Chapter 1321 — Demonic Miasma at the Mine's Depths
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
They dragged their long chains through the district, raising mirror after mirror; the light in the mirrors scattered the mist and fell upon the rock walls. If some divine stone was caught in that light, these ragged miners, shackles clanking, would rush over in a fluster, bite their tongues till they bled, and paint runes on the rock around the stone with their own blood, to bind it in place, lest the stone take flight.
The Taichu divine stone has the wonder of having form but no substance; unlike other divine stones, having no material composition, it can slip through anywhere. Without runes to bind it and mirrors to pin it, such a stone cannot be dug out at all.
These men were the ones whose sole duty was to search for stones. "These are not the condemned of the Great Prison, but of the Heaven Prison; they have erred more, and their sins are heavier," said the white cat Little Seven. "Their cultivation and strength are greater too, and they must find a hundred divine stones before they may leave.
" Shen Mu watched the searchers running to and fro. "Has anyone ever left this place alive?
" The white cat shook his head.
"That is the strangeness of this vein.
To search for divine ore, to quarry divine stone — it seems the vein lays a curse on you: the more you find, the more you dig out, the faster you are assimilated. Look at that one over there.
" Shen Mu looked. An old, bent divine being was nearly all phantom now, and still he dragged his chains and held up his mirror, searching everywhere.
"He is a mighty one of the Skyreach realm, sovereign of the Batu Heavens.
For defying the Heavenly Court he was condemned to death and thrown into the Heaven Prison to suffer. He has found only sixty-two divine stones, and binding those alone has all but killed him. " The white cat showed an uncanny smile.
"And the best of it is — he does not know he is about to die. That is the beauty of the mining district: it keeps these wretches working themselves to death for Her Highness!
" He laughed. "And these are only divine stones. If a man finds a raw stone — merely finds it, and cannot bind it — that alone is enough to make him phantom in an instant!
Do you know why Xiu Hongsu does not dare come here? " Shen Mu shook his head. "She has seen a raw stone three times!
" the white cat said, laughing. "The first time, one glance nearly killed her; she fled this place in a panic, not daring to try to fix that raw stone in place. The second time, she prepared thoroughly and ventured deep into the district again — but it was the same as the first: she saw the raw stone, and knew all her preparations were useless, and fled for her life once more.
The third time, she begged a treasure from Her Highness, and only then dared to enter.
" Shen Mu asked, curious, "And then?
" A giggling rose from the white cat's throat, very uncanny indeed: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, do you not know? You have always had one very great weakness: you are too curious! That weakness will bring you many strange adventures — and sometimes it will bring you a death of utter misery! " Shen Mu nodded. "Someone once told me my curiosity would be the death of me.
But a man who has no curiosity will never advance.
A race with no curiosity will never advance either. So whether it profits me or harms me, I make my own choice. " The white cat said, "On her third entry she found that raw stone, and she used the body-guarding treasure Her Highness had given her, trying to fix the stone in place — only to find that Her Highness's treasure was itself phasing away at furious speed. Before she could pin down that strange raw stone, the treasure would have become nothing.