Chapter 868: The Cowherd Boy by the Riverside
Qilin was startled by the voice, though it sounded somewhat familiar.
Even so, he dared not be careless. He immediately shook himself and transformed into a strong young man with a qilin head and a human body. However, in his haste, he forgot that Qin Mu was still on his back.
Qin Mu flailed his arms and legs as he fell. Qilin quickly caught him and placed him on his shoulder, then cautiously peered toward the moonlight.
Today was the seventh day of the month. When the moon formation reached the seventh day, it formed a large crescent, with the rest of the formation hidden in shadow.
The formation was vast and expansive, spanning hundreds of miles. The parts obscured by shadow had not actually disappeared; the formation continued to operate, merely concealed.
This formation resembled a moon palace, with towers and halls within the moon, its scenery beautiful and soothing.
"The one who controls the moon in the celestial map must surely be a beautiful woman."
Qilin poked his head out from the shadows. The damaged area caused the moonlight within the moon to cascade down like flowing water.
A woman sat on the tip of the crescent moon, gazing in their direction, blinking her eyes.
"Is it her?"
Qilin was momentarily stunned. Qin Mu, perched on his shoulder, hung like a disassembled puppet, his limbs limp as he slid down, his head lolling to the side.
Qilin quickly steadied him. The woman on the crescent moon approached, asking in surprise, "What happened to him?"
"The Sect Leader is injured."
Qilin said to the woman, "His injuries are severe, but it shouldn't be a major problem. Sect Leader, wake up!"
He shook Qin Mu. Qin Mu's head wobbled like a rattle drum, then he opened his eyes, gazing hazily at the woman. Her familiar face came into view, but he couldn't recall who she was.
"Why are you here?" he mumbled, then drifted back into a dazed sleep.
"See? No big problem!" Qilin said confidently.
The woman, however, was very worried. She brought him into the moon palace, saying, "I've just cleaned this place. Rest and heal here first."
Qilin settled Qin Mu down. After the woman diagnosed Qin Mu's injuries, she pondered for a moment, then began refining pills and brewing medicine for him.
Qilin stepped closer, smiling. "Back then, you knew nothing. Now you can refine pills and brew medicine too?"
The woman laughed. "After you all left, I had to do everything myself. I was still very young then, and I had to learn everything. The more I learned, the more I could do."
Qilin thought for a moment, then said, "Those days were truly like a dream. The Sect Leader, the Great Honored One, the box, and me—we stumbled into Bailong City so haphazardly. By dawn, we were gone, but that night's experience was so wondrous, unforgettable."
The woman turned back, looking at Qin Mu sleeping peacefully on the sickbed, and revealed a gentle smile. "Yes. For tens of thousands of years afterward, I would wake from nightmares countless times, and remembering that night's experience would give me the courage to go on living."
Qin Mu heard a familiar voice beside his ear. Several times he tried to open his eyes, but he had suffered too much damage, his very essence wounded, and he kept falling back into slumber.
He was no longer in critical danger. The main issue was that during his desperate battle with "Imperial Heaven," his opponent was too strong, using his enlightenment techniques—from the first realm of the Dao to the twenty-eighth realm, twenty-eight consecutive great divine abilities of enlightenment. Qin Mu had no choice but to fight with everything he had.
After that fight, he was nearly spent, yet he had to use his last reserves of primal power, employing the Flawless Creation Mystic Scripture and the Three Primordial Spirits' Indestructible Divine Sense to repair his body and primordial spirit, leaving him even more depleted.
Now, in a daze, he felt a bitterness in his mouth, as if someone was feeding him medicine. The spiritual medicine slid down his throat, turning into a warm thread that flowed into his abdomen, then surged in all directions, spreading through his limbs and bones.
He opened his eyes and vaguely saw a familiar woman open her small mouth and spit out a spiritual pearl.
The pearl circled around him, bringing indescribable comfort to his primordial spirit and damaged divine repositories.
Qin Mu drifted back to sleep, hearing the woman and Qilin chatting. Clearly, Qilin and the woman were well acquainted.
After an unknown time, Qin Mu heard other voices—the Woodcutter, or perhaps the Celestial Master Zixi, and even Di Yiyue and the others.
They seemed to be discussing something, then fell silent.
Qin Mu slept deeply. In his dreams, he seemed to return to his childhood, as if time was flowing backward. He was back in the Village of the Cripples, training hard under the supervision of Grandpa Ma, the Butcher, and the others.
The dream's time flowed forward again. He became an infant, lying in a small basket, babbling and waving his tiny hands and feet, his bright eyes fixed on Grandma Si, who was reaching out her arms to him.
Grandma Si was very ugly, but her gaze was gentle as she lifted him from the basket.
Beside her stood a stone statue, and next to it was Grandpa Ma, equally gentle.
The dream images faded, and time seemed to flow backward again. He was still in the basket, and he saw a girl carrying it, fleeing in terror through the Yong River, dodging the pursuit of gods and demons.
Torrential black water swept everything away. In his swaddling clothes, the infant stared blankly at the girl, who was desperately fighting the gods and demons to protect his safety.
Her body was covered in wounds, utterly exhausted.
"Auntie Juan'er..."
The infant in the swaddling clothes raised his short arm, wanting to touch her face, but couldn't reach.
He had never been able to retrieve his memories of drifting from Youdu into the Great Ruins. He was too young. Lord Tu had sealed him, and his mother had entrusted him to Auntie Juan'er, who escorted him away from Youdu into the Great Ruins.
Auntie Juan'er had died protecting him, sinking into the Yong River. Grandma Si had picked him up when darkness fell.
This period of memory was a blank to him, but in this dream, he vaguely saw those memories.
In the darkness, the black waters of the Yong River surged, overwhelming everything. In the black water and on its banks, ferocious gods and demons pursued them. Auntie Juan'er's injuries grew worse, and she could no longer protect him.
Then, in Qin Mu's dream, white, snowy fog swept in.
Auntie Juan'er, carrying the basket, staggered into the fog.
The pursuers also charged into the fog.
When the fog cleared, it was a bright, sunny day. The sunlight was so dazzling that the infant in the swaddling clothes closed his eyes and hid his face in the cloth.
Blood flowed from Auntie Juan'er's mouth as she staggered onward, but her hand covered the basket, and she hummed a lullaby to soothe the baby to sleep.
"Reeds tall, reeds long, hide and seek in the reeds' throng. How many high officials and fame-seekers, were once cowherd boys all along.
"Reeds tall, reeds long, gazing across mountains and rivers strong. This side of the reeds is home, that side is the ocean's song.
"Reeds tall, reeds long, by the reeds we weave all day long. Weave them into a bundle, to carry on my journey along.
"Reeds tall, reeds long, the reed flute's melody sweet and strong.
"Cowherds echo from afar, making me miss my pa and ma..."
Qin Mu listened blankly, wanting to join in the song, but in his dream, he was still a two- or three-month-old infant, unable to make a sound.
The pursuers came again, the gods and demons fierce.
At the source of the Yong River, Auntie Juan'er, in despair, saw a woman washing her sword by the water.
Qin Mu saw that the woman washing her sword had a familiar face, like the girl who had fed him medicine. Auntie Juan'er begged her for help. The woman drew her sword, and it flew like a white dragon, a single sword stroke toppling a city, its light shining across nine provinces.
It was a familiar sword light, evolved from Qin Mu's own sword techniques, carrying the spirit and essence of protecting the common people in the end times.
"What is his name?"
The sword-washing woman came to Auntie Juan'er's side, looking at the infant in the basket.
"His name is Qin Fengqing."
Auntie Juan'er gazed tenderly at the infant in the basket, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. "I need to take him to a safe place, so those gods and demons can't hurt him. But I can't go on. I want to entrust him to you..."
The sword-washing woman shook her head. "My name is Bai Qu'er. I am a remnant of the Imperial Sovereign's forces, fleeing from enemies. I've already killed a batch of pursuers. Entrusting him to me would only make him more dangerous. I can escort you for a while, but not for long."
They traveled along the river. The bright sun hung in the western sky. Auntie Juan'er hummed the children's song, and the sword-washing woman listened quietly. They walked for who knows how long, and then the humming suddenly stopped.
The sword-washing woman looked at Auntie Juan'er. She had already breathed her last, her eyes vacant, like a walking corpse still clutching the basket as she continued walking on the river's surface.
A powerful obsession drove her forward, stubbornly carrying this swaddled infant to find a safe place, to entrust him to someone who could care for him.
The sword-washing woman stared blankly, not taking the basket from Auntie Juan'er's arms. She was not someone worthy of such a trust.
She could only protect this stubborn corpse, protect it as it searched for a worthy home.
She hummed the children's song that the girl had sung before her death.
"Reeds tall, reeds long, hide and seek in the reeds' throng. How many high officials and fame-seekers, were once cowherd boys all along..."
Auntie Juan'er's corpse walked forward with the song, a smile on her face.
They traveled downstream, and the song never ceased.
Finally, the sky darkened. Darkness was coming.
"...Reeds tall, reeds long, the reed flute's melody sweet and strong. Cowherds echo from afar, making me miss my pa and ma."
The sword-washing woman sang this children's song as darkness and fog surged in, swallowing Auntie Juan'er behind her.
The sword-washing woman walked into the fog and watched as Auntie Juan'er sank into the water, still holding the basket high.
The river rushed onward, carrying them downstream.
When night falls, don't go out.
In the distance, from a village by the river, a voice called out: "Listen! There's a baby crying outside!"
"Impossible, you must be hearing things... Hey, there really is a baby crying!"
In the fog, the sword-washing woman watched as a hunchbacked old woman picked up the infant from the basket. Only then did she slowly retreat.
"I used the Infinite Kalpa Sutra to enter the Dao through dreams, helping him trace back to his origins and preserve his soul. Now he is no longer in danger of death."
In the Qin Continent, the Old Buddha, who had been dreaming, had landed at some point. He said to the Heavenly Lord, Lord Tu, and the others, "My Infinite Kalpa Sutra was originally meant to be passed to him, but he never had the opportunity. Now, in his sleep, I have helped him enter the Dao through dreams and recall the past. It is only a matter of time before he comprehends my Infinite Kalpa Sutra on his own."
The Heavenly Lord said, "It is fortunate that the Old Buddha woke up in time. Otherwise, even if he survived, his cultivation would have suffered greatly."
At that moment, Qin Mu slowly woke up, the familiar children's song reaching his ears.
"Reeds tall, reeds long, reed catkins like snow, vast and strong. Reeds know best the wind's fury, reeds know best the rain's song..."
He struggled up from the bed and followed the song outside.
This song made him feel as if he had returned to his days as a cowherd, by the reed marshes, the cowherd's flute crisp and melodious, pieces of white reed catkins floating in the wind.
He stepped outside. The moonlight was bright. A familiar girl sat in the moon palace, humming the children's song, gazing down at the mountains and rivers of Yancheng below.
She turned her head and gave him a serene, shy smile.
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