Chapter 9 — The Ruined City of Powdered Bones Greets the Black Tide
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 3
He had barely entered the plaza when the strands of a whisk in one woman's skeletal hand lifted gently, and each strand, as though alive, began to grow; one of them came before Fifth Junior Brother. That strand was like a spirit serpent infinitely fine, raising its head to examine him.
"Senior Brother Chu. . .
" Fifth Junior Brother's voice trembled, and he did not dare turn his head.
Senior Brother Chu said in a level voice, "These treasures are dead things, mastered by no one.
Rest easy.
. .
" Before the words had left his mouth, the strand shot out like lightning and bored into Fifth Junior Brother's eye, and the other strands came shrieking after, driving into both his eyes. Fifth Junior Brother's mouth opened in a scream, but no sound came out. From not far off, Shen Mu watched the youth wither at a rate visible to the naked eye, becoming a desiccated corpse in an instant.
And still the whisk coiled around him; soon the dry corpse's skin melted away, and then the bones, until nothing was left but a few garments and a pair of shoes fallen to the ground.