Chapter 708 — The Sacred Blade of the Imperial Court
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Qi Jiuyi slid down the wall, the shock on his face still undissolved, staring blankly at the great head that poked out of that doorway.
It was a bizarre head—a human face, yet crowned with a pair of goat horns, a tuft of goatee on its chin, reeking of wine as it belched and gazed at them with curiosity.
Shen Mu said politely, "Senior, we are men of Jingping. We strayed into this place and disturbed you. Might I ask, Senior—how does one leave here?"
The goat-horned man smoothed his garments and stepped out from the doorway. He stood far taller than Shen Mu and Qi Jiuyi, taller even than Long Qilin. His face was grave as he bowed his head to scrutinize them, his gaze coming to rest on Long Qilin. He swallowed with an audible gurgle and muttered, "It has been so long since I last tasted meat. A pity you are primordial spirits—no flesh on you... You say you are men of Jingping? What sort of place is Jingping?"
By his attire, he was plainly no man of the present age, but clad in the dress of the ancients.
His body was all lean sinew and muscle. Though he lacked the robust bulk of the Green Ox, he gave off an impression of wiry competence—and a dreadful sense of menace.
Nor was he a goat-spirit. From the spiral patterns, large and small, that covered his body, he was the primordial spirit of a deity—though that spirit had been refined into substantial form. Whether he was the primordial spirit guarding this blade, one could not say.
To refine a primordial spirit into substance was no small matter. Plainly his cultivation was exceedingly high.
Shen Mu asked, suspicious, "Senior, are you a man of the Kaihuang Era? Then do you know of Huangxu?"
"Huangxu? Of course I know it. Kaihuang commanded me to use the divine blade Dique to sever a corner of Youdu, that it might be forged into Fengdu. Kaihuang said he wished to carve out a Fengdu world of roughly the same size as Huangxu."
The goat-horned man belched wine and asked, "Where is Jingping? What age is it now?"
"Senior, are you the shaper of Fengdu?"
Shen Mu was greatly shaken. He said hastily, "Jingping lies to the east of Huangxu. The Kaihuang Era ended twenty thousand years ago. Eight hundred years past, Jingping was founded, and now we stand in the age of reform. Senior, you are one of Kaihuang's..."
The goat-horned man, muddled with drink, murmured, "The Kaihuang Era ended twenty thousand years ago? Has it been so long? Heh heh, no wonder. I seem to have passed seven or eight million years here... I was beneath Kaihuang's throne—Left Shaobi of the Heaven Emperor Star Dipper, surnamed Tian, named Shu. But then, you would not know of me."
He turned back into the room and lugged out a great wine jar, tipping his head back to gulp it down.
Only then did Shen Mu notice that his legs were not human legs either, but curved goat legs ending in a pair of hooves. Because he was so tall, the hooves were large as well.
"The Heavenly Court of Kaihuang? Left Shaobi of the Heaven Emperor Star Dipper?"
Qi Jiuyi's expression shifted slightly. He thought, "A remnant of the false dynasty!"
Shen Mu asked, puzzled, "Senior, you too are in a primordial spirit state, are you not? Do you truly dwell here? Then where is your physical body?"
Tian Shu drained that great jar of wine in one gulp and smashed the bottle carelessly. Shen Mu at once noticed that after the jar shattered, it swiftly restored itself, and within it was once more a brimming jar of fine wine, its fragrance spilling in all directions.
The wine jar flew into the air and returned to the room.
"It is a long story."