Chapter 163 — The Waters of Bangong Lake
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
Those seventeen golden-bone skeletons formed a formation of tremendous power, one that raised its might to the very level of the gods — yet the force streaming from the other world was dreadful beyond measure. When the paper knives hacked down and the paper swords thrust in, even the golden bones of the Great Sovereign's seventeen lives could not withstand them: one stroke of a knife could sever a bone; one thrust of a sword could pierce a skull! The Shaman Sovereign drove the seventeen skeletons to hold on desperately, fighting for their lives against the paper host, while the Great Sovereign pressed on with his reincarnation — and now the little boat in the other world was closing in, and the old man aboard had risen, lamp in hand.
Cold sweat broke out on the Shaman Sovereign's brow. The boat had drifted near; in a moment it would pass from the other world into the world of the living — and the old man at its prow was reaching out his hand, as if to stretch that hand out of the other world and seize the reincarnating Great Sovereign, dragging him back into that world! Suddenly the Great Sovereign's body went rigid and dropped from the air, breathless and lifeless — and Bangong Cuo opened a pair of dark, glossy eyes. The moment his eyes opened, he saw the seam between the two worlds begin to collapse.
Paper figures and paper horses burst into flame without fire and burned to ash in an instant, and the hand that had reached out of the other world slowly withdrew and was gone. In the sacred temple the lamps blazed suddenly bright; the gloom and oppression of a moment before had vanished without a trace.
Bangong Cuo let out a long breath and smiled. "At last — it is done. " "Congratulations, Great Sovereign!
" The Shaman Sovereign bowed.
Bangong Cuo waved a hand, and the Shaman Sovereign bowed and withdrew, closing the temple doors behind him, and sighed in relief.
"Had the Great Sovereign not been so old and frail, would Heaven Knife ever have come killing to his door?
Now that the Great Sovereign has reincarnated, he can live out another life at last. The kingdom of Jingping is nothing to fear now — and neither is Heaven Knife. " Inside Qingmen Pass, Shen Mu tossed Libationer Bashan two jade bottles and went off to buy spirit medicines for refining pills. He had used a great deal of dragon saliva reattaching Zai Fu's body, and five bottles remained.
Libationer Bashan had fought the strongmen of Loulan's Golden Palace in a desperate battle and was badly hurt; beyond his external wounds he needed spirit pills to heal his internal injuries and purge his hidden ailments.
"Young Master, the Patriarch is looking for you. " No sooner had Shen Mu finished preparing the medicines than the herb-garden shophand said, "We beg the Young Master to leave the pass at once and make for Yongzhou. " Shen Mu blinked, then nodded.
He returned to the inn in the pass, refined a batch of healing spirit pills for Libationer Bashan, called Xuehu'er, and without a word went out of the pass, heading for Yongzhou.
Ling Yuxiu had been bathing; when she came out, Shen Mu was nowhere to be found.
Alarmed, she hurried to ask Libationer Bashan.
He did not know when Shen Mu had left either. After a moment's thought he said, "Princess, there is no need to worry.
The fox is gone too — which means my junior brother was not carried off, but left of his own accord, with the fox. " Ling Yuxiu felt a pang of disappointment. Once again Shen Mu had slipped away without so much as a word to her. Did it have to be so mysterious?
Was there anything that could not be spoken of?
Libationer Bashan took his spirit pills and rose.
"Princess, we return to the Imperial Academy.
By my reckoning, the Grand Libationer must soon step down, and a new Grand Libationer soon take office. Let us go back early. The Grand Libationer has always looked after me kindly; I must at least see him off. " Ling Yuxiu assented.