Chapter 429 — At the Head of the Yellow Springs Bridge

Thud.

The village chief's stone statue fell before the Po Boat. It had no limbs—only the carved figure of a weathered old man, his face seamed with wrinkles as though chiseled by wind and frost, eaten away by the years.

The statue seemed to be looking toward where Shen Mu stood, wearing a gratified smile, and Shen Mu could not help but recall that old man rocking unsteadily in his recliner, his gaze nonetheless fixed on him with a kindly, loving smile. "Village Chief.

.

. " Shen Mu was stunned, and a vast desolation suddenly surged up in his heart.

Darkness pressed in; the statue gave off a faint, ghostly glow, its reach small, as though it had conjured once more the sight of that somewhat stubborn old man, still obstinately wanting to guard his corner of the world.

"Grandpa Village Chief. . .

" From Shen Mu's eyes dripped moonlit tears, one after another floating up to hang in the air, their gleam like moonshine—when suddenly the agonized scream of the Flood Dragon King God rang out. Shen Mu shut his eyes and squeezed the moonlight from them. This time he had gone deep into the Desolate Ruins, escorted by the Flood Dragon King God, forcing his way into the place he had once mistaken for the Land of No Sorrow, where the colossal continental ship built by the Ministry of Heavenly Works lay, and then he had returned piloting the Po Boat.

When he tried to enter the Po Spring, he encountered another band of gods and demons who had come down from the High Heavens—not many, only three deities. These three did not travel as ostentatiously as Star Lord Qiao and his like, transforming into starlight to hurry on their way; instead they walked upon the earth, concealing their dazzling divine radiance and giving off only a faint glow to drive back the demon monsters in the dark.

When Shen Mu met them, one of the deities took him for some uncanny thing in the darkness and at once uttered a divine word: "The High Heavens are at work—let all demons disperse. " He was instantly met with a devastating blow from Shen Mu. Catching him off guard, Shen Mu swung up the Broken Moon and brought the moon down, smashing the deity to powder.

Only then did the other two realize they had met a formidable foe. Shen Mu was not like Yan Jingjing, who had to beware of her sun being smashed; he fought without the slightest scruple, recking nothing of the consequences, battling these two deities across thousands of li, and just now he had crippled another of them alive.

The reason it had taken so long was mainly that the Po Boat's moon was too battered, inferior to the Xi Boat. The Xi Boat possessed a whole sun, whereas the Po Boat's moon had long gone dark, and was damaged beyond measure.

Shen Mu had fought so long that the moon was now battered beyond recognition, and two of the chains binding it had come loose.

Yet in the instant he looked at the village chief, he still lost his focus for a moment; the sight of the village chief turning into stone and falling from the sky had shaken him too deeply, and an inexplicable sorrow welled up in him. The Flood Dragon King God's fighting strength was on par with Lord Dragon-Keeper's, his power inferior to the other deities of the High Heavens, and in that instant of Shen Mu's distraction he had been gravely wounded. Shen Mu opened his eyes and raised a hand to release the divine pillar, wanting to touch the statue that smiled at him though it had no hands or feet; his massive palm swept past before the statue but did not come down.

Clatter—his palm seized a chain that dangled down, his furious hair flying.

The chain came whistling out of the darkness, wrapped around the deity of the High Heavens who had gravely wounded the Flood Dragon King God, and bound that deity tight with swift, hissing turns. Shen Mu's other arms dragged over the Broken Moon and smashed it down with a thunderous boom. The Flood Dragon King God screamed in alarm—he was right beside them; if the blow struck him, he would lose half his life even if he did not die.

He hastily rolled and tumbled out of the way; the half-moon grazed past him, tearing away a great swath of dragon scales, and the pain made the Flood Dragon King God clench his teeth, tears streaming down his face. Boom! The Broken Moon hammered onto the body of that deity of the High Heavens; the mountain ranges trembled with a clatter, and the demon monsters in the darkness all around shrieked and fled in every direction.

Boom! Without a word, Shen Mu swung the Broken Moon up again and smashed it down once more—once, again, and again.

Chunks of stone the size of mountain ridges broke off the moon, then were crushed to powder by the Broken Moon as it fell again. The deity Shen Mu had crippled earlier wore a look of terror.

Hurriedly enduring his pain, he limped rapidly away, his heart in turmoil, able to hear only the boom, boom of the hammer blows behind him, one after another, blows so heavy and solid they seemed to strike at his very heart, numbing his scalp.

"The boy's gone mad, surely mad. . .

not worth risking my life against! I only came to carry out the task given from above—no need to fight to the death!

" He sped away, when suddenly a tremendous crack sounded behind him: the half-moon had been smashed apart by Shen Mu, and huge stones flew wild through the sky. With the moon gone, Shen Mu at once felt the strength drain swiftly from his body, and he reverted to a cultivator of the Six Harmonies realm.

Had the crippled deity turned back, he could have raised a hand and slain the weakened Shen Mu on the spot; but the deity's courage had been shattered, and he never once looked back.

Shen Mu sat on the ruined Po Boat, gasping for breath. The Dragon Qilin watched him in alarm, and the other flood dragons cowered trembling behind the Dragon Qilin, their eyes full of dread when they looked at Shen Mu.

Thick chains hung from the boat to the ground.

The Po Boat had lost its former terrifying aura, and the circling rings of moonshine had vanished. Darkness surged in and would soon swallow them, but the demon monsters in the dark kept their distance, not daring to come near. Shen Mu looked at the statue before the Po Boat: the smile on the village chief's stone face, a gratified smile.

"You're still alive—you must still be alive! Flood Dragon King God! " Shen Mu struggled to his feet and shouted, "Go lift that statue! " The Flood Dragon King God, covered in wounds, struggled over and with all his strength lifted the statue.

Anxious beyond measure, Shen Mu demanded, "Is it heavy? " "Very heavy indeed!

" The Flood Dragon King God hastily set the statue down and answered honestly. "Carrying a stone statue is like carrying a god—Blind Grandpa would never lie to me.

. .

You really are still alive, alive somewhere, just not in this world! Like the other stone statues in the Desolate Ruins, you sometimes wake from the darkness.

" Shen Mu laughed heartily, and in the midst of laughing he suddenly began to weep, wiping away tears by the handful: "I've seen stone statues come to life, riding Dragon Qilins to put down rebellions—you can surely do it too! Isn't that so? " Si Yunxiang looked at this young Holy Cult Leader and suddenly felt that this big boy—so utterly cunning, hailed as the Great Demon King—was at heart so innocent.

Not only innocent, but fragile—or rather, beneath his resolute exterior there lay hidden a tender place in his heart. Shen Mu dried his tears and said loudly, "You'll come back, won't you?

If I cry, you'll laugh at me and say I'm still a little brat! " He summoned the Flood Dragon King God and, with the Dragon Qilin and a host of flood dragons, climbed onto his back; the desolation and joy alike vanished from his face, leaving no expression at all: "Let's go!

Pursue that fleeing deity—he must not enter Jingping alive!

" The Flood Dragon King God answered and gave chase along the trail left by the crippled deity.

Shen Mu looked back.