Chapter 857 — Strange Tales of the Southern Realm
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
The true and false Earth Mothers have both appeared; the two powers contended and both were gravely wounded, and so have made no move until now. Yet one of these Earth Mothers is backed by the Ancient God, the Heaven Emperor, and the other is an ancient god herself; neither will stay quiet, and both are waiting for their moment.
When those two Earth Mothers stir, the Daoist Sect cannot hold, and neither can Jingping. Should the Daoist Sect be in danger, Dao Master, lead the scholars into the peach grove, and you will be safe. " Dao Master Lin Xuan felt a chill. "Sect Master, when you entered the peach grove a few days ago, did you discover anything?
" "There is a friend of mine in the peach grove. She means no harm.
" Shen Mu did not speak plainly. "In these days you should also send men to bring the common folk in from every region, and make ready early, in case the Earth Mothers stir.
Every life saved is a boundless merit. " He took his leave and departed. Dao Master Lin Xuan looked toward the peach grove and thought, "An old friend of Sect Master Shen? The Sect Master's acquaintance is truly wide. " Shen Mu left the Daoist Academy and headed for the Southern Wastes. Peach pits hung all over the Dragon Qilin's head; the Dragon Qilin felt that the girl on his head, the one at the Sect Master's side, had never once paused, forever peeling peaches to feed the Sect Master.
Shen Mu, stuffed to bursting, could not stop belching; at last he had finished off all of Yan'er's stock, and he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "Now there is nothing left to feed me, is there?
" Yan'er said in a fluster, "I am quick.
I shall fly back to the peach grove and pick more. Don't wait for me! " Shen Mu hastily caught her hand and begged for mercy.
"Good sister, don't keep feeding me.
I truly cannot eat any more.
Let me refine a few spirit pills for you, and you can feed them with those. " The Dragon Qilin, the Water Qilin and the Lord of Heaven Yu all looked hopeful at once. Shen Mu refined more than a dozen furnaces of spirit pills in a single breath, sorted them into kinds, and told Yan'er which were for the Dragon Qilin, which for the Water Qilin, and which the Lord of Heaven Yu might eat.
"Don't feed them too many," he said. "They will get fat.
" Yan'er took the pills, skipping with excitement.
Where she stowed them was anyone's guess, but the moment she turned her palm over, there they were in her hand. The girl hopped about on the Dragon Qilin and the Water Qilin, feeding the three of them, bustling here and there, happy at heart, more fulfilled than she had ever been.
Watching the chit bustle, Shen Mu nursed a private headache.
"It won't be long before the three of them are fat as balls. . .
And there is not much spirit medicine left in my Taotie Pouch; I must find a city and buy some herbs. " A few days later his spirit medicine was entirely spent.
Jingping was so vast these days that he found no city along the road, and had no choice but to travel on. Yan'er, with no one to feed, could not sit still.
Shen Mu hurried to comfort her: "Another dozen days and we shall reach Lanjiang Academy; there you can buy more herbs. Sister Yan'er, bear with it a while. " Yan'er bore it five or six days, and could bear it no longer.
All at once she became a little blue sparrow, beat her wings, and flew off, crying, "I am going to forage! You go on ahead; I shall catch up soon!
" Shen Mu had no time to call her back; he saw only the little blue sparrow fly out over a vast sweep of divine mountains and vanish into the divine mists among the peaks. Shen Mu had no choice but to have the Dragon Qilin press on. Before long the sky suddenly darkened.