Chapter 360 — The Smoke of the Mortal World
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Xu Shenghua slowly came to, and found himself lying on a sickbed, a warm wet towel laid over his forehead. His head ached as though it would split; in his mind it seemed a billion voices were howling and shouting, and in his ears rang a clangor of metal, a humming that would not cease. His head was near to bursting; the tearing pain made him wish he could hack off his own head and kick it away, kick it as far as it would fly!
He could not help but groan, and from the outer room came Jing Yan's voice: "Young Master is awake? " Jing Yan hurried in, carrying with her the smell of medicine, and looked at him in astonishment and joy.
"I lost," Xu Shenghua said, his face wooden.
Jing Yan said hastily, "Young Master has slept a very long while.
This servant was brewing medicine for you.
.
. " "How long have I slept?
Where is this?
" In his mind came again the booming of a heartbeat, and he spoke in a daze. "We are still in the capital. Young Master has slept for more than two days.
" Jing Yan helped him up, letting him half sit, half lean against the bed, and said, "Sister Yu Liu heard that in Jingping's capital there is a divine physician of extraordinary skill, and so she hurried out to fetch him.
" Xu Shenghua wanted to raise his hand, but suddenly gave a muffled groan, as though his head had been struck by a blade.
"Young Master had best not move, nor stir up any thought! " Jing Yan said hurriedly. "Young Master and that villain Shen fell into a rhythm, and you could not help but follow where he led. He attacked, you defended; you were at a disadvantage from the first. And with your cultivation method, you must use divine abilities without cease to break his attacks, which drains the mind beyond measure.
To stir a thought is to stir the brain; now that Young Master's brain is injured, you had best rest, and wait quietly for the divine physician.
" Xu Shenghua closed his eyes and spoke no more, nor did he move. He remembered how it had been. Shen Mu had first used the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon to wear down part of his mental power; when Xu Shenghua saw through that, Shen Mu then applied psychological pressure, and then used his own rhythm to lead him along.
When the two of them walked, the contest of momentum had in fact already begun, and Shen Mu held the offensive. The moment Shen Mu's killing intent stirred, Xu Shenghua at once sensed the attack he might suffer, and so at once changed his stance and altered the flow of his vital essence, assuming the corresponding defensive posture. His cultivation method was exceedingly wondrous: it could, according to the opponent's attack, create a divine ability to counter it. But Shen Mu did not attack, and so Xu Shenghua's divine ability was only just created and never unleashed.
Thus, all along the way, Shen Mu's attacks of momentum continued without cease and Xu Shenghua defended without cease; in a mere two hundred li, he exhausted his mental power, his brain could bear no more, his flesh could bear no more, he vomited blood again and again, his consciousness collapsed, and he fell to the ground unconscious. At that time Shen Mu had halted. Had Shen Mu kept walking on, he would have been dragged along, until he had vomited all his blood, until his mental power dried up and his brain died, and only when he had become a corpse would it have stopped!
A total defeat. It was the first time Xu Shenghua had tasted such a defeat, and to his surprise there was a bitterness in his heart. It was the first time he had tasted bitterness.
From outside came Yu Liu's voice: "Yanzi, come out a moment! " Jing Yan hurried out and said, "Young Master is awake, but he still cannot move. Have you brought the divine physician?
" "I have, only.
. .
" Jing Yan walked outside, and there came a cry of alarm, and she blurted, "Why is it you again?
" Yu Liu's voice came, with a bitter smile in it: "I am more astonished than you.
But I had to beg and plead before he would agree to come.
.