Chapter 371 — Escape Over the Mountains
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
The fire flood dragon beneath him had already begun to slow. It had run twenty or thirty thousand li, and though its speed had dropped slightly, it was still terrifyingly fast, its endurance boundless.
Shen Mu made his decision on the spot. The sound of his flute shifted abruptly. He took control of another flood dragon, leaped into the air, and landed on its back.
The Dragon Qilin jumped over as well, standing on the dragon's back. This golden flood dragon immediately surged forward at full speed, and their pace increased once more. "Heh heh heh, little thing.
. .
" The Dragon Keeper's voice continued to arrive. He was using his magical power to send his voice ahead of him across an immense distance—a great divine ability Shen Mu had once witnessed from the Tyrant Mountain Libationer.
But the Libationer's was a thousand-li transmission, whereas the Dragon Keeper was likely still twenty or thirty thousand li away.
Shen Mu could sense that his voice was arriving with incredible speed. Clearly the Dragon Keeper was transmitting while racing forward at full tilt—even as he spoke, he had already closed the distance between them by a thousand li or so! "You've stolen my dragons, and I don't blame you for it. As long as you return to my side, I will still treat you well and let you continue as my dragon-herding boy.
You should know that I greatly admire you, that I have taken a liking to your talent. . .
Wait! How strange! " The Dragon Keeper's voice carried astonishment. He blurted out: "Through the Dragon Nest I sense the True Dragon Lord moving at incredible speed!
" The Heavenly Emperor's Jade Tablet on Shen Mu's chest grew hot. The Jade Tablet—the Dragon Jade—had already unfurled and was writhing ceaselessly, as if it too sensed the Dragon Nest!
"Heh heh heh, little thing, the True Dragon Lord is fleeing in the same direction as you. No wonder—no wonder you ran.
So the True Dragon Lord is on your person! " His voice held both joy and fury: "So the True Dragon Lord has been right under my nose all along!
You are bold indeed, to have capered about beneath my very eyes for so long. If you were to escape, would not the lifelong reputation of I, the Dragon Keeper, be ruined by you? " Shen Mu said sullenly, "When did I ever caper about? I was perfectly well-behaved by your side.
.
. " Suddenly, a series of strange whistling cries rang out. The whistles were shrill, piercing through twenty thousand li of space.
The flood dragons large and small that had been racing along behind Shen Mu halted one after another, hesitating. The golden flood dragon beneath Shen Mu's feet also slowed, turning its body, preparing to run toward the source of the whistling.
Shen Mu immediately urged his golden flute, using its sound to control the golden flood dragon—yet the creature paid him no heed. Gritting his teeth, Shen Mu leaped from the dragon's back onto the Dragon Qilin's back and shouted, "Dragon Fatty, go! " The Dragon Qilin immediately surged forward—but just then the whistling abruptly changed.
The Dragon Qilin too stopped in its tracks. The other flood dragons closed in around them. Clearly the Dragon Keeper was using the whistling to control these flood dragons—even the Dragon Qilin had fallen under his control, and they intended to do Shen Mu lethal harm. The flood dragons surrounded him so tightly not a drop of water could leak through.
They raised their heads, turning to look at him from all sides, yet did not strike. Suddenly, one flood dragon extended its long tongue and licked Shen Mu—who stood rigid, not daring to move a muscle—right across the palm of his hand. The whistling abruptly turned violent. From the sound alone one could imagine the Dragon Keeper must be in a towering rage, urging the Dragon-Subduing Art to compel these flood dragons to kill Shen Mu.