Chapter 79: The Herdsmen of the Great Ruin
The Village Chief, the Apothecary, and the others all turned to look at him, puzzled. The Apothecary asked curiously, "Little Herder, have you seen this ship before?"
"I saw it on the geographical map of the Great Ruin..."
Qin Mu's heart was also shaken. This massive thing that looked like a ship should be the Sun Ship he had seen on the map in the Town Center Palace!
When he had first seen the term "Sun Ship," he had been somewhat puzzled, wondering why it was called that. Now he understood.
The Sun Ship was the vessel that pulled the sun!
And the sun should be that large black sphere being pulled by the Sun Ship with chains.
That large black sphere was likely an extinguished sun.
He imagined that before darkness fell upon the Great Ruin, there must have been a Sun Ship pulling a burning sun as it traveled across the land of the Great Ruin!
Qin Mu was stunned. Why had the sun being pulled by the Sun Ship gone out?
Since the Sun Ship pulled the sun, what about the Moon Ship recorded on the map? Was it a great vessel pulling the moon?
And what about the Sun Well? The Moon Well?
Boom, boom.
The Sun Ship was approaching them. This unimaginably massive vessel actually had legs, limbs as thick as mountain peaks, also made of molten rock. Fires could even be seen flickering through the cracks between the molten rock.
Those fires were magma, like the blood of the Sun Ship.
This giant vessel had twenty-four legs, corresponding to the twenty-four solar terms.
Its legs looked very thick and sturdy, but each step could cover six or seven li.
Seeing this behemoth appear before them was still extremely shocking.
The Deaf Man looked at the Mute Man, whose eyes were burning with fervor as he gestured. The Deaf Man said, "That's not a real sun, but a treasure refined by the people of that era before the darkness fell. Mute Man, I think you're right..."
The enormous Sun Ship grew closer and closer to Inlaid Dragon City, and the air grew hotter and hotter. Qin Mu looked up, barely able to see the top of the ship.
The ship was too big.
The magnificent palaces on it came into his view. They looked normal, but the fact that they still looked normal from such a distance was itself abnormal. He imagined that up close, these palaces must be incredibly vast, making an adult standing inside them seem very small.
"That's where the gods live."
The Village Chief said softly, "I've heard they are called the Herdsmen of the Sun, and their god is called the Sun Warden."
"Herdsmen of the Sun?"
Everyone was slightly startled. The person who had lived in the village the longest in the Great Ruin was the Village Chief. He had been here for several hundred years and knew the most things. Clearly, he had heard of the Sun Ship and knew some secrets.
"I wonder if there are still descendants of the Herdsmen of the Sun on that ship? Is the Sun Warden still on board?" the Village Chief murmured.
The Sun Ship passed by the side of Inlaid Dragon City and walked towards the thousands upon thousands of troops of the Yan Kingdom. The scene was so grand, so spectacular, that the army forgot to advance. Countless soldiers stupidly looked up at this behemoth.
It was too terrifying, too shocking.
Pfft—
One of the Sun Ship's legs came down, a limb as mighty as a mountain peak, crushing countless soldiers into pulp. When the ship's leg lifted again, a small lake had been trampled out beneath it.
"Run for your lives—"
Someone finally reacted, screaming and fleeing backward. But the soldiers behind them hadn't reacted yet, so people crowded and crushed each other, trampling one another. By the time those in the back realized what was happening and wanted to scatter, it was too late.
This colossal Sun Ship followed the path of the Yan army towards the Yan Kingdom's border, trampling countless soldiers along the way. The divine abilities and flying swords of the generals fell upon it but couldn't shake the great ship in the slightest.
The two armies of the Yan Kingdom had merged into one, with an enormous number of soldiers. Now there was no way to escape. Even if divine ability practitioners soared into the air, they were struck by the Sun Ship's raised legs, as easily as swatting a fly.
The massive Sun Ship kept moving, crushing and killing countless officers and soldiers along the way. General Lu exhausted all his strength attacking the Sun Ship, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree, unable to move the great ship at all.
At the Yan Kingdom's border fortress, streaks of sword light flew out, slashing at the mountainous ship. Sparks flew, but they couldn't damage the Sun Ship. When the swords were withdrawn, the experts of the border fortress changed color dramatically—their swords were glowing red hot and even beginning to melt!
In the border fortress, tens of thousands of divine ability practitioners cast spells, summoning violent winds, torrential rain, and rolling thunderclouds. But before they could reach the ship, they were dispersed by the high temperature.
—Although the sun being pulled by the Sun Ship was extinguished, it was still a sun, and its heat was incredibly intense.
The ship moved quickly on its twelve legs. Soon it arrived before the border fortress. Creak, creak, a harsh sound came as the Sun Ship gradually came to a stop.
Then a buzzing sound came from the air. The black sun drifted with its inertia, nearly floating into the territory of the Yan Kingdom.
Countless soldiers in the border fortress stared blankly upward at the behemoth blocking the fortress. The border fortress was majestic and spectacular, but compared to this unimaginably huge thing before them, it seemed very small.
Some generals had pale faces and trembling bodies, barely able to stand. Even the soldiers in the fortress, though they were martial artists and divine ability practitioners, were terrified by the sight before them.
"The Sun Ship created by the beings before the darkness fell is indeed extraordinary."
The Yan Kingdom's National Master stood on the tower, looking up at the Sun Ship. This magnificent vessel gave an unparalleled sense of oppression. Even he felt a tremor in his heart.
At the top of the Sun Ship, in front of the ornate palaces, he saw figures standing there.
He looked up, gazing at the black sun.
Although this black sun was not as huge as the real sun, it was still awe-inspiring. One could imagine how spectacular it would be if this sun were reignited!
Although this sun was extinguished, sending the Yan Kingdom's army to clash with such a behemoth would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, overestimating their abilities.
He sensed the aura of a god emanating from the Sun Ship.
"So there are still living heavenly gods. The mysterious Great Ruin... it's not a place to tread lightly."
The Yan Kingdom's National Master raised his hand and gave the order: "Pass the command: retreat. Do not set foot in the Great Ruin for fifty years!"
Behind him, the various generals' hearts trembled slightly and immediately passed down the order.
The Yan Kingdom's National Master looked up, his gaze falling on those palaces. He murmured, "The Sun Ship cannot protect the Great Ruin forever. Gods can also die. The Herdsmen of the Sun are just a declining race. In fifty years, my Yan Kingdom should have the great power to unify the Great Ruin. For now, it's not wise to clash head-on."
He turned and walked down the tower.
A hurried sound of striking gongs came from the city. The soldiers outside the border fortress heard the signal to retreat and, as if relieved of a great burden, ran towards the fortress.
The enormous Sun Ship also slowly lifted its legs, turned around, and boom, boom, walked back towards Inlaid Dragon City.
After a while, the remnants of the Yan army returned to the border fortress. The Sun Ship also arrived at the edge of Inlaid Dragon City. Qin Mu looked up. The towering ship, reaching into the sky, pulling a black sun—such a scene had never appeared even in his dreams.
The Sun Ship stopped. Its twenty-four legs slowly bent, and it slowly knelt down.
On the Dragon Pillar, everyone had strange expressions. This Sun Ship didn't seem like a ship at all, but rather like a creature with twenty-four legs!
The ship was so close to Inlaid Dragon City that waves of heat rolled through the city. Even the city walls were glowing red, as if about to melt.
It didn't leave immediately, presumably waiting for the Yan Kingdom's army to completely withdraw.
"Is there still a Sun Warden up there?" Qin Mu murmured.
"Yes. I can sense the aura of a god."
The Village Chief's expression was grave. "The Yan Kingdom's National Master retreated in the face of difficulty. He won't easily set foot in the Great Ruin for decades. Butcher, withdraw your blade intent, or the Dragon Pillar will collapse and this place will be destroyed."
The Butcher nodded, looked up at the Sun Ship, and said excitedly, "We've been preparing for this battle for a long time, but the Yan Kingdom's National Master was scared off by the Sun Warden. I didn't get to fight that old bastard! How about we board the ship and fight a god!"
Everyone had strange expressions and shook their heads. This madman was really messing around. If there really was a Sun Warden up there, and the Butcher ran up to fight him, with only his upper body, he would most likely be crushed to death.
The Village Chief and the others descended the Dragon Pillar. Qin Mu looked up, his eyes flickering. He really wanted to climb this magnificent Sun Ship and see what was on it.
"What kind of era could create something so massive and still pull the sun as it walked?"
Just as he thought this, the bow of the Sun Ship suddenly tilted down diagonally.
Qin Mu was stunned. The enormous bow, about the size of Inlaid Dragon City, tilted down diagonally, as if it were extremely light and weightless.
Then he saw the scene on the ship. There were mountains and water, flowers and grass. Magnificent golden palaces stood tall, like a sacred land of immortals. There were also many tall people there. The Apothecary was already considered burly, but placed among these people, he would only be a child.
Qin Mu estimated that these people were at least ten zhang tall, comparable to the strongmen of the Demon Cult.
Strangely, although the bow had tilted down, the lake water on the ship remained level, not spilling out.
"Your jade pendant... it's very strange. It has a sacred and extraordinary aura..."