Chapter 1504 — Setting a Trap in Secret
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
Shen Mu let out a sigh of relief. Several days of close fighting had taken a real toll on him; if it continued, he feared he might be the one to cough up blood from exhaustion.
"I want these people.
" His eyes flickered as he called out Lan Yutian, Yu Tianzun, the Lame Elder, the Southern Emperor, and the Ming Emperor. When the scholar heard him name the Southern Emperor and the Ming Emperor, he hesitated a moment.
Those two were the strongest pupils in the school, and their recovery would greatly help him escape.
Seeing his hesitation, Shen Mu drew his bow as if to shoot again. One schoolmaster said hastily, "Fine, they are yours. But you must swear that you will not enter the hall again to harass us.
" Shen Mu agreed and smiled. "This Hall of Pervading Fragrance is no great place anyway, and the others have nothing to do with me. I can't wait to leave this place—why would I bother to harass you?
" "You must swear that you will leave immediately with these people and not press your advantage any further!
" The scholar in the painting rose, pondered for a moment, then broke a branch from the Dao Tree, trimmed it into a teaching rod as thick as a finger, and sent it out of the painting. A schoolmaster caught the rod in both hands, carried it out of the schoolroom, and raised it high with both hands, saying, "This rod was refined from a branch of the Dao Tree and contains the spirit of my Great Dao.
Swear on it that, taking these people, you will leave at once. Then it shall attach itself to you, following you wherever you go. If you violate your oath, the rod will strike down. " Shen Mu hesitated and did not take it. Instead he scrutinized the rod.
It was straight, yet it seemed soft, and the grain on its bark was extremely strange—like Dao patterns, telling of the ineffable mysteries of the Great Dao of a former universe.
Compared with the other teaching rods, this one was far more exquisite; Dao patterns often burst out from its skin and revolved around it, emitting sweet Dao tones. Clearly, the schoolmasters' rods were not refined from branches of the Dao Tree; in power and mystery, they were inferior to this one.
Shen Mu glanced sidelong at the scholar beneath the tree and asked suspiciously, "You break off a branch of the Dao Tree, make me swear on it, and then say it will follow me. If I don't break my oath, doesn't that mean this rod becomes mine? " The scholar sat beneath the tree in silence.
The schoolmaster before Shen Mu said, "If you do not go back on your oath, there is no harm in giving you this rod. My attainment is beyond your ability to fathom.
This rod of mine is expert at striking the primordial spirit and the Dao heart. Whoever it may be, once the rod is raised, it will surely strike the primordial spirit. Once the primordial spirit is struck, the Dao heart becomes benighted and dull. " Shen Mu was half in doubt.
The scholar beneath the tree raised his brow and sneered, "You are more suspicious than anyone—clearly a man with no affinity. If you keep wavering, our trade is off. Go on shooting, then. I'd like to see how many tens of thousands of years it takes for you to shoot me dead! " Shen Mu smiled in a hurry and said, "Fine, I'll swear.
" With that, he snatched at the rod with one hand.
The schoolmaster refused to let go and said hurriedly, "The rod is in my hand. Swear on the rod in my hand! " Shen Mu forcibly wrested it away and laughed, "Better to swear while it's in my hand. It's not that I don't trust the Primordial Sage.
.
. well, it is exactly that I don't trust the Primordial Sage!
" Once he had snatched the rod, he first examined it carefully, then probed it point by point with primordial qi and divine sense, then peeled back half the willow leaf at his brow and stole a look through the vertical eye there. He found nothing to show that any trick was hidden within the rod, and only then was he at ease, sticking the willow leaf back into place.