Chapter 5 — The Five Elders of the Lan River Come Treading the Wastes
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
" One of the Five Elders, a black-bearded old man, said coldly, "We have heard that the Wastes are a den of filth, where demons and monsters who can no longer survive elsewhere hide themselves.
So we Five Elders have brought our disciples to subdue demons and eradicate evil. " "Who is the demon and who the monster, who subdues whom and who eradicates whom—that is not yet decided. " Granny Zhu held the basket on one arm and fished a pair of scissors from it with the other, looking for all the world like a dim-eyed old crone. She laughed.
"This old woman has not stretched her limbs in a long while, but fortunately her former skills are not wholly wasted.
You five old devils—do you also wish to be made into clothing by me?
" "Vile demon, you dare to be so insolent before us? Are you even worthy of insolence? " The four elders of the Lan River shouted, their forms shifting.
The four crossed paths and charged at Granny Zhu. At that moment, Shen Mu, racing with all his strength toward Hidden Maimed Village, heard thunder rumbling behind him. With the thunder came peals of lightning; snow-white flashes lit the hills and fields, many times brighter than sunlight!
He looked back.
Where Granny Zhu stood, surging waves of qi were erupting, tearing up grass and loose stones, and several boulders weighing hundreds or thousands of catties were caught up by the sudden gale and hurled outward with a howl, swift as could be! "Will Granny be all right.
. . ? " Shen Mu's heart sank.
Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps on the river—thud, thud, thud—and saw a young man and woman racing across the water's surface! The man and woman trod the river, their bodies not sinking into it at all.
Their feet fell and lifted so swiftly—far faster even than his own running—that the water had no time to cover their insteps before the two had already vanished into the distance! "These two have reached what Lame Grandpa calls walking on waves.
I cannot do that yet—their strength is greater than mine! " The man and woman ran on across the river's heart, soon overtaking Shen Mu, and headed from the water toward the bank. It seemed they meant to cut him off ahead. Shen Mu looked back.
Another was pursuing him from behind, while two more wove swiftly through the ridges to his left, their figures now and then leaping up from the dense woods, treading the treetops as they raced with a whistle.
But they could not keep it up for long, and soon had to drop to the ground to catch their breath. Even so, they would soon overtake Shen Mu and cut in ahead of him.
"I cannot let them cut me off!
I must reach the village a step ahead of them, so Lame Grandpa and Master Huo and the others can go save Granny! " Shen Mu gritted his teeth, avoided the riverside, and dashed diagonally into the woods. To keep running along the river would surely mean being blocked—the two in the river's heart were too fast, while the two running through the woods were somewhat slower.
Charging into the woods was the only path of escape.
"Little spawn, you and that demon hag killed a deer and refined an evil thing—do not think you can escape! " Shen Mu had just charged into the woods when one of the two lying in wait for him suddenly surged in speed, overtaking the other—but he was still a step too late, and the elk that Shen Mu had become rushed past before him. "Do not worry, he cannot escape!
" Ahead, the man and woman looked calm.
The woman gave a light laugh, her sleeves fluttering, and her speed suddenly increased; she leaped and bounded among the treetops like a flying thing, chasing the elk through the woods. The other man, unhurried, directed the remaining three to flank and close in, heading toward Shen Mu. Shen Mu ran madly, but he could never shake off the five. Not only could he not shake them, he was driven farther and farther from Hidden Maimed Village, deeper and deeper into the Wastes.