Chapter 79 — The Sun-Driver of the Wasteland
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 3
And that vast Sun-Boat slowly lifted its feet, turned about, and with boom upon boom walked toward Crimson Dragon City.
Before long, the remnants of the Jingping army returned to the frontier pass, and the Sun-Boat too came to the edge of Crimson Dragon City.
Shen Mu raised his head and looked up: a towering ship, holding up the heavens, hauling a black sun; such a sight had never appeared even in his dreams.
The Sun-Boat halted, and its twenty-four legs slowly bent, slowly kneeling down. On the Dragon Pillar, everyone's faces turned strange. This Sun-Boat was not like a ship at all; it was like a living thing with twenty-four legs! The ship was so close to Crimson Dragon City that waves of heat rolled through the city; even the city walls were burned red, as though about to melt.
It did not leave at once; no doubt it waited for the Jingping army to withdraw completely.
"Is the Sun Warden still aboard? " Shen Mu murmured.
"Yes.
I sense the breath of a god. " The village head's face was grave. "The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping knows when to retreat; for decades he will not lightly set foot in the Wasteland.
Butcher, withdraw your blade intent, or the Dragon Pillar will collapse and this place will be destroyed.
" The Butcher nodded, raised his head to gaze at the Sun-Boat, and said excitedly, "We prepared long for this battle, yet the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping was frightened off by the Sun Warden, and never got to trade blows with the old bastard! Why don't we board the ship and have a bout with a god!
" Everyone's faces turned strange, and each shook his head. This madman was truly absurd; if the Sun Warden really was aboard, and the Butcher went to trade blows with him, with only his upper body he would most likely be crushed to death.
The village head and the others came down from the Dragon Pillar.
Shen Mu raised his head and looked up, his eyes flickering; he longed to climb this magnificent Sun-Boat and see for himself what was aboard.
"What manner of age was it, that could make a thing so vast, and haul the sun along as it walked?
" He had barely thought this when suddenly the Sun-Boat's prow tilted and drooped down. Shen Mu was stupefied.
That immeasurably vast prow was about the size of Crimson Dragon City, and it drooped down at a slant, as though it were utterly light and weightless. Then he saw the scene upon the ship: there were mountains and waters, flowers and grasses, and golden, resplendent halls standing tall, like a holy land of immortals; and there were many tall people there. The Alchemist was already counted burly, but set before these people he was no more than a child.
Shen Mu reckoned that these people must be at least ten zhang tall, no less than the strongmen of the Nether Demon Cult. Strangely, though the prow drooped, the lake water aboard the ship remained level, and did not spill out.
"Your jade pendant is very strange; it carries a holy, uncommon aura. .
.
"