bat, her steps crossing, her body spinning like the wind, bellowing again and again, whirling the bat down with all her might at the place Shen Mu had touched!

Zhu Santong roared, tore up the Dao tree he had just planted, and became a black wild boar towering to the heavens; rearing up on his hind legs, he swept the Dao tree at the spot where Shen Mu's fingers rested!

At the same moment, Shang Jun's broken saber, the old man's water pipe, and the old woman's hairpin all struck together!

The six of them put forth their full strength, and their momentum was in no way inferior to when they had besieged Shen Mu before!

They knew well that they had but one chance to strike. This Dao tree hidden among them had been hidden for billions of years, never once detected by them — proof that its owner's strength was unfathomably deep!

If the other side were given any warning, then even joining hands they might not be able to touch him at all!

So this one blow had to destroy the other's Dao tree, extinguish the other's Dao fruit, and ruin the other's cultivation!

Boom!