Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 63: X, A, H

Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek

In the air, a fine light flew over and hid inside Village Chief’s hair. Village Chief acted like nothing had happened and walked downwards in midair, returning back to the Disabled Elderly Village.

Thirty miles downstream, Surging River took a turn here to go around a mountain so to flow past a ravine. The ice tide was stuck here and more ice started to accumulate until the whole river path was blocked.

”Woman Wu, stop!”

The hundred feet white bone centipede woman carried Qin Mu into the sky and slithered forward like a dragon with extremely fast speed. Upon hearing Qin Mu’s words, it landed on the left peak of the ravine and laughed coldly, ”Why should I listen to you, rascal?”

Qin Mu jumped down from its back, looking bewildered, ”I’ve saved you so you naturally should help me by breaking apart the dam of ice on the river to repay me.”

Woman Wu wiggled its body and transformed back into Xian Qing’er. With its limbs dragging the chains, it jumped around Qin Mu a few times with the chains rattling. Then, it stuck out its head from Qin Mu’s back and chuckled. ”I have to repay you because you helped me? Have you forgotten? How miserably had you treated me before? I was almost killed by the old bald donkey! Not only that, you even robbed all the treasures I had hidden all these years. I should be eating you up instead!”

Qin Mu smiled, ”But you don’t dare.”

Woman Wu’s neck suddenly grew by several yards. It wrapped a few times around Qin Mu before it looked at him straight in the face and sneered, ”I don’t dare to? Now that you don’t have the old bald donkey to help you, why wouldn’t I dare?”

”I live in the Disabled Elderly Village and I have nine elders, every single one of them could easily kill you.”

Qin Mu smiled and continued, ”No matter how you change your face or how far you run, they can easily track you down, easily kill you, and easily make you wish that you were never born in this world.”

Chills went down Woman Wu’s spine and its neck shrunk back, returning back to the adorable girl who jumped around while shaking the golden loops and chains on its hands, ”I’m scared of your elders but I am not obliged to help you. The old bald donkey was right, now that you saved me, I’m going to commit evil and eat people! Why should I help you save people? I’m going now—”

It turned around and left with the chains rattling.

Qin Mu suddenly said, ”Woman Wu, as what Buddhism preached, lay down the butcher’s knife and become Buddha on the spot. This sentence is too superficial and has no distinction between good and evil so it’s hard to truly believe in it. However, if you help me settle the dammed lake and save countless of lives downstream, it would be your merit which would be a way greater merit than that Buddha ever did.”

Woman Wu stopped her footstep and turned her head back to listen curiously.

Qin Mu continued, ”Helping me save people will raise your merit hundred times higher than that copper Buddha who restrained you! If you meet him again, would he still have the face to restrain you?”

Woman Wu leaned its head to one side and gave it some thought before bursting out in laughter, ”You have a point, I shall help you then. Hehe, the old bald donkey pretended to be righteous by using the fact that I had eaten too many people to restrain me in the name of justice, he also said that he would use these churning river water to wash away my sins. I’ve told him that I only ate people because I’m hungry and not if they are good or evil. I only need to eat like how you humans need to eat rice, chicken, and vegetable when you’re hungry.”

It looked at the dammed-up river below and continued, ”I had no feelings with the people I ate so I only treated them as food. You don’t have any feeling with vegetable and rice that’s why you eat them. The baldy said I had fallacious reasoning and suppressed me. He did well so I decided to eat people in his temple and not let him have any merit! However, if my merit is above him, I’ll see if he still have the face to suppress me! Hmm, there’s too much ice in the river, if my spirit weapons were still around, I could break through the ice. However, my spirit weapons were all confiscated by the baldy…”

Hummm—

Qin Mu controlled the Junior Protector Sword and used qi to manipulate sword to cut down on the ice tide blocking the ravine below, ”Woman Wu, assist me!”

”The sword that cut off the chains?”

Woman Wu’s eyes lit up and revealed its true form. With its hundred feet moving together it leaped down the cliff. Qin Mu jumped down and landed on its back. The hundred feet white bone centipede then flew in the air and carried Qin Mu to the blockade made from the ice tide.

”Cleave!”

Qin Mu shouted as the Junior Protector Sword cut down onto the ice tide. As the same time, Woman Wu spat out a breath and frightening demon vital qi rushed out and surged frantically into the Junior Protector Sword.

This Junior Protector Sword suddenly expanded three hundred yards long and cut down on the ice tide!

The ice tide grew higher and higher as floating ice kept getting sent up to the freezing blockade. If it continues to accumulate like this, it would definitely be a calamity for the lives on both shores of the Surging River!

Junior Protector Sword slashed through the air and where the blade had passed, two walls of air could be seen with the naked eye. The three hundred yards long sword then landed on the dam of ice, slashing all the way through like it was tofu.

”This is bad!”

Woman Wu’s expression changed hugely and was about to fly up but it was already too late. The dam of ice immediately collapsed under the pressure of the turbulent river water, causing numerous shattered ice to fly straight at them after being squeezed under the pressure of the water.

From the looks of it, it was clearly a drowning disaster.

Before the dam of ice even hit them, the hurricane had pressured them to fall from the sky.

Chi chi chi—

Numerous ice shards flew in random directions. Qin Mu’s face suddenly felt a wave of pain as one of the ice shards grazed his face.

His vital qi was dense and had an extremely strong defense. He couldn’t be hurt from the pummeling of the raging ape yet the ice shards were so fast that they could actually hurt him. From that, one can imagine how dangerous it would be if the dam of ice were to fall on them.

Woman Wu carried him and ran as ice shards of all sizes flew past them along with the surging waves. Following that, the hurricane along with the ice shards and huge waves smacked right into their bodies, sending the monster and the human flying!

Thud thud.

Two loud thuds came from the cliff opposites as Qin Mu and Woman Wu smacked onto the cliff and embed themselves in the walls. One of them was sprawled in an ”X” shape while the other was in a series of ”H” shape.

Then, a screeching sound of a sword could be heard. When Qin Mu heard this sound, he knew something was wrong as the screeching of the sword was heading straight for him!

He immediately opened up his legs and heard a clink sound as the Junior Protector Sword nearly stabbed into his thighs.

Phew—

Qin Mu left out a sigh of relief, now his legs had formed an ”A” shape as the Junior Protector Sword was just five inches away from his body.

Beside him, the great demon burst out in laughter. Qin Mu couldn’t help it but laugh out as well. The laughter of the demon and the human grew louder and louder as it resounded throughout the whole ravine.

Below them, the river water surged forth and a crisis was resolved by this peculiar duo.

Not long later, Qin Mu and Woman Wu, who had transformed into Xian Ling’er sat on the cliff while resting their hands backward as they looked at the blue sky and white clouds. They experienced tranquility in their hearts.

”Who’s that copper Buddha?” Qin Mu asked.

”He’s from the Small Thunderclap Monastery, a different kind that had reached illumination, a demon just like me.”

Woman Wu looked at the golden loops on its legs, ”It is said that the patriarch of Small Thunderclap Monastery had worshiped Buddhism and became a disciple of the Great Thunderclap Monastery. However, he had rebelled and left the Great Thunderclap Monastery to create the Small Thunderclap Monastery, bestowing the title of Small Rulai on himself. I’ve heard that he was forced into the Great Ruins by Rulai of the Great Thunderclap Monastery and so the Small Thunderclap Monastery had also moved into the Great Ruins. The successive generation that was in charge of the Small Thunderclap Monastery were all demons like me but they called themselves Small Rulai. The one who had suppressed me at the ancient temple was the Small Rulai of this generation. Now that you have cut his chains and set me free, hehe, you have it in for you!”

”Small Thunderclap Monastery? Small Rulai?”

Qin Mu was stumped for words, ”The Small Thunderclap Monastery is in Great Ruins?”

”Of course. Demon monks aren’t rarely seen. The monks of Small Thunderclap Monastery are extremely petty and would definitely seek revenge, let alone their Small Rulai?”

Woman Wu snickered, ”With the old baldy’s temperament, he will definitely seek revenge on you!”

Suddenly, an angry shout sounded out harshly, ”As a human, you actually allied yourself with a demon. Today, we as masters and disciples will have to subdue the demons!”

Qin Mu looked over and saw a few Taoists walking over. There were young males and females along with an elder. The Taoist elder had an austere of righteousness while the young males and females revealed expressions of excitement. It was obvious they were strong practitioners that had come into the Great Ruins from the outside world for the experience.

”Fellow Taoist priests, this demon and I had just resolved a crisis and demolished this dammed lake to save countless of lives downstream.”

Qin Mu rose and solemnly said, ”This demon had saved countless of lives and isn’t…”

”Shut up, abandoned people!”

The Taoist elder shouted sternly in devotion to righteousness that inspires reverence, ”You deserve to die even more for being in cahoots with a demon and helping a villain do evil! Today we shall get rid of both of you! My disciples, set up the formation and subdue the demons!”

”I’m hungry.” The little girl beside Qin Mu licked its red lips and told him.

”Some people are worse than demons.”

With his interest waning, Qin Mu leaped from the cliff and into the river below, his voice sounding out, ”Woman Wu, I hereby release you, you’re free!”

Landing on the river, he stepped on the waves.

Screams came from the top of the ravine as Woman Wu revealed her true form and started its massacre. After a while, the demon had filled its belly and ran into the sky, slithering into the clouds before vanishing.

”Cowherd boy, if fate allows, we’ll meet again—” the demon cloud caught up with Qin Mu and Woman Wu’s voice came from it before going off in the distance.