Chapter 312 — The Man Hidden in the Wood
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
"Not a single word from that Shen is to be trusted!
" Banggongcuo was beyond fury; he flung open the nearest door and charged through, snarling, "What happened to sharing the same boat and pulling together? What happened to 'friends on board, kill when we leave the ship'? No faith! The moment there's a benefit, he scampers off on his own and shuts the door to gobble it all alone!
Choke to death, you bastard!
" He had followed behind Shen Mu and seen it plainly: after Shen Mu stepped into that arcane room, he had casually shut the door. It wasn't that the door closed on its own—Shen Mu had deliberately closed it, using the treasure ship's art of spatial alignment to keep Banggongcuo outside.
The whelp plainly meant to enjoy the prize all by himself.
Banggongcuo soon calmed down, however, and began concentrating on calculating the second-layer spatial alignment of the treasure ship. "Now that I know there's a second layer of space, I can figure out where that corridor actually is. Don't think you can swallow up all the advantages alone!
" As he calculated, he opened one room after another searching for his men. The ship was crammed with rooms, and his subordinates had long since gone astray, turning around inside one chamber after another, trying to find a way out but sinking deeper and deeper. Banggongcuo had already discovered a method to break the outer layer's spatial alignment, but finding these men still cost him considerable time.
On the way he also ran into two white bats and a dragon qilin. That dragon qilin, of all creatures, was also calculating a way to break the spatial alignment and had come close to discovering the bridge. The two sides fought a great battle; Banggongcuo and his men were so badly routed they cast away armor and helms, and it was only because a Sorcerer King burst into the room that they were rescued. Yet by the time he found the other Sorcerer Kings, he still had not been able to calculate the corridor's location, and a deep sense of frustration rose in his heart.
"No matter if I can't find that place," he said. "The Shen brat is bound to show up.
When he does, I'll seize him, force him to hand over the silver helmet, and wring every secret from him! " In the room at the end of the corridor, Shen Mu blinked.
Shutting Banggongcuo outside had been deliberate. All along, the painted old man had guided him in exploring the ship's secrets, and since the secret was nearly within reach, there was no further need for Banggongcuo tagging at his heels and getting in the way.
His reason for agreeing to join hands with Banggongcuo had always been to push the man forward as a shield when danger arose. Now that there was no danger, it was only natural to kick him out. "Great Lord, I imagine you had the same thought, didn't you? But I was one move better.
" He turned and surveyed his surroundings. This was a room of inconceivable size, somewhat like the Qushan Shrine he had seen beneath the sea—so vast it was absurd, nearly ten li from side to side, like a little world hidden inside the ship, though a bit smaller than the Qushan Shrine.
Yet the room was many times larger than the treasure ship itself.
To hide such an enormous space inside the vessel was truly beyond belief. Shen Mu looked up. The ceiling vault was constructed from long wooden beams, whereas the Qushan Shrine had been built from the bones of a Taotie divine beast; the two were different. A Taotie's body naturally contained enormous space, so one only needed to construct a shrine over its bones and the interior was bound to be vast.
But this room had been forged by distorting space with immense dharma and mighty powers, making its construction far more difficult. At the center of this grand and awe-inspiring room, a colossal tree trunk descended from the vault to the floor, and at its base tree roots coiled like flood dragons, ancient and imposing.