Chapter 448 — Night Raid

The quicksand surged, bearing the woodcarved idols up, lifting them; the dune rose higher and higher.

Ban Gongcuo's heart grew frantic, and he clenched his fists in elation, for the Dawn Ark was surrounded on every side by enormous dune giants, who raised their huge fists high, ready to hammer down on Shen Mu aboard the ship.

"That Shen boy is finished! " Ban Gongcuo was so excited he nearly shouted it aloud.

Just then a silver sword-glint, with a shrill whistle, in an instant pierced the skull of one woodcarved idol; the idol's head burst with a crack, then a second clear ringing burst followed, then a third, a fourth, the sounds running together into a single line.

After several crack-crack-cracks, the raised arms of the dune giants froze in the air, and then the quicksand slowly caved and slid, burying that Dawn Ark more than half.

"Fight me? " A light laugh came from the ship.

Ban Gongcuo hesitated no longer, and turned to go. "To catch this boy off guard is all but impossible.

But he is a Forsaken; what is he going to the Western Lands for?

Isn't he going to his death?

The mistress of these woodcarved idols, now, her I know; we met once, though she is not easy to find. Heh heh.

Boy of the Shen family, if I would kill you, why should I need to do it with my own hands?

" He smiled. "Besides, even if I cannot borrow that one's power, I have several old acquaintances in the Western Lands, and killing you will be only too easy. Wretched boy, you have crossed me again and again; when you are dead I will piece your corpse into a great big word: Submission!

" At noon the next day the Dragon Qilin at last came out of the great desert, and the flame patterns on Shen Mu's body slowly faded and vanished. They came to a small border town of the Western Lands, where the streets were filled with men and women in headwraps, gorgeously dressed, adorned with gold and silver; women of higher standing wore silver crowns carved in the likeness of phoenixes and Vermilion Birds, and their robes were of brilliant red or deep black, dazzling to the eye.

There were a great many pretty girls here; the men, though, were plainer.

No sooner had they reached the town than Xiong Qier began clamoring for sour fish soup, for chili bones, for rice noodles, and for insect tea. She had been away from home more than half a year, and now that she could at last eat the food of her homeland she could not keep from cheering, wanting to taste a little of everything. In the Western Lands people settled their bills in gold and silver, and Shen Mu had brought some with him, so he let her eat and drink her fill.

Shen Mu ate some too; the food of the Western Lands ran to the hot and the sour, and had a flavor all its own, but the insect tea of the Western Lands he did not quite dare try. Insect tea was refined from the droppings of insects that had eaten tea leaves, and though its strange fragrance struck the nose, he still felt a certain dread of it.

"Grandpa Pill Master loves his tea; I'll bring him some to taste," Shen Mu thought to himself.

He looked about him: the buildings of the Western Lands were very different from those of Jingping, the customs and manners all their own, and strangest of all were the houses, timber-framed round buildings, many of them bearing inscribed plaques, and on the plaques hung idols. Shen Mu asked around, and only then learned that these idols served to keep the houses from being summoned to life by others' sorcery. For the arts of the Western Lands followed the same road of all things having spirits and all things having gods; if a man of divine powers worked his art and the house suddenly stood up and ran off, would the whole family, old and young, not be left to drink the northwest wind?

So long as an idol was enshrined on a house, it could not be summoned away by a man of divine powers.

Shen Mu blinked: a great host of houses standing up and going to war with one another, now that would be a spectacle indeed. But could an idol truly guarantee that a house would not be carried off by a man of divine powers?

An old man told him, "There are many shrines on the mountains too, to hold down the mountain spirits.

And there is a shrine altar in every river, lest those men of divine powers carry them off. But these mountains and waters all have owners.

" Shen Mu looked all around, clicking his tongue in wonder; the mountains rolled away one after another.

He had thought the mountains of the Western Lands must long ago have been leveled by men of divine powers, yet the Western Lands were still green hills and clear waters, a pleasant country. "Why do the mountains and waters here all have owners?

" Shen Mu asked.

"And who are their owners? " "The Lady of the True Heaven Palace, of course, and certain men of divine powers from these parts, and other sects besides," the old man said.

"Not only the mountains and waters have owners; even the flowers and grasses, the trees, all have owners, and you must not touch them lightly.

Otherwise you could sell yourself and still not pay for the damage.

" Even as he spoke, the ground trembled faintly; the crowd around them fell into a fluster and hastily made way.

Shen Mu looked toward the sound and saw a tree-man, transformed from a towering tree, striding along on his feet, and on the tree stood a woman holding a scroll, which she suddenly unrolled, crying in a loud voice, "A fugitive from the Wilderness Ruins has fled into the Western Lands! By order of the True Heaven Palace, this villain is to be hunted down!

Somebody, hang up the portrait! "