Chapter 317: No Righteous Warriors
"This isn't the Nether Valley."
Fu Yuchun looked around, both white bats somewhat ill at ease. This was their first time leaving the Nether Valley, and while they wanted to hang upside down, they felt a bit shy.
Qin Mu looked up at the dilapidated hall and eaves of this place, saying, "Hang under the eaves and rest for the night. Don't disturb anyone else. Tomorrow, I'll take you back to the Nether Valley and give you the antidote."
Both white bats breathed a sigh of relief, flew up silently, and hung under the eaves, arms crossed over their chests.
Fu Yuchun opened one eye and whispered, "This kid tricked us. We were never poisoned."
Fu Yuqiu was startled: "Not poisoned? Impossible! When the poison flared up, it hurt like hell!"
Fu Yuchun rolled his eye: "The poison was probably cured long ago. When he first gave us the antidote, he neutralized the poison. Everything else was just to scare us. Otherwise, we'd have died from the poison two months ago."
Fu Yuqiu fumed: "This kid tricked us into fighting for him! Let's roast him until he's nine-tenths done and eat him!"
"Forget it, forget it."
Fu Yuchun said, "Even if we hadn't joined forces with him, that little bastard Bampo Gong would have led people to hunt us down and wouldn't have let us go. Teaming up with him actually saved our lives—it's not a loss. This time, thanks to him, we learned that our ancestors are still alive. At least our White Bat Divine Clan won't go extinct now. When we get back, we'll awaken the two ancestors and have them produce a female offspring."
Fu Yuqiu said excitedly: "Have them produce two females! No, no, have them produce a whole nest of females! I want to have one on each arm... Wait a minute! Brother, we're descendants of the ancestors from who knows how many generations. Even if the ancestors produce two females, by seniority, they'd be our great-great-great-grandmothers. The seniority..."
The two white bats were filled with worry and couldn't sleep anymore.
In the ruins, Qin Mu sat down, leaning against the Dragon Qilin to rest. Over a dozen divine statues guarded this site, their light illuminating the ruins. He still didn't know where this place was in the Great Wasteland. He would have to wait until dawn to fly high and observe the surrounding geography to confirm his location.
Bampo Gong glanced at him and also sat down. The surviving dozen or so great shamans, shaman kings, and a few scattered soldiers of the Man Di Kingdom surrounded him in the center.
Qin Mu looked around. There were many strange beasts in these ruins, including some extremely powerful ones, much larger than the Dragon Qilin in its full form.
"Hmm, these people are interesting..."
His pupils contracted slightly as his gaze fell on the travelers in the ruins. They were divided into three groups. One group consisted of three large monks with fierce faces but gentle eyes, though they carried a strong demonic aura.
"Monks from Little Thunderclap Temple!"
Qin Mu sensed their demonic aura and understood. Little Thunderclap Temple was also a sacred land, but it was the sacred land of the demon race. Their leader was honored as the Little Tathagata, a fellow disciple of the Old Tathagata, with extraordinary skills, also reaching the Tathagata realm.
Little Thunderclap Temple was called Little Western Paradise, located further west than the Great Thunderclap Temple on Mount Sumeru, at the westernmost edge of the Great Wasteland.
"If demon monks from Little Thunderclap Temple can be seen here, are we in the western part of the Great Wasteland?"
Qin Mu's heart sank. This was his first time going this far. The Great Wasteland was incredibly vast, and this place was probably even farther than the Loulan Golden Palace.
The second group had only two people, a man and a woman, both looking very young, like a young couple. They didn't seem dangerous.
They were also dressed in foreign attire. The man had a white cloth wrapped around his head, with black hair showing at the top. The woman was adorned with gold and silver, wearing many small gold, silver, and jade ornaments. Her hair was tied with a black scarf, which hung down to her slightly raised chest along with her silky locks, with a small red flower pinned in her hair.
Her hands were very fair, and her sleeves were a bit short, revealing most of her forearms. Her arms weren't thick, but she wore over a dozen gold, silver, and jade bangles of varying thicknesses on her wrists.
They guarded a jeweled carriage. The carriage had a very strange shape.
Qin Mu had seen some jeweled carriages before. Most were square, some with dome-shaped tops, others with octagonal tops. The dome-shaped top represented a round heaven and square earth, while the octagonal top represented the eight directions, both symbols of status.
But this carriage was round—round bottom, round top. The decorations hanging around it also had a foreign feel.
The third group consisted of over a hundred cultivators, also dressed in foreign attire with blue eyes, but Qin Mu couldn't tell what country they were from.
These cultivators had murderous intent in their eyes, occasionally glancing at the young couple and the carriage.
"Chief, the atmosphere isn't right."
The Dragon Qilin secretly opened his eyes and said to Qin Mu, "That woman has too many spirit weapons on her, and those cultivators are also very strong!"
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow. The Dragon Qilin's eyesight was indeed very good. The gold, silver, necklace ornaments, and jade items hanging on the woman were all spirit weapons.
Earlier, when Qin Mu swept his gaze with his Blue Sky Divine Eye, the spiritual light emitted by each spirit weapon was very dazzling, clearly indicating their formidable power.
With so many spirit weapons on her, her strength was likely considerable as well.
On the other side, Bampo Gong also noticed these people. He whispered a few instructions to two great shamans. One of them immediately went to the young couple, greeted them, and asked some questions. Then he returned and reported, "They say they're from the True Heaven Palace in the Western Lands. They asked if we could help them."
"The True Heaven Palace of the Western Lands?"
Bampo Gong said, "Since they're cultivators from the True Heaven Palace of the Western Lands, they have nothing to do with us. No need to guard against them. As for their matter, we won't help."
Another great shaman also returned from inquiring and said, "Those cultivators are also from the True Heaven Palace. They hope we won't take sides."
"Both from the True Heaven Palace?"
Bampo Gong was surprised and laughed: "Probably an internal conflict. Ignore it. Those three demon monks are from Little Thunderclap Temple. They have a grudge with our Golden Palace, so we need to be on guard."
The Loulan Golden Palace often captured people and demons for training, leading to many conflicts with Little Thunderclap Temple. The Golden Palace had also captured many demon monks from Little Thunderclap Temple and used their souls for training.
The three monks also recognized Bampo Gong and his group's origins. They exchanged glances but didn't act.
Bampo Gong whispered orders: "Encountering people from Little Thunderclap Temple and the Western Lands here means this is the western part of the Great Wasteland. We're probably very close to Little Thunderclap Temple. These three monks can't be left alive. After sunrise, eliminate them immediately!"
The group murmured in agreement.
"As for Chief Qin..."
He looked at Qin Mu, who was rummaging through a glutton sack. Sensing his gaze, Qin Mu looked up and gave him a bright smile, like a sunny big boy.
The glutton sack Qin Mu was holding was Bampo Gong's. He took out items one by one from the sack, examining each and playing with them.
"What a big hammer!"
He pulled out a huge white bone hammer from the sack. With a light shake, countless skulls flew out from the large skull at the top of the hammer, spewing soul fire everywhere. Qin Mu shook it again, and the large skull's mouth opened wide, sucking all the small skulls back in.
"There's even a sword orb!"
Qin Mu stuffed the bone hammer back into the glutton sack and pulled out a sword orb. With a gentle activation, countless hair-thin fine swords danced around his palm.
"Refined to such a fine state—that's a lot of effort! Is this the Dao Sect's Dao Sword technique? Doesn't look like it."
Qin Mu shook his head: "The Dao Sword only needs one sword. Brother Ban, your cultivation isn't up to par. No wonder your Dao Sword is so mediocre, not as good as the Dao Lord's."
Bampo Gong snorted coldly: "The glutton sack you stole is just a drop in the bucket of my wealth accumulated over countless lifetimes."
He lowered his voice and instructed his subordinates: "Tomorrow, you shaman kings take out the two white bats and that fat cat. Everyone else attacks together and kills that surnamed Qin!"
Qin Mu finished looking through the glutton sack's contents, then stood up and walked straight to the three demon monks. He greeted them: "Senior brother."
The three demon monks were meditating. They quickly stood up and returned the greeting: "Senior brother!"
These three monks wore wide robes and large sleeves. Although their robes were big, they couldn't cover their legs, revealing sharp claws and thick, feathered bird legs.
"Are you three from Little Thunderclap Temple?"
Qin Mu asked: "Is the Little Tathagata's disciple a demon ape with the Dharma name Kong?"
The three demon monks were surprised and quickly nodded: "Senior brother, the Tathagata gave him the Dharma name Zhan Kong. He is indeed the Tathagata's disciple. May I ask how you know Zhan Kong?"
Qin Mu smiled: "I am the Heavenly Saint Cult Leader. He is my sworn brother, so of course I know him."
"I see."
The three demon monks let down their guard and laughed: "My Dharma name is Ding Jue. These are my worldly brothers, Ding Zhi and Ding Ming. Greetings to the Heavenly Saint Cult Leader."
Qin Mu glanced at Bampo Gong and said: "That young man is the Great Venerable of the Loulan Golden Palace. The three shaman kings beside him—two are at the Heavenly Man realm, one at the Life and Death realm."
The three monks were startled and turned pale: "What do we do? We're not at the Heavenly Man realm yet—we can't beat them!"
Qin Mu smiled: "Don't worry, I'm here. Tomorrow, I'll lead you out. Come with me and rest over there."
The three monks relaxed and followed him to the Dragon Qilin's side. They quickly greeted the Dragon Qilin: "Senior brother."
The Dragon Qilin was already asleep and ignored them.
These three demon monks had very good tempers and didn't mind. They greeted the two white bats hanging upside down under the eaves: "Senior brother."
The two white bats, arms crossed over their chests, returned the greeting: "Senior brother."
Only then did the three demon monks continue meditating.
Seeing this, Bampo Gong's face darkened a bit, and he snorted.
Qin Mu said kindly: "Have you three heard of the Heavenly Saint Cult?"
Ding Jue shook his head: "We only operate in the Great Wasteland and haven't heard of it."
Qin Mu was about to speak when suddenly the male cultivator with the wrapped head, who was guarding the jeweled carriage, stepped forward and bowed: "This senior brother..."
Qin Mu stood up and returned the bow, shaking his head: "Please don't speak."
The foreign cultivator was surprised: "Senior brother, why do you say that?"
"You're being chased by these strong warriors and fled to the Great Wasteland. I won't join forces with you."
Qin Mu shook his head: "They're too many, and each one is not weak. I can barely protect myself. Joining forces with you would be walking to my death. Please go back."
The man looked disappointed and returned to the carriage, speaking softly to it.
A little girl's voice came from inside the carriage: "Mom, that big brother doesn't want to help us?"
Another very pleasant voice came from the carriage, sighing: "There are no righteous warriors in the Great Wasteland. They can't save us, mother and daughter..."
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow: "Righteous warrior? I'm no righteous warrior. I'm the Heavenly Demon Cult Leader. If I don't do evil, people are already overjoyed. Would I be a righteous warrior? Hah, I only got hot-headed and did good deeds when I was a kid. Now I'm grown up..."
The night seemed to drag on slowly. Everyone in the ruins had their own thoughts. After who knows how long, a chicken-dragon among the strange beasts flapped its wings and flew up, landing on the roof of a dilapidated hall. It raised its head to the sky and crowed.
Instantly, darkness receded rapidly. A ray of sunlight shone from the east, casting light on the mountain peak outside the ruins, illuminating it.