Chapter 312 — The Man Hidden in the Wood
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
Light ran without cease over the great trunk's surface, rising from the roots to the vault and lighting the empty chamber. Within those currents of light, runic marks seemed to drift, sweeping along the beams into the corners of the room and pouring into the ship's hull.
After a while, a heartbeat sounded from inside the trunk—a muffled boom that shook the eardrums. Shen Mu looked it over, suspicion on his face.
It seemed the whole ship had been built upon an inconceivably enormous ancient tree, and the long beams overhead were probably the tree's branches.
Moreover, from the flowing light and the heartbeat, the ancient tree was still alive. It had become the core of the treasure ship—one might even call it the vessel's source of power.
But how many years would such a colossal tree need to grow? Why did an ancient tree possess such towering strength that it could turn into a treasure ship's motive force and bear it across the far seas?
"The helm and the silver helmet in the bridge are not where the treasure ship is controlled, after all," he said. "This is.
" Shen Mu's gaze dropped to the ground before him.
The floor was smooth as a mirror, and there the painted old man, pressed flat against it, was beckoning to him. Then he ran ahead.
Shen Mu hurried after him, his heart full of curiosity. "Was this painted old man really painted?
This art of painting seems even more remarkable than Grandpa Deaf's.
Grandpa Deaf's paintings could, with a single meeting of spirits, grant a soul, but if any painted figure came alive, it couldn't last long before turning back to ink.
This painted old man, though, truly seems to be a living being.
Apart from being able to walk only along floors and walls, he's no different from any other life. Could there really be someone in this world whose art of painting surpasses Grandpa Deaf's?
Impossible! " Then the crucial thought struck him. The person who had painted this old man may not have surpassed the Deaf Old Man in the art of painting, but in the Way of Creation. This person had drawn the old man and used the Way of Creation to bring him to life, making him the guardian and guide of the secret! The Deaf Old Man's paintings came not from cultivation but from his own mastery of the art of painting! Shen Mu followed the painted old man as they hurried toward the ancient tree at the center of the room. As they drew near, Shen Mu's brow tightened, for on the smooth floor ahead there were more splotches of green slime, as if something had crawled across it and left a trail.
The closer they came to the ancient tree, the more green slime there was. The painted old man became cautious, skirting the slime as he approached.
Shen Mu looked about warily. The room was open; a single glance showed everything in every direction, with nothing terrible in sight.
But the slime made him feel something was wrong.
He had seen this slime on the deck of the tower ship, where demonic aura had surged toward them, and within that demonic aura a dreadful presence had lurked. Also, the room through which they had entered the corridor had been full of this slime. And it was here too.
Judging by its distribution, the slime surrounded the ancient tree, which meant the tree must be extremely important to the slime's owner.
Shen Mu looked elsewhere, and the uneasiness grew.
The more he looked, the more this place resembled a lair—the lair of the slime's owner! At last, Shen Mu followed the painted old man to the foot of the tree. At that moment, he started slightly, for he saw the white-robed man he had seen in his vision. More precisely, he saw only the white-robed man's face.
The master of this treasure ship—the white-robed man surnamed Shen from Wuyou Village—had already merged his body into the ancient tree, becoming one with it.
Only his face remained exposed, and not even fully. His features had almost completely blended with the tree; his eyes held no luster.