荒墟牧神 - 第47章 局中忽現第三客 - 錦書坊

not that she feared disturbing Shen Mu; rather, she had a natural dread of dragons and was afraid that any noise she made might disturb the dragon skeleton. An hour later, the white fox returned, carrying a bag filled with strange dandelion-like creatures. Suppressing the dread in her heart toward the dragon skeleton, Snow Fox went into the mist, came to Shen Mu's side, climbed up his body, perched on his shoulder, and stuffed one of those creatures into his mouth. Shen Mu, oblivious, opened his mouth when food came and obediently swallowed. Snow Fox fed him more than twenty of those strange creatures before she began munching on some herself. Shen Mu still showed no sign of waking, continuing to pace, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on the dragon skeleton, sometimes even climbing onto it and roaming among the enormous bones. Around the spirit embryo, an azure dragon coiled, crackling with electric sparks, but Shen Mu, wholly concentrated on the dragon skeleton, did not notice. In this way two days passed without anyone noticing. Shen Mu ate, drank, slept, and relieved himself right where he was, and his body had long since begun to stink, yet still there was no sign of waking. Snow Fox was very patient. During those days she looked after his food and drink. When Shen Mu was thirsty, she fetched water in a leaf; when he was hungry, she caught the strange creatures in the passage. But on the way she had to pass the pool, and the monstrous fish lurked in the water; one careless slip and she would be devoured. Fortunately she was clever, and no mishap occurred. Of course, she would still hide when Shen Mu had to attend to nature. On the third day, as Snow Fox was about to fetch some water, Shen Mu's voice suddenly came: "Why am I so filthy?" Snow Fox, startled and delighted, said crisply, "You've been standing here for three days—of course you're filthy!" "Three days?" Shen Mu gave a start and blurted, "Oh no! I've been gone for three days; the villagers must be worried to death! Let's go—hurry back!" Then he stopped short again. "If I go back now, I'll definitely be scolded, and they may even refuse to let me out again. Since I've come this far, I might as well go into the Dragon Palace and have a look. Maybe I can find some treasure." Full of enthusiasm, he walked into the underwater Dragon Palace, and Snow Fox, summoning her courage, followed him into the towering palace. But she was timid and dared only to stay close by Shen Mu's leg, not venturing to move about freely. This great hall too was shrouded in mist—even thicker mist, vast and blurred, so that one could not see far. "Strange. What is giving off this mist?" Shen Mu wondered. This fog was not water vapor; even his Cloud-Soaring Heavenly Eye could not see far through it. The closer he walked toward the center of the hall, the heavier the mist became and the shorter his range of vision. Snow Fox, even more frightened, clamped her teeth on Shen Mu's trouser leg and let him pull her along. Then he heard a strange sound—soft, drawn out, and yet mournful, as though someone in the mist were singing a desolate song, though the words could not be made out. It was an ancient language, mysterious and abstruse, as old as the speech of gods and demons. As Shen Mu listened, he raised a hand and touched his cheek; before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face. The song made him feel as if a woman were drifting back and forth in the mist, singing a story that broke her heart. All at once, the golden rings on the Brahma-Silence Twelve-Ring Staff in his hand began to clang loudly, making a tremendous din. "Grandpa Huo said the golden rings of the Brahma-Silence Twelve-Ring Staff have the power to drive away stray and evil thoughts. When the heart stirs, the rings stir; for each stray or evil thought that stirs, a ring sounds once. But now the rings are ringing like beans rattling in a copper sieve, clanging on and on without stopping—do I really have that many stray and evil thoug