Chapter 399 — Watertight
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
. " A moment later, the old chieftain saw Shen Mu haul the sun back—two enormous black lumps, like two mountains split into hemispheres. The old chieftain and the elders were struck dumb, and nearly every Sunherd aboard the Dawn Ark stared blankly as the two black lumps came crawling toward them.
Not only had the Sunherds' sun gone dark—it had split in twain! Clank, clank. The chains made a shrill din as they were drawn.
Shen Mu dragged the two halves back, carefully recalled the Carefree Sword, and the sword hoisted the sun's jade eye, flying over with an unsteady sway.
"Chieftain, I have two pieces of good news. The first is that the many-bodied demon god is truly dead.
" Shen Mu sounded somewhat sheepish.
The old chieftain's face was wooden, his voice grinding out stiff as machinery: "And the other piece of good news?
" "We can get ourselves a brand-new sun!
" The old chieftain turned his head to look at their liege, wanting to weep but having no tears. "How wonderful, how wonderful.
.
.
" he muttered.
Shen Mu hauled the two black halves of the sun back, and behind the sun trailed tens of thousands of scale-feather folk, who had followed the black sun to the vicinity of the Dawn Ark. Many of them had failed to keep up with the shattered sun and perished in the darkness of the Ruin.
Those who survived learned the grave danger and alerted one another; more and more scale-feather folk caught up with the sun and thus escaped death. They communicated not by sound but by waves of their spiritual thought—without needing words, they could inform one another.
A truly remarkable gift.
As Shen Mu pulled the two halves onto the Dawn Ark, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind: "Yu Zhaoqing of the Heavenfeathers greets the honored master of this place.
" Shen Mu started slightly and looked at the woman in black walking toward him.
She approached with graceful, unhurried steps, composed and at ease; the black garments on her body shifted rapidly, turning pale yellow.
When she arrived before the Sun Pillar, her clothing had not only become pale yellow but had adopted a cut much like the robes worn by the old chieftain and the others—it seemed the scale-feathers on their bodies could alter shape and color at their wearer's will. Shen Mu released the Sun Pillar.
The two arms beneath his armpits gradually retracted, and the third leg at his rear withdrew into his body. The Dawn Ark's dreadful power within him ebbed away, and before long his form returned to ordinary size. He hurriedly slipped behind a pillar, took out a set of clothes, changed out of his tattered garments, tidied himself, and only then stepped out from behind the pillar.
When he had held the Sun Pillar, his power had surged and his flesh had swollen to towering proportions, splitting his clothes apart. His garments were numinous treasures, to be sure, but Shen Mu's body had grown into a giant of a hundred zhang in that moment, like a heavenly god—far beyond what the clothes could withstand, and with the third leg sprouting from the tailbone at his rear, they had been rent clean through.
"Clan Chief. " Shen Mu offered his salutation.
Yu Zhaoqing of the Heavenfeathers studied him, astonishment on her face; a moment ago Shen Mu had been a being like a heavenly god, and now he was a mere youth. Her robes spread across the floor as she made a deep, courteous bow in return.
Shen Mu hastily pointed at the Sunherd chieftain and laughed: "I'm not the chieftain of this place—he is. I wouldn't dare overstep my place. " The old chieftain shook his head.
"All under heaven is the king's land. The Sunherds too are Your Highness's domain; Your Highness is the master here. " Shen Mu had no choice but to receive the Heavenfeather woman.
"Clan Chief, this is no place for talk. Please have your people come aboard, and we will speak at Dawnspring.