Chapter 65 — The Peony Exhales Its Fragrance
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Even though many officers and soldiers aboard flew their swords with vital essence, even unleashing divine powers, they could not drive that giant spider back—they could not even cut the web! Soon the giant beast shriveled, leaving only a skin. Shen Feiyue's body trembled; the hand pressed to his sword trembled too. He wanted to cleave that giant spider in two, yet dared not move.
He saw, by the riverbank, an alchemist with a medicine basket on his back, in plain blue robes, utterly ordinary—but his face was ruined beyond recognition, hideous beyond words. The alchemist beckoned, and the giant spider at the river's heart began to gather its web, crawling along a single strand toward him. Smaller and smaller it grew, until at last it became a tiny bean and burrowed into the alchemist's basket.
With the web gone from its path, the tower ship drifted downstream once more.
Faintly, Shen Feiyue heard a voice at his ear: "Tell the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping to keep his crooked schemes off the Wasteland. Careful he does not provoke us old cripples.
. .
" Pei Wujiu, in the mystic ice, said in a trembling voice, "It is the Poison King. . . " Shen Feiyue forced down the pounding of his heart, steadied himself, and shouted, "All officers and soldiers, hear the order: take up the oars and row.
Back to Jingping! " The ship had gone two or three li when suddenly an officer said, voice shaking, "General Shen, there is someone on the river! " Shen Feiyue ground his teeth, his face ashen, and said coldly, "What demons and monsters dare block my ship? Do they take me for clay?
Ram him dead—" He had barely spoken when he suddenly saw the man on the river: only the upper half of him, the lower half cut away at the waist by some unknown hand.
That strange man held two bizarre great sabers, standing on a reef at the river's heart. Suddenly, saber light tore the sky, earth-shaking.
Shen Feiyue looked up and saw the clouds above split apart by that dreadful saber aura! Then the saber light fell, chopping down to meet the tower ship!
Splash— The great waters of the Yong River parted to either side; the river itself was split in two, cut into two rivers by that single blade! "Seven Stars Divine Treasury, open! " Shen Feiyue roared.
Within his body one divine treasury after another burst open with a thunderous roar, dreadful vital essence erupting, transforming into two giant dragons that smashed into the ship's flank and drove the tower ship a hundred zhang sideways! That saber light grazed the hull and cleaved upstream, splitting the river along its path; the Yong River was torn open for more than ten li before it finally closed again behind the strange man at the river's heart.
"Heh heh.
Beating the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping's disciple is no fun. Beating the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping—that is fun.
.
.
" The strange man on the reef sheathed his saber, planted both hands on the rock, and with a sudden burst of strength leaped into the high sky and vanished. Shen Feiyue fought down the trembling in his legs and cried, "Steady the ship, steady.
.
. " His voice shook so badly he could not hear his own words.
He had no choice but to sit down first and regulate his breath, yet his mind was a tangled hemp. Pei Wujiu was even more terrified than he.
Trembling, he said, "The Heaven Blade!
The one who once laid his blade across the heavens and died at the hands of the gods—the Heaven Blade is still alive. .
.
" Shen Feiyue's face shifted between light and dark. "This inconspicuous little village in the Wasteland—how has it gathered such a pack of old monsters?
The Divine Spear, the Heaven Blade, the Shadow Thief, the Poison King. .
. Besides these few, what other dreadful beings live in that village. . .
" He looked at the Yong River geography map. The map he had painstakingly drawn along the way was still aboard; those vicious fiends just now had not destroyed it, which let him breathe easier. "No!