Chapter 410 — The Two Crafty Merchants
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Shen Mu hastily stirred the Nine Heavens Far-Seeing Art and looked—and there he saw the two blade-lights, one horizontal, one vertical, cleaving the box cleanly in two. Countless arms, legs, and torsos came tumbling down, flinging themselves wildly in every direction, soaring into the high sky, diving into the mountain forest, burrowing into the earth. "Heaven's Blade! " Xing'an's voice came from all quarters at once: "Sooner or later, you too will become one of my collection!
" A mighty figure charged to that spot, blade rising and falling, and hacked to pieces the severed limbs that had not managed to escape the box.
"Grandpa Tu, don't let Xing'an get away!
" Shen Mu cried out. But his cultivation was not enough to carry his voice so far; Granny Zhu hurriedly transmitted the message in his stead.
Zai Fu let out a thunderous roar, and a butcher's knife plunged down from the sky, embedding itself in the earth; blade-energy slashed outward through the ground in every direction, seeking to force out the remnants of Xing'an's body that had burrowed beneath the soil, while another knife flew up into the sky and tore off through the air.
After a moment, the two knives came flying back. Zai Fu caught the two butcher's knives in hand and bounded away swift as flight, his voice carrying back: "My blade-energy is in him—he cannot escape my senses! I will return before long! " "The Lizheng and the others haven't come back?
" "They are still guests at Lord Huo's place. I feared they might return here ahead of time! " Shen Mu set his heart at ease—when suddenly the Blind Old Man at his side began to sway and topple from the air.
Shen Mu hurriedly darted after him and caught the Blind Old Man in his arms, and all at once his body turned dreadfully heavy: it was the Blind Old Man's Longtuo Divine Spear, come falling too.
This spear of the black dragon, like the Blind Old Man himself, had been gravely wounded.
Only, this spear had been transformed from the bones of a black dragon. The dragon was a divine dragon, endowed with spirit and sentience, truly heavy and solid beyond measure, and it dragged Shen Mu down without cease. Granny Zhu reached out and seized him, and was herself pulled down from the air; only when they were nearly at the ground did they finally come to a stop. The three landed safely.
The last flood dragon upon Shen Mu's body slid off him and lay on the ground like a dead snake, heaving for breath, blood-froth spilling ceaselessly from its mouth. Shen Mu forced himself upright, hands and feet trembling without pause.
His own wounds were likewise grievous; he had escaped death again and again, and had it not been for the Blind Old Man, the Lame Old Man, and the Deaf Old Man coming to his rescue in time, he would likely have been captured or slain by Xing'an long ago. Though he had forced his way into this battle on the strength of a dozen flood dragons, in both fighting strength and combat experience he had revealed grave deficiencies.
In a life-and-death struggle against an existence like Xing'an, he could only do his utmost to turn the tables through petty cleverness. Fortunately, the turning of the tables had more or less succeeded. Yet as he looked around and saw the estate strewn everywhere with gravely wounded experts, he could not help but feel dread in his heart.
To say nothing of existences like the Blind Old Man, the Deaf Old Man, the Lame Old Man, Emperor Yanfeng, and Fan Xuanshu—even Shen Mu's dozen or so flood dragons would, set loose in the martial world, have been more fierce and terrifying than some sect-leader-level existences! So many mighty ones, and added to them the Empress Dowager and other heroines, and an existence like Yu Zhaoqing—and even so, they had nearly been wiped out entirely. Had it not been for that one dose of Shen Mu's medicine, everyone would likely have died at Xing'an's hands!
"Strong. . . truly damned strong.
.
. Ow!