Chapter 342 — Heart-Piercing Pain
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
The old Daoist stamped his foot. "Worse and worse! If you had seen him, he would have had to lie idle a while; since you did not, these three days are enough for the old villain to turn every ancestral grave twice over!" With that he whistled up the big yellow dog and hurried up the mountain, leading it by the leash.
The big yellow dog was nimble beyond measure, bounding to and fro over Jade Void Mountain, nose to the ground, sniffing everywhere. Then of a sudden barking rose from the mountain, chickens flying and dogs leaping.
"If we do not go now, the Daoist sect's masters will come charging down the mountain after us," the headman in the basket warned Shen Mu.
Shen Mu came to his senses and hastily urged on the Dragon Qilin. "Run, quickly!"
The Dragon Qilin bolted away, racing out toward the vast Kunlun range.
After a long run they broke free of the Kunlun mountains at last. Worry lay on Shen Mu's face. "Can Grandpa Lame get out..."
Before he had finished, he saw the Lame Elder seated in the shade of a great tree ahead of them, as though he had already waited a long while.
Shen Mu was struck dumb. He was about to speak when the Lame Elder sprang up as if his backside were afire and sprinted off, already vanishing into the air, his voice drifting back from far away: "Shen, my boy, you two go on to Little Jade Capital first—I will be right behind you!"
A huge dog came crashing down to earth, and on its back sat several old Daoists, men and women alike, bristling with murderous intent.
The dog sniffed at the foot of the tree, clouds gathered beneath its paws, and it soared into the air, giving chase in the direction the Lame Elder had gone, dreadfully fast, a flitting gleam, a passing shadow.
Shen Mu stared blankly, glanced at the Dragon Qilin, and said, mild of voice, "Dragon Fatty, can you catch that dog?"
The Dragon Qilin shook its head. "That wretch runs too nimbly. I cannot catch him."
"He runs faster than you even when he is eating dung!"
Shen Mu said in anguish, "And you still have the nerve to eat spirit pills with every meal!"