Chapter 237 — The Land That Must Not Be Entered
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
In that moment, the Dutian Demon King felt it as his own. When his own Dutian World was destroyed, he too had grieved like this, had been so broken with sorrow that he could not master his feelings; he had wailed aloud, cursed heaven and earth, his fury had reached the skies, he had struck out at the underworld messengers of Youdu, wanting to save the lives of his people!
He had been struck down more times than he could count, his body broken, his soul broken.
In the end he had yielded — yielded to fate.
In Shen Mu he saw another self, the self of his youth — a self about to be struck down, about to yield to fate.
Bereaved young, we lose our way; to and fro we rush like madmen. We dabble mud balls in the mud, never knowing the night-glowing pearl.
How many storms, how many ruinings — who will pause and turn in dread?
Where is the homeland? Where is my homeland? Shen Mu slowly raised his head, his gaze indifferent; his eyes gave off a bright, clear radiance like the bright moon.
When he closed his eyes the light vanished; when he opened them, they were like two full moons.
He stood on the Soul Boat, his heart surging, thoughts beyond counting, long unable to grow calm.
"I did not come here to seek Wuyou Township.
I came to find the Headman and Granny and the others.
They are my family; Yincan Village is my homeland — it is the Wuyou Township in my heart!
" Shen Mu steadied himself and looked around.
Suddenly he saw several stone statues placed at the edge of the barrier.
Even beings at the realm of Divine Communion found it hard to walk in the darkness of the Wasteland unless they carried a god statue on their backs; and the statues were exceedingly heavy — an ordinary sect-master-level existence could scarcely lift one, and even having lifted it, could hardly walk far. These stone statues must have been carried here by someone using great dharma power, to drive back the darkness.
After entering Wuyou Township, the statues had been left here.
Shen Mu's heart stirred. The Headman could walk in the darkness with the Alchemist in tow; he could withstand the various uncanny and inauspicious things in the dark.
As for the Silent Artisan, he too must have means to resist the darkness.
But Old Huo, the Lame Elder, the Butcher, and the Blind Elder would need the statues to walk in the darkness. Old Huo, the Lame Elder, and the Butcher had all regained whole bodies, and could carry god statues farther.
No one knew just how far the Deaf Elder's strength had reached, but his paintings possessed powers beyond the fathoming of gods and ghosts; the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping was a fanatical admirer of his, and took pride in collecting his paintings.
And Granny Zhu carried within her the sect master of the previous generation, Fan Xuanshu; she too should be able to move the statues.
These stone statues were most likely left by them. "So they found this place too.
Could it be that they entered, only to be trapped, and so could not return to the village for the New Year? " Shen Mu's eyes opened wide; he gazed all around, and a mighty power surged into his eyes as he drove the Nine Heavens Gazing Eye Art the Blind Elder had taught him to its utmost: "I'm here, Headman, Granny — I've come to take you home for the New Year!
" He did not step directly into Wuyou Township, but first studied the movements within it. How powerful the Headman and the others were!
If they had truly entered Wuyou Township, then it could not be as tranquil as it appeared; there must be no small number of perils inside, enough to hold them trapped.
Even with the Soul Boat, Shen Mu's safety was not assured; there might yet be— Shen Mu's gaze fell on the forest before Wuyou Township.
He saw the traces the Headman and the others had left.