Chapter 459 — The Sinister Old Ghost
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
" Xiong Qi'er asked curiously. "I did originally intend to go to Zhentian Palace, but to this day there has been no word of Imperial Preceptor Jingping or your mother. I suspect. . .
" The corner of Shen Mu's eye twitched. He sneered, "That sinister bastard Jingping has never shown his face.
I know what he wants!
He is simply waiting for me to poke a hole in the sky here in the Western Lands, to draw Zhentian Palace's attention and its main fighting strength, and then he will seize victory in the chaos!
That old schemer. .
. no wonder he came of his own accord to my Tiansheng Academy, invited your mother to the Western Lands, and invited me as well. " He raised his head and scanned his surroundings.
A few white clouds in the sky had been following them all along. He hastily said to the Dragon Qilin, "Fat Dragon, we are being watched again.
" The Dragon Qilin felt a chill and quickened its pace.
Those white clouds abruptly sped up as well, but after chasing for a while they were left far behind by the Dragon Qilin.
Shen Mu noticed that not only were the white clouds pursuing them — below, the great waters of the Sword River suddenly flowed upstream as well, the waves gliding like a submerged dragon, though still they did not catch up.
Shen Mu looked puzzled. The divine-power wielders pursuing them must be experts from Zhentian Palace; Zhentian Palace's tracking methods were indeed unmatched under heaven — once they had you in their sights, it was very hard to shake them off. Yet how had that sinister bastard Jingping known that once he entered the Western Lands he would draw great attention, and draw in Zhentian Palace's fighting strength?
He himself had been perfectly well-behaved and low-key — how had Jingping known he might become Zhentian Palace's greatest target?
"Imperial Preceptor Jingping is an old fox after all.
. . " Shen Mu glanced at Xiong Qi'er, and at once understood where the target came from.
From what he had learned these past days, the Western Lands held the little princess in the highest regard; the Zhentian Palace Master must have a little princess to sit securely in his seat.
And here he was, carrying Xiong Qi'er, the former little princess — was he not thereby the greatest target of Zhentian Palace?
Xiong Xiyu was not worth worrying about; Xiong Qi'er was the Zhentian Palace Master's target! In the past, the one Yu Bochuan and his followers had hunted was not Xiong Xiyu either, but Xiong Qi'er!
Shen Mu still remembered that the reason he had stepped in to save Xiong Xiyu and her daughter was that he had seen Yu Bochuan and the others move against a little girl of four or five like Xiong Qi'er, and his heart could not bear it, so he had risked himself to save them. Now that he thought about it, Yu Bochuan's wish to kill Xiong Qi'er had not been without reason. "Why does Zhentian Palace place such importance on the little princess?
" He could not help but wonder.
He crouched down, took Xiong Qi'er's shoulders in both hands, and looked her over again and again, but could see nothing unique about her, which only deepened his confusion. The Zhentian Palace Master was the Naikui, and Naikui meant "mother of the princess," while the princess's father was called Bagou. Both names took their origin from the little princess — which showed that Zhentian Palace placed extraordinary importance on the little princess, and there must be a special reason for it!
Xiong Qi'er gazed at him with big blinking eyes, pure and innocent, not looking as though she had any power at all.
Suddenly Shen Mu noticed Xiong Qi'er's little pack.
He started.
She had carried that little pack with her all along, ever since the Tiansheng Academy, and he had assumed it held a little girl's change of clothes and had never given it a thought.