Tales of Herding Gods

Qin Mu was full of smiles as he shoved his hand back inside the gate, shutting the Gate of Heaven Influence. “Celestial Venerable Yu is doing very well, I left him in Jade Capital Academy. Right now, he’s following thirty-five Human Emperors, including First Ancestor Human Emperor, in cultivating. He’s pretty strong now. When I abdicate the position of human emperor, he will become the thirty-eighth Human Emperor…”

Elder Messenger of Death didn’t intend to leave. Qin Mu pushed the gate closed with all his might and finally managed to shut the Gate of Heaven Influence. Following that, he willed the Gate of Heaven Influence to disappear.

“Young Master, the sea has turned black in color,” Yan’er said as she looked downwards at the water.

Qin Mu lowered his gaze. The seawater had really turned pitch-black, and within the dark seawater, a paper boat floated beneath the surface. Elder Messenger of Death raised his lamp to shine at Qin Mu with bitterness.

Watching the underwater sight, the dragon qilin felt a chill down his spine, and he hurriedly leaped into the air.

Qin Mu was helpless. “Celestial Venerable You, go to Jade Capital Academy and take a look for yourself, then you’ll find out if what I said was true or false. You don’t have to go through the trouble of following me.”

The Elder Messenger of Death beneath the surface of the sea gradually disappeared, his voice traveling faintly towards them. “I will make a trip to Jade Capital Academy. If I find that it’s not as you have said, I’ll come and seek you out for a good chat!”

Only then did the darkness beneath Qin Mu’s feet fade away.

After just a short while, another Elder Messenger of Death arrived at Jade Capital Academy.

There were differences between the world of the dead and the world of the living. Elder Messenger of Death wasn’t willing to interfere with the world of the living and thus didn’t show himself directly. Instead, he observed while hiding in the dark.

He saw that the human emperors of the Hall of Human Emperors were training a little fatty.

The smile on Elder Messenger of Death’s face froze as he thought to himself, ‘This little fatty is definitely not Celestial Venerable Yu…’

“Lan Yutian, let’s spar!”

The burly Human Emperor Qi Kang sealed his own divine treasures and then started beating up the little fatty. After Qi Kang, it was Yi Shan’s turn, and after Yi Shan, it was Lan Po’s turn.

Elder Messenger of Death’s expression was completely dark, and he had the urge to annihilate the entire world.

The only good part was that although the little fatty was beaten up quite badly, the human emperors didn’t cross the line with their blows, so his life wasn’t in danger.

The human emperors surrounded and encircled Celestial Venerable Yu, who had already been beaten docile, telling him which move was bad and which move was wrong.

“The tradition of the Hall of Human Emperors is that if you don’t fight, you won’t become successful, and if you don’t get a beating, you won’t amount to anything.”

“Our Hall of Human Emperors also has another tradition, which is, when you have gained achievements from your learning, you must beat your teacher up!”

“You aren’t allowed to learn from us! We never learn our master’s skills—we all created our own techniques and divine arts! If you don’t come up with your own techniques and divine arts, how will you ever defeat that little rascal of surname Qin?”

…

Upon hearing this, Elder Messenger of Death was relieved. He was a little unhappy with the way they were conducting their teachings, but the goal of their teachings was still very good.

Qin Mu, Yan’er, and the dragon qilin followed the direction that Elder Messenger of Death had pointed out and continued on their journey. They traveled for more than a dozen days but still hadn’t found Dragon Count Country. Other than waves and flying fishes in the sea, there was nothing else there. Entering the sea was like entering the barren desert, and it made them go crazy.

The dragon qilin decided to float on the sea’s surface again, and Qin Mu didn’t have the strength to beat him anymore. Instead, he lifted the dragon qilin’s tail and walked on the surface of the sea, dragging this huge thing and continuing on their way.

In the past days, Yan’er had been feeding on fishes and beasts of the sea, and she was soon tired of it. She stood on Qin Mu’s shoulder with lifeless eyes, occasionally raising a claw to scratch at the corners of her mouth, picking out a fishbone.

Qin Mu flipped open the geographical map that Bai Qu’er had drawn. He glanced at it and then immediately threw it into the sea.

The geographical map that Bai Qu’er had drawn was the maritime geography from forty-thousand years ago. With the changes in heaven and earth, the geography of the East Sea was no longer the same as what Bai Qu’er had seen back then.

Furthermore, the Primordial Realm had been sealed once, and after breaking through the seal, the topography of the world had changed drastically.

This was especially so for the sea. The shifts in the mountains at the bottom of the sea were even more difficult to detect. Many islands on the sea’s surface had also vanished, and it was even tougher to determine the positions.

Suddenly, Qin Mu tilted his head, speaking with a hoarse voice, “Sister Yan’er, do you hear a singing voice?”

Yan’er replied weakly, “Young Master, you must have misheard, where is this singing voice… eh, there really is a singing voice!”

They followed the sound of the voice, and after a short distance, they saw an enormous skeleton on the sea’s surface, with half of it sticking out of the surface.

This was an unimaginable divine dragon skeleton. The sea was very deep, yet the divine dragon still had half of its skeleton sticking out of the sea’s surface. One could imagine how colossal this dragon was when it was alive.

The singing voice had traveled from the direction of this skeleton. Upon walking near it, Qin Mu and the other two saw that it was actually this dragon skeleton that was singing.

The mouth of its dragon head opened and closed, and the song emerged from it. However, this divine dragon was only a skeleton now, so how was it that he was able to sing?

The singing voice of the dragon skeleton was rough, lingering, and deep—it was like a poet of the sea, and its song was filled with depression and sorrow.

“Young Master, what is he singing about?” Yan’er asked since she didn’t understand the dragon language.

“He’s using a very ancient dragon language to sing about his hometown.”

In the early years, Qin Mu had kept trying to decode the dragon language in the nest of the true dragon lord, so he was very well researched in the area of the dragon language.

“His hometown is Dragon Count Country.”

Qin Mu continued to listen to the song of the dragon skeleton, and he said, “He said that Dragon Count Country is a beautiful place. There, divine dragons frolicked on the surface of the sea, and there were many beautiful islands. The divine dragons built grand buildings on these islands and ruled the seas. The different races in the sea paid tributes to them, offering delicacies and fine jade and jewelry from the sea to them. The divine dragons lived in joy and harmony. Many divine dragons traveled to other towns and became the Dragon Kings who could summon rainfall, and they were greatly respected by the people.”

Suddenly, the singing voice became depressed, carrying with it a murderous intent, and it also sounded like it was at a loss.

“He said that suddenly, one day, the Feathered Forest Guards of the celestial heavens came and destroyed his hometown. The families of the divine dragons were torn apart and were caught to become slaves, and they had chains pierced through their bodies. Many of the captives were beheaded, and the sea turned red with blood. Many slaves were taken in ships.”

Qin Mu listened to the singing of the dragon skeleton and continued, “The Feathered Forest Guards of the celestial heavens used their flesh and blood as sacrifices to offer to Celestial Emperor of the celestial heavens to enjoy. Their King, King Dragon Count, was also captured and made a slave, and he was sent to the celestial heavens to be tried. His hometown was annihilated just like that, and he became a drifter with no hometown. When he missed home, he returned to the place that was in a state of desolation, and he saw the lonely spirits and wild ghosts who still lingered there.”

The dragon qilin hid behind Qin Mu, looking out at the divine dragon skeleton timidly. “Cult Master, where is his hometown? And why did he die here?”

The dragon skeleton was long dead. It was its longing for its hometown that made it continue to sing this dragon race’s song of homesickness, and so it couldn’t answer them.

“This Dragon Count, could he be the same one that Qu’er met at the East Sea back then?”

Qin Mu thought for a while and then used the Ten Thousand Spirit Nature Technique to enlighten the dragon skeleton.

The dragon skeleton on the sea’s surface suddenly trembled noisily, the water rose towards the sky, and the skeleton of the divine dragon ripped out of the sea. The dragon skeleton stood up and opened its mouth to roar, “Hometown! Hometown! I can’t be buried in a foreign land, I want to return to my hometown-”

Qin Mu stood beneath him. The water surrounded him, but he was shielded by his vital qi.

The youth raised his head and yelled loudly, “Where is your hometown?”

Whoosh—

The dragon skeleton suddenly leaped into the air, flying into the distance while moving its entire body. However, without its corporeal body and powers, it only flew for a short distance before it dropped out of the sky and smashed into the sea. The water splashed out, and the skeleton was also shattered into pieces, flying in all directions.

Qin Mu used a spirit awakening magic power to awaken it. After, the skeleton of this divine dragon actually reconstructed itself, and very quickly, it was restored to its original state. The skeleton didn’t fly this time, swimming in the sea instead, yet its speed was still very fast.

“Keep up with it!”

Qin Mu leaped onto the dragon qilin’s head, and the dragon qilin hurriedly followed after the skeleton. The dragon skeleton swam faster and faster, barging forwards along the sea surface. Suddenly, the dragon skeleton vanished right before their eyes.

Qin Mu was stunned, and the dragon qilin rushed over and quietly stuck out a claw to check it out. His claw reached into the space in front and disappeared as well.

“It’s a smokescreen created by a formation.”

Qin Mu walked into it. The sea before his eyes suddenly retreated, and a sight of magnificent scale rushed towards him. There were countless gods who had captured the Dragon Counts with dragon heads and human bodies and were beheading them with their sacrificial knives. Countless heads rolled off, and fresh blood transformed into a vast ocean. The waves of blood flew upwards and rushed into the air.

In the air was an enormous sacrificial altar. Blood surged around the altar—it was a sacrificial offering of a massive scale.

The god and devil generals of the Feathered Forest Guards yelled out orders continuously. The citizens of Dragon Count Country became the offerings of this sacrifice, their flesh and blood offered to the celestial heavens as sacrificial offerings to become the delicacies of Celestial Emperor and the civil and military officials of the celestial heavens.

Qin Mu was in a daze, and he shook his head.

Suddenly, the illusion before his eyes vanished, and reality appeared before him.

The sacrificial sight previously was merely a flashback of history. It was the scene during the Dragon Han Era, where Wei Suifeng had led the Feathered Forest Guards to quell the rebellion in Dragon Count Country and had massacred the citizens of Dragon Count Country to offer to the celestial heavens.

What was before him right now was the true reality.

In front of him, countless enormous dragon skeletons lay scattered across a vast land. There were skeletons everywhere, and within the collapsed grand dragon palaces, there were phantom flames that rolled up the white bones, making these skeletons of the Dragon Counts stand up and walk around.

This place resembled the netherworld. In the air, there were dragon skeletons with phantom flames in their eye sockets that were swimming about. Within the vast city, the markets were still bustling with activity, the dragon skeletons roaming the streets. Qin Mu even saw the real ghost market.

Those Dragon Counts were still buying and selling things within the dragon city, as well as bartering goods. It was as though they were still alive.

He could even hear the sounds of bargaining.

Qin Mu brought the dragon qilin and Yan’er into the city of Dragon Count Country. Compared to the gigantic divine dragons, the dragon qilin was like a tiny fellow. Even if he returned to his true form, he would still be considered short here.

The divine dragons of history had built a glorious civilization and a great country here. Qin Mu situated himself amongst the walking white boned giants and watched as they seemingly continued to live their carefree lives.

However, this sight felt inexplicably weird.

Qin Mu then saw the dragon skeleton that had previously led them to Dragon Count Country. It transformed into a dragon-headed and human-bodied Dragon Count, as though he was reborn, and flew about in the air.

In Qin Mu’s eyes, all he saw were heaps of white bones. Yet, in its eyes, Dragon Count Country wasn’t a ruin, but a place that was filled with life, and the other Dragon Counts were all still alive.

The Dragon Count excitedly greeted the moving skeletons. It didn’t realize that it was already dead and that its clansmen were also already dead.

Everything here was merely a product of the Dragon Count who had died wrongfully. It had forgotten that it was already dead, and in its confusion and ignorance, it repeatedly did the things that it had done before it died.

However, this Dragon Count that had finally returned to its hometown had released its attachment now and attained peace in death.

“Cult Master, are they not aware that they are already dead?” The dragon qilin asked in an alarmed tone.

Before Qin Mu could reply to him, suddenly, all the divine dragons in Dragon Count Country seemed to have heard what he said, and they all turned to look towards the dragon qilin in unison.

The dragon qilin was startled, and he hurriedly hid behind Qin Mu again, clamping his tail tightly and trembling in fear.

Hua!

It was as though the roar of a tsunami had swept towards them. In a split second, within the Dragon Count Country that was only just bustling with activity, all the skeletons collapsed and disintegrated. Countless bones fell to the ground, the phantom flames within their eyes extinguished, and there was no longer a single standing Dragon Count!

They had initially not realized that they were already dead, yet now that they had been made aware of this by the dragon qilin’s words, in an instant, these souls lost the ability to control the skeletons—the entire Dragon Count Country suddenly fell dead in this instant!

When the sounds of the white bones collapsing stopped, the surroundings were filled with a deathly silence, and no other noise could be heard.

The skies gradually turned dark.

A faint sighing sound could be heard, and phantom flames emerged, floating in the air. Countless paper boats sailed towards them from Youdu with the messengers of death standing at the heads of the boats.

Qin Mu paid his respects, and the messengers of death too returned their respects.

“The Dragon Counts here have already been dead for almost a million years. They didn’t know that they were already dead, and thus their souls lingered on and were reluctant to leave.”

One of the messengers of death explained to Qin Mu, “Previously, their will to live was too strong, so I was unable to enter this place to guide their souls. However, now that they have realized that they are already dead, I can come in to guide them to Youdu.”

Qin Mu looked around him. Most of the skeletons had their heads chopped off, their dragon heads all over the ground. He couldn’t help but frown, asking in a hoarse voice, “Celestial Venerable You, the Commander Wei Suifeng of the Feathered Forest Guards of the Dragon Han Celestial Heavens back then, he is my big senior brother. Was he really so brutal? Did he really have to annihilate the whole Dragon Count race and country?”

“Wei Suifeng wasn’t the brutal one.”

Elder Messenger of Death continued, “The brutal one was the whole of the Dragon Han Celestial Heavens.”

Qin Mu was stunned.

“Using a rebel race or country and offering it to the celestial heavens and Celestial Emperor as a sacrifice… In the Dragon Han Era, it was a very common thing.”

Elder Messenger of Death continued, “The Feathered Forest Guards quelled the rebellion and defeated Dragon Count Country. They annihilated the country and the whole race, sacrificing it towards Celestial Emperor, letting the celestial emperor enjoy a feast of flesh and blood. This was all only normal in that era. Your big senior brother was only just following the customs of the time. He couldn’t change anything. If he changed, he would be considered the odd one out. In the whole Dragon Han Era, these things happened frequently. Why did Celestial Emperor have to die? Why did the Heaven Alliance have to eliminate him at all costs? This is the reason.”

Qin Mu’s hairs stood on their ends.

Ancient Celestial Emperor hadn’t died a wrongful death!