Chapter 98 — The Hidden Waters
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
His hand reached into the river, yet could not touch the woman's face.
"Why are you still here?
Do you still mean to watch over me. . .
?
" Shen Mu wept.
Struggle as he might, he could not grasp the woman in the water; when he stopped, the woman in the water stopped as well, yet it was as though a whole world lay between them, and they could not touch each other.
"Are you my kin?
" "What happened?
" "Why did you carry me away? Why flee to Yincan Village?
" "Did you stay here only to see me? " .
. . To these questions the woman in the water could no longer give answer; she could only gaze at him, dim and far away, her eyes seeming to hold both tender pity and quiet joy.
Feng Xiuyun came hastening over, driving the tower ship by her magic power; she had meant to strike at the corpse in the water, but when she saw Shen Mu kneeling upon the river's surface she could not help but start, and stayed her hand. The corpse in the water looked upon the youth of Yincan Village. Fourteen years before, she had drifted to this place; the current had slowed, and instead of being swept away by the river she had sunk to the bottom. One obsession had kept her in the water, waiting in silence, until Shen Mu passed this way aboard the tower ship; the familiar jade pendant roused that obsession, and drew her to float beneath the surface, watching the youth on the ship through his own reflection.
"Look.
I grew up. I lived. . .
" Shen Mu looked at the woman in the water, tears brimming in his eyes, and smiled. Softly he said, "You can rest easy now.
I will go and seek out my origins, I will find my homeland, I will seek out your past, and I will remember your name forever. .
.
" The woman in the water seemed to smile, just faintly; then slowly she sank down into the deep water, fading, vanishing away. Shen Mu knelt there on the river's face in a daze, and only after a long while did he rise. He felt that he had truly grown up; he was no longer a muddled boy. He returned to the tower ship, and the mist gradually lifted from the river.
With the woman beneath the waters gone, the mist vanished with her, and the river's face grew clear once more; far off in the distance stood a mighty pass straddling the Yong River. This pass was in truth a vast camp wrought of countless warships joined together, garrisoning thousands upon thousands of troops.
Chain after iron chain locked the river, leaving a single channel through them, and by that channel one could sail out of Mishui Pass and into the territory of the Kingdom of Jingping.
"Young Master, this is Mishui Pass. " Feng Xiuyun urged the giant towing beast to draw the tower ship into the waterway. "At the heart of the fortress is the Vision Mirror.
The people there are all mine, so set your mind at ease, Young Master. " Shen Mu looked around. The troops and horses of Mishui Pass were mighty; fine horses galloped from ship to ship at furious speed, and there was scarcely a gap between the vessels. Fitted together by mortise and tenon, they no longer resembled ships but rather an unbelievably intricate building.
Yet let the mortise and tenon be shifted apart, and the ships were ships again, ready to sortie at any moment.
"Whoever built this place had the craft of heaven itself!
" Shen Mu exclaimed.
Something stirred in his heart, and his admiration deepened. Now at last he understood why the Imperial Teacher of Jingping was determined to subdue the Youmo Cult. The cult's strength was surely no match for the armies of Jingping, but it possessed craftsmen of every kind — three hundred and sixty trades, three hundred and sixty halls — rooted deep among the common folk of market and lane. When the tower ship reached the heart of the fortress, several merchant vessels were waiting to be inspected, forming a long queue in the waterway.