Tales of Herding Gods

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Seeing her smile, Qin Mu felt like his heart had melted.

It had melted in those days under the radiant sunlight, by the reed marshes along the river, where the snow-white reed catkins fluttered and the cowherd sat on his cow as the cow walked slowly by the riverside.

That day, there was a strange melody that echoed in his head. He wanted to hum it, to sing it out, yet he was not able to.

He had felt that the tune was so familiar, so dear, yet he couldn’t seem to recall it.

At this moment, he remembered that nursery rhyme.

When he was swaddled in the basket, he had heard the nursery rhyme, he had heard this voice.

He walked to the side of the girl who was humming the nursery rhyme that was familiar to him yet one that he couldn’t recall, and he sat down with a smile. “It’s been a long time since we last met. Do you still remember that baby called Qin Fengqing in the basket? I am him.”

Bai Qu’er looked at him, an expression of astonishment slowly appearing on her face, though it soon became a smile. “Do you still remember that girl who sat atop the chest?”

“I remember.”

Qin Mu felt a burning sensation in his chest, but he couldn’t tell if it was because his injuries weren’t healed yet or if there were some weird emotions acting up within him.

Bai Qu’er hugged her knees with both hands, her body sitting upright as she looked down at the sight below with a dazed expression. “Eternal Peace is really beautiful.”

Qin Mu looked downwards and saw tens of thousands of lit up homes. On the vast land, amongst the mountains and rivers, there were tiny specks of lights around the city. Where there were lights, there were people.

Even as Eternal Peace was undergoing dramatic change, these tenacious people were still trying their best to survive.

There was a different sort of beauty felt as he sat within the moon palace to look out at the mortal world.

The high and mighty celestial heavens which had eternal day would never be able to enjoy the beauty of the shadows, and they wouldn’t be able to see the hope within the hearts of the people who lit up lanterns in the dark.

The moonlight shone brightly, and the moon formation in the sky map had opened up again and was soon to become a full moon. Qin Mu felt that he must have slept for at least five or six days.

“What brings you here?” he looked sideways at the face of the girl beside him and asked.

“Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor bumped into me, and we discussed swords for a few days. Then I heard that a girl named Si Yunxiang had sent out people to look around for the four great heavenly teachers and four great heavenly kings of Founding Emperor, saying that Son of Qin was in trouble and thus wanted them to go to the northern heavens to help.”

Bai Qu’er continued, “Therefore, I hurried over here first, intending to enter the palace of Mahakala through the sky map. I had just cleaned out the gods from the extraterritorial celestial heavens in the sky map when Fatty Dragon brought you over.”

Qin Mu came to a sudden realization and laughed. “Sneaking into the palace of Mahakala from the sky map, and even attacking Mahakala from his blindside, truly brilliant ideas. It would be able to avoid his senses.”

Bai Qu’er smiled. “Yes, indeed. When you were unconscious, Wen Tiange, Han Tang, Yan Yunxi, and the others all came searching. They also entered through the sky map. Three of the four great heavenly teachers of Founding Emperor also came by. Han Tang wanted to tear open a hole in the sky map and send a fishing line into the palace of Mahakala to fish you out.”

Han Tang was the name of Heavenly Teacher Fisherman, while Yan Yunxi was Heavenly Teacher Zi Xi’s name, though Yan Yunxi was the name she only used when she was dressed as a female.

Heavenly Teacher Fisherman claimed that his hooks never went out for naught, so he may really have been able to fish Qin Mu up.

“Yan Yunxi intended to set up a formation to attack Mahakala from his blindside, but Wen Tiange said that Eternal Peace and Mahakala didn’t have any grudges between them and that there was a possibility for a neutral relationship.”

Bai Qu’er smiled. “They all care about you a lot and only left when they saw that you were out of danger. How are your injuries?”

Qin Mu felt a warmth in his heart. “Speaking of which, it’s strange. When I woke up, all my injuries were healed. I had damaged my origin and initially expected that I would need to recuperate for a few years before I could cultivate to my peak. What spirit medicine did you feed me?”

He was very puzzled, as damaging his origin meant that his injuries were extremely serious. Even if he was a grandmaster in the art of healing, he would have to search for rare spirit medicine and slowly nurse his body into recovery.

Even so, he would require at least a few years to replenish the deficiency in his body.

Bai Qu’er had fed him medicine and used the dragon bead to condition his primordial spirit, which led him to assume that it was the effect of her spirit medicine.

“The spirit medicines that I gave you weren’t anything special, they just helped to keep you alive and weren’t able to treat the root of your injuries. However, I realized that while you were asleep, your wounds slowly healed by themselves. I’m very puzzled as well.”

Bai Qu’er pondered over it. “While you were unconscious, Wen Tiange and the others came and sensed that you were performing self-recovery. Wen Tiange mentioned that a Dharma was working in strange ways within your body, and it was as though it had made you relive your life. But where this Dharma came from, he wasn’t too sure. I wasn’t able to detect its origins either.”

Qin Mu felt a slight jolt in his heart. It was like he had relived his life, and then all his injuries had healed. Even his origin had returned to its peak condition. This technique seemed to be related to Brahma Buddha’s way of entering the path through dreams.

Could it be that he had cultivated Brahma Buddha’s Emperor’s Throne’s true scriptures in his sleep?

But he had never learned this technique before!

Back then, Brahma Buddha had told him that there was a Buddha within his Qin word land that contained his Emperor’s Throne true scriptures, but that it would require Qin Mu’s own comprehension to be able to learn it.

However, the Qin word land had always been dominated by his brother Qin Fengqing, so the time he had spent in there wasn’t long. Thus, he didn’t have the opportunity to comprehend it.

So when exactly did he learn it?

Without learning it or comprehending it, he had obtained this Emperor’s Throne technique. It was all too strange.

Suddenly, Bai Qu’er stood up and stretched her hand towards him with a beautiful smile. “Do you want to see the real galaxy?”

Qin Mu stared at her blankly before reaching his hand out, holding her hand.

Bai Qu’er held onto his hand and flew about the sky map, flying away from the moon. She smiled and said, “The astronomical phenomena within the sky map are fake, they are all formations. However, behind the sky map lies the real galaxy. I know of a hole in the sky map, if you go out from there, then you will be able to see the true galaxy.”

Qin Mu couldn’t help but follow her. Turning his head around to look, he saw that within the moonlight in front of the moon palace, the dragon qilin who had dozed off by a pillar had also now stood up to look towards them, seemingly wanting to run over to see the real galaxy as well.

Qin Mu gave him a fierce look, and the dragon qilin quickly stopped in his tracks, lying back down and continuing his nap.

Qin Mu revealed a smile as the girl held on to his hand as they roamed the sky map together.

They flew by the galaxy of the sky map. The stars were formed by various complicated formations, and their structure was extremely complex. The gods who were here were already eradicated by Bai Qu’er, and there was no one guarding the formations now.

Although the galaxy was fake, flying through it as the brilliant starlight spilled all around them was still very romantic.

“Wen Tiange said that he was going to ask Emperor Yanfeng to send some scholars who were skilled in algebra to come and maintain the workings of the sky map.”

Bai Qu’er brought him through the galaxy. “Over there is the sun within the sky map. Within the sky map, during the day, the stars will dull, and there will be no light in the galaxy. Only the sun will radiate light. However, when night comes, the sun will extinguish.”

Qin Mu looked in the direction she was pointing. The sun’s formation had already stopped its work at this time, it was a circular formation in the form of a teleportation door. The insides of the formation were empty except for a sun palace within.

As he had guessed, the formation borrowed the rays of the real sun in order to give off light and heat.

“The hole in the sky map is over here.”

Bai Qu’er arrived at the sun palace, bringing him into the palace. She smiled and said, “However, this hole will only appear when the sun formation is lit up. Then we will be able to fly out of it to see the real galaxy.”

Qin Mu blinked, replying, “It’s night in Eternal Peace now.”

Bai Qu’er gave a sound of acknowledgment.

“When we light up the sun, the moon and the sun will appear in the night sky at the same time,” Qin Mu continued.

Bai Qu’er acknowledged this with an expression of pity on her face.

Qin Mu broke out into a wide smile. “Then let’s do it!”

Bai Qu’er whooped with joy, sprinting to the center of the palace where there was a huge scarlet red cloth made out of an unknown material. There were three golden crow images embroidered on it, and there was something below holding up the huge cloth.

Bai Qu’er tugged off the cloth with her might, revealing a stand. On the stand was a palm imprint formed by an exquisite rune pattern.

She pressed her palm on the pattern, looking to Qin Mu with some hesitation. “Are we really lighting up the sun? Will it be too shocking?”

Qin Mu laughed. “The citizens of Eternal Peace are long used to this. If we’re talking about shocking events, a sun appearing in the night sky cannot be compared to the likes of the seal of the Primordial Realm being broken through. These past few years, the citizens of Eternal Peace have witnessed the explosion of natural disasters, the transformation of the Surging River into the celestial river, the numerous revivals of gods and devils, and the appearances of heavens within the sky. Their ability to withstand changes is way stronger than we have imagined.”

Bai Qu’er was relieved. She worked her vital qi, and there was a buzz from the stand. Following that, the buzzing sound continued to flow around them along the ground.

Very soon, the formation runes outside the sun palace lit up, and the runes turned a crimson red as the formation started to spin and extended out in all four directions.

At this time, Eternal Peace hadn’t entered the deep of the night. There were still many homes lit up with lanterns. In the cities, the lights were even brighter, and there were still people wandering around the night markets.

However, the sun in the sky suddenly rose without warning, hanging high up and dissipating the night sky in a short instant!

That wasn’t all, the moon remained in the sky, and the radiance of the moon was actually not all that inferior compared to the sun. It was an extremely dazzling sight.

The citizens of Eternal Peace were all in shock, and even the gods, devils, and half-gods of Yuandu were astonished by this sight. Countless people raised their heads to look up at the sky in a daze.

Within the sun palace, Bai Qu’er gripped Qin Mu’s hand and sprinted off, her laughter ringing out from ahead. “Quick! Let’s get out of here before the gods and devils come looking!”

Qin Mu’s heart was palpitating. He followed her to the center of the sun formation, where there was a huge black spot that was incredibly unpleasant to look at.

Bai Qu’er grabbed him and leaped into the center of the black spot, her clothes flipped about and flapped onto Qin Mu’s face.

Qin Mu raised his free hand to push her skirt and pockets out of his face, and he saw that they had already jumped out of the sun formation and the sky map, and they were out of the fake astrological phenomena.

They were now floating about in the boundless starry skies of the universe. Behind them was the sky map of an unknown length and distance, and in front of them, there was an enormous fireball floating in the incredibly silent universe.

It was incomparably colossal beyond imagination.

Standing before this sun, they were as small and insignificant as ants.

Bai Qu’er suddenly grabbed him and took flight. As quick as a flickering shadow and with unimaginable speed, she flew upwards. Raising a hand and pointing towards a direction, she laughed and said, “Look there!”

Qin Mu followed the direction of her finger and saw the numerous heavens looking like gems mounted on the skies beyond the Primordial Realm. Within the colossal gems, there were sun, moon, and stars, resembling the innumerous bright spots beset within the gems, flickering before their eyes.

They flew past the outside of these enormous gems, the world barriers like an invisible thin film that gently bounced them off when they were too close.

Bai Qu’er borrowed the momentum from the world barriers to allow herself to speed up, taking Qin Mu to roam about the void.

They flew away from the real sun, but Qin Mu raised his head and saw another sun. It was dull and radiating a dull red glow. Above this sun, he saw yet another dull red sun.

“Over there was the thirty-three heavens of Founding Emperor.”

Bai Qu’er continued to bring him about. “Founding Emperor had built thirty-three worlds here, but these heavens have already been annihilated.”

She brought Qin Mu past the first extinguished sun, and going around it, they saw the colossal galaxy.

“That’s the eye of Heaven Duke, he should be able to see us!” Bai Qu’er waved excitedly towards that galaxy lump.

Qin Mu also waved excitedly at it. He was so exhilarated his face was red.

Within the Qin word land, the clone of Heaven Duke snorted, and he turned to Lava Earth Count. “I can see this rascal already, he looks pleased as punch.”

Lava Earth Count instead looked towards the “Little Earth Count” who was excitedly sticking his head into the Slaughter Cauldron with his bottom sticking out, replying, “Is he as pleased as him?”

Qin Fengqing was systematically counting his spoils of war inside the cauldron and didn’t hear what they were talking about.

Great Sun Sovereign flapped his wings and got up. Lying atop the Qin word land, his three claws gripped onto the top of the sky like a huge bat lying on the rooftop as he borrowed Qin Mu’s line of vision to look at the outside world greedily.

“The brightest sun just now, it’s where I was born. It’s Yuandu’s only godly sun!”

Great Sun Sovereign continued to mumble, “Where I was born, the first and sharpest cry of the crow. I still remember running across the sky as I pulled the sun along…”

Suddenly, before his eyes was darkness. Qin Mu had taken out the willow leaf and covered up his third eye, so he was no longer able to see the outside sights.

“Jerk, remove it, remove it quickly!”

Great Sun Sovereign continued to yell, “I want to see my hometown!”

Crimson Emperor’s consciousness pulled him down. “He’s out there flirting, why are you trying to be an extra? We’ve barely managed to have some footing here, and we’re borrowing shelter inside here. You should stop being so demanding.”

Great Sun Sovereign stuck his head back. “You are borrowing shelter, while I am a prisoner here. We’re not the same. Say, what do you think they are doing right now that they can’t let us see?”