荒墟牧神 - 第46章 一聲驚起真龍 - 雲海書庫

have been the pillars that bore the river water up, keeping the flood from reaching here. Yet many of the palaces had already collapsed; some tremendous upheaval must have occurred here, reducing the place to ruins. The white fox capered up to the remains of a palace, and Shen Mu saw, on a wall half fallen, mottled murals: an aged dragon-headed elder banqueting his guests, and the guests were all strange and outlandish creatures — a man with a tortoise's shell, a woman with a serpent's tail, a monk, and men of flesh and blood. Crash. A pillar came down, narrowly missing Shen Mu and the little fox. The white fox padded into the half-collapsed hall. "This is where I found those ancient texts." Shen Mu drew closer. In this ruined great hall was a hidden chamber built into the wall; only now that its stone door had fallen away had the white fox discovered it. The chamber was emptied out; whatever had been inside must have been carried off by the white fox. "If we go any further, there is great peril ahead!" The white fox pointed at a towering gateway ahead, panic in her voice. "It is terrifying!" Shen Mu looked at the gateway. Beyond it he could just make out what seemed a palace, still fairly intact, not yet collapsed; what was strange was that it appeared veiled in a film of mist, and he could not make out what lay within, only that the palace seemed to float amid the vapor, now visible, now hidden. "There is something dreadful in there..." The white fox's voice trembled. "Once you reach the gateway you will feel its presence — and then your legs give way, and you cannot rise..." Shen Mu walked forward, the white fox gathering her courage to follow at his heels. The moment they reached the gateway, an overwhelming baleful aura struck him full in the face — appalling, bone-shaking, like half a clear midday sky suddenly smothered by black cloud hanging before him, and within that brooding darkness a beast of monstrous, dreadful size fixing its gaze upon him! Sacred, august, inviolable, and at the same time savage and ferocious — this was the great terror the white fox had spoken of. Shen Mu drew a long breath, steadied himself, and his mind returned to its usual calm. "Lingxiao Heaven Eye, open!" Yuan-qi patterns weaved and interlaced within his pupils, forming a second set of pupil-patterns, and he gazed through the mist beyond the gateway. Beside him the white fox had gone limp: she flopped onto the ground on her belly and, with great effort, turned herself around to crawl slowly back the way they had come. Shen Mu picked her up. The white fox hung slack in his grip. "Don't hold me... I'm dying... my heart is racing..." "You are not dying. What's in this dragon palace is dead." Shen Mu smiled. "Guess what I saw?" The white fox did not answer; her four limbs paddled feebly at the air and her tail swished back and forth, as though she wanted to crawl away, unwilling to spend one more instant here. Shen Mu laughed. "I saw the Dragon King of the Surging River!" "Ah —" The little white fox let out a soft sigh and fainted, all four legs kicking straight. After a moment she quietly opened one eye and rolled it around twice. Shen Mu tried her: "The Dragon King of the Surging River." The white fox's four legs stiffened even straighter, and her eyes shut again. "The Dragon King of the Surging River is dead." Shen Mu did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Nothing but bones are left. This Dragon King has been dead for untold years; I saw his dragon bones in the mist." The white fox's eyes flew open. "Dead?" Shen Mu nodded. "You can rest easy this time. Will you come in with me?" The white fox shook her head vehemently. Helpless, Shen Mu set her down — only to see the white fox still crawling outward, belly pressed to the ground, weak as water. He picked her up again, set her on his shoulder, and strode toward the gateway. The white fox was beside herself with fright: every hair of her snowy coat stood on end, her claws dug deep into his sh