Tales of Herding Gods

The bird-headed god tilted his head and flapped his wings. He said unpleasantly, “How could you not know what you did? Think again! King Yama will behead you later and let you understand why you died.”

Qin Mu was at a loss. He couldn’t remember anything that could have brought upon him King Yama’s ire.

‘Could it be because I drove Moon Ship away? But Moon Ship doesn’t belong to Fengdu, but moon herders. King Yama despised the character of Moon Guardian so he didn’t accept his allegiance. Driving Moon Ship away wouldn’t be a crime, would it?’

He had entered Fengdu to find Village Chief and check if the young patriarch was also there or not. Even though the bird-headed god said he had done something, Qin Mu didn’t worry at all. Instead, he even felt a little anticipation.

Besides, he couldn’t run even if he wanted to.

Suddenly, Xing An’s roars sounded out. “Divine Physician Qin, what have you done to me?”

Qin Mu turned back to look. The existence that was the strongest in the world couldn’t be found anymore. He had all kinds of body parts hanging off him, with some of the heads being those of men and some of women. They were young and old, but none of them actually belonged to him.

Upon coming to the living realm of the dead, the original consciousness of the body parts had recovered, and the missing limbs were restored, seizing back the body parts that originally belonged to them. In comparison, Xing An’s own consciousness became no stronger than those the others occupying his body.

He could no longer control such a strange body that had so many limbs!

“Xing An, what have you done to us?” twenty to thirty heads asked together as the limbs started fighting one another. It was like a round ball rolling around.

“Xing An, it isn’t what I have done to you, but what you’ve done to them. You stole their body parts which created the current you. In this living realm of the dead, the living are the dead, and the dead are the living. Look at me and the dragon qilin, and you will understand my words,” Qin Mu said sorrowfully.

Xing An couldn’t move at all, only the limbs of the other people could do it. He had stolen too many parts from other people’s bodies, and as a result, the only thing that actually belonged to him was the three souls in his body.

Even his primordial spirit was seized from another person!

The bird-headed god tilted his head to look at him. “Xing An, King Yama would also like to see you. You’ve got a primordial spirit that interests him. Everyone, follow me.”

The huge meat ball formed by Xing An roared and even tried its best to leave this world. Yet the body parts didn’t listen. Instead, they took crawled toward Fengdu.

“Let me go!”

Xing An’s voice held a hint of fear. It was the second time he felt fear.

The first time was when he had opened Life and Death Divine Treasure. He noticed that there was an end to his life, that once his lifespan was up, the Youdu below Life and Death Realm would swallow his primordial spirit, sending him into darkness forever!

It was a great terror, an outcome that he couldn’t accept!

After opening Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, he realized that it was broken and with his intelligence, he couldn’t repair it, so Xing An chose another path to immortality.

He seized the body parts of others.

Since he couldn’t become a god himself and his corporeal body would age, he would just have to seize other people’s body parts and replace his aging corporeal body.

He was arrogant, so he decided to become another type of god, and those who could catch his eyes were all top notch existences in the whole world, existences that had reached god realm in some sort of way.

Even though he didn’t kill those sheep, they had still died because of him.

Now that they revived, he died instead. Those people were splitting apart the body of a true god he had painstakingly refined, trying to tear him apart!

He felt great terror again, the fear for his life!

The bird-headed god gently shifted his foot to find a more comfortable position. He then pulled his head back and perched on the mountaintop. “Xing An, what you have done has also been exposed, but the one that King Yama wants isn’t you—it’s the survivor of the celestial heavens within you.”

“Hehehe…” A sinister voice came from Xing An’s body. “What bullshit King Yama? He’s merely a survivor of the old era! You guys are looking for me, right?”

“Shaman God Kui!”

Qin Mu was astonished. He saw Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit swelling up from Xing An’s body that was full of limbs and forming into a fierce and frightening behemoth that was three thousand yards high. It was even bigger and more majestic than mountains, its gaze like the mouths of two volcanoes that were giving off flames. Around them were incomparably intense darkness.

He looked down from above at the bird-headed god on the mountain. He sneered and said, “You are also a survivor of the old era. I’ve met you before, Founding Emperor Era’s night roamer. You were a scops owl that guarded the souls of convicts in Founding Emperor Era, a god that could travel freely between Youdu and reality, and your name is Chi Xiu! Chi Xiu, take my worship!”

He bowed, but the bird-headed god stood steadily on the mountaintop, not moving at all.

Shaman God Kui was astonished and bowed again. The bird-headed god raised a leg and rubbed the corner of his beak.

Shaman God Kui’s heart trembled, and he hurriedly turned to leave, running out of the living realm of the dead frantically.

He hadn’t died yet. His corporeal body was still suppressed in Yang Mountain in Great Ruins, so he didn’t recover in Youdu and only had his primordial spirit. Its speed was unmatched and was even faster than any divine legs.

He moved and crossed the sea of fog in an instant, nearly rushing out of Fengdu.

But at that moment, Bird-Headed God Chi Xiu flapped his wings, and a gale passed Qin Mu and the rest!

He raised his head and saw a human-faced bird with an immeasurable wingspan that covered the sun. With his talons, he caught the majestic primordial spirit of Shaman God Kui!

The next moment, the bird-headed god flapped his wings and came back. He pressing Shaman God Kui against the ground and quietly pruning his feathers while squatting on the mountaintop.

Qin Mu shivered. The bones on his body collided randomly and rattled.

Against such speed, not to say him, even Cripple couldn’t escape in time!

The shape of Bird-Headed God Chi Xiu was extremely weird. When he had flowed out that moment, he had transformed from corporeal body into pure primordial spirit state, so his speed had gained that speed, even greater than that of Shaman God Kui’s primordial spirit. It was the reason why he could easily catch up to and capture him.

While he flew back, he transformed back into corporeal body state. This kind of technique that could turn him into immaterial and solid was extremely strange.

‘No wonder Shaman God Kui said he could travel in and out of Youdu freely. It seems like what he said is true,’ Qin Mu thought to himself.

Shaman God Kui was chained down as he struggled endlessly. However, he still couldn’t break free from them.

Even if the fierce god was incomparably strong and evil, he was still helpless at this moment. When he saw he couldn’t break free, he quietened down and sneered. “Chi Xiu, my life belongs to heaven and not King Yama! So what if you can take me down?”

The bird-headed god flapped his wings and another chain flew out to tie up Xing An.

It was made from white bone as though crafted from backbones. It was hard to say how many joints were there.

The white bone chain surrounded Xing An before binding Qin Mu’s hands.

Qin Mu was slightly puzzled. “I can’t run so why must Senior Brother Chi Xiu take the trouble?”

“Don’t talk, I hate the smell of living human.”

The bird-headed god moved, and the white bone chains chained Qin Mu together with Shaman God Kui, bringing them to Fengdu. Qin Mu then immediately said, “I still have a chest and a dragon qilin!”

“Truly troublesome.”

Bird-Headed Chi Xiu undid the chains and said, “Wake up your dragon qilin and hurry up. Don’t try to run, for you can’t run!”

Qin Mu kicked the dragon qilin awake, but it still didn’t regain consciousness. Chi Xiu then plucked a feather and gently brushed it against the dragon qilin’s forehead. Only then did the fatty wake up and shiver in fear.

Qin Mu consoled him. “Fatty Dragon, don’t be scared. Patriarch is also probably here. Now that we have entered Fengdu, we might just be able to meet him.”

The dragon qilin’s mind was blown, and he stuttered, “D-didn’t you say Patriarch became a god?”

Qin Mu was silent for a moment before breaking into a smile. “Patriarch became a god in Fengdu.”

The dragon qilin fell silent and raised his claws to wipe his eye sockets. However, he had no corporeal body now so he had no tears too.

“I knew that you lied to me back then…” He hung his head down.

Qin Mu thought about it and said, “Look, in this world, you and I are dead, but Patriarch is still living well. In our world, we are living, but Patriarch is dead. Maybe, life and death isn’t like what you’re thinking, and after death, it’is just another way of living. You need not be sad.”

The dragon qilin raised his head and said seriously, “But from today onwards, you can’t lie to me again.”

Qin Mu nodded solemnly. “I was scared you’d take it too hard so…”

“I’m not a small child, I can take it.” The dragon qilin’s tone was calm when he said, “I’m already very satisfied that he’s able to live in this world… Cult Master, your tailbone is hurting me.”

Qin Mu stood up and stepped on his head. The dragon qilin followed the bird-headed god through the gates of hell and towards Fengdu City.

Behind them, the chest followed while swaying.

It was stumbling left and right as though it was drunk. Qin Mu turned back to look and was puzzled. He then suddenly remembered something. ‘Not good, it’s all the arms and legs inside the chest!’

Just as he thought that, Xing An’s huge chest couldn’t hold back any longer, and it opened up, vomiting everything that was inside it.

Strange and bizarre people fell out, and a bunch of overjoyed skeletons was also spat into midair.

“We are in Fengdu!”

Those skeletons grew flesh in the air and landed on the ground, transforming into naked men and women. They were overjoyed and sprinted straight toward Fengdu!

Meanwhile, the people spat out by the chest were not complete. Some were missings arms and some were missing legs. There were even people with huge holes in their chests, missing their hearts.

Some were missing ribs, some souls, and some divine treasures. What they lacked were all strange and weird.

These people were at a loss. They were the limbs that Xing An had collected.

The chest went after the people that had run away relentlessly, wanting to capture them back for its collection.

Qin Mu immediately called it back and said, “Those people have come back to life here so there’s no need to collect them anymore. I will give you a few treasures, so just place them into your stomach…”

Bang, bang, bang!

Loud rumbles came from the chest, and it became larger and larger. After a moment, it transformed into a behemoth in front of them.

Qin Mu opened his mouth in astonishment, his jaw almost dropping to the ground. He immediately held onto it.

The dragon qilin’s lower jaw also dropped to the ground as he opened his mouth wide in disbelief.

Their chest monster had become a huge taotie!