Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 234: Killings In The Snowy Night

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

The elder took a look and nodded. “I’ve met them before. They came to me to ask for directions.”

Fear arose in the heart of the Daoists in the village. This elder was standing right in front of them, but they couldn’t see his face.

Even though they were so close to him, the facial features of this elder were extremely blurry. They used all kinds of third eye, but they still couldn’t see him clearly. It seemed like he wasn’t a living person.

Dutian Devil King also kept quiet out of fear and didn’t dare to make a sound.

This elder was Youdu’s messenger of death, a god that was his subordinate. Nearly every world had such people, but the jobs that they were responsible for were different from one another. Some of them were responsible for guiding the wandering souls in the world of the living, some of them were responsible for extraditing the dead, and some were responsible for capturing the great divine arts practitioners that had escaped death.

The orders of Youdu and the world of the living were handled by them.

Dutian World had once experienced a war at a world destruction level that had nearly destroyed it entirely. At that time, skeletons of the dead filled the open ground and there were corpses everywhere.

The sun in Dutian World was extinguished, and nearly everything was plunged into darkness. However, among the endless darkness, countless specks of light came out, and under each of them was a similar elder coming forward to extradite the wandering souls.

Back then, Dutian Devil King had luckily survived the great war and become the ruler of Dutian. He had been considered young then and was hot-blooded. When he saw these messengers of death coming to extradite the souls of his Dutian people, he immediately went forward to fight, but he ended up severely injured and almost had his soul taken away.

Because of this, when Dutian Devil King saw this messenger of death, he was still slightly afraid and didn’t dare to say a word.

Qin Mu asked respectfully, “May I ask where they had gone?”

The elder raised his hand and pointed towards the darkness. “Carefree Village. But they will never find that place and just get trapped. There’s a messenger of death ready to take their souls.”

The babbling of water came from the riverside as the drenched men and women popped their heads out from inside it. They slowly walked towards the village with ashen faces, not saying a word.

Paper boats flew out from the village, and these men and women boarded them. The paper boats then sailed into the darkness unhurriedly.

The other Daoists in the village were greatly shaken and immediately moved far away from the strange elder. At this moment, they noticed that two of their comrades were not moving from their spots.

On two of the paper boats that had sailed into the darkness, there were two figures that vaguely resembled the motionless people.

The remaining three Daoists felt their hair stand on end. Long Jiaonan, who had donned a Daoist’s outfit, was also shaking. She wanted to turn and run, but she didn’t dare to escape because outside of the village was darkness.

“Lower your head, don’t look at that elder!” An elderly Daoist came to realization and said immediately, “He is the messenger of death! If your gaze crosses with his, your soul will be taken away!”

Long Jiaonan and another young Daoist immediately lowered their heads, not daring to look at the elder anymore.

Qin Mu’s tone became even more sincere. “May I ask Dao brother for guidance on the location of Carefree Village?”

That elder continued to point to the darkness, not saying anything more.

Qin Mu frowned. The direction in which this elder had pointed out was the living realm of the dead. There was another netherworld there, which was where Fengdu was located.

That time Village Chief and he had barged into the living realm of the dead, they had nearly not been able to come back alive!

“That place is not Carefree Village. May I ask Dao brother where is the real Carefree Village?”

The elder shook his head and still pointed towards the darkness.

Qin Mu asked again, but the elder was no longer talking.

Qin Mu frowned, since he had no ability to travel through the darkness. Other than Village Chief, he reckoned it would be somewhat difficult for everyone else in the village as well unless they were able to carry the stone statues.

He quietened down. There were no other sounds in the village, only the snores of the dragon qilin who had fallen asleep.

After some time, there were no more corpses walking out from the water, and the little boat that the elder was sitting on disappeared into the darkness.

Everything in the village returned back to normal, and it wasn’t as cold as before. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. By then, only three Daoists were left in the village, while Qin Mu’s side still had both Dutian Devil King and the dragon qilin.

The worn out stone statues gave off ghostly light that forced back the darkness in the surroundings. Qin Mu had a strange feeling, and he looked towards the female Daoist with a smile before asking the other two, “Daoist priests look very unfamiliar, where are you from?”

Between the two, one was much older than the other. “Since Heavenly Devil Cult Master asked, I won’t dare to hide from you. Us master and disciple are from Heavenly Star Catcher Sect. This hermit is Daoist Chi Yun and this is my disciple Shao Yun. The other two have also been this hermit’s disciples, but luck was not with them and they had their souls taken away by the messenger of death.”

Qin Mu felt a deep veneration and said, “So you’re experts from Heavenly Stars Catcher Sect. Its Master is called Sect Master Luo Xinghe, am I right?”

“Sect Master Luo is my teacher who has already passed away,” Daoist Chi Yun said sadly. “That day when Heavenly Devil Cult transported the mountain of Daxiang City, my teacher died in the hands of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor.”

“I see.” Qin Mu nodded.

The cold wind in the darkness outside the village whooshed and howled. The few people in the village quietened down once again and didn’t say a word. The two Daoists took down the sword cases on their backs and cleaned them carefully. Long Jiaonan smiled and gently stroked the earring hanging from her ear.

Qin Mu stretched his hand into taotie sack, but he didn’t pull anything out as a smile remained on his face.

Sparkling and translucent snowflakes floated down from the sky and landed around everyone.

This night wasn’t too peaceful, and the snow actually started falling as well.

Dutian Devil King saw that there was something wrong with the atmosphere and secretly kicked the dragon qilin. The fat dragon woke up and looked around before going back to sleep when he saw nothing abnormal.

Dutian Devil King was furious. “What’s the point of raising a lazy bum like him?”

The snow grew heavier and heavier, and soon everyone was covered in a layer of white.

At this moment, one of the many names of Buddha sounded out, and everyone was astonished. This name of Buddha had come from the darkness. Qin Mu pulled out his hand from the taotie sack, Long Jiaonan lowered her hand that was stroking the earring, and the two Daoists placed their sword cases down.

Light came from the darkness, and a chubby-faced big-eared monk came walking in. Looking around, he placed his palms together. “Benefactors, sorry to disturb.”

Qin Mu didn’t dare to neglect him and immediately rose. “We are also guests, so it’s not considered disturbing us.”

Behind this senior monk walked a robust man who was covered in black hair. He had bulging muscles all over his body and was five yards tall. He had a thick devil qi around him and was like a human-shaped violent ape. With a monk staff in his hand, he cried out in astonishment, “Young’un!”

Qin Mu was also indescribably astonished. He looked at the monk staff and recognized it as the khakkhara staff that he had given to the devil ape. He cried out, “Big fella! What are you doing here? You changed your form?”

The demon-like ape was surprised and delighted. He came forward to acknowledge Qin Mu before pointing to the big and fat monk, “Baldy, little!”

Devil ape then pointed at himself and said in a low, muffled voice, “Great, baldy, teach. Baldy, little, little!”

Qin Mu was confused and probed, “What you mean is that this great monk is from Little Thunderclap Monastery? He found you and taught you abilities. He then left and came back to bring you back to Little Thunderclap Monastery?”

The devil ape nodded repeatedly.

Everyone in the village was confused. Dutian Devil King muttered, “How did you even comprehend the meaning of what he was saying…”

Qin Mu was astonished. To be able to bring the devil ape to travel in the darkness meant that this chubby-faced big-eared monk was an existence on the same level as Old Rulai and Village Chief!

A god-like existence.

Fear arose in Long Jiaonan, Daoist Chi Yun, and Daoist Shao Yun’s hearts. They secretly moved back as far as they could, to the point where they would enter the darkness if they went an inch farther.

The three of them grumbled inwardly. The messenger of death earlier and now the Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery were all people Qin Mu knew. Just a word from him could make them lose their lives!

What they didn’t know was that Qin Mu was also extremely nervous. Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery was a demon cultivator, a great demon that had defected from Great Thunderclap Monastery. He was a Great Demon King!

His comprehension of Buddhism was extreme. He had once used a copper buddha to suppress the Centipede Xian Qing’er. That buddha had then ended up getting pushed over by Qin Mu who had made use of the ice tide to save Xian Qing’er!

The chubby-faced, big-eared Little Rulai looked really like a buddha. He was like a living buddha that had a dignified appearance. With a glance at Qin Mu, he said, “So it’s little benefactor. Does little benefactor still remember spoiling my merit?”

The eyes of Long Jiaonan and Daoist Chi Yun lighted up as hope was reignited in their hearts.

Qin Mu said, “I remember.”

Devil ape stood in front of Qin Mu and declared loudly, “Baldy, brother!”

Little Rulai looked at him and shook his head. “Don’t worry, my enemy is coming, so I won’t make a move now. My enemy is here, so stay, I’ll go meet him.”

Just as his words were spoken, a laugh came from the darkness. “Little Rulai, you’re pretty interesting to make a battle appointment late at night.”

In the snowy night, an elder wearing a bamboo hat walked into the dilapidated village covered in snow. Qin Mu was stunned and cried out, “Daoist Ling Jing!”

The elder raised his bamboo hat, and his gaze fell on the youth. He revealed a smile. “So it’s the old sword god’s disciple who borrowed Fengdu coins from me. Do you have the money to return now?”

Qin Mu was embarrassed and replied honestly, “Those Fengdu Coins were all spent.”

Long Jiaonan, Daoist Chi Yun, and Daoist Shao Yun’s complexion froze again. Another top notch practitioner that was able to travel through the darkness arrived, but he was also someone who Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu was familiar with!

How many god-like existences did this Heavenly Devil Cult Master know exactly?

“It’s not late to pay me back in the future.”

Daoist Ling Jing took off his bamboo hat and placed it beside a wall. Looking at Little Rulai, he said without hurry, “Heavy snow and dark sky, what a great time for murder. Little Rulai, let us go farther away to fight.”

“Alright.”

The two top notch practitioners went into the darkness, and the village was silent once again. Qin Mu looked at Long Jiaonan and her two companions who were also looking at him. The few of them remained motionless.

The devil ape saw this situation and was bewildered. Terrifying pulses came from far away, and the snow in the sky turned into fine rain pattering down. The divine arts of Daoist Ling Jing and Little Rulai melted the heavy snow in the dark night, turning snow into rain.

Snowflakes fell from the sky at times, but at others, they were turned into fine rain. It was hard to say for how long this lasted when suddenly the crows of roosters came from the darkness. The darkness rapidly surged back towards the west. and at this moment, Qin Mu, Long Jiaonan, Dutian Devil King. and the rest sprung into action. They instantly delivered killing blows at one another at nearly the same time!

The dragon qilin roared angrily and shook himself, revealing his true form. With blazing fire around his body, he raised his front claws to press down on the head of the red snake pouncing over, smashing it into the ground. Qin Mu rushed toward Daoist Chi Yun’s side in an instant, while Daoist Chi Yun’s countless swords were blocked by Dutian Devil King who was standing behind Qin Mu’s back.

The devil ape leaped up from behind Dutian Devil King and smashed his khakkhara staff onto Daoist Chi Yun’s head.

Chii!

A sword light pierced Daoist Chi Yun’s chest, and with a flick of Qin Mu’s finger, that sword light went slicing horizontally through the neck of Daoist Shao Yuan who was still in a daze as well.

Long Jiaonan grabbed the tail of the huge snake, and it shrunk in size. The woman rose into the sky and disappeared in a flash.