The disheveled elder closed his eyes. "If you cannot find the reincarnated holy child, you know the consequences."
The Shaman Sovereign bowed, carrying the Butcher's lower half as he retreated from the sacred hall. After leaving the hall, sounds of chewing came from within, as if something was eating Witch King Jiacuo's corpse.
The Shaman Sovereign's eye twitched again, a sharp pain shooting through his waist. He had merely placed his own body roughly onto Witch King Jiacuo's lower half, forcefully connecting them with magical power. But their flesh had not grown together—bones, sinews, meridians, blood essence, and vital energy remained separate.
He would have to use a secret medicine to fuse them together, to transform Jiacuo's body into his own.
Since obtaining the Butcher's lower half, he had thought his achievements in this life could finally advance further. He never expected the Butcher to be alive and to come seeking him. And because the Great Venerable One's physical body was withered, he dared not fight the Butcher to the death, forcing him to abandon the Butcher's lower half.
Though Witch King Jiacuo's abilities were not weak, they were still inferior to the Shaman Sovereign's former body. How long it would take to refine back to his previous realm, he could not say.
Enduring the pain, the Shaman Sovereign carried the Butcher's lower half down the mountain. Qin Mu, the Butcher, and the Blind One were already ascending the mountain, encountering him halfway up.
The Shaman Sovereign set down the Butcher's lower half and bowed. "Celestial Khan."
The Butcher looked at his own lower half, then at the Shaman Sovereign's waist, and shook his head. "Why do you trouble yourself so? You kept my body nourished for over two hundred years. That my flesh did not perish—thanks to you."
The Shaman Sovereign's eye twitched twice more.
Qin Mu produced the golden lower half. "Shaman Sovereign, here is your body. I have no use for it."
The muscles on the Shaman Sovereign's face twitched, his voice hoarse. "I have no need for it."
"Even if just to refine into a treasure," Qin Mu said kindly. "I see your body is not yet reconnected. I am quite skilled in medicine. If the Shaman Sovereign trusts me, I could help you reconnect it."
"You intend to seize this chance to harm me?" the Shaman Sovereign snorted coldly, taking his own lower half and turning to leave.
Qin Mu shook his head, sighing. "A healer has the heart of a parent. I merely intended to practice on his body, so I could later help Grandpa Butcher reconnect his own..."
The Butcher laughed. "I trust your medical skills, of course. Still, if we could go back and find the Herbalist, and have him do it personally, that would be even better. But returning to the Great Ruins would take too long."
He suddenly called out loudly, "Old fellow, still alive?" His voice rang clear across the entire mountain.
From within the Loulan Golden Palace's sacred hall came a aged, shrill voice: "Rest assured. Heaven Blade has not yet died—how could I die?"
"This old ghost, still alive after all," the Butcher sneered. "Sooner or later, you will die! Let's go!"
Qin Mu picked up the Butcher's lower half, and the three descended the mountain together.
The Blind One glanced back up the mountain, lost in thought. "That person inside is very strong."
The Butcher exhaled. "Without my lower half, I probably wouldn't be his match. That's why I brought you along—to deal with him. This old fellow has reincarnated seventeen times, lived eighteen lifetimes. His lifespan must be at least ten thousand years, yet he still won't die. I've fought him several times. He's formidable."
Qin Mu exclaimed, "Eighteen lifetimes? A lifespan of ten thousand years? How is that possible?"
"How is it not? You've surely seen gods and demons in the Great Ruins who have lived for more than ten thousand years. There are still terrifying beings in this world—things you're too young to encounter yet." The Butcher continued, "That old thing may not be a god or demon, but he's not far off. He knows many secrets of the past. If he weren't an enemy, I wouldn't oppose him."
The Blind One nodded. "Indeed, there are some terrifying existences. For example, my eyes..." He shook his head, saying no more.
A tremor passed through Qin Mu's heart. The Blind One's eyes had been gouged out—but who had done it? The Blind One had never spoken of it. What secrets lay behind that?
They departed the Loulan Golden Palace and rejoined Ling Yuxiu, heading toward the barbarian cities on the grasslands. In the city, Qin Mu purchased some medicinal herbs, then drew a large cauldron from his pouch. "Grandpa Butcher, I'll first boil your lower half to refine away the Shaman Sovereign's blood and shamanic poison."
He filled the cauldron with a great vat of water and added the herbs one by one. Once it boiled, fragrant medicinal steam rose, and only then did he place the Butcher's lower half into the water.
Hu Ling'er asked nervously, "Won't it get cooked?"
The Blind One grinned. "When you start smelling the aroma of meat, that means it's done."
The Butcher fumed, "My body cannot be split by divine strikes—how could a pot of boiling water cook it?"
After boiling for a time, Qin Mu observed the color of the medicinal water, then opened a small jar and pinched out several dried frogs, alternating red and black, no larger than fingernails, and scattered them into the cauldron.
The frogs had been dried, but once they entered the water they absorbed it and came alive, writhing through the boiling liquid, absorbing the shamanic poison.
Before long, several frogs died from the poison.
Qin Mu replaced the water in the cauldron and repeated the process, refining it nine times in total until all the shamanic poison was purged. The blood in the Butcher's lower half returned to its natural red, flowing through the vessels as if alive once more.
Qin Mu boiled another cauldron of water, this time adding dozens of different herbs, and boiled the Butcher's lower half again to stimulate the vitality of the flesh, continuing deep into the night.
Ling Yuxiu and the little fox had already fallen asleep. The green ox had gone to rest as well. The Blind One sat on the ground, leaning on his bamboo staff, dozing off. Only Qin Mu and the Butcher remained watch by the cauldron.
Qin Mu drew the Shao Bao Sword and handed it to the Butcher. "Grandpa Butcher, I can't cut your body—I need you to do it yourself. Cut away the flesh membrane that has grown below your upper half."
"I don't need your sword. I'll use my own blade."
The Butcher drew the Butcher's Cleaver and gritted his teeth as he made a cut beneath himself, slicing away the flesh membrane that had formed over the wound. His cultivation was powerful, and he immediately sealed the wound with yuan qi to stop any bleeding.
Qin Mu lifted the lower half from the cauldron. Its wound was still fresh, so no further cutting was needed. He took out jade vials one by one and carefully applied dragon saliva to the cross-sections of both the lower and upper halves.
As soon as the dragon saliva was applied, tiny flesh buds began growing rapidly, wriggling like little red worms.
He did not immediately join the two halves. Instead, he wove threads of yuan qi, picking out sinews and nerves one by one to connect them—sinews to sinews, nerves to nerves.
More and more yuan qi threads flowed from his fingers, connecting flesh buds, flesh membranes, intestines, and spine. The Butcher's body gradually came together, though the skin at the waist had not yet grown.
Finally, Qin Mu applied dragon saliva to the wound, and the skin grew, sealing the connection.
Spirits renewed, Qin Mu lifted the Butcher and placed him in the alchemical cauldron, poured in the last packet of herbs, and lit the fire to simmer slowly.
In the great cauldron, the Butcher leaned his arms against its rim and suddenly said, "Mu'er, you've worked hard."
Qin Mu shook his head with a smile. "I studied medicine under Grandpa Herbalist for years. All my skills were taught by him. It's no hardship."
"I hope you won't end up with a ruined reputation like the Herbalist."
The water gradually began to boil, and the Butcher exhaled a long plume of white mist, looking comfortable. "By the way, I noticed you kept pulling things from that little pouch earlier—even this cauldron came from it. That pouch of yours is peculiar. Let me see."
Qin Mu handed the pouch over. "This pouch was something I picked up in the Loulan Golden Palace's treasury. For some reason, the inside is about an acre in size, so I've been using it to store things."
The Butcher opened the pouch and peered inside, his expression turning odd. "Mu'er, you picked up quite a lot of things from the Golden Palace's treasury."
Qin Mu's face reddened slightly.
"You can learn from the Cripple, but don't let it become an addiction." The Butcher sighed. "Truth is, everyone in our village has their flaws. The Cripple loves to steal things. The Herbalist is always poisoning people and leaving romantic entanglements wherever he goes. As for me—I was too arrogant before, drawing my blade against the gods. The Blind One is contemptuous of everyone and loves to show off. The Deaf One is too proud. The Mute has his own ideas and won't tell anyone. And the Village Chief—don't get me started—he walks around pretending to be unfathomably mysterious. Granny is just a walking disaster. I'm afraid you'll learn all our worst habits."
Qin Mu said solemnly, "Don't worry, Grandpa Butcher. Since leaving the village, I haven't caused any trouble. The Patriarch is quite satisfied with me!"
"Good. You can cause trouble, but you must be able to clean up your own mess."
The Butcher shook the pouch and laughed. "I've seen pouches like this before. They're called Gluttony Bags, refined from the hide of a gluttony beast. The Great Ruins should have pure-blooded gluttony beasts, but our whole village together might just be able to fight one. The hide of your Gluttony Bag isn't from a pure-blooded one, but its bloodline is already quite high. The Gluttony Bags I've seen before were only about ten feet square—not much room. Those must have been made from the pouches of mutant beasts with gluttony blood."
"I see," Qin Mu said in surprise. "I've also seen some houses that look small from the outside but have enormous space inside. How does that work?"
"Simple. You grind the bones of mutant beasts with gluttony blood into powder and mix it into the building materials—or just plaster it on. That way, the interior space expands." The Butcher continued, "The gluttony beast is a divine beast, a type of dragon. This divine beast eats but never excretes—its stomach has vast space inside. The hide is used to make Gluttony Bags, the bones to build houses. Both are very useful. It's just that pure-blooded ones are rare."
Qin Mu sat beside him, and the two chatted as the night wore on. Unknowingly, Qin Mu dozed off.
When he woke, the fire beneath the cauldron had gone out. He was about to add more when the Butcher's voice came from nearby: "Mu'er, no need. I feel my body is mostly recovered."
Qin Mu turned quickly to see the Butcher already dressed and neat. He wore a pair of new trousers—Qin Mu had bought the fabric while purchasing herbs and made them in advance.
The elder wore a loose robe on top, his wild beard now shaved clean, giving him a fresh, commanding presence that radiated authority without anger.
The Butcher looked him up and down, nodding repeatedly. "You've grown up. Before, we helped you. Now, you can help us. Very good, very good..."
The Blind One's voice called from outside: "Butcher, if you keep talking, you won't be able to leave. That apprentice of yours is catching up."
The Butcher walked toward the exit. "In your Gluttony Bag, there is a divine hand bone. I'll keep it safe for you for now. You can't handle that yet—the god it belongs to is still alive. Carrying it will only bring disaster upon you."
Qin Mu jumped in shock. "The owner of that hand bone is still alive?"