Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 208: Earth Count’s Nine Pacts

Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem

If one could understand forty to fifty percent of a language, the rest which they didn’t understand would become like a ciphertext. According to the words said in front and behind, one could be able to guess the meaning of those coded words.

This was what Qin Mu had done.

He originally knew nothing about the devil language, but because of fate, he had heard the devil language at Goddess Pass in Great Ruins and memorized it. After that, he had met a devil god who was sealed in the wall in Doom Suppression Palace who taught him Great Freedom Mudra, so he learned a bit more of the devil language.

With this knowledge, he could deduce what was being said. It was like deciphering a ciphertext.

In the oath Dutian Devil King had made three times, there were numerous devil language words, and they were extremely pure. Qin Mu knew since a long time ago that the language of gods and devils contained a terrifying might. While listening to the three times Dutian Devil King made his oath, Qin Mu mastered the devil language to an astonishing degree.

If Dutian Devil King now made an oath with him in human language, he could use it to compare to what was said before and learn the words of the devil language he hadn’t understood before!

It wasn’t wrong of Dutian Devil King to say that he had taken the chance to learn.

Now it wasn’t too hard for Qin Mu to converse with Dutian Devil King in devil language, but to be on the safe side, he felt that it was still better to use the human language. He could then completely understand the meaning of the sentences so that he wouldn’t get tricked by Dutian Devil King.

Qin Mu’s gaze flickered. “In that case, does devil king still want to make an oath?”

Dutian Devil King sneered, “Yes, naturally yes!”

He knew Qin Mu planned to take this chance to master the devil language completely, but he could do nothing about it. The only other option was to kill Qin Mu, but if he did that, he would disappear as well. He was just a consciousness and magic power.

“Spirits of the deceased come back, Earth Count’s Nine Pacts, we submit ourselves to you!”

Dutian Devil King’s voice sounded out and called Earth Count’s taboo name to rouse the attention of this ruler of Youdu. This time he used the human language, so he had no way to play any tricks.

Qin Mu carefully noted the meaning of each and every word. He was very careful and studied them over and over again.

In time, he felt an indescribable energy surging forth from a deep space. This energy became stronger and stronger, forming half a gate in his mind.

Dutian Devil King completed the oath and looked at Qin Mu.

Qin Mu became even more confident in his devil language after comparing the oaths words in both languages. Only then did he speak the oath as well, and when he reached the part where it said we submit ourselves to you, he could feel a pair of eyes landing on his body. To be exact, they landed on his soul!

His soul shuddered as he felt a limitless power and the immensity of the one who controls the souls!

This was an existence who controlled all the souls and held boundless power. He had no interest in the corporeal body, just the soul.

If one violated the oath, he would descend and take away the soul of the violator!

Qin Mu continued to speak out the oath of alliance, and half a gate gradually appeared in front of his eyes. This gate matched the half of Dutian Devil King’s, forming a complete gate.

Beyond it, there was endless darkness.

However, below the gate, Qin Mu ‘saw’ a yellow spring, although, it probably shouldn’t be called that. It was a bright and dazzling stream that had nine bends and eighteen curves which grew thicker and thicker towards the bottom, looking like the river of heaven.

At the bottom of the endless yellow spring, he ‘saw’ an emotionless gaze.

This bright golden stream wasn’t the yellow springs but horns.

These were the two horns on the head of Earth Count, the controller of souls!

Earth Count’s Nine Pacts held of the meaning of the nine bends.

Nine pacts were nine bends.

His horns were the nine bends, the yellow spring.

Qin Mu and Dutian Devil King had made an oath, and it was formed on the nine bends of the horns of this majestic primitive god!

Why was violating the oath called breaking a pact? It should be related to Earth Count’s Nine Pacts. The oath of alliance was formed on the nine bends of the yellow spring, so if one violated the oath, Earth Count would take away their soul.

When the oath of alliance was finished, the gate closed and the vision in front of Qin Mu’s ‘eyes’ vanished.

“Hehe, hehehe…”

Dutian Devil King’s laugh rang out, and Qin Mu was bewildered. “What’s devil king laughing about?”

“Nothing much!”

Dutian Devil King laughed non-stop, but he still couldn’t resist saying it out loud while chuckling, “Brat, even though you’re as clever as a devil, you still fell into my trap! You made an oath with me and not my true body, I’m only a consciousness, and you made an oath with it! Now you better work for me sincerely! As for the words of Youdu, don’t think that I’ll tell you anything about them! This consciousness of mine can just be eliminated, I don’t care!”

Qin Mu stared with his eyes wide open, unable to return to his senses for quite a while.

Dutian Devil laughed long and loud and was very pleased with himself as he admired Qin Mu’s helpless figure.

After a moment, Qin Mu let out a breath and muttered, “No wonder Grandpa Cripple always told me to treat others with a smile and stab them in the back at the same time… Devil king, you’re really a professional. Luckily, I’m not bad as well.”

Dutian Devil King’s heart tightened.

Qin Mu muttered to himself, “I’ve also a trick up my sleeve. I decided to kill your subjects wave after wave after summoning them. This won’t be seen as breaking the pact.”

Dutian Devil King was startled.

Both of them fell silent.

After a moment, Dutian Devil King said, “We’re only harmful to each other like this. Since you don’t believe me, there’s no need to continue living in your body. I’ll choose the second option. You will create a mechanism and I’ll leave your body to leech onto the god statue. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you the language of Youdu after you finish building the god statue mechanism.”

“Deal!”

Qin Mu was exhilarated. Old Ma frequently forged all kinds of furniture, and he had learned quite some handicraft from him. Including the path of painting and calligraphy he learned from Deaf and smelting he had learn from Mute, it wasn’t that troublesome for him to create a god statue mechanism.

Qin Mu was about to start working on it when he felt a chill down his spine and cold sweat rolled down his forehead. “I almost got tricked by him! Before making the god statue mechanism for him, I have to summon the devils to complete the oath. Otherwise, if I only concentrate on creating the god statue mechanism and he teaches the language of Youdu to me without me summoning the devils, I’ll be violating the oath and my soul will be taken away by Earth Count!”

Dutian Devil King exclaimed in admiration, “You’re pretty good, if you came to my Dutian, you could survive there with your wits.”

Qin Mu let out a breath. If he wasn’t careful when dealing with an existence like Dutian Devil King, even his bone marrows might be devoured by him!

He went to the west room to get some money, preparing to buy some Winter Crystal Iron and wood to sculpt the god statue. However, he saw Hu Ling’er standing at the door, looking around. Qin Mu smiled. “Ling’er, why aren’t you cultivating but standing around here?”

Hu Ling’er said with worry, “Imperial Preceptor still owes us one thousand great abundance coins, it’s time for him to repay…”

Qin Mu shook his head and went to the warehouse to get some materials, moving them to the courtyard.

Sculpting a god statue wasn’t hard for him. In just half a day, he had sculpted five different kinds of wooden statue under the guidance of Dutian Devil King. They were all sculptures of devil gods.

“These five fellows are those that don’t accept my rule, it’s a treat to me if you summon them over to kill them.” Dutian Devil King smiled.

When Qin Mu finished sculpting the wooden statues, he cooked dishes and called Hu Ling’er who was still at the door to eat. She came over with a blank expression, and when she ate halfway, she suddenly muttered in a daze, “Young master, Imperial Preceptor still owes us one thousand coins.”

Qin Mu took out a smelting furnace which he had stolen from Rolan’s Golden Palace to smelt Winter Crystal Irons to forge the parts which were needed in making the god statue mechanism. While he worked busily until midnight, the scholars living around him couldn’t sleep from the ruckus he was creating and complained to the directorates. A few directorates came forth personally and asked him politely to stop.

Qin Mu could only do as they told him and went to sleep.

On the second day, he opened the room’s door and washed up yet he kept feeling that something was missing. After thinking for a while, he finally remembered that there was something missing under the blanket when he was sleeping yesterday.”

“It seems like Ling’er didn’t tunnel under my blanket to sleep last night…”

Qin Mu pushed open the gate to the courtyard and saw Hu Ling’er standing at the head of the dragon qilin who was outside. She was looking at the entrance to Scholar’s Residence and her eyes were red, which showed that she hadn’t slept the whole night.

“Young master, Imperial Preceptor still owes us one thousand great abundance coins,” she said with disappointment.

Qin Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He carried her up and tucked her away under the blanket before continuing to forge the god statue mechanism.

When it came to the third day, Hu Ling’er was still standing guard at the gate. The little fox only weakly came back at night for dinner, sitting there in a daze for a long while. “Imperial Preceptor still owes us one thousand great abundance coins.”

When the fourth day came, Hu Ling’er didn’t say anything and didn’t go to the door to wait. She had an unhappy expression on her face.

Qin Mu asked with concern what was wrong, and she said, “I guess Imperial Preceptor really won’t return the money.”

Qin Mu finally finished creating the god statue mechanism. It had four heads and eight arms, and every joint in the body could move freely. All kinds of totem markings were imprinted on the body yet Qing Mu didn’t let Dutian Devil King enter it immediately.

At this moment, knocking sounds came from outside, and Qin Mu took a glance at Hu Ling’er. He saw that the little fox was still in a daze and didn’t go to open the door. He couldn’t help shaking his head and went to open the door himself.

An elder stood in front of the door. His clothes were old, but they were very clean. He smiled. “Is this Young Master Qin Mu? I’m the butler of Imperial Preceptor’s manor and my surname is Fu. I have come under the orders of Imperial Preceptor to return the money.”

Qin Mu was astonished. “Elder Fu, the rewards from the emperor have come?”

Elder Fu said, “That’s right, they arrived. The emperor rewarded Imperial Preceptor with a hundred palace maids and a million gold. Imperial Preceptor accepted these gifts, but the hundred palace maids are giving him a headache. He can’t support all of them, but luckily there’s some money now. However, after returning all the debts, I reckon only half of it will be left… Young Master Qin, here’s the one thousand coins…”

Qin Mu wanted to call Hu Ling’er over when he saw a flash of white light streak across his eyes. Hu Ling’er rushed over as if she was flying and snatched the coin pouch from Elder Fu’s hands with a sweet smile. “Seems like Imperial Preceptor is a person of credibility, thanks for the trouble, Elder Fu.”

Elder Fu was astonished and didn’t say anything. He then warned Qin Mu, “Young Master Qin is wealthy so you must be careful. Recently there’s been a thief running amuck in the capital city. Many rich officials have been robbed. The worst was Imperial Physician You, he cried in bed for so many days. There were also a few high officials who were robbed and didn’t dare to say anything because they had lost too many treasures. Only their servants are discussing it…”

As he was talking about it, two elders walked into Scholar’s Residence while wearing brightly colored clothes and pieces of gold and silver jewelry, looking very extravagant. One of them was a cripple while the other looked like a middle-aged householder. They both seemed rich and imposing.