Tales of Herding Gods

Xing An opened his eyes to look around. There were still all kinds of limbs growing from his body. Not only that, there was also a monster that looked like an octopus stuck to his back. Its limbs were strong and strapped tightly to him while contracting non-stop.

He had fainted from that monster binding him.

“Who is talking?” he asked weakly.

“A human from the world of the living, an interesting life form. Xing An, after reaching such a state, do you still want to return to the world of the living?”

The owner of the voice circled around him. Sometimes it the words came from the left, and sometimes from the right. Sometimes it was above him, and sometimes it was below. It seemed like a fish swimming in the darkness.

“You are a saint that appears once every five hundred years yet you have landed in such a state. This truly makes me sigh in regret. How could you face the people of the world looking like this?”

The limbs on Xing An’s body were held by the monster, and he couldn’t move, so he could take a breather. Before, he’d been in unbelievable torture and suffered more than ever before in his life. He had never been so miserable and helpless before.

Yet now, he still wasn’t at ease as he was in Youdu.

Only after he jumped into the river did he find out where he went, that it was a place where the dead sank.

He was in despair. Youdu was the place where Earth Count ruled, and he had never heard before anyone that could survive after entering Youdu.

He had barged into Fengdu and now he had barged into Youdu. Why was heaven treating him so horribly?

“What exactly are you? Why are you mocking me?”

Xing An let out a shaky breath. He wanted to struggle out of the monster’s binding, but he couldn’t muster any strength. Besides, even if he could break free, the other body parts would rebel and beat him up, cursing him.

He had no strength to escape from the monster. Even if he broke free from the limbs on his body, his lifespan wouldn’t be long, and if it came to an end, he would die in Youdu.

“My name is Lu Li,” the voice said, no longer moving. “Xuan Ming is the left, and Han Lei the right. Lu Li is the front, and Jue Huang the back.”

Xing An gasped for breath. “Lu Li? Did you ask me if I wanted to return to the world of the living? I want to return to the world of the living!”

“You don’t know the meaning of this poem?” The tone of that voice was slightly disappointed as it sighed. “The top-notch practitioner of the world of the living is actually so ignorant, actually not knowing Xuan Ming, Han Lei, Lu Li, and Jue Huang. You guys have fallen that low? Oh well, I won’t bully your ignorance. I can let you return to the world of the living and solve the danger of your corporeal body. I can even erase your death record and let you have no more worries of dying from old age.”

Xing An’s expression loosened, and he asked, “What do I have to do?”

“It’s pleasant to talk with smart people,” Lu Li said. “Ten years ago, there was a child who was born in Youdu and absorbed the qi of Youdu before being brought away. He was sent out, and I need you to send him back. My corporeal body is too strong so I can’t pass through the barrier between Youdu and the world of the living, so I need you to walk there and do my work!”

“How should I find this child?” Xing An asked.

“Very simple. He has a jade pendant, and there’s a unique rune on it. There’s also the word QIn engraved on it, so you will recognize it when you see it,” Lu Li explained. “He should be around seventeen now, almost eighteen. I’ve already drawn his birth data and the shape of the jade pendant. He was born on the eight of the twelfth lunar month, first year of the sixty-year cycle, and the twelfth solar month.”

A picture flew over, and the eight tentacle monster holding Xing An suddenly left, vanishing into the darkness.

At the same time, the limbs on Xing An’s body started rotting, and numerous heads, arms, legs, and bodies fell off. Xing An’s heart trembled violently as he felt his body becoming his once again. He hurriedly grabbed the painting.

Lu Li’s voice rang beside his ear then. “Find this child. You can kill or capture him, but you cannot let his soul disperse. I need you to send his soul in perfect condition to Youdu! If even a hair is gone, you will die incomparably miserably!”

When it said the last word, the limbs suddenly grew back on Xing An’s body.

Lu Li’s chuckles floated around as Xing An’s body returned to normal. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

“I’ll pass you a mirror. After you find him, you can use this mirror to verify his identity.” A mirror suddenly appeared from the darkness and landed in Xing An’s hand. Lu Li then said with a laugh, “This mirror can reflect his identity, but you can’t aim the mirror at him while facing him, do you understand?”

“Can’t aim the mirror at him while facing him?” Xing An stared blankly at the floating object as he didn’t know what the creature meant.

“That’s right. Your back must face him while you use the mirror to observe him!” Lu Li’s tone suddenly became stern. “Remember, when facing him, you can never shine this mirror on him! Your back must face him!”

“I get it, you don’t need to repeat it so many times. Just a small matter…”

“This is definitely not a small matter!” Lu Li sneered. “If you shine it on him while facing him, you will cause a huge problem, a very huge problem! I can extend your life for thirty years, so you’ll have thirty years to do this for me. You can go now!”

“Hold it!” Xing An smiled and said leisurely, “We haven’t met before, but since this mirror can reflect a person, it should be able to reflect you too, right?” He flipped the mirror and pointed its face behind himself.

“You…”

He stared at the mirror and saw the reflection of a peerless beauty. Lu Li’s voice had clearly belonged to a man, yet the mirror reflected a woman!

The beauty flicked her finger, and Xing An started spinning as though he had fallen into a huge whirlpool. When he woke up, he realized he was lying on a long rock under an ancient pine tree as though he had fallen asleep and spent the night in the open there.

The surroundings had birdsong and fragrant flowers, as well as springs and waterfall. There were a few monkeys swinging to and fro among the forest before stopping to pluck some bananas. They peeled them and ate eagerly while looking at him with caution.

Stunned, Xing An looked around. How was he still not at the broken cliff of Great Ruins? There was an ocean in front of him!

“What is this place?” he couldn’t help asking bewilderedly.

“This is South Sea.” The monkey threw a banana peel that hit his head.

“South Sea?”

Xing An immediately got up, at a loss. He was now located at the southernmost part of Great Ruins which was some thirty-forty thousand miles from where he had entered Fengdu!

“You are a strange beast in Great Ruins, but you can talk. It seems like you are a strange breed which awakened your intelligence.”

Xing An picked the banana peel and flicked it away. “Taking into account that you pointed out the location for me, I won’t kill you, but some suffering is inevitable.”

The monkey jumped up. When it landed, a banana peel appeared under its feet, causing it to slip and fall. The monkey was furious, but when it climbed up, wanting to take revenge on Xing An, he had already disappeared without a trace.

“How petty!” The monkey was furious and jumped onto a tree, but to its surprise, what it grabbed was another banana peel, and so it came crashing down from the tree.

The banana peel seemed to have gotten stuck to the monkey. As long as it jumped up, it would automatically fly to its hands or legs, causing it to slip and fall badly.

The monkey was furious and picked up a stone to tear the banana peel to pieces.

By then, Xing An had already left and was mumbling to himself. “Even though Lu Li is remarkable, she can’t enter the world of the living. How can I, Xing An, be manipulated by her? She gave me a lifespan of thirty years and she wants to control me with that? Not so easy! Divine Physician Qin said that he has already established the space algebra model of the divine bridge and spread it around. I shall go to Eternal Peace, and with my comprehension and aptitude, I can become a god in one or two years and break free from her control!”

Suddenly, Lu Li’s voice rang out beside his ears. “Rascal, I’ll take away fifteen years from your lifespan.”

Xing An’s heart trembled violently, and he hurriedly looked around. However, he couldn’t find any traces of Lu Li.

‘This is the world of the living, and she can’t come here! It must be a hallucination!’

Just as he thought that, he suddenly came to a realization and quickly opened his Life and Death Divine Treasure. He saw that it was connected to Youdu which was dark and hazy. A pair of eyes were glowing in the darkness there, staring at him.

Xing An’s blood went cold. He knew he could never break free. Even if he became a god, it would be hard for him to escape from that woman’s control!

‘Who exactly is this person that’s born in Youdu?’

Xing An frowned. There were many seventeen years old, so where was he going to find such a person?

…..

“Fatty Dragon, faster! The sky is almost dark!” Qin Mu hurried. “We need to find a ruin or a village before the night comes!”

The darkness flooded over from the west as Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin and the chest to a ruin full of strange beasts of Great Ruins. They all stayed together in harmony.

The chest took the time to dug out a broken stone tablet from underground and planned to stuff it into its stomach, but it was too huge and didn’t fit inside.

Qin Mu went over to sweep the dust off the stone tablet and read—Big Dipper’s Dark and Light True Purity Heaven Lady Mother of the Chariot. ‘This is the celestial heavens of Founding Emperor Era, the place where Big Dipper’s Lady Mother of the Chariot resided? This Lady Mother of the Chariot should be a powerful goddess, but it’s a pity that even this place has turned into ruin…’

He stood up and went to the entrance of Palace of Lady Mother of the Chariot and looked at the darkness outside.

The darkness seemed like it was blocked by a screen of light at the palace’s entrance. There was a clear separation between light and dark.

Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before stretching out his thumb, his nail slowly getting closer to the darkness.”

“Cult Master, don’t die—”

The dragon qilin pounced over and bit his leg to drag him back. It resulted in him collecting a lot of dust, and Qin Mu rose to beat the dragon qilin up when he jumped back to his feet.

Roar!

A commotion suddenly broke out in the ruin. Numerous strange beasts and territorial beasts were furious, and they roared all at once while closing in on Qin Mu.

His forehead broke out in sweat, and he slowly stepped back. He looked at the thousands of strange beasts that were closing in on him and tried to explain, “Everyone, listen to me, I’m not breaking the rules of Great Ruins on purpose. It was this Fatty Dragon who made a move first…”

He retreated to the door and leaned against a stone pillar. Some of the huge beasts beat their chests while some snarled and showed their teeth. Some were sharpening their claws and some were preparing their divine arts, ready to kill the fellow who had broken the rules of Great Ruins,

Qin Mu gritted his teeth and suddenly turned. With a headlong dash, he pushed his head into the darkness.

Most of the strange beasts were dumbfounded. The dragon qilin wailed loudly and bit onto Qin Mu’s pants to pull him back. The other strange beasts covered their faces as they knew a skeleton without flesh would be pulled out. Either that or the neck would have been severed cleanly and be all bloody!

“Fatty Dragon, go away.” Qin Mu gave a kick, and the hairs of all strange beasts stood up on ends. Their blood ran cold!

“M—m—moving…” a territorial strange beast stuttered before its voice rose in a shout. “Moving corpse!”

At that moment, Qin Mu entered the darkness with a pop. Before the strange beasts could let out a sigh of relief though, a head suddenly popped back in from the darkness.

Thump!

A strange beast collapsed, having fainted from fright.