Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 441: Flaming Desert

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

Qin Mu was the grand chancellor of Heavenly Saint Academy, so before he left, he handed over his duties to another person. Most of the scholars of Heavenly Saint Academy were from Heavenly Devil Cult as well as numerous directorates. Even if Qin Mu wasn’t there, there would be no problem, so he had no worries.

He passed Dragon Rearing Scriptures to Si Yunxiang to find people to take care of the flood dragons.

“They only eat spirit pills, but different breeds want different kinds of spirit pills,” Qin Mu instructed. “I have written down the types and the amount needed, Saintess, don’t forget, if they don’t listen to you, find Ling’er. She can subdue these flood dragons.”

Si Yunxiang smiled. “With Dragon Rearing Scriptures, how can I be inferior to the little fox? Aren’t you going to bring a few flood dragons to protect yourself? Isn’t the little fox following you too?”

“Ling’er went to learn spells from Fox Immortal so she won’t be going with me. I’m just going to West Earth to scout the land so there won’t be any danger.”

Qin Mu gave a few more instructions and took leave from Granny Si and the rest. Just as he was prepared to have the dragon qilin start on the journey, he saw a five to six years old girl sitting beside it.

“Sister Qi’er, aren’t you going to West Earth with Nai Kui?” Qin Mu asked with puzzlement.

Xiong Qi’er shook her head. “Mother told me to follow you. She that she doesn’t really trust Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, that he doesn’t have a human touch. He can sacrifice everything just to achieve his goal, and his made it hard for her to trust him.”

“Your mother sure is thoughtful. It’s good to follow me as well. Imperial Preceptor and her objective this time are quite great, so it’ll be much safer for you to follow me instead.”

Qin Mu picked Xiong Qi’er up and jumped onto the dragon qilin’s back. “Fatty Dragon, set off!”

The dragon qilin immediately sprung forward and rose into the air with the fire clouds. “Cult Master, I keep feeling that the taste of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills is wrong these days. Did you change them?”

Qin Mu shook his head. “Fatty Dragon, stop being paranoid. If I changed the spirit pills, could you not taste the difference?”

The dragon qilin was skeptical while Xiong Qi’er said in astonishment, “Fatty Dragon is much faster compared to last time. Your tummy isn’t as big as before too.”

Her suspicion increased the suspicion in the dragon qilin’s heart. Although he had peeled open the spirit pills every time he ate them to see if Qin Mu had done something, he hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary.

Qin Mu smiled. He had improved Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills and Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills. The taste was almost the same as that of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, just a little bit spicier. The dragon qilin could taste something wrong, but he couldn’t tell what it was.   ( Updated by truyenthoi.com)

The dragon qilin’s speed was much faster than it was in the past, and his endurance was much greater as well. After two-three days, they reached Great Ruins. Qin Mu found Moon Ship according to his memory and Village Chief’s stone statue was not far from it.

Qin Mu couldn’t help being astonished when he saw two families actually having built themselves homes there. The two families had to have noticed the stone statue that could withstand the darkness and had come to live by its side.

When they saw Qin Mu riding a monster that looked like a dragon but was not a dragon, a qilin that was not a qilin, they couldn’t help becoming nervous. Two young hunters took up military pitchforks and stood guard outside the door while their young wives looked out from behind them.

Qin Mu stopped and brought Xiong Qi’er off the dragon qilin’s back. He greeted the two people and the two hunters returned it. “Are you a mountain bandit or a robber?”

“I’m just a passerby, coming to see my old friend. Don’t worry, I mean no harm.” Qin Mu came to stand in front of Village Chief’s stone statue and placed a livestock offering. “This is the elder of my family and I’m here to pay my respects to him. If he saw that his broken body could still protect you guys, he would definitely be very happy.”

He paid his respects and executed Soul Guide. The clouds instantly turned dark and gloomy while the darkness surged. Soul Guide worked for a moment and numerous skeletons appeared outside the village, but Village Chief’s stone statue did not come to life.

Not long later, Qin Mu’s magic power was nearly exhausted. He was about to disperse Soul Guide when Village Chief’s stone statue suddenly moved and spat out a few gold coins while speaking, “Mu’er, on Ghost Festival, the night of the full moon, I’ll be waiting for you at the Gates of Hell!” When he finished talking, he returned back to stone.

Qin Mu picked up the golden coins which were eight Fengdu coins.

The villagers in the surroundings were bewildered.

Qin Mu turned around to thank the people and left them some money. “May everyone here help me clean the stone statue frequently so it wouldn’t get dirty.” When he was done, he turned around to leave.

The people looked at his back, and a young woman suddenly woke up from her daze. She suddenly cried out, “Look at the appearance of that youth, doesn’t he look like that heavenly god who drove the ship that night?”

“He indeed looks alike! When that huge ship passed by our village that night, I saw that heavenly god on the ship, and it looked exactly like him!” another woman cried out in astonishment.

“Don’t talk nonsense! He’s merely a youth and is even younger than us so how could he be the heavenly god of that ship?” a hunter said.

…

Qin Mu brought Xiong Qi’er to the dragon qilin and they rode to the west, resting only during night time.

They passed by the basin of West Heaven Palace and observed its ruins before leaving. After ten or so, they finally came to the most western part of Great Ruins. There was also a mountain range, its snowy white peaks cutting off Great Ruins, in that direction.

“There’s also a God Broken Mountain Range here?”

Qin Mu rode the dragon qilin to one peak, and a thick arrow that was like a beam suddenly came from a Mysterious Pearl Crossbow, raising the wind and snow in a split second. The dragon qilin raised his claws and caught that arrow. At that, he couldn’t help jumping in shock and crying out, “Cult Master, I’ve become stronger!”

Qin Mu looked at the surroundings and saw huge Mysterious Pearl Crossbows operating automatically, adjusting their direction. He then immediately shouted, “Fatty Dragon, run quickly!”

Twang!

The power of the Mysterious Pearl Crossbows burst forth, and heavy snow came incessantly along with the bolts. The dragon qilin immediately leaped as though he was flying, sprinting to the other side of the mountain.

Incomparably thick bolts whisked behind them and transformed into pillars of ice while more of them came shooting over. The dragon qilin gave a loud roar and the flames behind him overflowed into the sky. With the dense fire clouds, the flames burned the bolts. However, there were still numerous ice bolts that had not melted and rushed straight for them!

While clutching a sword technique in his hand, Qin Mu jolted, and eight thousand swords flew into the sky, slicing countless ice bolts apart.

The dragon qilin sprinted down the mountain, and bolts behind him were like the rain. Only when he rushed down the mountain did the onslaught stop.

Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief before heat waves assaulted him in the face. He looked forward and saw a vast desert which went as far as his eyes could see. The flames in the desert were blazing, burning the sky till ti turned fire-red.

Qin Mu turned back, seeing the snowy mountains behind himself.

“After crossing this flaming desert, we will reach West Earth,” Xiong Qi’er said in a loud and clear voice. “West Earth is right behind it.”

Qin Mu was puzzled. “Why is there such a flaming desert between West Earth and Great Ruins? Where does the fire come from?”

“My mother said that these flames were lit up by gods to block the abandoned people of Great Ruins from running out.” Xiong Qi’er suddenly jumped into the flames, shocking Qin Mu. She ran around them with a smile.”The flames here won’t hurt me, for they will only burn the abandoned people of Great Ruins. To us, the flames aren’t hot at all; however, to the abandoned people of Great Ruins, the fire is extremely dangerous!

“I’ve heard my mother say that if the abandoned people of Great Ruins were to enter the desert, flame markings would appear on the heart of their brows, showing their identity as an abandoned person. The higher the status of the abandoned person, the more flames would show up.”

Qin Mu stretched out his hand to touch the flames and he felt a sharp pain. He immediately pulled his hand back, but his fingertips were still burning.

He hurriedly extinguished the fire and frowned.

The flaming desert was indeed an incomparably dangerous place to the people of Great Ruins. If they went in, they would definitely be burned to death.

“Qi’er, come up!” Qin Mu’s vital qi flew out and swept up the girl which was running around, throwing her onto the dragon qilin’s back. “Imperial Preceptor and Palace Master left a few days earlier than us so we can’t stay around here for long, Fatty Dragon—”

“Big brother, what happened to your face?” Xiong Qi’er suddenly asked.

Qin Mu looked at her with bewilderment. “What’s wrong with my face?”

“There are many markings on your face!” Xiong Qi’er cried out in astonishment. “The markings are even wiggling and more and more of them are coming out! Are you sick? That’s right, big brother is an abandoned person of Great Ruins, but there are just too many flame markings on your face!”

In disbelief, Qin Mu located the mirror Apothecary had given to him in a hurry. He took a look at and saw that there were indeed numerous green and red markings on his face. They were twisted but distributed evenly across his face!

He ripped open his collar and saw numerous green and red markings on his chest as well!

He stretched out his palm and saw that the markings were even on his wrist, slowly spreading to the back and front of his palm.

Qin Mu threw open his shirt and more mirrors flew out from his taotie sack. He looked at them and saw numerous markings spreading all over him. His whole body was covered in green and red flames!

Xiong Qi’er looked at him in a daze, staring at his bare torso as he stood on the back of the dragon qilin. The flames had nearly covered his whole body!

‘Mother said that the higher the status of the abandoned person, the more flames will appear on their body. Normal abandoned people will only receive one flame marking at the heart of their brows, but big brother has flame markings all over his body.’ The little girl was stunned. ‘What is his status…”

“Could this be the effect of the fire?” Qin Mu pondered over it and said, “I touched the flames just now and they had entered my body to form these strange markings… Fatty Dragon, retreat back to the snowy mountains!”

The dragon qilin didn’t understand what he meant, but he still carefully retreated out of the flaming desert. Back under the snowy mountains, Qin Mu looked at the mirrors and saw that the markings were gradually dimming. When he reached the foot of one mountain, the markings vanished completely.

While keeping the mirrors at hand, he put on his shirt back. He said indifferently, “Fatty Dragon, continue on your way. It’s fine. These markings should be just to identify abandoned people.”

The dragon qilin immediately rushed into the flaming desert, and the markings on Qin Mu’s body started to appear again. They grew frantically, but the youth didn’t pay attention to them.

The sight of the flaming desert was unique. There were flaming tornadoes everywhere, and they whooshed as they swept by the group. The dragon qilin’s nature was that of fire so he loved to control fire the most and often rushed happily into the tornadoes. However, Qin Mu was nearly burned to death once and ordered for him to stop.

The dragon qilin saw his face turning black from the burns and jumped back in shock. Only then did he obediently start to hurry to their destination. The fire had no effect on him, but it possessed lethal power against Qin Mu.

“Big brother, there’s an oasis in front!” Xiong Qi’er said excitedly. “There’s water there!”

Astonished, Qin Mu cried out. “There is water in such a place?”

He then saw the oasis in the flaming desert. Numerous olive trees were growing beside a beautiful lake, and there were also a few snow white goatskin tents beside it.

The dragon qilin immediately ran over to the side of the lake. Qin Mu jumped down and said, “Visitors have come from afar, sorry for disturbing everyone.”

One of the goatskin tents opened up and a youth walked out with a smile, “You’re not disturbing. I’m currently cultivating unique spells and need someone as a sacrifice… It’s you, brat!”

The expression of the youth changed drastically, and Qin Mu pulled out his sword without any explanation. Eight thousand swords flew up together and drowned out the youth!

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