Chapter 6 — A Lad Treads the Wind and Escapes the Ape's Jaws
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Behind him, the deer hide was chopped to shreds by Senior Sister Qing's qi-guided flying sword. The sword was like drifting petals, coming and going like lightning—clearly this woman's swordcraft had advanced by leaps and bounds during her pursuit of Shen Mu!
All the same, casting off the deer hide had delayed him for a moment. A youth, treading the leaves across the treetops, descended from on high and landed directly in front of him, barring the way.
The distance between them was a mere two or three zhang—a distance crossed in an instant, and the next instant they would be face to face!
Shen Mu had no time to change direction. No other thought remained in his head. His body of its own accord brought out the leg technique the Lame Old Man had taught him. Head down, feet up, his legs swept out like a whirlwind!
"Azure Dragon Arms!"
The youth, a few years older than Shen Mu, wore a mocking smile and crossed both arms to block. Layer after layer of hazy azure light radiated from his arms, and dragon claws covered with dragon scales surfaced through the skin of his hands. The next moment Shen Mu's legs slammed into his arms, and two ringing clangs like striking iron rang out. Before the smile could fade from the youth's face, he gave a muffled groan, lost his footing, and was forced to fall back.
The cloth of both his sleeves burst apart with a bang, the sleeves fluttering like paper butterflies as shredded fabric filled the air. His two arms were tattooed with dragon claws entwined around the limbs.
And yet, having met Shen Mu's two kicks head-on, his arms instantly became red and swollen.
"Do you have iron ingots hidden in your legs?"
The youth's hands trembled with pain, shock and rage mingled on his face, and his gaze dropped once more to Shen Mu's feet: "Are your shoes iron too?"
Shen Mu pushed himself up with both hands, landed on his feet, and fled madly away.
But the youth's words had reminded him: there were indeed iron ingots bound to his legs. When the Lame Old Man taught him leg techniques, he had required Shen Mu to bind iron ingots to both legs and never remove them—whether lying down, rising, or walking, he was to keep them on at all times.
In recent days, seeing Shen Mu's body growing ever more solid and his strength ever greater, the Lame Old Man had made the ingots heavier and heavier. That was not all: he had also had the mute blacksmith forge Shen Mu a pair of iron shoes to add yet more weight.
A pair of thick-soled iron shoes weighed ten jin, and the ingots on one leg weighed twenty jin. On his two legs Shen Mu carried fifty jin of iron!
The Lame Old Man had told him to train until he could not feel the weight of the iron shoes and ingots; only then could the ingots come off and the shoes be taken off. These days Shen Mu had long grown used to them. Just now, sprinting for his life, it had never dawned on him that he was running weighted down.
But to stop and remove his shoes and straps would surely mean being caught. He simply could not stop.
"Trampling Mount Sumeru!"
As he ran, Shen Mu suddenly stamped down with his right foot and unleashed the move known as Trampling Mount Sumeru. The thick soles of the iron shoes he wore burst apart like mud, the shoes shattering into pieces that flew in all directions.
At the same time, his calf muscles clenched, the muscles of his legs bunching into knots and swelling outward, bursting the iron ingots free, and like sharp arrows they shot, *duo duo*, into the surrounding trees.
Shen Mu stepped forward with his other foot and stamped again, likewise smashing that iron shoe and bursting those ingots.
*Whoosh—*
His body suddenly grew light; he took one step and found himself atop the treetops, startling himself.
Barefoot, Shen Mu stood on tiptoe upon a crown of leaves, his body beginning to sink.
And below, sword-light glittered, thrusting upward. Filling his vision were dozens of sharp sword points!