Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 998: How Unlucky Can One Get

“I don’t want a gold chain, it’s out of fashion. I want a golden bowl, three of them!”

The dragon qilin’s voice rang out as he said, “I want my room to be like Sister Yan’er’s. I want half of it to be a dragon’s nest and half of it to be a bird’s nest. I don’t want a qilin’s cave, it’s out of fashion… Cult Master! Cult Master’s back!”

The dragon qilin turned around and was pleasantly surprised, though Hu Ling’er flew towards Qin Mu before he could. She morphed into a small ten-year-old girl flying towards Qin Mu.

Qin Mu bent down and picked her up, hugging her. He then placed her on his shoulder and laughed. “Ling’er, you’re here! Why did you come here?”

Hu Ling’er hugged his face and rubbed it. She quickly said, “The celestial heavens wanted to build a Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge, so they contracted Eternal Peace’s workers to do it. I’m here to give the completed bridge to the Patriarch Creation Palace and settle the bill. I’m also here to take care of your Celestial Venerable Residence. The other Celestial Venerable Residences look luxurious. Yours, in comparison, looks dilapidated. Fatty Dragon and Sister Yan’er had to rely on that fellow Qi Jiuyi to survive. They were starving… Who is this sister?”

She suddenly noticed Divine King Lang Wo and instinctively revealed her hostility. Her fox tails, along with the hair on them, rose up. She was alarmed.

Qin Mu coughed and said, “This is…”

“I am Lang Wo.”

Divine King Lang Wo sized Hu Ling’er up and opened her palm. There was a pearl in it. She smiled and said, “Sister Ling’er, this is a gift for you for our first meeting.”

“No thanks.”

Hu Ling’er turned around and shook her head. “I don’t take people’s stuff easily, I might end up compromised.”

Divine King Lang Wo patiently explained, “This is a mini heaven. Although there isn’t much space inside, you can easily place a solar system in it. I also heard that you like wine, so I placed some inside. Not much though, only enough to fill a lake.”

Hu Ling’er was touched. Her hand reached out and quietly took the small heaven pearl despite not looking at her. After receiving it, her face revealed her happiness as she asked, “How did you know I like wine?”

Divine King Lang Wo smiled and glanced at Qin Mu. Hu Ling’er understood her and thought, ‘Of course Master treats me well.’

Qin Mu knew that he never told Divine King Lang Wo about Hu Ling’er’s tastes and preferences. Divine King Lang Wo knew about it because her consciousness was too strong. She knew everything about her just by being with Hu Ling’er for a little bit.

The dragon qilin walked over and sized up Divine King Lang Wo. He sniffed her scent and was alarmed. ‘It’s not Yun Chuxiu, but she’s a schemer. She bribed Big Sister upon meeting her! It seems that Cult Master has been seduced by her too!’

Divine King Lang Wo looked at him, and the dragon qilin asked, “Lady Lang, do you have a large pot and a steamer? I like them.”

Divine King Lang Wo flipped her palms, and a golden pot and steamer appeared in front of the dragon qilin. She smiled. “This?”

Hu Ling’er curiously examined her. She didn’t know where she retrieved the objects from.

The dragon qilin sized them up and raised the pot. He then put the steamer on the pot before jumping above it to breathe fire down to heat the pot.

Qin Mu was weirded out, for he didn’t know why he was doing this.

The dragon qilin raised his claws and took the steamer cover, saying, “Cult Master, in the past, people took their coffins to court. Today, people steam themselves in the face of higher authority. I have a story for you, Cult Master. If you want to hear it, I will come down. If you don’t, I will steam myself for you to eat.”

Qin Mu put down Ling’er and smiled. “It’s time to eat, Fatty Dragon, come down.”

“Oh.” The dragon qilin jumped down from the steamer.

Divine King Lang Wo curiously asked, “Do you like to eat spirit pills? I have a basin that can concentrate treasures here. If you put one spirit pill in it, a hundred will flood out. Do you like it?”

The dragon qilin thought about it and decided to surrender to her thinking. ‘She is powerful, she knows how to play along with our interests. I cannot beat her.’

Suddenly, a small green sparrow flew and landed on the dragon qilin’s head. It tilted its head to size up Divine King Lang Wo curiously.

Divine King Lang Wo’s eyes turned, and she gave the basin she retrieved to the sparrow. The sparrow landed and became Yan’er.

Divine King Lang Wo placed a spirit pill into the basin and smiled. “Please observe, Sister Yan’er.”

As soon as the pill fell into the basin, many more of them flooded out. Yan’er was pleasantly surprised, and she took one of them for the dragon qilin. She was unable to contain her joy as she said, “Things will be so much more convenient now that we have this basin!”

Divine King Lang Wo smiled as Qin Mu walked in front of her to examine this Celestial Venerable Residence’s furnishings. Many of Eternal Peace’s workers were renovating it. It had luxurious decorations like sculptures and paintings.

Divine King Lang Wo followed him, and Qin Mu said, “Divine King, don’t always use your consciousness to probe others. If you continue, others will have no secrets in front of you. If you know everything about them and can create things, you might seem too much like a schemer.”

Divine King Lang Wo smiled and replied, “Holy infant, as the divine king of the masters of creation, knowing the thoughts of the masses is our forte. As our infant, you have the same power. Wouldn’t it be wasteful if you don’t use it?”

Before Qin Mu could reply, Divine King Shu Jun walked along and lazily said, “Do you not see it or understand it yet, holy infant? Divine King Lang Wo is the only divine king of the Paramita World. She is a being that can even take on Celestial Venerable Qin. How could she be pure and innocent? Every moment of our existence in the Paramita World was planned by her. She controls the masters of creation. Such scheming and tricks are normal.”

Divine King Lang Wo glanced at him and smiled. “What are you talking about, Divine King?”

“Nothing much.”

Shu Jun opened up his embrace and revealed his skinny torso. Due to his consciousness not being fully recovered, the corporeal body he visualized was as skinny as a matchstick and showed two rows of his ribs. He said, “I didn’t want to stay in the Paramita World because I want to know whether the Grand Emperor is still in the celestial heavens. However, it’s also because I know I have no use there. All of the power and authority in the Paramita World are firmly in Divine King Lang Wo’s hands. Even if she wanted to leave the Paramita World with you, I wouldn’t be able to take away any power or authority.”

He smiled. “Isn’t it the same for you? Think about it carefully, your reputation is great among the masters of creation, but do you have any power or authority? Can you mobilize the clans?”

Qin Mu sighed and shook his head. “No, the reason I am the holy infant is because of her manipulation. If she wanted to get rid of my kingship and status, it would be easy for her.”

Divine King Lang Wo frowned and gently said, “I won’t use my consciousness to probe other’s thoughts again.”

“Better not.”

Qin Mu sincerely said, “This isn’t the Paramita World or Carefree Village. This is the celestial heavens, where danger lurks around every corner. Every Celestial Venerable here has power equivalent to or higher than that of Founding Emperor. Celestial Emperor and the Grand Emperor are among them too. Countless ancient gods take note of this place too. If you use your consciousness casually, you can reveal your identity easily. I treat you sincerely, and I hope to be treated in the same way.”

Divine King Lang Wo nodded.

Qin Mu gave a sigh of relief and smiled. “I will let Ling’er arrange your rooms for you. Although we likely can’t stay here for long, at least we will have a place to stay. After you are familiarized with the place, we will find your ancestral court.”

He summoned Hu Ling’er and ordered her. She then took them to pick their rooms. After she was done, Qin Mu looked for her again to ask about Eternal Peace.

“Our shipyards took over the work from the Patriarch Creation Palace and built various components to the Spirit Energy Mutual Shift Bridge. We built a lot of them in two years, and at a low price too. The celestial heavens’ Dao Sect came to examine everything and said that the algebra was precise with minimal errors.”

Hu Ling’er said, “Now that our reputation is out there and we earned quite a lot, the celestial heavens’ Dao Sect contracted us to design divine weapons for them. Our shipyards kept on working regardless of time to build them. Of course, we only received a small portion of the jobs. After all, besides us, there are a lot of other heavens helping the celestial heavens forge divine weapons, causing us to only receive a small portion of the jobs.”

“Soon, there will be more.”

Qin Mu said, “Everything looks peaceful here, but war will come soon. Carefree Village will act, and Heaven Duke, Earth Count, and the four deities of the four poles will face the celestial heavens. While they are still not deployed, they are gathering rations and weapons. If the celestial heavens want to touch these powers, they will have to prepare weapons to prevent shortages on the battlefield.

He trudged around, saying, “When the celestial heavens open the Great Void up as a battlefield, the casualties will mount. When that happens, too many heavy divine weapons will be damaged, and the shipyards of the celestial heavens and various great heavens won’t be able to keep up. At that time, Eternal Peace will be permitted to build them. More wars means that more fortune will flow towards Eternal Peace at a faster rate. Less fortune will then be available for the other heavens, and more rebellions will come from them.”

Hu Ling’er asked, “When are you returning to Eternal Peace?”

Qin Mu hesitated and replied, “I can’t go back for now. If I stay here, Eternal Peace will be safer. If I go there, Eternal Peace will be exposed to more danger.”

“Celestial Venerable, Yun Chuxiu of the Yun family asks for an audience!” a maid outside said.

‘Yun Chuxiu? Isn’t she dead? Wasn’t she cut down by Divine Knife Luo and thrown under the Void Bridge? Did Mistress Yuanmu create another Yun Chuxiu?’

Qin Mu felt his head aching. The Great Void was perilous, and Mistress Yuanmu had likely suffered enough there to not enter it again.

As long as she didn’t enter the Great Void, she wouldn’t know what Yun Chuxiu met and saw. She wouldn’t know about Luo Wushuang’s betrayal either.

Mistress Yuanmu likely created another Yun Chuxiu to scout him out after hearing about his return.

However, if Yun Chuxiu came and saw Divine King Lang Wo…

‘No!’

Qin Mu waved and said, “Chase her away.”

At that moment, he heard Yun Chuxiu. “Celestial Venerable Mu, how cruel of you to chase me away. Did you forget our love at the Jade Pool?”

Qin Mu was furious. She barged into a Celestial Venerable Residence and was spouting nonsense. However, he needed Mistress Yuanmu to survive in the celestial heavens.

Yun Chuxiu’s laughter pierced his ear as she said, “We found true love when suffering together in the Great Void, are you really going to be so heartless? Ee, who are you?”

Qin Mu’s heart jumped as he walked out. He saw two “Jue Wuchens” staring at each other. One of them was Yun Chuxiu, and the other was Divine King Lang Wo.

‘How unlucky can I get…’

Qin Mu clenched his teeth and was about to walk forward when Yun Chuxiu laughed coldly. “Is this you, Sister? Where did you steal the blueprint for Jue Wuchen? Only I had it!”

At that moment, another female god reported, “Celestial Venerable, the disciple of Celestial Venerable Hao, Lian Huahun, pleads for an audience.”

Qin Mu’s eyes jumped. Celestial Empress was there too!

Obviously, Celestial Empress came to scout him out after hearing about his safe return to the celestial heavens from the Great Void!

Yun Chuxiu was shocked as she dazedly looked at Divine King Lang Wo. If this nearly identical-looking lady wasn’t a clone of Celestial Empress, then who was she?

“Please,” Qin Mu said effortlessly.