Chapter 225 — Hanging the Portrait to Quell Evil
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 5
Shen Mu took his bearings, brought out the Jingping Geographic Map and compared it against the mountains and rivers around him, then let out a breath of relief. "We are already very close to the Barren Ruins. At the dragon qilin's pace, I reckon half a day more will bring us to the frontier of the Barren Ruins. Only, there is no way we are going by Mishui Pass now.
" They had been pursued the whole way, and their route had drifted far from Mishui Pass, and far from Yanbian Pass as well.
"The only plan now is to take the passage my sect left behind from its smuggling days.
" Shen Mu thought for a moment. Between the Barren Ruins and Jingping lay the Divine Severance Mountains, and upon peak after peak of the Divine Severance Mountains stood Xuanji Crossbows; whoever crossed the border would be shot dead by them. The Xuanji Crossbows worked of themselves, and were said to have been forged according to a decree handed down by the gods.
Whoever passed through the Divine Severance Mountains, whether walking the valleys below or flying over the peaks above, would be shot dead. The Nether Demon Sect had once run contraband, and had a passage through the Divine Severance Mountains, going by way of the Withered Silence Ridge Gorge, by which one could travel between the Barren Ruins and Jingping. The two Xuanji Crossbows there had already been destroyed by the Nether Demon Sect, though the innkeeper at Crimson Dragon City said that road had been abandoned for many years.
The Withered Silence Ridge Gorge was his only passage into the Barren Ruins. "The pursuers should not know of this passage. " Shen Mu roused his spirits, then suddenly laughed at himself. "So hard to go home for the New Year, it is like cutting a way out through a thousand armies and ten thousand horses!
" He had learned their martial arts from the villagers, and had inherited their optimism as well.
Though he had met countless ambushes and killings along this road, he still kept his cheerful temper.
Infected by his mood, the dragon qilin and Xue Hu'er relaxed a great deal too. Unnoticed, the sky darkened, and the land about them grew more desolate still; for a long while together they saw not a single village.
"To brave the Barren Ruins by night is to court certain death. We must wait for daylight. " They drew closer and closer to the Barren Ruins, and already they could see the black shadow of the towering Divine Severance Mountains, like a high wall across heaven and earth blocking the way ahead. This Divine Severance range, stretching unbroken for countless tens of thousands of li, never mind being covered with Xuanji Crossbows; even without them, flying across would be incomparably difficult.
Shen Mu was just thinking of finding a place to settle when he suddenly saw lamplight below: a village, where as night fell the villagers had lit their oil lamps. "Young Master, beware of a trap," Xue Hu'er said in a frightened fluster.
The Dutian Demon King sneered.
"For a thousand li around there is not a village to be seen, and here one pops up out of nowhere. A trap, naturally.
" Shen Mu said, "Fat Dragon, keep going. Pay it no mind.
" The dragon qilin trod the fire clouds and went on toward the Divine Severance Mountains. After another few dozen li, more lamplight glimmered below: a frontier village, its lights dim and uncertain, with a dozen or so houses.
The layout of the houses, the positions of the lamplight from the oil lamps, were almost exactly the same as that little village just now!
"Keep going," Shen Mu said in a low, grim voice, his pupils contracting. The dragon qilin went on.
Another few dozen li, and there was that village again, houses, lights, every arrangement identical to the two villages before, without the slightest change!