Chapter 444 — The Sea of Blazing Sand
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Rest easy, I mean you no harm. " Shen Mu went to the headman's stone statue and set down offerings of cattle and sheep. "This is an elder of my house," he said, "and I have come especially to make offering.
If he could see that even his broken body shelters you, it would gladden his heart. " He made his offerings, then used the divine art of the Soul-Reeling Invocation; at once dark clouds gathered bleakly and the darkness surged.
He drove the invocation for a long while, and saw beyond the village a great many walking skeletons appear, yet the headman's stone statue never revived.
Before long Shen Mu's power was nearly spent, and just as he was about to release the invocation, the headman's stone statue suddenly stirred, spat several gold coins from its mouth, and spoke: "Shen'er, at the Zhongyuan Feast, on the night of the full moon, I will wait for you at the Gate of Ghosts! " That said, it turned back to stone. Shen Mu picked up the coins; they were eight Fengdu coins.
The villagers round about were full of alarm and doubt. Shen Mu turned and thanked the few of them, left behind some money and cloth, and said, "I would ask you all to clean the statue often for me, and not let it grow too filthy. " With that he turned and left.
The few of them watched his back; one young woman stared blankly, then suddenly said, "Look at that youth's face—does he not look like the god who sailed the great ship that night? " Another woman cried out in astonishment, "He does, truly! That night the great ship passed right by our village, and I saw the god upon it—he looked exactly like him! " One hunter said hurriedly, "Do not talk nonsense!
He is only a youth, a little younger than we are—how could he be the god on that ship?
".
. .
Shen Mu rode the Long Qilin west with Xiong Qi'er, halting to rest when night fell. He passed again through the Western Heaven Palace Basin and looked upon the ruins of the Western Heaven Palace before going on.
After more than ten days of long travel they came at last to the westernmost edge of the Desolate Ruins, where another mountain range rose and fell in endless ridges, white with snow, cutting the ruins off. "So there are Shenduan Mountains here as well?
" Shen Mu rode the Long Qilin up to the summit, and all at once a Xuanji ballista loosed a bolt as thick as a roof beam, and in an instant wind and snow raged. The Long Qilin raised a claw and swatted the bolt down, and was startled out of his wits.
"Cult Master," he blurted, "I have grown stronger!
" Shen Mu looked at the peaks around them: on every one a great Xuanji ballista was turning of itself, swinging about to aim.
"Fat Dragon, run! " he shouted in alarm. Hummm— Ballista after ballista released its force; snow filled the sky, and a mad storm of bolts came flying at them.
The Long Qilin sprang and bounded like the wind, racing for the far side of the mountain.
Bolt after enormous bolt fell behind them, each turning into a pillar of ice; more and more came flying, and the Long Qilin gave a great roar. Fire blazed sky-high behind him, fire clouds massed thick, and one fire cloud after another burned furiously against the ballista bolts—yet still many ice arrows came on, not yet melted! Shen Mu worked the sword formula with his fingers; with a sudden shudder, eight thousand swords danced across the heavens and sheared through countless ice arrows.
The Long Qilin raced down the mountain, bolts falling like rain behind them, ringing as they planted themselves at their heels. Only when they reached the foot of the mountain did that storm of arrows cease.
Shen Mu breathed out in relief; suddenly a wave of heat struck his face.
He looked ahead: a vast desert lay before him, joined to the far horizon, ablaze with fire, so that even the sky was baked red. He looked back; behind him were the snow mountains.