Tales of Herding Gods

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Qin Mu sat beside the skeleton and took out ointments to treat his own injuries. “I’m originally from the Yellow Spring so why should I be scared of them?” he said with a smile.

The skeleton stood up and said, “This place is an ominous land in which no one can survive. The only way for you to live is to immediately turn around and leave.”

Qin Mu squeezed the spoiled blood from his wounds and pulled out the devil qi. “Going back is then the path to death, so I will still have a chance if I advance forward. Do you know which path is safer?”

The skeleton shook its head.

Qin Mu finished applying medicine to himself and executed his vital qi. He circulated it one round, and when his wounds didn’t burst open, he stood up. “Do you know where’s north, south, east, and west?”

“That’s east!” The skeleton pointed his finger forward.

“Thank you.”

Qin Mu turned in the direction the skeleton had pointed out and begun walking. Two steps later, he stopped and turned back with a smile. “Brother, why are you following me?”

The skeleton was right behind him. It hurriedly stopped when it saw him stop. “I was in a daze and couldn’t remember what had happened to me when I was alive, but now I’ve recalled some hazy memories. And since you’re the one that awoke me, I naturally have to follow you.”

Qin Mu burst out laughing. “Humans and ghosts walk different paths. You can’t keep following me, so just go back to sleep.”

“When I was in a daze, I could sleep and not care about the seasons or the battles of the world. However, you awakened me and now I can’t sleep. You have disturbed my slumber and have to take responsibility for that.”

“You’re such an unreasonable ghost!” Feeling helpless, Qin Mu turned around and explained seriously, “I saw that you still had some soul so I used Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique to wake you up to ask for directions; however, you don’t know anything. You can’t show me the path that would keep me alive. Besides, you’re dead, so even if I manage to leave this ominous land alive, you won’t be able to follow me to the world of the living. Brother, you’re already dead, so just go back to sleep.”

The skeleton shook his head. “I had no worries before, but you woke me up and now I worry again. You need to help me settle it.”

Qin Mu’s head ached, but he still said with a smile, “In that case, I will execute Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique to pull out your broken soul, allowing you to go back to heaven and earth. You will be returned to slumber. How’s that?”

“No.” The skeleton shook his head. “Since I’ve already awoken, dispersing my sou is the same as killing me. That pain of it, I’m not willing.”

Qin Mu truly had a headache. He turned around and continued to head east. Behind him, the skeleton continued to follow him.

Since he felt troubled, Qin Mu wanted to try persuading the skeleton again, but water churned from both sides of the swamp. A corpse that had soaked in the water until it was snow white stood up and looked straight at him.

Qin Mu’s heart swiveled up. The people in the swamp had died countless years ago yet their corpses had yet to decompose. The armor on their bodies was tattered, but present, and their eyes still glowed with blood light, their sinister air evident.

The corpses had been extremely powerful when they were alive, so their corpses also had a thick aura after death. They were extremely terrifying.

Suddenly, the huge skeleton behind Qin Mu let out a loud roar. The corpses in the water seemed to have received an order and sank into the water one after another.

Qin Mu was astonished. “Why do they listen to you?”

The skeleton was also in a daze. He thought for a moment, then said, “I can faintly remember that they are my subordinates that died here alongside me. I saw that they wanted to hurt you so I scolded them. Luckily they still listen to me.”

Qin Mu became interested and asked with a smile, “Who were you before you died? Do you still remember?”

The skeleton pondered over it, but then shook his head. “I don’t remember.”

Qin Mu’s interest grew even greater, and he stopped in his footsteps. “I have a divine art that can establish access to Youdu, allowing broken souls to gather. Let me cast it, and I might be able to let you remember some stuff. If you manage that, you won’t have to follow me anymore.”

Delighted, the skeleton said with a smile, “If I could do so, I would definitely repay this huge favor.”

Qin Mu plucked down his hairpin and let his hair fall around his shoulders. He then took up his Saturn Sovereign True Form with Gate of Heaven Influence behind him. After that, he cast Soul Guide of Nine Spectres Sect with low-spoken and cryptic devil language.

When he was halfway through his chant, his heart suddenly shook. He felt like there was some unfamiliar knowledge in his mind. When he subconsciously used it, his devil language became even more ancient and cryptic.

The devil qi around him became thicker and thicker, purer and purer. It rolled and spread throughout the swamp like a sea of pitch black. The Gate of Heaven Influence also became more and more majestic as it stood in the sea of devil qi.

With creaks, the incomparably heavy door slowly opened up.

In the darkness, shrieks could be heard. Incomparably miserable ghost-like wails and wolf-like howls of countless spirit poured out from the Gate of Heaven Influence!

Qin Mu jumped in shock. “So many spirits?”

They flooded out from Youdu and gathered in the huge swamp. In an instant, it was full of phosphorescence, making it look like it was filled with bright stars. They flew around in the darkness of the devil qi and tunneled into the corpses.

Countless corpses stood up and looked around in a daze.

Tens of thousands of beings had risen in the desolate swamp. Some stood on the water, some floated in the sky, and some sat on the ground in a daze.

“Who is disturbing the peace of Youdu?”

Qin Mu was still casting his spell when a loud voice rang in his mind. It blew him away, and he became muddle-headed. His magic power was instantly cut off, and the Gate of Heaven Influence behind him swallowed up the devil qi like a whale swallowing the heaven and earth. Wind swept all of the devil qi back into Youdu!

Qin Mu hurriedly dispersed his Saturn Sovereign’s form. Never would he have expected that Gate of Heaven Influence would remain open and not close. Spots of lamplights came from the darkness in Youdu.

They were boats with barn lanterns!

Qin Mu’s scalp went numb, and he hurriedly reversed his technique, but the Gate of Heaven Influence still didn’t close.

The boats sailed over from the darkness and passed through the Gate of Heaven Influence!

“I remember who I am!”

Beside him, the skeleton suddenly cried out in delight and laughed loudly. “I remember now! Celestial Heavens Southern Heaven Southern Dipper Division, Seven Kills Star Sovereign. I was under the order of Founding Emperor to guard Supreme Emperor Heaven and its Provincial Governor Wei Liao! Where’s my armor? Where’s my battle ax?”

Boom!

The swamp under Qin Mu’s suddenly rolled and boundless divine light rushed into the sky. Pieces of battle armor broke through the water and the ground. They flew out from the bottom of the swamp.

Clank, clank, clank. Crisp sounds of collision rang out as pieces of broken battle armor covered the body of the skeleton beside Qin Mu. Even a broken helmet flew over to cover his skull.

Qin Mu was dumbfounded. Suddenly, a huge mountain split apart in the swamp, and a few broken divine weapon pieces rushed out. They assembled in midair and formed a huge battle-ax that came swirling over. The skeleton stretched his hand out and grabbed it.

The battle-ax represented the authority of Celestial Emperor. On the left was an ax, and on the right was a knife while on the top was a sharp spear tip with a dragon marking coiling around it.

Once the skeleton caught the battle-ax, his world-shaking aura burst forth. He raised his weapon and gave it a swing, crumbling the Gate of Heaven Influence behind Qin Mu. He crushed it with brute force and broke the path of Youdu’s messengers of death.

He then roared with anger, “Where are my soldiers?”

The devil qi in the darkness had dispersed, and countless skeletons stood on the surface of the swamp while looking at him quietly. Suddenly, world-shaking shouts came from all of the corpses. “General, we are here!”

The skeleton laughed loudly and asked toward the sky, “Where is our Majesty?”

He waited for a long time, but no one replied to him.

After a moment, Qin Mu said, “Provincial Governor, twenty thousand years have passed since Founding Emperor Era.”

In a daze, the skeleton lowered his head to look at him. He muttered, “Twenty thousand years?”

Qin Mu expression filled with pain. “It’s been twenty thousand years. You guys have been dead for twenty thousand years…”

Bathump.

The skeleton sat down and muttered to himself, “Twenty thousand years, how did it become like this? The blood we spilled, the lives we risked to stop the enemies. Yet we still not manage to protect our era…”

Qin Mu sighed. “The broken soul of Provincial Governor is undying and your fighting spirit will live on forever. Today, I have awoken your broken souls and broken spirits, disturbing your peace. You’ve now returned to the world of the living, but I don’t know what I can do about it. Since Provincial Governor was the commander of Supreme Emperor Heaven during Founding Emperor Era, I believe you won’t create trouble for the people. If I live to go back, I will ask King Yama if he could take you guys in. May Provincial Governor restrain his soldiers to this ominous land. Myself, I need to continue forward.”

He bade farewell and turned to leave.

The skeleton was still sitting there dispiritedly, and the will-o’-the-wisps in his eyes flickered as he muttered, “Twenty thousand years, how did it become like this…”

At the borders of the ominous land, more and more pursuing devils appeared. Soon, there were close to a thousand devil divine arts practitioners gathered there. However, no one dared to step into the ominous land.

After a moment, a violent gale suddenly blew over and stopped. A great general appeared in front of the numerous divine arts practitioners and examined the ominous land.

“General Xiu Luo!”

Numerous devils bowed in greeting, feeling both surprised and delighted. The devil general waved his hand and said, “My master Fu Riluo ordered me to chase after Qin Mu while in command of you guys. Now, where is that Qin Mu?”

“He has entered the ominous land.”

Xiu Luo frowned slightly. He was about to give the order to enter when devil qi poured out from the depths of the ominous land, creating a devil sea. A huge door stood upright, looking extremely strange.

Astonished, Xiu Luo hurriedly stopped. After a moment, that sea of devil qi vanished without a trace and the huge door also disappeared.

“Ominous land is truly strange and unpredictable,” Xiu Luo muttered irresolutely. After a moment, he said with a low voice, “That brat will probably die after barging into this place, but master gave the order to bring no matter if he’s alive or dead, so we need to capture him… Soldiers, listen, follow me into this ominous land!”

The thousand divine arts practitioners received the command and followed him into the ominous land.

Qin Mu was walking through the swamp when he heard the sound of fighting behind him. The shouts were deafening, but they didn’t last long. Peace returned shortly, and he had no idea what had happened.

“This place is truly strange…” Qin Mu shook his head, having no idea that he was the biggest mystery in the whole swamp.