Chapter 322 — Following One's Heart
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Those powerful figures of the True Heaven Palace retreated at breakneck speed, vanishing from sight in moments, leaving behind nothing but havoc and ruin. Shen Mu frowned slightly.
This youth called Yu Bochuan was a ruthless character indeed—decisive and resolute, never dragging his feet in anything he did. It had been a long time since he had encountered such an outstanding young man. "A remarkable youth.
" He felt considerable admiration in his heart as he set the mother and daughter down. Long Qilin walked over and grumbled, "Cult Master, you've gone and stirred up trouble, haven't you?
Now we've been marked. If these fellows pick a fight with us outside the basin, they could just turn any mountain into a mountain giant and crush us to death. " "This is the Wasteland, not the Western Lands. " Shen Mu shook his head.
"To contend with me on my own territory—they wouldn't even know how they died.
Besides, the bond between mother and child moved my heart. If I cannot act according to my own nature, would that not make me a heretic? " Long Qilin was stunned for a moment. To act according to one's own nature, purely following the natural way—this was a line from the general principles of the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture.
And the next line was: "And this is called the Way! " This was the Way! "This is what the Heavenly Saint Cult Master should be," Long Qilin thought with emotion.
Shen Mu examined the young woman's injuries and asked, "Madam, what exactly is your background?
Why would the people of the Western Lands' True Heaven Palace hunt you down?
" The young woman was already at Death's door, weakly raising her head. "This concubine is a Naikui of the True Heaven Palace. .
. " "What does Naikui mean?
" Shen Mu turned his head to ask Long Qilin.
"It means 'Princess Mother' of the True Heaven Palace. In the Western Lands' True Heaven Palace, women hold the reins of power and take men in walking marriages. There are evening banquets with singing and dancing, and if a couple takes a fancy to each other, they go to the woman's home to consummate the union. " Long Qilin continued, "The man must leave the next morning.
If this happens repeatedly and a man and woman spend several nights together, the woman becomes pregnant, gives birth, and raises the child. The child often knows only its mother and not its father. The Patriarch also went to walking marriages before—that old rogue. . .
" Shen Mu glared at him.
"No speaking ill of the Patriarch! Get to the point! " The image of the young Patriarch loomed extremely tall in his heart. Though the man appeared to be a youth about his own age, to Shen Mu he was a flawless being, not to be tarnished by the slightest blemish.
"The Patriarch was always a romantic old rogue, wearing foreign garb in the Western Lands and philandering everywhere without taking any responsibility! The old rogue was so happy he was skipping with joy. .
. " Seeing his displeasure, Long Qilin hastily changed the subject. "The mistress of the True Heaven Palace also needs to enter walking marriages. If the Palace Master of the True Heaven Palace becomes pregnant or has a child, and the child is a girl, she becomes a princess, and the princess is the next successor. If it is a boy, he is sent out of the palace. A True Heaven Palace Master who has borne a child is called Princess Mother, which in the Western Lands' language is Naikui. However, Naikui are usually extremely powerful—after all, the cultivation method they practice is that all things have spirits and all things have gods, and women tend to excel far more than men in this regard. " Shen Mu crouched down, took out silver needles one by one, and inserted them into the young woman's body. Curious, he asked, "Since you are the True Heaven Palace Master, the mistress of the True Heaven Palace, how did you end up in such a state? Are you not an expert of the Divine Bridge realm?