Chapter 82 — The Mystery of the Young Man's Surname
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
Early the next morning, Ling Yuxiu came to the inn, found Shen Mu, and took her leave of him.
She was as she had always been, using the hair at her temples to make her face look a little thinner. She sat facing Shen Mu, ordered a pot of clear tea, and said, her eyes bright: "The Wasteland is a poor and bitter place, no place to stay for long. The world you see here is only a remote, desolate corner. Only by walking out of the Wasteland can you behold the vastness of the world beyond. Out there, arts and powers are renewed with each passing day. The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and the Emperor have both the ambition and the ability to open a new age. The powers and arts of Jingping are right now undergoing a great transformation. You have daring, and you have potential, and I do not want you to bury your whole life in this backwater. I may be a woman, but I too want to accomplish something. If you are willing to leave with me, we can set out today. "
Shen Mu was taken aback. Follow this girl to Jingping? He did long to leave the Wasteland and go out into the world to temper himself.
The Wasteland was too dangerous; with his present strength he had no means of exploring it at all.
Even a figure like the Village Head had never traveled the whole of it. What he needed now was experience. People beyond the Wasteland came into it to train.
He, by contrast, wanted to go outside the Wasteland to train.
Ling Yuxiu's invitation stirred him deeply. Though the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping was eager to rule the Wasteland and take it for his own, Shen Mu felt no ill will toward him.
On the contrary, he admired him a great deal. That the Imperial Preceptor could carry out such sweeping reforms, take the other sects into his service, create peerless arts alongside them, and drive the advancement of powers and spells—such breadth of mind, such talent, compelled admiration. He wanted to go out and see for himself the new age and the new arts that such a peerless figure had brought into being.
"Where do you live? " Shen Mu asked. "The capital," Ling Yuxiu said.
The young man thought for a moment, then smiled. "The capital of Jingping.
I will go there, without fail.
You go back first; when I come, I will look for you.
"
Ling Yuxiu frowned. "You will not come with me?
"
Shen Mu said, pained: "My family's elders keep strict rules.
I have to pass their trials before I can leave the house. My family has nine elders; I must pass nine trials before they will allow me out to train. "
Ling Yuxiu was startled.
"Even with your abilities, you cannot pass the trials?
"
She found it a little hard to believe. Shen Mu had drawn his blade and cut Fu Tingyue down with a single stroke—it had been dazzling to witness. Fu Tingyue was, after all, the foremost warrior of Jianglong City. Being first in Jianglong City might not amount to much in Jingping, but Shen Mu's strength could already be called outstanding within the Spirit Fetus realm, and in her eyes he would certainly rank among the top ten. And yet even such ability could not pass the trials set by Shen Mu's elders? "My family's rules are rather strict.
"
Shen Mu said, ashamed: "I have to pass nine trials before I count as an adult, and to this day I have not passed even one.
"
"Then I will wait for you in the capital.
Oh, and Yanbian is guarded by the watching mirrors. If you pass through Yanbian, you must be careful.
"
Ling Yuxiu rose and was about to walk out, but suddenly halted again, and said with a half-smile: "I gave you a scented handkerchief. Are you not going to give me anything in return?
"
Shen Mu hastily rummaged through his things and found nothing worth offering. After some thought, he unhooked the great iron hammer from his back and held it out to her. Ling Yuxiu was caught between laughter and tears.
Biting her red lips, she said: "You give a girl a great iron hammer? "