Chapter 393 — The Spring of the Blazing Sun
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
Shen Mu read it and said, "The stele says: the Emperor commanded Ziqing to refine the two wells of sun and moon. Ziqing was stubborn and idle, and for a hundred years did not succeed. The Emperor was angry and would have put her to death.
Ziqing then trembled with fear, and in fifty years completed them; yet the sun and moon in the wells gave no light.
Ziqing took her own two eyes and cast them into the wells, and the sun and moon shone.
The Emperor commanded the historian to raise a stele in her memory. "
He looked up at the black sun floating above the Dawn Ark and said, "That sun has the blood of the goddess Ziqing in it, and so it shines with great brilliance — but for some reason the sun has gone out.
"
"The sun went out because of a powerful enemy!
"
Shen Mu looked toward the voice. Several hundred of the Sunherd god-clan were walking toward them, each of them of towering stature. At their head was the old clan chief of the Sunherd god-clan. Seeing Shen Mu, he was briefly taken aback, and a look of disappointment crossed his face.
"So it's the young friend from Crimson Dragon City. I thought it was someone from the Carefree Land.
Young friend, what brings you here?
"
Shen Mu smiled. "I've come to see the Sun Warden. "
The old clan chief shook his head. "The Sun Warden has not long to live.
We are choosing a new Sun Warden. Young friend, you have deep ties with the Carefree Land — stay and bear witness. "
Shen Mu's heart trembled, and a look of doubt came over him.
"Was it not said that Yan Jingjing still had many years of life left?
Why. . . "
"Demon gods from another realm attacked the Dawnspring. The Sun Warden led our people in person to hold them off, and her lifespan was all but spent.
"
The old clan chief sighed.
"Come with me. The Sun Warden, seeing an old friend, should pass away with a smile.
"
The Sunherds all around looked bleak, their white robes stirring, so that grief seemed to flow in the very air. The old clan chief halted, looked around, and shouted, "Why such mournful looks?
The moment one becomes Sun Warden, one is destined to merge with the Dawn Ark, to become one with it, to stand alongside the ancestors and sages of every generation — this is glory!
Why such mournful looks? The day is late; the demon gods from other realms will invade again.
Pull yourselves together, all of you! "
Shen Mu looked up at him. The old clan chief's white hair swayed faintly. Yan Jingjing was his granddaughter; he asked why they looked mournful, yet the grief in his own heart could not be put into words.