Chapter 6 — The Child Treads the Wind and Escapes the Ape's Maw
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"Is she using that fine thread to control this sword? But with a thread so thin, how does she manage to make the sword turn?
" Shen Mu had no time to unravel the mystery, and at once he was off at a sprint. With a thud, the sword grazed past him, piercing into a great tree and burying itself deep in the trunk.
The sword seemed a living thing; it twitched twice in the tree, unable to pull itself free. Then the woman drifted over, her slender fingers closing around the hilt as she drew the blade from the trunk, and said with chagrin: "My White Tiger True Essence is still not strong enough—I cannot yet command it like my own arm. . .
" "Junior Sister Qing, transforming your true essence into fine silk to drive a flying sword and kill enemies is already quite an accomplishment.
" The young man who had trodden the waves beside her came to her side and said with a gentle smile: "What you lack is not cultivation but experience. This time Master has brought us to the Wastes to train, precisely to make up for that weakness. In the past we cultivated on our own and had no real combat—and now this little wretch is our chance for real combat. You will soon master the art of driving flying swords with qi. " The other three youths hurried over, and one of them laughed: "This little wretch has turned himself into a deer, and deer are naturally quick, so he was able to dodge Senior Sister's flying sword.
" Senior Sister Liu's spirits soared. She drove her sword after Shen Mu once more and said with a winsome laugh: "Senior Brother Chu, hold back for now—leave this little wretch to Junior Sister to practice her sword on.
" Senior Brother Chu was the young man who had trodden the waves beside her. He nodded and smiled: "Junior Brothers, let the three of us watch Junior Sister Qing's swordplay together.
" Shen Mu strained with all his might to dodge the sword-light flying at his back, wondering in confusion: "Driving a flying sword with qi? Could the thread in that woman's hand be no real thread at all, but her qi?
Can qi really reach such a level—controlling a precious sword? Can I do it? " He had learned the Beast-Slaying Blade under the butcher, who had only ever taught him to control the blade with both hands, never with qi.
Of this art he knew nothing whatsoever. But seeing Senior Sister Liu drive her flying sword with qi, Shen Mu's mind began to churn.
Since one could drive a flying sword with qi, could one use qi to command other things as well? Yet Senior Sister Liu sent her sword chasing after him again, leaving him no time to think it through.
Besides, Granny Zhu had turned him into an elk; his limbs were clumsy and slow, and the qi within his body had sunk into dead stillness, far less lively than in normal times. Swish— Sword-light flashed, struck from behind, and slashed across his back. Shen Mu felt a chill on his back, followed immediately by a searing pain.
He knew Senior Sister Liu's sword had cut him.
"Damn it! An elk is fast, but not as nimble as my true body.
Granny turned me into a deer, and now I'm wounded—I'm afraid this doom is inescapable. .
.
" The thought had barely crossed his mind when he suddenly felt his mouth split open.
It was not truly splitting open—the mouth of the deer hide was coming away from his body! Shen Mu then remembered that when Granny Zhu told him to run, she had surreptitiously plucked a needle from between "his" brows.
That needle was exactly the one that had pinned down his heavenly soul!
In no time at all, his head came free of the deer hide. Behind him, sword-qi broke the air with shrill whistles, slashing down at him. Shen Mu hurled himself forward with all his might, bursting out of the deer hide completely.
He tumbled and rolled, falling more than ten zhang away, then sprang to his feet and fled at a dead run. Behind him, the deer hide was slashed to pieces by Senior Sister Liu's qi-driven flying sword.