Chapter 835 — At the Prince's Grave
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Six hundred and eighty thousand years ago.
"Lin Xiao, hurry!"
A host of gods escorted a coffin to the banks of the Heavenly River. One of them urged, "Lin Xiao, why are you still standing at the shore? Hurry! What the Empress has commanded must be done well!"
Lin Xiao steadied himself and watched the ghost ship emerge from the radiance. He hesitated, then followed the others, murmuring, "I feel as though I have been here before—like a nightmare. I saw the Four Emperors board the ship, and I saw the Lord of the Yulin Army..."
"You are dreaming! Get on the ship, now!"
Lin Xiao stood at the gangplank, wavering.
"Do this well, and the Empress will guarantee your sons and grandsons prosperity for generations to come!"
One of the gods spoke viciously: "If you hesitate any longer, to protect this secret, we shall have no choice but to dispose of you here and now!"
Lin Xiao steeled himself and walked toward the ship, thinking, "A dream. It is absolutely a dream!"
Seven hundred thousand years ago.
The Heavenly River.
A burst of light exploded from the river, and the forms of the Vermilion Bird, Southern Emperor; the Azure Dragon, Eastern Emperor; the White Tiger, Western Emperor; and the Black Tortoise, Northern Emperor appeared, standing on either bank. As the light dispersed, a ghost ship reassembled itself in the river.
Aboard the ship, Longbo roared in fury, struggling to break free of the vessel's bonds and tear himself away from it.
That divine dragon was immensely powerful, yet the Yulin Army had run chains through his body and pinned him to the ship. Thus, when Shen Mu borrowed the power of the Four Emperors to break Ling Tianzun's divine ability, Longbo too had been unable to shake off his suppression. Now, as the ghost ship reassembled and Ling Tianzun's power returned, his struggles fused him with the hull—his body merging with the tower before the deck, leaving only his dragon head exposed.
Terror surfaced in the eyes of the Dragon King Longbo. He cried out, "Save me! Four Emperors, save me!"
The Four Ancient God Emperors stood on either bank, gazing at the ship once more shrouded in black qi, uncertain and alarmed.
"Mu Tianzun is on that ship!"
The Black Tortoise, Northern Emperor, suddenly turned to the Vermilion Bird, Southern Emperor, and said in a low voice, "Mu Tianzun even calls you sister. Should the Southern Emperor not give us an explanation?"
"Why look at me?"
The Vermilion Bird, Southern Emperor, giggled. Her crimson robes swirled, and she transformed into a streak of firelight, fleeing far away. Her laughter drifted back from the distance: "I am just like all of you—I know nothing at all!"
The other three Emperors frowned.
"Besides us escaping, I also saw streaks of light fade away—like figures, one after another."
The Azure Dragon, Eastern Emperor, said softly, "Also, those Yulin Army generals I seized just now have vanished from my grasp. When the light burst forth, they... they too disappeared from the ship!"
He looked around but saw no trace of those Yulin Army commanders. He murmured, "This ship is too strange..."
Seven hundred and twenty thousand years ago, the mist descended.
"General, there is a woman in the mist performing a ritual!"
A massive tower ship sailed slowly into the mist. Wei Suifeng watched the mist that had suddenly appeared over the Heavenly River, and something stirred in his heart. He removed his armor, took down the lantern hanging from the mast, and wrote furiously on the wall of the tower.
He wrote his final passage: "I came from the Guixu, and meeting this woman, I returned to the ancient era. I sought the mysteries of antiquity and searched for the riddles of history. Now I have met this woman again, and I think it is time I extinguished my lamp and returned."
He hung the lantern on its stand, opened it, and blew out the divine lamp. Darkness fell within the tower.
The mist gradually turned black, enveloping the entire ship.