荒墟牧神 - 第89章 劍掃諸魔 - 星閱書城

Shen Mu's qi stirred faintly, and a thread of vital essence thick as an arm drew the Chubao Sword from its sheath in utter silence. His gaze stayed fixed upon the writhing tentacles, and from the play of muscle along them he deduced where their owner must stand.

Of a sudden he thrust out his left hand, two fingers joined; the Chubao Sword gave a ringing cry and stabbed like lightning into the grey mist. A scream came out of the fog, and at the same instant the web shuddered -- a woman bearing eight claws upon her back came racing across the strands, and the eight razor-sharp talons behind her plunged down at Shen Mu! Shen Mu splayed the five fingers of his right hand and gave a mighty yank; the whole web heaved up at once, wrapping the eight-clawed woman in its midst, and Shen Mu drove his qi, the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Sutra contracted, and the woman in the net was sliced to fragments.

Shen Mu let out a breath. The fine filaments that the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Sutra had become drew back bit by bit and wove themselves into gloves upon his hands once more, without a trace of blood.

"What race are these Heavenly Demon Horde creatures, really?

Half human, half beast, half demon, half insect -- monstrous, all of them.

" He trod the web and walked forward, yet made no sound at all; the Lame Elder's Heaven-Stealing Leg Art was light indeed.

The Chubao Sword flew back and dropped into the fish-dragon's mouth behind him, and Shen Mu sustained the fish-dragon form of the scabbard with his qi, ready to fight at any moment.

He came cautiously to the side of the horde-fiend the Chubao Sword had killed and looked at the corpse: the thing had eight legs, and all eight were long tentacles, and its appearance was hideous beyond words. "Mist this thick is no good for me, and no good for these Heavenly Demon Horde either.

So long as they cannot swarm me all at once, I can keep my life!

" Shen Mu stood in the grey mist and moved no more, only listening to the strange sounds around him.

Then all at once the world fell silent; not a whisper could be heard.

Shen Mu picked up a pebble, flexed his finger, and flicked it out.

It struck the ground, and apart from the clear rolling of the stone there was still no stir.

He waited a while, then flicked out another pebble; still nothing. Shen Mu breathed easier: "I have killed them all -- the Heavenly Demon Horde is wiped out.

It should be safe now. .

.

" Then abruptly a gale came sweeping down the valley, and the grey mist that filled it scattered of itself. Shen Mu saw what stood around him, and his scalp went numb: hundreds upon hundreds of the Heavenly Demon Horde were standing about him, a countless multitude. He had stood there without moving, and those hundreds had likewise stood motionless in the grey mist, waiting for him to betray himself; Shen Mu had never imagined that so many stood at his very side! He sprang up, trod the wild wind, and broke through the air -- and in the very instant he rose, the hundreds of horde-fiends moved as one and lunged at the boy in the sky.

These hundreds were all divine arts users. There were eight kinds of Heavenly Demon Horde: the first Shen Mu had seen was the monster with fish scales and frog's webs; the second was the lava giant; the third, a handsome youth; the fourth, a hideous crone; the fifth, a woman with a human face and a scorpion's tail; the sixth, the woman with eight claws upon her back; the seventh, the monster with eight tentacles; and the eighth, a monster whose arms were two great serpents.

Now the hundreds of horde-fiends lunged into the air together, their strange divine arts and their monstrous limbs striking at Shen Mu at once -- so dense, so many, that they could not be withstood.

Every hair on Shen Mu's body stood on end; in such a pass he had no time to fend them off.

Then of a sudden Buddha light burst from between his brows, and a great Buddha leaped forth from the space between his eyes.