Tales of Herding Gods

Zhe Huali carried Jiang Yi’s corpse while following behind Fu Riluo. When he passed by Qin Mu, he turned his head to look at him.

Qin Mu was refining pills, but he hurriedly nodded in acknowledgment. “Senior Brother Zhe Huali, let’s meet again if we have the chance.”

Expressionless, Zhe Huali left with Fu Riluo.

The black tiger god jumped down from the palace and took a glance at Qin Mu before taking another glance at Saint Woodcutter. The god’s big ax had been put away somewhere while he observed Qin Mu’s hand technique in refining pills.

The other gods also jumped down and gathered around them. Everyone had something to say as well as numerous questions they wanted to ask. However, they all kept themselves in check.

Before Saint Woodcutter spoke, none of them dared to voice anything first.

God Sang Ye hurriedly pulled Sang Hua over. He wanted to scold his daughter sternly, but since no one was speaking, it wasn’t good for him to break the silence.

Qin Mu was at a crucial stage of his spirit pill refinement. He was completely focused and had no other thoughts. He didn’t pay attention to anyone around him, but with the gazes from all the gods focusing on him, even he felt the pressure. Droplets of sweat appeared on his forehead, evenly spread out.

After a moment, Qin Mu finished refining the spirit pills and gently crushed them. He fetched some water and dissolved them before dripping the solution onto Yu He and Shu Yao’s eyes and ears.

He carefully observed the growth of the eye membranes and eardrums of the two people, then frowned slightly. He rummaged through his taotie sack and took out several herbs and created an ointment. He carefully applied it on the injured places.

“Why did you have to apply medicine twice?” Saint Woodcutter asked, puzzled. “The first time was for their eye membranes and eardrums to grow back, but the second medicine seemed to contain slight toxicity. Why so?”

Qin Mu examined Yu He and Shu Yao’s eyes and looked at their ear holes again. He then explained, “This ointment isn’t poison, but a spirit medicine used to suppress growth. The first spirit medicine that I refined was for their damaged eye membranes and eardrums to grow, but since it’s the first time I had to refine something like that, the dosage wasn’t right and the medicinal properties were too strong.

“If I didn’t do anything, their eardrums and eye membranes would have become thick and affect their eyesight and hearing. That’s why I needed a second medicine to suppress the growth.” He stretched his waist and said with a smile, “Now, they’re almost fine. Their eyesight and hearing won’t be any inferior to before.”

In the surroundings, the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven all let out sighs of relief. Yu He and Shu Yao were the strongest experts in Supreme Emperor Heaven of Seven Stars Realm. They were also the youngest generation with the most hope to become gods. If they went blind or deaf, it would be a huge loss for Supreme Emperor Heaven.

The deaths of Huang Yue and the rest in the sand table world were already a huge enough loss to them.

Qin Mu paid his respects to Saint Woodcutter. “Disciple Qin Mu pays his respects to Patriarch.”

Saint Woodcutter stretched out his arms to help him up and said with a smile, “You should have received the teachings I have imparted. Since you have been taught by me personally, you are my disciple and there’s no need for you to call me Patriarch.”

Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. If he became Saint Woodcutter’s disciple, his seniority would rise. If he met the past Heavenly Devil Cult Masters again, those old fogeys could forget about using seniority to pressure him!

He hesitated for a moment and probed. “Heavenly Teacher, have you heard of Heavenly Saint Cult?”

“Heavenly Saint Cult?” Bewildered, Saint Woodcutter shook his head. “I’ve never heard of it before.”

Qin Mu’s face went ashen and he became dispirited.

Saint Woodcutter had indeed not heard of Heavenly Saint Cult!

He was still unwilling to accept that fact and probed some more. “In that case, the sacred tree that Sacred Teacher left behind as well as the Saint’s Rock and the ax mark, is there any deeper meaning to them?”

“That old locust tree still hasn’t died?” Saint Woodcutter was astonished. He calculated for a bit and said, “That tree should be about twenty thousand years old, right? I’ve chopped it so many times yet it’s actually still alive. It’s probably going to become a demon soon.”

Qin Mu stuttered in his next words. “S-sacred Teacher, t-that Saint’s Rock…”

“What Saint’s Rock? Oh, you mean the rock on which I was sitting while I was imparting my teachings? What about it?”

It was as though Qin Mu was struck by thunder which threw his mind into a mess. He muttered, “Every time it comes to big festive occasions, our Heavenly Saint Cult has to kowtow to that Saint’s Rock and the sacred tree. Only cult masters and elders in the cult that had done meritorious service can have the right to have their ashes buried under the sacred tree…”

Saint Woodcutter shook his head. “So much etiquette? I hate etiquette the most. Could Heavenly Saint Cult have been established by that disciple of mine? Your big brother didn’t learn all of the abilities and instead made quite a number of rules instead. By focusing on the rules, he had lost sight of the meaning of me imparting my teachings to him. What a good-for-nothing, what a good-for-nothing!”

The ‘disciple’ and ‘big brother’ he was speaking about was Founding Master. It was an elusive person whom Qin Mu hadn’t seen even in Fengdu.

That man had never come to Fengdu, so Qin Mu didn’t know where he had gone.

Still, his face flickered between dark and clear. The sacred tree and Saint’s Rock that everyone in the cult viewed as treasures were actually such worthless stuff in the eyes of Saint Woodcutter!

If this fact was to be spread about, everyone in Heavenly Saint Cult, including the young patriarch and the past cult masters in Fengdu, would probably go crazy!

The black tiger looked at his dazed state and opened his mouth. However, he held himself back from speaking and just thought to himself, ‘My lord always scolds me frequently and doesn’t believe that this brat’s mental state isn’t good at all. Yet in just a short while, this brat has changed over a dozen different expressions…’

True God Pang Yu walked up and checked Yu He’s eyes and ears. He also checked Shu Yao. When he saw that they were fine, only then did he say in a low voice, “Little Friend Qin Mu has saved you two, so why aren’t you coming up to give your thanks? The reason why you two could walk out of the sand table world was also because he risked himself to lure in the enemies, getting rid of three of them first.”

Yu He and Shu Yao’s heart trembled violently and they cried out, “He got rid of three strong practitioners by himself?”

“Counting Jiang Yi, it’s four.” Pang Yu sighed and said, “Among the ten devil experts, four had died at his hands. It was almost half in an instant. If we add the devil expert that the girl from Sang Ye’s family had gotten rid of, the two of them had seized half of the military service. The others including you two fought to the point of six of you dying yet you guys only got rid of four of the enemy. The devil race is still not to be underestimated, their abilities are still…”

He shook his head and didn’t say anything else.

Yu He and Shu Yao were silent. They looked at each other with bitter expressions.

Nine people had died in the devil race and Qin Mu had personally gotten rid of four while Sang Hua had taken care of one. That was indeed more than half of the battle service.

Meanwhile, Yu He and Shu Yao had each taken care of a devil expert and worked together to get rid of another one. This meant that the other six human experts who had died in battle had only achieved one kill with their lives.

The battle power of the devils was indeed higher than that of the humans. If it wasn’t for the unexpected addition of Qin Mu, they would have faced a complete annihilation of the greatest of their younger generation!

Yu He and Shu Yao let out a shaky breath. They came to Qin Mu who was still dispirited and in a daze and gave their thanks.

Qin Mu hurriedly returned greeting while full of smiles. “I was obsessed with raising the power of my flying swords and didn’t introduce myself to senior sister and senior brother. My name is Qin Mu, Qin from threshing grains with two men holding a pestle and Mu from herding the cows. I pay my respects to Senior Sister Yu He and Senior Brother Shu Yao.”

The black tiger god saw his dark and clear face changing into a radiant smile in the blink of an eye and couldn’t help snorting coldly. ‘My lord just can’t see how fast the face of this brat changes!’

Yu He and Shu Yao immediately returned his greeting, and Shu Yao said apologetically, “We scorned Senior Brother Qin several times just now and called you as someone who threshes grains and forges iron, I hope senior brother won’t hold a grudge.”

With a solemn expression, Qin Mu said firmly, “The method of writing the word Qin is from two men holding pestles and threshing the grains, and I’m not joking. Truth be told, this little brother learned to read all kinds of writings from my teacher and all kinds of languages, like those of devils, dragons, buddha, Youdu, and even some of the god one. Sometimes I like to be punctilious about minutiae of wording, so it isn’t purely just showing off.”

‘The expression of this brat changed again!’ The black tiger god gritted his teeth. ‘Yet my lord just can’t see it!’

“Senior Sister Yu He, Senior Brother Shu Yao.” Qin Mu’s solemn expression vanished, and his smile became like the spring wind. With his eyebrows moving up and down, he asked, “Have you heard of Heavenly Saint Cult? Truth be told, this little brother is the cult master of Heavenly Saint Cult. It was founded by my master, which is this sacred teacher. You guys have also seen him before and know that he’s wise, heroic, and a man of few words. However, the teachings of our Heavenly Saint Cult are really good and really wonderful. The so-called path of the saint is none other than the everyday use for common people…”

After a moment, Qin Mu let out a shaky breath and beamed at Yu He and Shu Yao who had just joined his cult. He thought to himself, ‘My sacred cult has just branched out into Supreme Emperor Heaven. My luck isn’t bad today, recruiting two hall masters with the potential to become gods! It’s fine if Saint Woodcutter doesn’t admit knowing Heavenly Saint Cult; it’s all good as long as he remains silent. That’s right, there’s also Sister Hua!’

The black tiger god twitched his ears in utter boredom. ‘My lord can’t see…’

Qin Mu rushed toward Sang Ye and Sang Hua, but he was stopped by numerous gods. They praised him one after another, and Qin Mu could only reply them humbly. With the praises of numerous gods, his confidence was boosted and he was overjoyed.

‘My lord still can’t see…’ The black tiger god flipped one ear forward and the other backward as he thought to himself.

Qin Mu was obstructed by numerous gods. When the commotion dispersed, the gods of Supreme Emperor Heaven immediately hurried off to mobilize their army to populate Li City from so it wouldn’t be seized back by the devils moments later. Sang Hua was also brought away by God Sang Ye, which made Qin Mu sigh to himself in pity.

“Follow me, I have some things to ask you,” Saint Woodcutter said.

Qin Mu hurriedly went after him. The black tiger god wanted to follow as well, but Saint Woodcutter turned back to look at him and he stopped. The black tiger god turned his head to look elsewhere.

“Are you a devil or a human?” Qin Mu had followed Saint Woodcutter to a quiet place where he received a dozen questions. “Even though you have learned my techniques and received my inheritance, there’s still a weird power in your body of the devil race. You had suddenly appeared in the battlefield and in the middle of the devils so your actions are suspicious. Tell me, where are you from exactly?”

Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before saying, “Carefree Village.”

Saint Woodcutter suddenly turned and looked straight at him as if he was trying to see if he was saying the truth or lying.

Qin Mu had a calm expression when he said, “I wasn’t born in Carefree Village. My mother was carrying me in her womb when my parents left it. They encountered enemies on the journey and she finally gave birth to me in Youdu. King Yama of Fengdu said that because I was born there, something unexpected must have happened, resulting in the devil nature of Youdu entering my body.”

‘My lord, his expression has turned calm again yet you still can’t see it even when staring at his face!” Far away, the black tiger god was seething with fury.

“You say you are from Carefree Village, but do you have any keepsake?” Saint Woodcutter asked.

Qin Mu hurriedly removed the jade pendant from his neck.