Chapter 883 — Gathering the Milky Way Before the Moon Palace
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Shen Mu saw her smile, and his heart seemed to melt all over again.
It melted on that sun-drenched day, beside the reed marsh of the Yong River, where the reeds drifted with snow-white blossoms and a cowherd rode his ox, the ox plodding slowly along the bank. That day, a strange melody kept echoing in his mind; he wanted to hum it, to sing it aloud, yet somehow he could never hum or sing it out.
The melody felt so familiar, so dear to him, and yet he could never quite recall it. Now, at this moment, he remembered that nursery rhyme.
In the swaddling clothes within that basket, he had heard this nursery rhyme, heard this voice.
He walked to the girl humming the children's song he knew yet could not remember, sat down beside her, and said with a smile, "Long time no see.
Do you remember the baby in that basket, the one called Shen Fengqing?
I am him. " Bai Qu'er looked at him, surprise slowly rising on her face, and the surprise turned into a smile. "Do you remember the girl who sat on the box?
" "I do. " Shen Mu's heart burned hot within him; he could not tell whether his wounds had yet to heal, or whether some strange emotion was at work.
Bai Qu'er wrapped her arms around her knees, her back held perfectly straight, and gazed blankly at the land below.
"Jingping is so beautiful," she said.
Shen Mu looked down and saw ten thousand lamps; on the vast and boundless earth, among the mountains and rivers, the lights of the cities were scattered like points, and wherever there was lamplight, there were people. Though Jingping had met with such upheaval, its tenacious people still found ways to survive.
To sit in the Moon Palace and look upon the mortal world had a beauty all its own. The Heavenly Court, enthroned on high in eternal day, could appreciate no beauty in shadow, nor see the hope in the hearts of those who lit lamp after lamp in the darkness.
The moonlight was bright and clear; the moon formation in the Heaven Diagram had opened more than halfway and was about to become a full moon.
Shen Mu reckoned he must have slept five or six days.
"How did you come to be here? " he asked, turning his head to look at the cheek of the girl beside him.
"The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping came upon me, and I spent several days debating the sword with him. Then I heard that a girl named Si Yunxiang had sent people everywhere seeking Kaihuang's Four Great Celestial Masters and Four Great Heavenly Kings, saying that a son of the Shen family was in peril and had gone to the Northern Heavens for rescue.
" Bai Qu'er said, "So I hurried here first, meaning to enter the Palace of Mahakala through the Heaven Diagram.
I had just finished sweeping the Heaven Diagram clean of the gods of the outer Heavenly Court when Long Pang brought you over. " Enlightenment dawned on Shen Mu, and he laughed. "Slipping into the Palace of Mahakala through the Heaven Diagram, and even launching a surprise attack on Mahakala, is an excellent plan; it is precisely the way to evade his senses.
" Bai Qu'er laughed. "Indeed.
While you lay unconscious, Wen Tiange, Han Tang, and Yan Yunxi also found their way here, entering through the Heaven Diagram as well. Three of Kaihuang's Four Great Celestial Masters had arrived.
Han Tang meant to tear a gap in the Heaven Diagram, then send a fishing line into the Palace of Mahakala and fish you up. " Han Tang was the name of the Fisherman Celestial Master, while Yan Yunxi was the name of the Zixi Celestial Master, though Yan Yunxi was the name he used when dressed as a woman. The Fisherman Celestial Master was famed for never casting a hook in vain, so fishing Shen Mu up was not beyond possibility. "Yan Yunxi intended to set a formation and ambush Mahakala, but Wen Tiange said that Jingping and Mahakala had no grievance between them, and that perhaps they might be both enemies and friends.
" Bai Qu'er laughed. "They were all very concerned for you.