Chapter 5 — The Five Elders of Lan River Come Treading the Barrens
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
The voice came with startling abruptness, full and resonant, brimming with qi. It issued from far away, yet it seemed to ring out at their very ears, shaking the ears of Shen Mu—already turned into a deer—until they buzzed.
He turned to look. Several figures stood on a distant cliff. From the mountain foot to that cliff the ground ran some six or seven li, and Shen Mu could no longer make out faces clearly; but to carry a voice so far and keep it so distinct was no ordinary feat, and those who had done it were no ordinary men.
Granny Zhu, a basket on her arm, smiled: "Heavenly Demon? What Heavenly Demon? This old body is only an ordinary person from the riverside, and this little deer is an ordinary deer I raised myself..."
"Mu'er, run!"
Shen Mu's heart jolted at Granny Zhu's voice. He wanted to speak but could not make a sound. He did not want to go—he was afraid Granny Zhu would run into danger.
"An ordinary person from the riverside? With a voice so full and vigorous, reaching our ears with such clarity—no ordinary old woman could do that."
From the cliff an aged yet sonorous voice sneered: "And as for the Nether Demon Transmutation, the Five Elders of Lan River could never mistake it. Flaying hides into clothing, changing by a thousand forms and ten thousand shapes—we have seen such vicious methods with our own eyes, and you still try to argue?"
Another elder on the cliff said in a deep voice: "The Nether Demon Transmutation turns men and women into oxen and sheep, to be dragged to market, slaughtered, and sold. Have you not done plenty of that? Many seniors of our orthodox schools have been turned by fiends like you into cattle, plowing fields and eating grass all their lives! Your tricks cannot deceive us!"
Yet another elder spoke with pity in his voice: "A deer is also a life. You have refined its hide and its very soul into a thing of evil. If you are not destroyed, how many more lives will be lost to your hands? If we are to kill, whom should we kill but you?"
Granny Zhu twisted her fingers at the brow of the deer that was Shen Mu, drew out a silver needle, and said in a low voice: "These mangy old coots can do nothing to your granny, but if you stay beside me, I'll have to split my attention to look after you. Run—run back to the village!"
Shen Mu hesitated no longer. He turned at once and ran for his life. Turned into a deer, he had thought he would be awkward on four legs; only once he ran did he realize he had been worrying over nothing. The change from man to beast had brought him no discomfort whatsoever; on the contrary, he ran like the wind, as if he had been born a deer.
"Little fiend, you would still flee? If we let you slip away, will you not bring disaster upon the world? Scions of Lan River—this time I have brought you out to be tempered. That deer is your trial. Cut him down and bring me his head!"
"Yes!" Five crisp voices, male and female, answered in unison.
The figures on the cliff flickered, then leaped from the crag and raced down the cliff face, swifter than galloping horses. At the cliff foot, where a waterfall and mountain streams had scoured out a deep pool, the five actually crossed the water on foot, their feet treading the surface as they sped toward the deer Shen Mu had become.
Granny Zhu's heart sank. "Spirit bodies! Their attainments in the Spirit-Soul Mansion are no mean thing. Mu'er cannot match their speed—he is certain to be caught!"
She was about to stop them when four figures came treading through the air from the cliff, and in the space of an instant landed all around her. One man still stood upon the cliff, proud and solitary, and did not descend.
"The Five Elders of Lan River are celebrated figures of the southern borderlands. What business have you in the Barrens?"
Granny Zhu's eyes darted here and there. Seeing the four elders had surrounded her on every side, she cackled: "The Barrens are fraught with danger. Are you not afraid of losing your lives here?"