Chapter 496 — When It Is Written Into the Annals of History
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
" The chest set off on its feet, walking into the darkness. Shen Mu sat with the sword in his arms, eyes half-closed in feigned sleep, while beneath the chest Ban Gongcuo was alert and vigorous, fighting off sleep, quietly taking several spirit pills from his Taotie Pouch and stuffing them into his mouth, doing all he could to restore his cultivation.
After a long while, feeling his vitality somewhat recovered, his eyes flickered and he quietly stirred the Green Blood Gourd: "This fellow is gravely wounded—now is the perfect moment to be rid of him. .
. " Suddenly he caught the scent of medicine, and hastily checked the impulse to act. One of Shen Mu's hands had slipped into the Taotie Pouch; furtively he had refined several batches of spirit pills, popping a few into his mouth from time to time, and refined several more batches for the Dragon Qilin, who ate them in silence, making no sound at all. Yet the drifting fragrance of the medicine had not escaped Ban Gongcuo's nose.
"To get the drop on him. .
.
it will not be easy," Ban Gongcuo thought. At last a light appeared in the darkness: they had come to the front of that waystation. The waystation was under the protection of a deity, and many common folk were resting there.
Bai Qu'er was gazing anxiously about when at last she saw a bloodstained chest come swaying toward her, carrying a youth and a fat Dragon Qilin.
The chest strode on, racing over hill and ridge with great speed.
Bai Qu'er's heart surged with a strange and particular emotion.
She hurried forward, the son of Bai Qingfu in her arms. Shen Mu jumped down from the chest and stretched, his bones cracking, and asked, puzzled, "Why are you still here? " "We cannot go any farther.
These people have little cultivation, dragging families with them, mostly the old and weak.
" Bai Qu'er pressed her own tender feelings down to the bottom of her heart and said softly, "The deity of the waystation is gone—likely gone to relieve Bailong City; whether he lives or dies, no one knows. Now there is no one left in the waystation but us. " Shen Mu looked at the waystation.
Many people slept on the ground; some had not slept, their eyes bright and dim by turns in the shifting light of the Dragon God Pearls, but none of them made a sound.
Most of those who had escaped were common folk, not wealthy households. The wealthy of Bailong City had fled faster, most of them following the deity of the North Gate—and that road, I fear, led only to utter annihilation. Only these common folk, low in cultivation, had fled a step too late, and so had followed them.
"We cannot stay here long. " Shen Mu mused a moment, then said, "Why not let them into my chest? I will carry them along, and we will get as far as we can.
" Bai Qu'er was briefly startled. She looked at the chest and said, "What about the other man who came with you? He.
. .
" "I am here.
" Ban Gongcuo crawled out from under the chest and chuckled: "Fortunately I did not fail you—we survived. My thanks for the young lady of the Bai family's worry.
" Shen Mu had the Dragon Qilin jump down from the chest and said, "Sister Qu'er, wake them. We truly cannot stay here any longer.
Since there is no deity to protect us, we set out at once, lest pursuers catch up.
" Bai Qu'er nodded and woke the crowd. Shen Mu spread the chest open and let them climb inside.
Ban Gongcuo made to enter the chest as well, but Shen Mu shook his head: "If pursuers overtake the chest and there is no one to hold them off, we will all be wiped out. We stay outside the chest. " Sturdy as Xing An's chest was, it could not attack; it had no fighting strength.