Chapter 1053 — The Ancient War-Presiding Deity
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The Western Emperor had changed out of her battle garb. Clad in armor as she had been, her face had been hidden from view—only her large eyes were visible—but now Shen Mu could finally behold her in full.
She wore a white gown embroidered with a tiger’s head in golden thread. On her head sat a yishan crown, worked in gold with the pattern of two tigers holding up an embroidered ball.
On an ordinary yishan crown, two ears are folded out of black gauze at the summit, like a pair of little wings, but on hers two actual ears jutted straight through. Her tiger ears had nowhere to rest, so they simply pierced out on either side of the crown, furry and twitching from time to time—quite spirited.
This ancient goddess had a round, plump face with a trace of baby fat. Her sleeves were extremely wide and long, her hands tucked away inside, while her skirt was short, ending seven inches above the knee.
Her legs were bare, and her feet were shod in a pair of tiger-head shoes. Shen Mu finally understood why her skirt was so short: she had a tail with nowhere to put it. It would rise up from behind her at odd moments, even arching over her shoulder, incomparably nimble.
If that tail had eyes, it would surely poke its head about in every direction, peering all around. This was the first adorable ancient god Shen Mu had ever seen—and she was one of the Four Emperors of the ancient gods at that. The status of the ancient gods was enormously high.
Even the straw-gods waiting on the Earth Mother in the Primal Realm held status enough to frighten one, so the Four Emperors of the ancient gods stood higher still!
Even if the prestige of the ancient gods no longer matched what it had been, they still reigned as the supreme beings ruling the four poles of the universe!
Of the Four Emperors, Shen Mu had met three: the Azure Dragon possessed the countenance of an emperor, the Black Tortoise was reserved yet imposing to an extraordinary degree, and the Southern Emperor, the Vermilion Bird, though fond of prying into others’ private affairs, displayed the full bearing of an ancient god-emperor both in public and in private. Only this Western Emperor was like a girl who had never grown up.
Shen Mu’s expression turned odd. *The Western Emperor must be the little sister in the hearts of all the ancient gods,* he thought.
The Western Emperor came over, laughing. “With the armor off, I feel much more comfortable. Celestial Venerable, this way, please.
” When she smiled, she revealed a pair of tiger fangs.
Shen Mu followed her, but her tail was still ill-behaved—now coiling around her waist, now creeping up to her shoulder, sometimes even sweeping at the branches, flowers, and grass along the way.
*When she was wearing armor, I didn’t see her tail.
Where was it hiding then?
* Shen Mu stared at that white-tiger tail. *What if I were to touch it.
.
.
? * He grew more and more tempted, but after all, she was a great emperor among the ancient gods, and reaching out to touch her directly was hardly proper.
Yan’er, however, had no such qualms.
She bounced over and stroked the Western Emperor’s tail. The Western Emperor giggled, and the tip of her tail tilted Yan’er’s chin up.
“You little minx,” she said with a laugh, “I’m your aunt, and you dare to tease me? ” Yan’er turned into a little green sparrow, flew over, and perched on the tail’s tip.
“Auntie, do you know me?
” she asked curiously. “Of course I do. Your bloodline is special—I could tell at a glance.
” The tip of the Western Emperor’s tail swung to her shoulder and set the sparrow down on it; the tail gently tousled the little bird’s head. Yan’er, perfectly comfortable, sat on her shoulder with her head tilted, dozing. The Western Emperor led them up to the jade terrace to enjoy the view.