Chapter 300 — The Uncanny Thing
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Shen Mu sent his essence deep into the Taotie Pouch and drew the sword out. He had originally meant to use the Carefree Sword as a mother sword and refine it into a sword pellet, and so had not fitted it with a scabbard. Now, holding the Carefree Sword in his hand, he found it somewhat inconvenient; at once he pointed a finger, and the Carefree Sword flew up and sheared through the branch of an ancient tree.
"What hard wood!
" Shen Mu cut off a length of the branch and tried to slice the wood apart with a thread of essence, but could scarcely cut it. He could not help exclaiming in wonder: the texture of this wood was a match for dark iron.
He urged the Carefree Sword to whittle it, and soon made a wooden scabbard, into which he slid the Carefree Sword. The sword still trembled faintly, but it no longer drew so much attention.
"It seems that what fell from the sky sixteen years ago was not only the broken blade of the Carefree Sword and the divine metal, but other things as well—and this thing resonates with the Carefree Sword! " he thought to himself.
The men of the Golden Palace of Loulan had already entered the Nether Valley.
Would they find that thing before he did? At last they came to the end of the gorge, and the view before them suddenly opened out. Shen Mu did not hurry into the valley; warily he looked all around.
At the end of the gorge, to either side, stood two enormous stone statues carved along the mountain ridges, as tall as the mountains themselves.
The two statues wore solemn expressions, majestic and holy, their gazes deep, each leaning upon a sword. A rushing of water came to them: waterfalls pouring from the statues' shoulders. The falls were mighty, a thousand fathoms of water plunging down, landing between the statues' hands and running down along their swords, gathering into rivers.
Two rivers flowed from the feet of the statues, forming in the forest the posture of twin dragons, then vanishing in the center of the valley. The two statues had bat heads on human bodies—they were the Bat God.
"Two Bat Gods guarding the Nether Valley?
What is the relation between these two Bat God statues and those two white bats from before?
" Shen Mu gazed into the distance, and his heart gave a start.
"Do these two rivers flow underground? Jade Heaven Eye, open!
" At once another heaven appeared in his pupils.
Shen Mu looked toward the place where the two rivers vanished, and could not help frowning: his sight seemed to be blocked by something, and he could not see clearly there. "Cinnabar Heaven Eye, open! " Shen Mu stirred his essence, and in both eyes formed the Cinnabar Heaven rune array. In his pupils appeared a ring of cinnabar-colored veins, and within that a layer of jade-green Jade Heaven Eye, and within that a layer of cyan Azure Heaven Eye, and within that a layer of white light forming the Soaring Heaven Eye, and at the center the pupil.
The Ninefold Heaven Gazing Eye Art that the Blind Elder had taught him—he had already mastered it, though by his present cultivation he could open it only as far as the Cinnabar Heaven, and it consumed a great deal; ordinarily he would not lightly use it. In general, the Azure Heaven Eye was already sufficient; there was no need to open the Jade Heaven Eye and the Cinnabar Heaven Eye.
Yet even the Cinnabar Heaven Eye could not see clearly what lay where the two rivers vanished.
"Eh.
.
. " Shen Mu's heart gave a slight shock. In the forest ahead he saw several corpses—the corpses of Great Shamans of the Golden Palace of Loulan. The corpses lay not far apart, and strangely, some were lifelike, as though they had just died, while others were rotted down to bare bone, their clothes still intact.
As his gaze went deeper into the forest, he saw more corpses. Plainly these people had met misfortune the moment they entered the forest and died violent deaths.