869 The Cowherd by the Enthralling River (2/2)
The pursuers too ran into the fog.
When the fog dissipated, there was a radiant sun in the sky. The sunlight shone so brilliantly that the swaddled baby shut his eyes and hid his face inside the cloth.
Aunt Ping'er had blood flowing out of her mouth as she continued to run unsteadily. She covered the basket with her palm, humming a folksong to coax the baby to sleep.
”Tall reed, long reed, playing hide-and-seek in the reed marshes. How many powerful and famous people were once the cowherds of the past.
”Tall reed, long reed, looking at each other across mountains and across seas. On this side of the reed is the hometown, on the other side of the reed is the sea.
”Tall reed, long reed, weaving by the reed marshes. When the weave is done, it is rolled into my bag, it accompanies me on my journey thus on to afar.
”Tall reed, long reed, the reed flute tune is melodious.
”The cowherds are in a distant land, always on the minds' of their father and mother...”
...
Qin Mu listened to it in a daze, wanting to sing along. However, in the dream, he was just a baby of two to three months old, so he wasn't able to.
The pursuers were on their tails, the gods and devils vicious and fierce.
At the source of the raging river, in her despair, Aunt Ping'er saw a woman washing her sword by the river.
Qin Mu saw that the sword washing woman had a familiar face, she looked like the girl who was feeding him medicine. Aunt Ping'er asked for help, and the woman pulled out her sword. The sword was like a dragon dancing in the air, it could enrapture an entire city and be lauded in nine prefectures.
It was a familiar sword light. The sword techniques were evolved from Qin Mu's sword techniques, and it carried the essence and spirit that protected ordinary people in the apocalypse.
”What is his name?”
The sword washing woman came to Aunt Ping'er's side, looking at the baby inside the basket.
”His name is Qin Fengqing.”
Aunt Ping'er looked at the baby in the basket with a gentle gaze as blood spilled out from the corners of her mouth. ”I have to send him to a safe place, I cannot let those gods and devils harm him. But I can't go on anymore, I wish to entrust him to you...”
The sword washing woman shook her head. ”My name is Bai Qu'er, I am one of the remaining survivors of High Emperor. I am hiding from the pursuits of my enemies and have already killed a group of pursuers. Leaving him to me will only endanger him further. I can protect you for some time, but it cannot be for too long.”
They moved along the river, the radiant sun hung in the skies to the West. Aunt Ping'er hummed a nursery rhyme as the sword washing woman listened on quietly. After walking for an unknown distance, the sound of the nursery rhyme suddenly stopped.
The sword washing woman looked towards Aunt Ping'er. She had already stopped breathing, and her eyes were lifeless. She continued to walk along the river carrying the basket as a walking corpse.
The extremely strong attachment allowed her to continue moving forwards, to stubbornly continue to find a safe place for this swaddled baby, and to find someone she could entrust him to.
The sword washing woman was in a daze, yet she didn't take the basket away from Aunt Ping'er's arms. She wasn't someone who should be entrusted with the baby.
She could only protect this stubborn corpse, protecting her until she found someone.
She hummed the nursery rhyme that the girl had hummed before she died.
”Tall reed, long reed, playing hide-and-seek in the reed marshes. How many powerful and famous people were once the cowherds of the past...”
Aunt Ping'er's corpse followed the song and walked forwards with a smile on her face.
They continued along the river, and she didn't stop humming.
Finally, the skies started to dull, and the darkness was about to arrive.
”...Tall reed, long reed, the reed flute tune is melodious. The cowherds are in a distant land, always on the minds' of their father and mother...”
The sword washing woman sang the nursery rhyme as darkness and fog surged forward, drowning Aunt Ping'er behind her.
The sword washing woman walked into the fog, watching as Aunt Ping'er sank into the waters. She was still holding the basket up high.
The river gushed and carried them downstream.
'Don't go outside when it's dark.'
In the far distance, a voice could be heard from the village by the river. ”Everyone, listen! A child is crying outside!”
”Impossible. You must be hearing things... Eh, there really is a baby crying!”
In the fog, the sword washing woman watched as a hunchback old woman carried the baby out of the basket before she gradually retreated.
”I've used the Boundless Calamity Sutra, entering the path through dreams to help him trace his origin and preserve his soul. At present, his life is no longer in danger.”
Within the Qin word land, the old Buddha who had always been asleep had landed suddenly, speaking to Heaven Duke, Earth Count, and the others. ”I originally intended to impart my Boundless Calamity Sutra to him, but he didn't have the fate for it. At present, helping him to enter the path through dreams within his dream, and through remembering his past, his comprehending of my Boundless Calamity Sutra is only a matter of time.”
Heaven Duke replied, ”Fortunately, old Buddha woke up in time. Otherwise, even if he survived, I fear he may have suffered great losses to his cultivation.”
At this very moment, Qin Mu gradually woke up, and a familiar nursery rhyme could be heard by his ear.
”Tall reed, long reed, the reed catkins resemble snow. The reed knows best of the violent winds, the reed knows best of the raging rain..”
He struggled to get out of bed, following the sound of the song and walking outside.
The song made him feel like he had returned to his days as a cowherd. By the reed catkins, the sound of the reed flute was clear and melodious, and the snow-white reed catkins fluttered about in the wind.
He walked outside. The moonlight was brilliant, and a familiar-looking girl sat in the moon palace, humming the nursery rhyme as she looked down at the mountains and rivers of Eternal Peace.
She turned her head around, giving him a peaceful and shy smile.