Chapter 104 — The Wicked Brood Leaves the Village
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
She laughed, "I thought you were fretting over Shen'er's safety and meant to go to Jingping to find him — so it's real business after all. "
"He's grown up.
He'll be able to handle whatever changes come. "
That shamed Granny Zhu inwardly.
The Blind Elder went on, "I won't go to him directly. I'll watch him from the shadows. "
Just then a streak of light flashed across the sky.
Granny Zhu looked up, but the streak was already gone.
Suddenly it turned back, and with a swoosh it landed on the River-Bearer's back: there stood the Lame Elder, glaring sullenly at the pair on the beast. The Blind Elder said angrily, "Lame Elder, flitting about like a ghost — you give a body a fright! What are you about?
"
"Out of the village for a wander. "
The Lame Elder looked east and west. "Have you seen Lord Huo? I didn't see him yesterday, and he didn't come home last night. "
Granny Zhu said in surprise, "Lord Huo didn't come back?
He always comes back to the village on time. "
The Lame Elder sighed.
"I reckon he misses Shen'er and has gone to Jingping.
I'm going to find him. The old rascal slips off without a word — I'll go and ask him why he had to do it, why he'd throw away all the friendship of our years. And I want to have a look at my leg.
. .
"
The Blind Elder sneered, "It isn't that you want to see Shen'er, is it? "
The Lame Elder said coldly, "Me, miss him? I'd never miss him! We picked the brat up; he was a nuisance and a pest from the very start, and I've long wanted to drive him off. .
.
Hey, look, that wretch up ahead looks like that fellow the Butcher. . . It is the Butcher! "
A moment later four people were standing on the River-Bearer's back — though the Butcher stood on his hands.
The three looked at one another; the Blind Elder leaned on his bamboo staff and cocked an ear, but not one of them spoke. Granny Zhu with her basket on her arm, the Lame Elder leaning on his cane and whistling, the Butcher with his hands down and his fists on his hips, looking all around. At length the Blind Elder said hesitantly, "So Lord Huo's run off too. Add the four of us, and there's only the Alchemist, the Village Head, the Deaf Elder and the Silent Craftsman left in the village.
. .
"
"The Silent Craftsman's run off. "
The Butcher snorted. "The Village Head and the Alchemist hadn't even risen, and the Silent Craftsman was already gone, off with a big chest on his back.
I ran out after him and couldn't catch him!
"
The Blind Elder was dumbstruck, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Then it's only the Deaf Elder, the Village Head and the Alchemist left. "
The Lame Elder chuckled.
"It's not that we miss Shen'er; we've each our own proper business. I'm off to the imperial palace to have a look at my leg.
What if the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping has pickled my leg, roasted it, smoked it, and made it into a ham? That would be a fine how-do-you-do! "
The Blind Elder nodded. "I've proper business too. I'm going to take revenge for my eyes.
"
Granny Zhu nodded again and again and laughed. "As Holy Maiden of the last generation of the Holy Cult, now that a new Cult Master has taken the seat, naturally I must go and meet the new Cult Master.
"
The Butcher thought for a long while and came up with a reason. "I think my lower half may have dropped off somewhere. I'll go and look for it — perhaps I can still reattach it.
"
All four breathed out in relief and said with one voice, "So we all have proper business! "
Hidden Maimed Village. The Village Head and the Alchemist sat at the village entrance, drinking tea in silence.
After a long while the Alchemist said, "There's only the four of us left in the village. "
"Alchemist, Lord Huo left yesterday.
"
The Village Head drank his tea. "Their temperaments are still too thin; they can't sit still. Not like the Deaf Elder — steeped in books, five cartloads of learning, deep and steady in the heart, calm and composed.
.
. "