Chapter 158: Let's Elope Together
Ling Yuxiu staggered to her feet, and the green ox also shook its head, feeling dizzy and groggy. Qin Mu picked up the little fox, stuffed her into his bundle, grabbed Ling Yuxiu with one hand and the green ox with the other, and charged down the mountain.
Ling Yuxiu was still a bit dazed, grinning foolishly at him. "Cowherd boy, you're still alive..."
Qin Mu paid her no attention, rushing down the mountain with a whoosh, practically lifting Ling Yuxiu and the green ox off the ground, making them float along.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, Qin Mu looked toward the wooden boat and saw that the goat-faced shaman on board had also been drugged unconscious, toppling headfirst into the water. His rear end stuck up in the air, half his body still on the boat, presumably already drowned in the weak water.
Qin Mu quickly boarded the boat, grabbed the goat-faced shaman's feet, tossed him into the water, and pushed off with a bamboo pole, but the boat didn't budge.
He pushed several more times, but the boat remained motionless.
"The weak water has no buoyancy!" Qin Mu suddenly realized.
He infused his primal energy into the bamboo pole, and strange patterns emerged on it. When he stirred the weak water with it, he actually felt resistance from the water.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, poled the boat toward the opposite shore, and drove the wooden vessel forward like an arrow from a bowstring. Even so, he felt it was too slow.
If the shaman king and shaman lord of Loulan's Golden Palace returned to the mountain, they could immediately dispel the Lost Fragrance Incense and realize that these people had only been drugged, not poisoned.
If they pursued them now, the fate awaiting Qin Mu and the others would be utterly miserable.
Finally, they reached the opposite shore. The green ox came to its senses and quickly said, "Master is still in the mountain!"
Qin Mu said, "Don't worry. We can escape, and he can even more so. He's far stronger than us. If we go looking for him, we'll just be a burden. Besides, the shaman lord and shaman king returning to the Golden Palace to check actually gives Banshan Sacrificial Wine an opportunity to leave."
He leaped ashore and reached out his hand, but Ling Yuxiu and the green ox had already jumped over without needing his help.
The Crimson Pearl Purple Fruit had fully restored them. The Crimson Pearl Purple Fruit was the antidote to the Lost Fragrance Incense. The incense was originally used by an apothecary to drug a flood dragon, a beast as powerful as a Celestial Being realm expert, yet the apothecary had managed to knock it out.
The only counter to this anesthetic was the Crimson Pearl Purple Fruit.
"Green Ox!" Qin Mu called out.
The green ox understood immediately, crouched down, shook its body, and revealed its true form—a massive green ox, majestic and imposing, treading on wind and clouds.
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu jumped onto its back. "Green Ox, run as fast as you can!"
The green ox's four hooves churned, never touching the ground, galloping atop the wind and clouds. The two on its back felt the fierce wind stinging their faces. Behind Qin Mu, Fox Ling'er woke up and poked her head out of the bundle, nearly blown away by the onrushing gale. She quickly grabbed the bundle, but her body was already yanked straight out of it, her tail and body stretched taut by the wind.
The green ox's hooves rose and fell, each time stopping a foot or so above the ground, with wind and clouds surging beneath to support its massive body, moving at incredible speed.
Qin Mu looked back, his hair blown into disarray. His hairstyle was that of a shaman disciple, without a headband. He noticed Fox Ling'er—the little fox's claws were gripping the bundle, her body stretched straight by the wind—so he quickly grabbed her to keep her from being swept away.
Ling Yuxiu shouted, "Cowherd, let me hold her! You fix your hair!"
Qin Mu handed Fox Ling'er to her. Ling Yuxiu cradled the little fox in her arms. Fox Ling'er found her chest soft and fragrant, snorted in displeasure, but felt quite comfortable and couldn't resist rubbing against it a few more times, feeling deeply conflicted inside.
Qin Mu took out a headband and tied up his hair. Looking back, he saw Loulan's Golden Palace growing farther and farther away. He could still faintly see streaks of golden light flying from the snowy mountains, leisurely approaching the Golden Palace.
Those streaks of golden light didn't seem fast, but in reality, they moved at tremendous speed, reaching the Golden Palace from the snowy mountains in the span of a single breath.
Then, several beams of golden light flew out from the Golden Palace, heading in their direction.
Qin Mu's heart sank. Those golden lights were likely the shaman kings of Loulan's Golden Palace, who had discovered their trail and were now pursuing them. Although the green ox was fast, its cultivation couldn't compare to that of a shaman king.
Just then, a beam of light rose up, intercepting the golden lights mid-flight. The several beams collided in the air, separated, and collided again.
From Qin Mu's distance, these beams didn't seem very fast, but up close, they would likely be too fast to see clearly.
After several collisions with the white beam, one of the lights suddenly exploded, and a plume of black smoke appeared in the air, forming a skull. The skull spat out several streams of black smoke, each turning into another skull, and so on, until the sky was filled with a dense mass of skulls.
Even from this distance, they could clearly make out the shape of skulls, which meant up close they would be enormous, as massive as mountain peaks.
Then, Qin Mu saw a blade streak across the sky. One of the golden beams was severed.
The green ox ran faster and faster, and soon Qin Mu could no longer see the battle.
By the time the green ox crossed several mountain ridges and passed over the peaks, everything was hidden behind the mountains.
The sun set in the west, and the sky gradually darkened. After running for half a day, the green ox was panting heavily, foaming at the mouth. Spotting a pond in a low-lying area on the grassland ahead, it rushed over, lowered its head, and gulped down water.
Before long, half the pond's water was gone.
In the shallower parts of the pond, the backs of green fish could be seen. Several foot-long fish writhed in the mud, crawling toward deeper water, then plopped back in with a splash.
Seeing how exhausted the ox was, Qin Mu jumped off its back and said, "Green Ox, stop running. Rest a while."
The green ox hadn't had its fill yet when an old, hoarse voice said, "Hey, ox, stop drinking! If you keep at it, you'll drink up all the water in our village!"
The green ox looked up and saw an old shepherd passing by. The old man hurriedly abandoned his flock and ran over, waving his whip from a distance to shoo the ox away. But when he saw how terrifyingly large the green ox was, he didn't dare approach, just cracking his whip from afar. "Shoo, shoo!"
Qin Mu patted the ox's hoof. The green ox in its true form was enormous; Qin Mu only reached its ankle, so he could only pat its hoof.
The green ox stopped drinking. Ling Yuxiu quickly jumped off its back, and Fox Ling'er crawled out of her arms, hopping onto Qin Mu's back and perching on his bundle.
The old man still didn't dare come closer. The green ox twisted its body, gradually shrinking in size, and stood upright, though it was still as tall as two or three men. It flicked its tail, swatting a few horseflies that had come buzzing by.
Qin Mu bowed from a distance and said, "Elder, we are just passing through. It's getting late, so we stopped to rest. We've been traveling hard, and my ox was terribly thirsty, so he drank a bit too much. Please forgive us."
The old man stepped forward, looked up at the green ox, and couldn't help but marvel, though he was still a bit nervous. "You've raised your ox well. He's sturdy. Why is he green?"
Qin Mu smiled. "He has some dragon blood in him, so he's green."
The old man wanted to touch him but didn't dare. Finally, he mustered his courage, came up to the green ox, and gave him a pat. The fur felt like satin, the muscles like iron. "Solid meat," he praised. "We have a few cows in our village. Can he mate with them?"
The green ox was displeased. "Elder, I'm not a stud bull. I don't mate. I've already found my true love."
The old man was startled. "A demon?"
Qin Mu quickly said, "He's not a demon."
Fox Ling'er poked her head out. "I'm a demon."
The old man suddenly understood. He looked at Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu and chuckled. "I see. You two ran away from a wealthy family, didn't you? Only rich families can afford to keep exotic beasts and fox spirits. It's getting dark. Why don't you rest in our village?"
Qin Mu hesitated and glanced at Ling Yuxiu. She whispered, "The green ox is exhausted. He can't run anymore."
Qin Mu frowned. "If Loulan's Golden Palace catches up, it might bring trouble to them."
Ling Yuxiu murmured, "The green ox has been treading on wind and clouds the whole way, leaving no tracks. It'll be hard for them to find us. How about this: if their village is well-hidden, we'll stay the night. If it's too conspicuous, we won't."
Qin Mu nodded. "Elder, in that case, we'll impose on you for one night. We'll leave at dawn."
The old man laughed. "You're welcome to stay a few more days. There aren't many of us in the village—just a few old folks, living one day at a time. You look strong. Help me herd the sheep."
Qin Mu stepped forward. His movements were swift, and he quickly gathered the flock. The old man's eyes lit up. "Young lady, you have good taste. This lad is sturdy and capable."
Ling Yuxiu blushed. "Elder, it's not what you think."
The old man laughed heartily and led them, herding the sheep, around a mountain bend to a small village nestled in the woods. The village wasn't large—only about twenty houses—but most were empty, home to just a dozen or so elderly men and women. The woods were quiet, the trees tall and untrimmed, shading the little village.
"Why are there so few people here?" Qin Mu asked, relieved but puzzled.
"The khans are always fighting," the old man sighed. "You kill me, I kill you. One comes to conscript men, another comes to conscript men. Over time, the people dwindled. Those with the means moved away. Only us old folks are left—too old to move, and not wanting to. Where would we go anyway? Luckily, in recent years, they haven't come for us old bones. Wife, we have guests in the village!"
An old woman mending clothes stood up shakily, grinning. "Guests? I'll cook!"
Qin Mu quickly said, "Let me. I used to cook often when I was in my village."
The old woman couldn't argue with him, so she and the old man watched as he prepared the meal. Ling Yuxiu hurried over and invited the two elders to sit down.
"Where are you from?" the old woman asked with a smile.
The old man winked, put his two thumbs together in a kissing gesture, and laughed. "Runaways from a rich family. A young couple, eloping."
Ling Yuxiu's face flushed. "It's not like that. We're innocent..."
"We've been through it all. We understand. The girl is shy."
The old woman looked her up and down, revealing a few sparse teeth. "Good girl. Sturdy body, big chest, nice hips. The young man is lucky."
The old man added, "The young man is good too. Sturdy, honest, doesn't bully people. He was polite to an old bones like me."
The old woman chimed in, "You two should run for a year or two, then go back. Have a child, take it home—your family won't be able to deny it then."
Ling Yuxiu stammered, her heart pounding like a deer. She didn't know how to respond. "If I had a child with the cowherd and went back, my father would be furious... No, no, he wouldn't be furious—he'd have my head cut off! Good fortune, good fortune!"
Soon, the aroma of food filled the air. Ling Yuxiu hurried to help. After dinner, the sky had darkened completely. The village elders lit oil lamps and went to sleep early. Qin Mu helped the two elders clean up the dishes. The old man said, "There are plenty of empty houses in the village. Pick one and stay."
Qin Mu thanked him and entered an empty house. Fox Ling'er helped tidy up, cleaning three rooms. She calculated, "One for the green ox, one for the fat-chested fox spirit, and one for me and the young master. Three rooms. No problem."
Suddenly, Qin Mu sensed something. He looked up at the sky and saw two large stars coming from the west, moving across the heavens. He quickly said, "Everyone, hide inside the house!"
Ling Yuxiu, the green ox, and Fox Ling'er hurried inside. Just as they entered, a loud hum sounded, and two thick beams of light descended, illuminating the small mountain village as bright as day.