Chapter 498 — The Late Emperor's Remnant
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
Giving Long Qilin its head, he let it run east and west as it pleased, and watched only the sky. When night came, Long Qilin dared not go on and jumped up onto Chest, while Shen Mu lay on Chest with his legs crossed, watching the black, heavy night sky as Chest went over the dunes and ran on into the distance. Day came again. He had grown much more haggard, his eyes bloodshot, and still he kept them wide open, not daring to slacken in the least. At last, Shen Mu saw a cloud.
This world was desert everywhere, without a trace of moisture, and yet this cloud appeared abruptly out of nowhere—first a small patch, then growing larger and larger! Shen Mu's spirits surged.
He sprang up and laughed aloud. "Heaven never seals off every road to a man; more often it is men who seal off their own roads by abandoning hope!
If I do not give up, then I can live and get out! " He set Chest on Long Qilin's back, and Long Qilin soared up, hurtling toward that cloud.
Even as they passed through this world, divine light shifted within the cliff, and within that divine light was another world, dazzling in color: towering plants and great blossoms of every hue.
The divine light flowed out of the cliff like a waterfall, joining the two worlds together. The phantom of a young girl came walking out of the other world, treading upon flowers.
She gazed at the line of characters on the cliff and said softly, "Two hundred years short of forty thousand. You should have been born by now, shouldn't you? I am still waiting for you.
" Her face held a trace of quiet resentment.
She said softly, "I survived, but in forty thousand years I have never once forgotten you. .
.
I dare not grow old, for fear you would not recognize me. . .
" Suddenly the stele beside her began to rise, ringing and clanging, blocks of stone splitting outward, and in an instant they assembled into a stone archway. "Shen Mu, Sect Master of Youmo—at last I have waited for you! " A one-armed figure appeared on the other side of the gateway, a long blade slung across his back, his laughter like weeping and like lament.
The girl in the divine light and the one-armed figure in the gateway met each other's eyes, and both were shaken to the heart. "Remnant of the Supreme Emperor!
" "Evil demon from beyond the realm! "