Chapter 449 — The Girl on the Wooden Chest
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
From childhood Shen Mu had been taught by the Nine Elders of Yincan Village, by word and by example; though he bore the name of Hierarch of the Nether Demon Cult, he drew the line between great right and great wrong very clearly. In this alone he surpassed many a righteous man of the famous sects and great schools.
"Qi'er should know where the True Heaven Palace is, shouldn't she?
" Shen Mu asked.
Xiong Qi'er shook her head. "My mother took me out to hide from pursuers, and we always kept to the out-of-the-way places.
I can't remember where the True Heaven Palace really is. " Shen Mu pondered a moment.
"Fat Dragon, let us follow the official road and go to a great city to ask someone the way. The people there will most likely know where the True Heaven Palace lies.
" Dragon Qilin set off along the official road. After several tens of li the travelers grew more numerous; the road here was broad and smooth, far better than in Jingping.
The river beside the road was clear to the bottom, with fish and turtles and serpents swimming in it, none of them small; on the water there were also divine-arts practitioners and warriors hurrying on their way, women for the most part, though not a few men. The arts these people practiced must also have followed the path that all things have their spirit and all things have their god; some girls and boys came out onto the river, shouted a command, and at once the broad water heaved up in waves, and wave after wave bore them racing forward. On the road too there were travelers, many of them standing atop tree-men, and some on vine-men, though these were slower.
In the sky there were still other divine-arts practitioners riding all manner of birds, and as they flew past overhead their five-colored wings streamed with light, most dazzling to see.
"It seems we are near the city," Shen Mu said, and breathed a sigh of relief to see the travelers thickening.
Of a sudden there came a clatter of da-da-da, and Shen Mu saw a strange sight: many young girls came charging out of a mountain hollow, over a little hill, and onto the road.
What carried these girls was a great chest with more than a dozen legs, and the chest strode off on its legs, running swift as the wind. Other girls came rushing out of a mountain village nearby, riding wooden boats — boats that had grown legs and feet, and raced along the ground.
Shen Mu was struck dumb.
These chests and boats seemed to have taken on spirits, and could run as Dragon Qilin ran; it was strange indeed.
"In this vast world of myriad worlds nothing is too strange; the spells and divine arts of other places may serve Jingping too. If this art were spread through the Kingdom of Jingping, would it not be wonderful?
" Shen Mu blinked and thought, "Though I fear it would breed no small confusion as well. Some fellow of mighty power would likely ride a whole mountain peak about to show off.
" The girls were curious about the Dragon Qilin he rode, and the great chest with its dozen legs drew near. The chest was huge, several zhang long and wide, spread with silk bags like clouds, and six or seven girls sat atop it, studying Dragon Qilin and Shen Mu.
The foremost girl was surely their leader; it was she who had woken the chest with her arts and made it carry them racing along. She had a lovely laugh, her big eyes beneath tassels woven of silver pendants curved like crescent moons, and her speech had the peculiar flavor of the Western Lands; before she spoke she was already giggling. "Li'l brother, that big pig o' yours runs right fast — where'd ye get it?
" Shen Mu was taken aback, then realized that "li'l brother" meant "little brother," and laughed.