Chapter 640 — Reunion with the First Ancestor
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"I used to dream that Kaihuang was a great hero, a man who could save the common folk from fire and flood. I dreamed that this founding ancestor of ours would live and die alongside his supporters and his followers. I believed he was the man I imagined him to be. But he is not.
" In the hidden remnant village of Yincan, Shen Mu sat beside the campfire, quietly watching the steam curl from the pot, his face calm as he said, "The more of history I uncover, the more I feel he is unworthy to be Kaihuang, unworthy to be the leader of thousands upon thousands of heroes and champions. Perhaps he is nothing but an old man whose courage his enemies shattered long ago, a man who wants only to live out his own comfortable days. He has not the spirit, nor the breadth of heart, to make heroes and champions follow him. " "Kah-dah! " Beside him, a plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon nodded with the gravest solemnity. "You are right. " Shen Mu added more firewood, his expression somewhat bleak.
"If he had such breadth of heart, such spirit, would he have suddenly withdrawn in that final war, abandoning his old brothers and old comrades-in-arms, abandoning the common folk to fire and flood?
If he truly were the great hero I imagined, then what has he done in these twenty thousand years?
He has done nothing! " The plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon nodded, and said with the utmost gravity, "Cluck cluck! " "Heh heh. He has done nothing. No wonder the gods and demons who followed him felt their hearts turn cold. " Shen Mu laughed despite himself and shook his head.
"How I long to return to Wuyou Township, overturn his comfortable nest, and question him to his face.
Perhaps I could repair the Ark of the Other Shore and sail it there to find him. I still have here a mirror that the Headman and the others recovered from the Ark, a mirror that records the path to Wuyou Township.
The Headman sealed it, saying that when I could break his seal, I should go and seek Wuyou Township. . . " "Kah-dah-kah? " said the plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon, suspicious. "You are too good to me, listening to all this nonsense of mine. " Shen Mu turned to look at it, slowly drew a sword, and said gently, "But you know too many of my secrets.
.
.
Do not struggle. Only a plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon that has been boiled and eaten is a plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon that will not spill secrets. In your next life, do not be a chicken. " A great flurry of flying chickens and leaping dogs broke out in Yincan Village; in flocks and droves the plume-crested fire pheasant-dragons huddled into balls, staring in terror at Shen Mu stewing chicken beside the campfire. Before long Shen Mu had drunk the chicken soup and eaten the chicken, cooked to just the right degree, and was wholly content.
"Grandpa Alchemist and the others did not come back here; most likely they went to Fengdu to see the Headman. We are not far from Jianglong City now, and from here I can pass through the Between of Life and Death into Fengdu.
. . Before that, I should go and pay my respects at the Headman's, and let him know that I will come to see him. " He rose and left, and before long came to the small mountain village in his memory. The village had once held only a few households, built around the Headman's stone statue. When Shen Mu arrived, he could not help but start.
Several more stone statues had appeared here, and the Headman's statue was gone! "You mean the statue with no hands and no legs? Someone carried it off.
" The villagers told him, "Some strange men came, a blacksmith, a pig butcher, a medicine seller, and one who paints spring couplets and New Year pictures. They said the statue was an acquaintance of theirs, they helped us move a few statues here for us, and then they carried that one away.
" "The old statue was better!