Chapter 101 — The Immortal Corpse Lineage
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
" a shout came from within the town. Shen Mu had seen the moment early.
Xue Hu'er roused the demon wind and he rode upon it, and man and fox were about to fly clear of the county town when suddenly came the ring of a sword; Shen Mu did not turn his head — the Fish-Dragon spat its sword, and the Chubao Sword left its sheath to stab backward! Ding — a sharp note rang out, and the flying sword that had thrust at Shen Mu's back split clean down the middle.
The Chubao Sword, unchecked, shattered layer upon layer of the vital-essence threads that fed that sword, and plunged into the man's chest, nailing the black-robed Daoist — he who trod the yellow talisman paper — to a flagpole. The Corpse Immortal Sect disciple had struck at him from behind; but from childhood Shen Mu had followed Blind Grandpa, learning to read position by the sound of the wind, and the direction a sword came from, the place its wielder stood, could not escape his ears.
The man had struck to kill; Shen Mu struck back.
At the first interplay of vital currents the Chubao Sword killed his foe — it was almost a reflex, a habit bred in him since he was a child.
The demon wind bore man and fox out of the city, and a voice was heard: "Senior Brother He Yin, someone has escaped the city — and killed our little junior brother! " "Little junior brother?
" From the city came a voice both startled and furious: "What are you men good for?
How could you let our little junior brother risk himself?
How am I to answer to the sect master?
Hold the city — I will go kill him! " Shen Mu faltered in his stride and the demon wind shattered at once; Xue Hu'er dropped the pillow, sprang from the air onto the bundle on Shen Mu's back, and burrowed inside it.
"Little junior brother? Can he be the son of the Corpse Immortal Sect's master?
" Shen Mu landed and at once raced on, thinking, "Or he may be nothing but an ordinary disciple.
.
.
" Xue Hu'er's demon wind was convenient, but for sheer speed it could not match Shen Mu's running; and in the air it was hard to hide one's tracks. Running on the ground, they could use mountain and forest to mask their passage, making it hard for the enemy to overtake them.
Suddenly gouts of fire rose drifting into the sky, each becoming a fire bird that flew through the air and lit it to a dazzling white — the divine powers of a divine-power master. Shen Mu looked up: fire birds flew one after another, and behind them came flapping sheets of yellow talisman paper, spreading across the heavens. Those papers were long rectangles, about the size of a foot, and a man could walk upon them. "Lingxiao Heavenly Eye, open!
" In Shen Mu's pupils the array-patterns of vital essence revolved; the Lingxiao Heavenly Eye opened, and looking back he saw flying stiffs one after another treading the flying papers, hopping and bounding along in midair. The papers divided into two columns and the flying stiffs into two columns likewise; the papers in the air grew ever more numerous and split again into four columns, and the stiffs split into four in turn, searching in every direction.
And behind the papers was a young Daoist bearing a long sword case on his back, its lid open, from which sheet after sheet of yellow paper flew out, spreading ever onward through the air ahead — this, surely, was the Senior Brother He Yin the Corpse Immortal disciple had spoken of. His steps trod the yellow papers as he walked through the air; as he raised a foot, that paper flew of itself back into the sword case, and fresh papers flew from the case to appear before him, receiving precisely the foot he set down.
The reason every slip had to return to the case was surely that once used, the vital essence within it was spent, and it must return to be replenished.
He walked forward, and yet his pace was slow.
Shen Mu's heart sank a little: this was a divine-power master who had opened the Six-Sphere Treasury, and it would be hard indeed to shake off his pursuit.