荒墟牧神 - 第553章 喚醒亡魂 - 簡牘書房

Shen Mu sat down beside the skeleton, took out wound medicine, and treated the places where he had been injured in battle, then smiled and said, "I walked out of the Yellow Springs to begin with. Why should I fear the road back to the Yellow Springs?"

The skeleton rose to its feet and said, "This is an ill-omened place. There is no way out alive. The only road to life is to turn back at once."

Shen Mu squeezed the bad blood from his wounds and expelled the demonic qi, saying, "Turning back is the one road to death. Going forward is the only chance of survival. Do you know a safer path?"

The skeleton shook its head.

Shen Mu applied medicine to himself, stirred his vital qi, and circulated it once through his body. The wounds did not split open. Only then did he rise and say, "Do you know east from west and north from south?"

"There lies east!" The skeleton raised a hand and pointed ahead.

"Thank you."

Shen Mu stepped in the direction it indicated. After two steps he stopped again, turned his head, and smiled, "Friend, why are you following me?"

The skeleton had been following closely at his heels. Seeing him stop, it hurriedly stopped too, and said, "I was drifting here in a daze, remembering nothing of my life, only a hazy sense of some things after death. It was you who woke me. Naturally I must follow you."

Shen Mu could not help laughing. "Humans and ghosts walk different paths. Following me is no solution. Go back to sleep."

The skeleton looked bewildered. "While I was drifting in a daze, I could sleep soundly, paying no heed to spring, summer, autumn, or winter, caring nothing for the wars and slaughter of the world. But you woke me, and now I cannot sleep. You disturbed my slumber. You must take responsibility for me."

"You ghost, you are utterly unreasonable!"

Helpless, Shen Mu turned around and argued with the utmost seriousness, "I saw that a remnant of your soul had not yet been extinguished, so I used the Myriad Gods' Natural Art to wake you and ask the way. But you know nothing—only the east. You cannot lead me to a way out. And you are dead. Even if I leave this ill-omened place alive, you cannot follow me into the world of the living. Friend, the dead should remain dead. Sleep."

The skeleton shook its head. "I once knew no vexation and no sorrow. You woke me and gave me vexation and sorrow. You must help me resolve them."

Shen Mu's head ached. He smiled, "Then I will once more use the Myriad Gods' Natural Art, draw out your remnant soul, and let it scatter between heaven and earth. Then you can sleep again. How is that?"

"No."

The skeleton shook its head again. "Now that I am awake, if you make my soul scatter, you are killing me. The scattering of the soul is agony beyond measure. I will not have it."

Shen Mu's head truly throbbed. He turned and continued east. Behind him, the skeleton still followed, matching him step for step.

Troubled and restless, Shen Mu was about to argue again when suddenly the waters of the marsh on both sides churned, and corpses soaked white rose straight up from the water, staring fixedly at him.

Shen Mu's heart tightened. These corpses had been soaked for countless years, yet their bodies had not rotted. Tattered armor still clung to them, a bloody light gleamed in their eyes, and a yin aura hung about them.

In life these corpses had been immensely powerful; in death they carried a thick corpse-qi, terrifying to behold.

Suddenly the skeleton behind Shen Mu opened its mouth and let out a great roar. As if receiving an order, the corpses on the water's surface sank slowly into the water one after another.

Shen Mu said in astonishment, "Why do they obey you?"

The skeleton too looked blank. It thought for a moment, then said, "I vaguely remember they were my subordinates, who died in battle here with me. I saw them trying to harm you, so I shouted at them. Fortunately they still heed my command."

Shen Mu's interest was roused. He smiled, "Who were you in life? Do you remember?"