Chapter 241 — The New Generation's Human Sovereign

They returned the way they had come. When they reached the empty village, Shen Mu walked into the room with the double-happiness character pasted on it, picked up the baby's garment, and studied the character Shen embroidered on it. When one cares, one's judgment is clouded.

The first time he had come here, his heart had been disturbed, and for a long time he had been unable to calm himself, so he had found it hard to discern any clues. The things the Alchemist had brought were almost identical to the character Shen on the baby's garment, as if stamped from the same template; yet on close inspection, some slight differences could still be made out.

Shen Mu had studied calligraphy and painting under the Deaf Elder. Had he been able to calm his heart and look with an ordinary mind, he would also have seen that the character Shen on the baby's garment differed slightly from the one on his jade pendant. But at the time, his heart had surged and plunged, swung between great joy and great sorrow, and that had clouded his judgment.

Now, as he examined it closely, the character Shen on the baby's garment had likely been traced and then embroidered stitch by stitch onto the cloth; it was indeed different from the one on his jade pendant. The other villagers, meanwhile, had gathered around the Village Head and the Patriarch, asking what they had encountered, what they had met with aboard that ship. The Village Head shook his head.

"It was too dangerous inside.

We did not go deep, only circled the outer edges, and nearly died. Fortunately, the Silent Craftsman was with us, and we were able to withdraw safely. " The crowd immediately asked the Silent Craftsman how he had known the way of survival, and how he had led the Village Head and the Patriarch in and out again.

Shen Mu walked out of the courtyard, nursing the same doubt. Even the Dutian Demon King had said that if his true body descended, it would take him a year or two to find a way of survival into that shattered giant vessel. So why had the Silent Craftsman been able to enter it so easily? The crowd pressed him for a long while, but the Silent Craftsman said nothing, only wore a simple, honest smile; when pressed too hard, he would utter two sounds: "Ah, ah. " The crowd then looked to the Deaf Elder.

The Deaf Elder and the Silent Craftsman were the closest of friends, and the Deaf Elder understood the Silent Craftsman's mind best; many words that no one else could understand were translated by the Deaf Elder. But at this moment the Deaf Elder looked just as bewildered, clearly also unable to tell what the Silent Craftsman's two "ah" sounds meant.

"This Silent Craftsman, he never says a word!

" Granny Zhu said angrily, "One of these days you will choke on it and die! " The group rested in the small village, while the Dragon Qilin clung to the young Patriarch's side. Now the creature had grown lively, rubbing against the Patriarch this way and that.

The Patriarch made as if to strike him, which drove him a little farther off, but the next moment he came pressing back, raising his dragon tail covered in reverse scales and rubbing the young Patriarch's clothes into a mass of holes. "You have eaten yourself too fat!

" The young Patriarch said with bitter grief, "I have already told you, I am about to die of old age, I do not want you anymore, stop rubbing against me. . .

Do not think of jumping into my arms, I cannot hold you now! Shoo, shoo, go away!

" The Blind Elder, meanwhile, was pestering the Dutian Demon King, asking about matters of divination and arts.

The Dutian Demon King was somewhat wary of the village people, yet he answered with all his effort, though he only answered the Blind Elder's questions and did not take the initiative to teach him any deeper arts.

The Alchemist bustled among them, checking their injuries and treating them. Shen Mu walked into that house. Though it might not have been his parents' home, being here gave him a feeling of peace.

The Silent Craftsman also came in, looked around, ran his rough palm over the little wooden horse, then picked up the garment; there was great tenderness in the eyes of this burly, coarse man. Shen Mu looked toward him, and the Silent Craftsman turned his head and grinned at him. "Time to go!

" Granny Zhu urged, "Back to the village for the New Year!

Patriarch, that pig you raised has grown fat. We will slaughter it for the New Year and share it out! The butcher is a good hand, and his cooking is passable too; he can put together two fine tables!

" "You dare! " The young Patriarch cried in alarm, "Do not even think of scheming after him. When you were little and saw my Dragon Qilin, you would get that thieving look in your eyes, always wanting to take him away and eat him. .

.

Go away, stop rubbing against me, I am not going to pat your head. .

. Law Enforcer, hurry, drive him off! " Elder Dianxing drove the Dragon Qilin over toward Shen Mu.

The young Patriarch looked on as the Dragon Qilin dragged its hindquarters toward Shen Mu, so fat that both haunches were perfectly round, as plump as a rhinoceros in water; as it walked, each round cheek of its rear quivered without pause.

"This fellow must have been mooching food and drink off the Cult Master, and the fare was pretty good too.

When I first met him, he was a little runt the size of a cat, running over to rub against my leg and wheedle food and drink out of me. In the end, the more I fed him, the fatter he got, and then he stuck to me and would not leave. .

.

" The young Patriarch sighed. How small the Dragon Qilin had been then; he could still hold him in his arms and pat his head. "What a huge ship! " When the group came before the Soul Boat, they could not help but marvel.

The Lame Elder intended to take the ship away, but Granny Zhu shouted, "You damned lame old man, even if you could move it, where would you put it? If you put it in the village, I will break your other leg! " The Lame Elder had no choice but to give it up. He asked Shen Mu how he had sailed the ship here, and after hearing Shen Mu recount his experience of piloting it, the Lame Elder's mind began to stir again.

"Become a Moon Guardian and one gains power like a god? " He ran swiftly onto the ship and touched the giant pillar, but found that nothing changed, and so he had to retreat again. There were too many mysteries in the Wilderness Ruins yet unsolved; the Soul Boat was only one of them. They walked out of the invisible barrier.

Outside, the sun already hung high; it was noon. The weather was very cold, and at some unknown time another snow had fallen.

The ground was white with snow, crunching underfoot, and the mountains too were dyed white.

Several bears were hiding in the hollow of a tree among some ruins, a mother bear embracing her cub in deep sleep. When the mother bear saw Shen Mu and the others suddenly appear, she opened her eyes in surprise, but was too lazy to move; she merely shifted her body and went on hibernating. Shen Mu looked back and saw that the barrier had vanished without a trace. The unimaginable great ship sealed within the barrier, along with the Soul Boat, and that incomparably complex cubic seal, had all disappeared from sight.

In their place was the vast, boundless forest of the Wilderness Ruins. Presumably only when night fell would this mysterious seal appear again. "Let us go. Back to the village for the New Year," the Village Head said calmly.

The group set out on the return journey. It was far from Yincan Village, still a day or two of travel.

The New Year had already passed, but fortunately everyone was safe.