Tales of Herding Gods

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The Great Ruins, Disabled Elderly Village.

When day broke, Qin Mu and Elder Messenger of Death brought Celestial Venerable Yu to this small village. This was where Qin Mu had once lived, and now it was occupied by hen dragons.

In the village, Qin Mu stewed a hen and cooked up several dishes. He then went to Butcher’s house to dig out a jar of wine he had buried under his bed.

He had eaten a ghost banquet at Benevolent Saintly King Equal to Heaven’s manor, and there was no taste at all; therefore, he was feeling famished. Furthermore, Celestial Venerable Yu had just revived, so he was also a little hungry.

After their meals, Qin Mu and Elder Messenger of Death came to the Surging River and looked at the flowing river.

( NovelFull ) Elder Messenger of Death rubbed a divine art and was about to throw into the running river when Qin Mu hurriedly stopped him. He shook his head and said, “There are countless lives in the Surging River, and there’s also the Surging River Dragon King. Look at how strong you are now, do you want to kill all lives in the river?”

Elder Messenger of Death gave it some thought and dispersed his divine art. “The reason why he’s like this now, is it because he is missing a portion of his soul, or does he really have memory loss?”

Qin Mu turned back to take a look. Chaos was ensuing as the hen dragons grouped up together to chase Celestial Venerable Yu. Celestial Venerable Yu got pecked until he was bloodied. He was so miserable that he finally got beaten to the ground by the hen dragons.

Several male hen dragons stood on the youth and crowed to the morning sun.

Elder Messenger of Death sighed and rubbed out another divine art. He pondered and dispersed the divine art again. “Look at him, how does he look like he was before? In the past, Celestial Venerable Yu was glowing with so much health and vigor. He was free and at ease, yet now, even the hen dragons dare to bully him.”

Qin Mu got up and chased the hen dragons away. Celestial Venerable Yu hurriedly crawled up and patted the dust and feathers off his clothes.

“I also can’t see the cause of his memory loss. His soul is lacking something, but it’s not even ten percent of his soul. On the other hand, his three souls and seven spirits are around.”

Qin Mu muttered to himself, “I feel it’s better for us to return to Youdu and ask Earth Count where his missing soul is. If his soul is found and he still has memory loss, it would be a problem in his head.”

Elder Messenger of Death nodded his head. He saw Celestial Venerable Yu being forced into the corner by a bunch of hen dragons and squatting there to cover his head.

“If he doesn’t recover his memory, how is he going to survive in this cruel world?” Elder Messenger of Death shook his head.

Qin Mu walked forward, and he raised his hand to transform a trail of flames into a fire dragon which pounced around to chase the hen dragons away.

Celestial Venerable Yu looked at this situation, and his eyes lit up. He said in delight, “This method is good!” After saying so, he swung his hand.

The hen dragons around him were closing in on him when they saw what he was doing, and they quickly dodged. When they saw nothing had happened, they were furious and pounced forward again.

Celestial Venerable Yu hurriedly swung his hand again, and a trail of fire rushed out like a dragon.

Numerous hen dragons escaped in all directions, and only one couldn’t escape in time. It was charred, and the fragrance of cooked meat drifted out.

Celestial Venerable Yu was stunned, and he looked at his hand in disbelief. He then ran over to the dead hen dragon and started crying to mourn the death of the hen dragon.

He wanted to bury the corpse of the hen dragon, and so he cried as he dug the grave. After a moment, he felt that it smelled fragrant, so he sneaked a bite. He began to cry and eat at the same time, throwing aside the pit he had just dug. He then threw the chicken bones inside the pit.

Qin Mu and Elder Messenger of Death looked at each other in the eyes, and they could see the astonishment in each other.

“Was that divine art the fire runes of Mars Sovereign?” Elder Messenger of Death asked.

Qin Mu nodded his head. “Even though the structure of Mars Sovereign’s fire runes isn’t complicated, my attainments are very high. The runes got shrunk by me to the extreme, and it’s hard for others to see the marvel of it.”

Elder Messenger of Death said, “However, he saw it and learned it.”

“Furthermore, he can still execute it.”

Qin Mu said with a low voice, “His cultivation hasn’t completely vanished, there’s still a small portion, and the most crucial part is that his comprehension and aptitude are simply too heavenly-defying. I suspect…”

He paused for a moment and said with a weird expression, “Celestial Venerable Yu is also an overlord body.”

Elder Messenger of Death mumbled for a moment, and he said, “It’s fine if he doesn’t have any memory, just don’t be too stupid. It just… his head isn’t too good, have you ever see anyone crying for a dead chicken before, crying and eating it at the same time?”

Qin Mu plucked off a tiny strand of beard. “It really seems not good… Let us go find Earth Count first!”

Elder Messenger of Death nodded his head and called Celestial Venerable Yu over. He had only eaten half a chicken and had a look of shame as he carried the other half over.

Qin Mu and Elder Messenger of Death were helpless. The three of them boarded the small boat, and Elder Messenger of Death waved his hands. A black whirlpool appeared, and the boat sailed into the whirlpool. The whirlpool then vanished.

“Celestial Venerable Yu, why aren’t you eating anymore?”

Elder Messenger of Death looked at him and asked, “Are you feeling sad because you just burned a playmate to death and ate your friend?”

“I’m full.”

Celestial Venerable Yu replied honestly, “I really can’t eat anymore, I want to eat when I’m hungry again.”

Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He thought to himself, ‘In the past, Celestial Venerable Yu was such an intelligent person, and yet now he is silly. Celestial Venerable You has it in for him to bring this silly big brother around.’ He couldn’t help feeling delighted in others misfortune.

“Celestial Venerable You, the Dragon Han Celestial Heavens from back then, who won?” Qin Mu asked.

Elder Messenger of Death hesitated for a moment and took down the devil mask on the back of his head. He shook his head and said, “I’m not too sure. At the end of the Dragon Han Era, all three celestial heavens claimed to be the authentic one. As for who won in the end, I don’t know. I have always been staying in Youdu and rarely go to the outside world. When the three celestial heavens contended for hegemony, I also had a headache reaping the souls. However…”

He paused for a moment and said, “Celestial Venerable Yue once found me and told me that the Heaven Alliance lost, that Celestial Emperor Yun was dead, and that she was also ready to hide in seclusion.”

“Celestial Emperor Yun?”

Qin Mu asked, “Is that Celestial Venerable Yun?”

Elder Messenger of Death nodded his head.

Qin Mu felt a pang of sorrow, and after a moment, he said bitterly, “If he hadn’t entered the Heaven Alliance, maybe he wouldn’t have died. He was harmed because of one word from me, I…”

“It’s not your fault.”

Elder Messenger of Death said, “That’s what Celestial Venerable Yun was like. Even though he was crowned as a celestial venerable and didn’t say many words usually, he was very warmhearted. Celestial Venerable Yue once said that before Celestial Venerable Ling suggested establishing the Heaven Alliance, that Celestial Venerable Yun was actually thinking to gather all of the righteous people in the world for the future of the races. Celestial Venerable Yun…”

He was silent for a moment and hung his head down. “He once impersonated Celestial Venerable Yu and also impersonated you and Celestial Venerable Qin, using your names to uphold justice. He preserved a slither of hope for the human race and the other races when they were at their worst. In the Dragon Han Era, many people died. At the same time, the human race and the other races were close to not being able to live on any longer, so he could only do that…”

Qin Mu went into a daze.

“Earth Count should know which celestial heavens won, right?” He suppressed the troubles he had in his heart and asked.

“Earth Count will never speak of it.”

Elder Messenger of Death shook his head. “I’ve asked him once, and he didn’t say anything. However, after that period of darkness, Earth Count became more depressed. He only does what he needs to do and rarely interferes with the matters of the outside world. I had also wanted to know which side was the victorious side, but I have never seen the face of that person on the Emperor’s Throne.”

Qin Mu was slightly stunned. “Never seen the face of that person?”

Elder Messenger of Death nodded his head, and the small boat sailed closer and closer to Earth Count. Celestial Venerable Yu, who was on the bow of the boat, opened his mouth wide in astonishment. He looked at the incomparably huge Earth Count in a daze and couldn’t say a word.

“Never seen before.”

Elder Messenger of Death’s face was calm, and his face was expressionless. He said calmly, “Everyone says that the Dragon Han Era ended four hundred and fifty thousand years ago and that it was the Crimson Light Era afterward. Hehe, never did they expect that the Dragon Han never ended. The Dragon Han Era always exists!”

Qin Mu’s heart started to throb.

The Dragon Han Era always exists!

Even the Dragon Han Celestial Heavens which Earth Count wasn’t willing to mention and didn’t breathe a word about was always around. It was like a huge shadow looming over the entire era. The Crimson Light, the High Emperor, the Founding Emperor and to the current Eternal Peace!

“That celestial heavens had many things that people can’t understand.”

Elder Messenger of Death said, “The ancient gods of the ancient gods’ celestial heavens are also in that celestial heavens, the gods from the races and the half-gods are also in that celestial heavens. I really don’t know who the final victor was… Let’s go meet Earth Count.”

The paper boat sailed into Earth Count’s third eye, and Elder Messenger of Death parked the paper boat. They came into the sacred hall inside the eye.

In the sacred hall, the Earth Count that was countless times smaller lowered his head and looked at Celestial Venerable Yu, who was carrying half a chicken. Celestial Venerable Yu was uneasy from his gaze, and he only mustered the courage to raise the half chicken over his head. “Do you want to eat? I see that you are hungry as well…”

Earth Count’s gaze flashed, and he shook his head with a sigh. “Poor thing, the Celestial Venerable Yu from back then has turned into such a state. You have brought him here to search for that missing soul, am I right?”

Qin Mu nodded his head bowed. “May Earth Count please cast your spell and find the location of that missing soul!”

“Back then, I blessed him, so even if you didn’t ask me, I would help him.”

Earth Count opened the eyes in the heart of his brows, and a screen of light shot out from his third eye. He said solemnly, “When I saw his corporeal body, I saw his broken soul crossing countless worlds, and the boundless worlds just flickered past in an instant.”

Celestial Venerable Yu stood in the screen of light and felt uneasy. Outside of the screen of light, worlds flashed past quickly. Majestic mountains and vast deserts flashed by. Countless stars also moved away quickly.

After a moment, the screen of light suddenly showed incomparably majestic celestial palaces, towering gods, and the celestial heavens that was forever in the day.

The celestial palaces in the light screen passed through Celestial Venerable Yu’s body, and the speed became faster and faster. Suddenly, the images gradually slowed and finally stopped in front of the door to a palace.

After the image passed through the door, it passed by several pavilions and buildings, coming to an inconceivable space after passing through a few more doors. The image then broke off.

Earth Count said, “His broken soul is suppressed in the Hall of Fragrance, and the seal in the hall is too strong, so it cut off my gaze.”

Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “As long as we know where it is, there’s hope.”

Elder Messenger of Death had a grim expression. He frowned. It was apparent that the Hall of Fragrance wasn’t as simple as Qin Mu had thought.

“The Hall of Fragrance is one of the seventy-two throne halls. Their arrangements are similar to the celestial palaces.”

Earth Count said indifferently, “Even strong practitioners of the Numinous Sky Realm can’t enter, much less you.”

Qin Mu said with a smile, “There will always be a way.”

Earth Count asked, “Do you know how to enter the celestial heavens? Do you know where is it located?”

Qin Mu was stunned.

He indeed didn’t know. Other people called it the extraterritorial celestial heavens, but where this celestial heavens was, even Saint Woodcutter couldn’t give an answer.

From the beginning to the end, even Saint Woodcutter didn’t know who Founding Emperor Era’s enemy was.

Even the consciousness of Crimson Emperor in the Qin word land didn’t know who the Crimson Light Era’s enemy was.

Earth Count took a look at him and said, “You may go out first, I have things to talk to Official Sovereign about.”

Qin Mu walked out of the sacred hall and popped his head in. Suddenly, the door closed and shut him out.

“Petty and mysterious!” Qin Mu grumbled angrily, but his gaze fell on Elder Messenger of Death’s paper boat involuntarily.

In the sacred hall, Earth Count looked at Elder Messenger of Death. “His broken soul can’t be retrieved for now, what do you plan to do?”

Elder Messenger of Death was silent for a moment. “He is my second kin, I need to protect him.”

“He is like white paper now.”

Earth Count said, “Furthermore, he is a silly white paper. If he follows you, he will become a shut-in like you, and he will die miserably once he walks out of Youdu. The reason why you could live on for all these years is that you are always in Youdu. If you go out, you would have long died. If he follows you, he will end up like you.”

Elder Messenger of Death looked silently at Celestial Venerable Yu who was licking the grease off his fingers. After a moment, he raised his head. “I’ve thought through it, and I’m indeed not suitable to bring him along. I’m thinking of entrusting him to Celestial Venerable Mu.”

Earth Count said, “To him? Aren’t you afraid of him leading Celestial Venerable Yu astray?”

“But at least Celestial Venerable Yu won’t die.”

Elder Messenger of Death said, “What I’m worried about is Celestial Venerable Mu not being willing to bring him along. Even though he was warmhearted in saving Celestial Venerable Yu and took revenge for him with a burning passion, he definitely won’t want to take care of Celestial Venerable Yu.”

Earth Count smirked. “He will have no choice but to do it. Now, he is taking your small boat into the deepest parts of Youdu, sneaking in to visit his mother. He is about to commit a grave mistake, and with this mistake, he will have no choice but to bring along this burden Celestial Venerable Yu.”

Elder Messenger of Death was stunned, and he praised, “Earth Count is wise.”