Chapter 104 — The Wicked Brood Leaves the Village
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 3
He turned his head and stared, dumb, as the Deaf Elder walked past them with a bamboo creel on his back, covered with a sun-shading cloth. The Alchemist could not help saying, "Deaf Elder, where are you going?
"
The Deaf Elder seemed not to hear, and walked on. "That scoundrel, pretending not to hear again!
" the Alchemist said in a rage.
"Now there are only the two of us left in the village.
"
The Village Head did not know whether to laugh or cry, then said suddenly, "When will you go?
"
The Alchemist shook his head in a fluster.
"With so many enemies about, how would I dare go?
What worries me now is that all these villains have rushed out at once; I fear they'll stir up no small commotion. The villains of our village. . .
"
The Village Head laughed. "Let the people outside have the headache. If you want to go, you can go too.
I'll stay and watch the village, and wait for you all to come back. "
The Alchemist hesitated, then shook his head. "If I go out I'll only make trouble for them.
Of all the villains in our village, my reputation is the worst.
.
. "
The Village Head said, half smiling, "If it weren't so, you'd have run off long ago as well. "
The two looked at each other and burst out laughing. At the border between Dijiang County and Huyang County, Shen Mu raised his head and looked at the newly risen sun. He lifted a hand, and the Vermilion Bird's vital essence burst forth, burning up the clothes he had taken from the Corpse Immortal Cult disciple. As for that human skin, he had long since thrown it away halfway; there was still something of a burden on his mind in wearing another's skin. And besides, he was carrying a great bundle packed with the odds and ends Granny Zhu had prepared for him, so he could not drape the human skin over himself either, or he would turn into a great hunchback and be seen through at a glance. "What is hidden in Granny Zhu's hump? " The curious thought suddenly came to Shen Mu.
He carried a travel pack; if he draped the human skin over himself he would become a hunchback. Granny Zhu was no hunchback — which meant there must be something hidden in that hump.
Shen Mu was very curious as to just what strange oddments were hidden there. This night of flight, with no rest, and one hard fight after another, had left him truly weary. In the bundle, Xue Hu'er had already fallen asleep from exhaustion. A wind rose, and Shen Mu at once caught up with Feng Lenger, treading the wind as he walked.
But after a few steps he felt his body flag, and he had to come down and walk honestly on his own two feet. Suddenly a humming came from the air. Shen Mu looked toward the sound and saw several fiery red beetles flying over.
The beetles showed no fear of people at all; they flew up to him and circled him a few times. "Corpse beetles! "
The corner of Shen Mu's eye twitched of itself.
He yawned and muttered to himself, "So tired. . . I'd best find somewhere to sleep.
.
. "
His fingers flicked rapidly, and the beetles burst to pieces! Shen Mu quickened his pace at once and sped away.
He had once seen this kind of beetle at the Alchemist's.
Corpse beetles came in green and in black; of them all the red corpse beetle was the hardest to come by.
And these red beetles were red corpse beetles! Just then a humming came again. He looked up and his scalp went numb: a red cloud was rushing toward him, full of menace!
The red cloud flew lower and lower, and suddenly the red beetles flew down into the mountain woods and burrowed into a jumble of grave mounds. The ground of the graveyard shook, and skeletons crawled up out of the earth, striding after Shen Mu in mad pursuit! More corpse beetles came flying, burrowing into the wild wolves, badgers, even tigers and other beasts they met on the way.
Those beasts, eyes red, lunged at Shen Mu as well!