Chapter 40 — The Wind's Edge First Shows, Piercing the Vast Sky
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 3
The man scrambled to his feet and ran off at full speed toward Zhang Family Stockade. He must have been a martial artist, for his speed was great. Fearing he would be too late, he was about to turn back and urge Granny Zhu and the others on, when he saw that Granny Zhu and the blind elder were still following steadily behind him — and even that boy of eleven or twelve had kept up.
"Your steps are too slow."
The blind elder said serenely, "Mu'er, carry him on your back. Faster, so the sun does not set on us."
Shen Mu at once rushed forward and, without another word, hoisted the man onto his back. "Be careful — I have a blade on my back. Don't let it cut you."
The man hurriedly said, "Put me down! You cannot run fast with me on your back..."
Before his words faded, a wild wind suddenly howled past his ears. Shen Mu leaped up, bounded out of the mountain forest, and with the man on his back went racing away, treading upon the leaves!
The man was terrified. The wind at his ears grew louder and louder, and the boy carrying him ran faster and faster. His heart was filled with nameless shock. "How has this young fellow trained? He is far stronger than I!"
As Shen Mu ran, he felt as though he were treading upon the wind. His heart stirred slightly. "Lame Grandpa said that when he tempered his body, he was in the Spirit Fetus realm, treading the wind-edges and walking upon the wind. If I can find the wind-edges, then can I not also walk upon the wind? But what are wind-edges?"
He had no time to ponder while running. The man on his back was still worrying whether Granny Zhu and the blind elder could keep up, when suddenly he saw the two old ones sitting cross-legged, following behind Shen Mu. The two of them were actually being carried along by the whirlwind stirred up by Shen Mu's mad dash, no slower than Shen Mu himself!
"What movement art is this?"
His mind went blank. The sun finally sank behind the western hills, and the Gloom came rolling in from the west, blotting sky and earth, devouring all in its path.
Shen Mu ran with extreme speed. Far ahead he saw Zhang Family Stockade and raced toward it. Just before the Gloom could overtake him, he finally plunged into the village!
Whoosh —
Though he halted his body, the great wind behind him still howled onward. Granny Zhu and the blind elder sat serenely in the wind, drifting forward a dozen zhang before stretching out their legs and standing steady on the ground.
Shen Mu was stunned for a moment, then wild joy surged in his heart. "Wind-edges — so this is what wind-edges are!"