荒墟牧神 - 第61章 冰封狂潮 - 文瀾書苑

"That is both true and untrue." General Shen smiled. "How the Wasteland came to be, no one can trace any longer. But when our Kingdom of Jingping was founded, we received a divine oracle, and the oracle said that the Wasteland is a land the gods abandoned, that the god-forsaken folk were to be kept there and forbidden to come out, and that any who did come out were to be killed on sight. I have heard that every kingdom besides Jingping received much the same oracle. Only it is not merely the Wasteland's own natives who live here; there are also desperate men, vicious beyond measure, who choose to take refuge in the Wasteland. To my mind, such men are more dangerous by far than the Wasteland's Forsaken." Seventh Young Master asked curiously, "At the frontier I saw merchant caravans going in and out of the Wasteland. Why would our Kingdom of Jingping still do business with the Forsaken here?" "Young Master does not know the whole of it. The Wasteland is barren, yes, but its riches are abundant -- treasures of heaven and earth beyond counting. We need only use goods worth nothing, oil and salt, soy sauce and vinegar, to trade for heavenly treasures and precious pelts. Why not?" General Shen said, "These years the frontier has kept up its exchange with the Wasteland and earned untold wealth, and it subsidizes the army. That is how our Kingdom of Jingping has come to have strong soldiers and sturdy horses, surpassing all other kingdoms." Seventh Young Master asked, "But what if one of the Wasteland's Forsaken slips through the pass? Would that not be disastrous?" "Handed down together with the oracle in those years were certain treasures called Vision Mirrors, and they hang upon the mighty passes that lead into Jingping. Any of the Wasteland's Forsaken is revealed by the mirrors. The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping surmises that the Forsaken may have blood unlike our own -- though when he examined their bodies, he found no difference at all." General Shen said with a smile, "Every year those great passes catch many demon folk seeking to flee into Jingping. Some are executed on the spot; some are sent to the mines to dig, and those who live a year or two are accounted lucky." The tower ship sailed slowly away. Shen Mu stood on the cliff and praised him: "That man is remarkable, his eyesight extraordinary -- no wonder he could be a general at so young an age! He was charting the geography of the Surging River. Could it be that Jingping means to send troops against the Wasteland?" Something struck him as strange. The Wasteland was plainly a barren place, perilous in every direction, and each time the sun set darkness came creeping in. He did not think much of Jingping's prospects in a war on the Wasteland. If the Kingdom of Jingping sent few soldiers, they would not even fill the gaps between the Wasteland's monstrous beasts' teeth; if they sent many, then when night fell, where could those soldiers hide? For the Wasteland's dangers and its ferocious creatures were far too many, so that no one had ever been able to rule it. Neither could Jingping. If Jingping invaded, it would only stumble and fall hard! Suddenly Shen Mu remembered something, and said in alarm, "Big fellow, go back to the Palace of Averted Calamity at once and destroy the map of the Wasteland on the wall!" The Xuanliao Demon Ape rose, seized the Dragon-Elephant, gave a roar, and leapt onto the Dragon-Elephant's back; the Dragon-Elephant raced off at once. "The Kingdom of Jingping has begun charting the geography of the Surging River. If they ever find that map in the Palace of Averted Calamity, it will be wings for a tiger." Shen Mu's face shifted between dark and clear as he thought this. Destroying the map was a great pity, but he had already engraved the Wasteland's geography deep in his mind and would not forget it. Before long the river's surface abruptly turned pale red. Shen Mu started slightly and looked upstream, and saw that the water surging toward him was r