Chapter 792 — The Nine Ancient Emperors
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
Shen Mu felt that what was underfoot was not a stair. He looked down: it was an incomparably thick tree root. The root was thicker than the road from Jingping to the Western Lands, and covered in moss. As they walked along it, each step lit a footprint in the soft moss like foxfire; only after they had gone a dozen paces did the prints behind them slowly dim.
The dragon qilin and the water qilin were astonished, and leapt about on the root, leaving strings of hoofprints. Yu Tianzun jumped down too and played with them happily, until all at once he missed his footing and fell from the root, letting out a shrill scream.
Shen Mu shook his head. A single strand of his hair grew long in the wind and coiled downward, wrapping Yu Tianzun up tight and hauling him back up.
Yu Tianzun, his fright barely settled, became much more docile. The roots ran in every direction, and the underground was not like an underground at all but a vast, boundless space; only, all around was gloom, and Shen Mu could not make out the arrangement of the place.
He followed Gongsun Yan deep underground.
When the root reached the edge of the subterranean space, he saw walls built of ancient marble, their veins and patterns very old. But as they went deeper, the height of those walls left him somewhat aghast. They went from one root to another, and still had not reached the bottom.
Suddenly the dragon qilin cried out in alarm and hid trembling behind Shen Mu. Shen Mu looked. Not far off, a great many ancient roots crossed and interwove, tied into a knot.
At the center of that knot lay a huge black stone coffin, and from within it came faintly a dreadful divine might.
Before the coffin stood six kinds of stone beasts, qilin, lion, camel, horse, white elephant, and xiezhi, one pair of each, twelve statues in all, standing on the roots before the coffin.
"The specifications of an imperial tomb?
" Shen Mu's heart quivered. "Can it be that the Earth Mother lies in this coffin?
" The black coffin was sixteen zhang high, eight zhang wide, and forty-nine zhang long; plainly whoever lay within must have been enormous in stature. "That is the coffin of a Supreme Emperor.
Within lies the first Supreme Emperor. " Gongsun Yan bowed respectfully to the coffin and said softly, "The first Supreme Emperor has a bad temper.
Let us not disturb him; we will slip past quietly.
" The dragon qilin shuddered, tucked his thick dragon tail between his legs, and crept forward, muttering, "Bad temper or not, he cannot jump out of his coffin.
. .
" As they passed beside the coffin, the stone statues suddenly turned their heads, their faces stern and ferocious, staring fixedly at them, their gazes tracking their movements; only when they had gone by did the statues slowly turn their heads back and resume facing one another.
They went on some distance and saw another huge stone coffin wrapped about by roots, hanging in a place that touched neither heaven nor earth. Before this coffin too were twelve statues, but these had birds' heads and human bodies, wings on their backs, standing on one leg; some heads were Vermilion Birds, some phoenix heads, some dragon heads with birds' beaks, and some bore differing numbers of heads.
"This is the tomb of the second Supreme Emperor. " Gongsun Yan whispered, "Bad temper as well. Keep your voice down.
" The bird-headed statues stared at them, and under that gaze Shen Mu, Yu Tianzun, the dragon qilin, and the water qilin crept past on tiptoe. Then they saw a third black stone coffin and two rows of statues. Shen Mu could not help asking, "Sister Yan, how many Supreme Emperors were there in the age of the Supreme Emperors? " "Fourteen.
" Gongsun Yan lowered her voice. "Nine are buried here.
The others fell in battle far away, and their bodies could not be recovered; they were seized and refined into treasures. " Shen Mu's expression turned strange. After a moment he ventured, "These Supreme Emperors all have bad tempers?
" "Mm.