Chapter 404 — Xing An Manifest
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
" Shen Mu nodded. The Blind Elder carefully memorized the brands in his Sacred Pupil, and said with a smile, "Go keep your lovely wife and fair companions company. You need not follow an old man about all the time. I will not run off to seek Xing An, you may rest easy. " Shen Mu was also worried that he might run out to seek revenge on Xing An, and was still somewhat uneasy. Ling Yuxiu and the other girls called out from afar, "Cowherd, we're going up the mountain to pick fruit and get ready for the New Year!
Are you coming?
" "Go on," the Blind Elder said with a smile. Shen Mu had no choice but to run over and say to Ling Yuxiu and the others, "The fruit on the mountain has turned into demons — they bite. " Xue Hu'er said, "Grandmother says some of the fruit on the mountain hasn't turned into demons and can be eaten — it's just that the merfolk don't recognize them.
" They came to the mountain and saw many fruit trees there; but when the trees heard that they had come to pick fruit, they hastily tore themselves up by the roots and ran off, leaving everyone staring.
"You stepped on me! " A little blade of grass shouted angrily, "Where are my sworn brothers?
" Everyone hastily fled, with a crowd of grass-men in hot pursuit behind them.
After all the commotion, they finally found the orchard Granny Zhu had spoken of; the fruit on the trees had not turned into demons. Shen Mu tasted one — very sweet and fragrant.
Yan Jingjing, Ling Yuxiu, and Si Yunxiang, baskets on their arms, picked the fruit, while Xue Hu'er leaped up into a tree and sat in the fork eating fruit; soon her belly was round and full, and she lay there with her tail dangling down. "What fragrant fruit!
" Suddenly a voice came; Shen Mu looked toward it and saw a white-robed youth walking out from the mountain, a large chest on his back. He bowed to them all and said with a smile, "Does this orchard have an owner? A wandering recluse of the wilds is passing through — I beg you to spare him a few.
" Shen Mu took a few fruits from the basket and said with a smile, "Where does my friend come from, and where are you bound?
" The youth thanked him, tasted one, and praised it without end.
"There is the flavor of divine blood in it — truly exquisite. I have no fixed abode; I have always been an idle cloud and a wild crane. I have come to see a Divine Physician Shen, to ask his help in curing an illness.
" Shen Mu blinked and said, "Divine Physician Shen? Curing an illness? What illness does my friend suffer from?
" The youth sighed.
"A fatal disease. " Shen Mu's eyes flickered. "What is my friend called? " The youth buried the fruit in the soil and carefully banked the earth around it.
"Xing An. "