Chapter 48 — The Town
劍問蒼天 · Page 7 of 9
A cry of astonishment went up from the crowd. The giant turned and swept his eyes over those around him, and at once the townsfolk fell silent. Then in a deep, booming voice he said: "I am Shitou, sole disciple of the Vajra Sect's master, the Venerable Great Strength. My master sent me out to cultivate, and I have come here today to perform this one good deed for you all."
Zhang Qingyue was taken aback, and searched his memory, but never had he heard of any cultivation sect called the Vajra Sect.
Everyone was staring at the man. By now the headman and the others had hurried over, and coming before the giant who called himself Shitou, the headman said cautiously: "Good sir... this demon is exceedingly fierce. It is not — ahem — not merely a matter of strength. There may well be danger to your life. Will you not reconsider?"
The giant nodded, glanced at the headman, and said in his booming voice: "Do you not believe me?"
Under that great stare the headman felt a chill at heart, and summoning his nerve he said: "N-no, no, I only meant to warn you."
The giant turned and looked about him, and after a moment his gaze settled on the brick wall where the notice had been pasted.
"Do you have any use for this wall?"
The headman started, puzzled. "It is of no particular use day to day — only for pasting up notices."
The giant called Shitou chuckled, then suddenly shouted: "Stand back!"
His voice was like a thunderclap, and Zhang Qingyue's own ears rang from it, to say nothing of the other townsfolk, whose faces all paled. In a trice a great open space had cleared in the square, with only the giant standing in the middle.
He knit his brows and raised his hand across his body, then suddenly stamped his right foot hard upon the ground, formed a seal with one hand, and swiftly muttered a short spell under his breath, then cried aloud:
"Rise!"
"Whoosh" — a gale burst forth all at once from the giant's body and roared past the ears of the crowd, nearly bowling them over. The people paled and staggered back several more steps. Golden light flared, and the giant had brought forth a huge wolf-tooth club all of gold, hanging crosswise in midair, blazing with golden radiance and graven with two characters, "Breaking Evil," which gave it a certain solemn dignity.
The crowd cheered at once, but Zhang Qingyue, standing among them, knit his brows. In years past he had received from Puzhao the true dharma of the "Great Brahma Prajna," and though no one had taught him since, he had secretly practiced it without cease, and so he knew something of the methods of Buddhist cultivation. The wolf-tooth club this giant called Shitou had summoned, its golden light and solemnity, and the gestures with which he worked his magic — these resembled Puzhao of old, and likely had some kinship with the Buddhist line of cultivation.
This golden wolf-tooth club was vast beyond measure, seeming even larger than its master. Now Shitou held it aloft in the air, golden light streaming from it; he opened wide his eyes, pointed with his dharma seal, and the club shrieked through the air and came crashing down.
The crowd cried out!
"Boom!" — in the mighty din, dust flew up, and the brick wall, sound enough a moment before, was ground to powder in an instant beneath his power.
"Wah..." The townsfolk stood dumbstruck, then every face broke into smiles. With such power as this giant had, subduing the Three-Tailed Fox would surely be child's play. The headman stepped forward first, chuckling without cease. "Good sir Shitou, what skill! We leave it in your hands."
Shitou nodded.
The headman paused, and a flicker of hesitation crossed his face. Then he said: "There is one matter, however, on which I hope you will be understanding."
This giant called Shitou, whose voice seemed always to boom, spoke as ever: "Say on, old sir."