Chapter 455 — The Array Master of the Western Frontier
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
Yu Bochuan rode his fragrant carriage toward that stone wall, a smile on his face, and behind the carriage followed a host of masters of the Western Land, a hundred or so in all, at their head a woman of delicate, clear features, holding in her hand a cube of metal. In her hand that metal would suddenly clatter apart into metal blocks great and small, then suddenly clatter back together again. She was He Yiyi, the Array Master of the Western Land, whose name stood alongside those of the Poison Master Mu Yingxue and the Sword Master Luo Yinyu. The Three Masters of the Western Land were all women, each with her own peerless art, each ruling a domain of her own.
The Array Master He Yiyi ruled Yun City, famed for her arrays, her skill unmatched in the Western Land, her attainments in the array arts without rival. Though Zhentian Palace was the holy ground of the Western Land, the Three Masters each had their own strengths, and were not subordinates of Zhentian Palace. Yet in fear of Zhentian Palace's power, the Three Masters held some dread of it as well, and if Zhentian Palace made a request, they would lend their aid.
Behind He Yiyi came the masters of Yun City, the heads of its great families, men of formidable strength, a degree more overbearing even than Fangxiu City; that they could carve out a domain of their own was surely no small matter. Yu Bochuan drove his carriage up before the stone wall and studied the painting upon it.
Painted on the stone wall were Shen Mu, the dragon-qilin, and Xiong Qi'er, rendered with perfect fidelity.
"Lifelike indeed!
" Yu Bochuan's face shone with glory, and he said with a laugh to the Zhentian Palace women disciples in the fragrant carriage: "Lifelike indeed!
Sect Master Shen paints well—with such brushwork he could sell paintings and earn himself a decent living!
Hahahaha! " The women in the fragrant carriage laughed in turn: "A pity he is dead.
Young Master, look—the Sect Master Shen in the painting is still smiling! " Another Zhentian Palace woman laughed prettily: "He died at the Array Master's hand, and beheld a perfect array—that must be the smile of one who dies without regret, no?
" Yu Bochuan laughed aloud, rose from the carriage, and with his hands clasped behind his back studied the painting on the stone wall, saying leisurely: "Sect Master Shen, I have come to chat with you.
" "Very well.
" The Shen Mu in the painting suddenly turned his head and said with a smile: "I have been wanting to chat with Brother Yu as well! Sword Treads the Rivers and Mountains—"