Chapter 689 — Meeting the Lord Again

"The Plowing Martial Heavenly Master?"

Shen Mu wished he could meet this Heavenly Master at once, but a thought suddenly struck him. "The Woodcutter is honored as a Sage. Are all Heavenly Masters Sages?"

"No."

The Angler shook his head. "Among the four Heavenly Masters, only he can be called a Sage."

Shen Mu was slightly taken aback. "But among the four Heavenly Masters, isn't Teacher Woodcutter the lowest in cultivation and strength?"

The Angler smiled without smiling. "If Sages were judged by how high their martial power reached, then in the Kaihuang Era Sages would have been everywhere. The Woodcutter became a Sage not through cultivation or strength, but through his deeds and his thought. He laid the cornerstone for the Kaihuang Era's twenty-thousand-year foundation. Among the four Heavenly Masters, he stands first. A pity it lasted only twenty thousand years."

Shen Mu was about to ask more, but the Angler was wholly absorbed in fishing for the moon and said nothing further about the other Heavenly Masters.

"Why did Teacher Woodcutter become the foremost of the four Heavenly Masters? And who is the other Heavenly Master?"

Shen Mu suppressed his doubts and cast the Soul-Pulling Art, summoning the souls of the Moon Herders from Youdu. Beside the Soul Spring, countless skeletons of Moon Herders rose to their feet one after another.

The Dragon Qilin trembled like sifting chaff and frantically buried its head in the earth, not daring to look.

Yan Jingjing stepped forward and comforted it softly. "Don't be afraid, big dog. They're all dead. They won't do anything to you."

Suddenly, a Yin Courier came hurrying over on a paper boat, winds of the netherworld gusting around him. He arrived before the Gate of Heaven's Mandate but did not pass through it into the world of the living. In a loud voice he called out, "What trouble are you stirring up now? Can't you behave yourself for a while?"

Shen Mu hastily paid his respects. "Lord, I could not bear to see these righteous men leave their bones exposed in the wilderness, so I summoned their souls back into their bodies. I asked them to bury themselves, and once they have done so, I will send them back to Youdu. I beg your pardon, I beg your pardon!"

The Yin Courier's expression softened somewhat. He glanced at the Angler, who was fishing for the moon and tethering it, and showed a trace of wariness. "Shen Fengqing, I am not unreasonable, but you cannot come to my Youdu demanding souls time and again. If you keep this up, I will have a hard time answering to Tubo! These people's souls—once you have borrowed them, send them back quickly. But Tubo will still mark a demerit against your name."

Shen Mu had the revived Moon Herders dig their own graves. Through the Gate of Heaven's Mandate, he said to the Yin Courier, "Emperor Yanfeng had a little notebook to tally the number of beheadings. Does Tubo also have a little notebook? Lord, how many tally marks are recorded in my little notebook?"

The Yin Courier sneered. "I don't know about the rest, but I do know yours isn't a little notebook—it's a whole thick stack this big!"

He spread both arms to demonstrate. "All your glorious achievements!"

Shen Mu's face immediately turned black.

Many Sun Herders had already dug their graves and carved their own headstones. Each sat within their grave, and these skeletons all bowed to Shen Mu in unison. "Thank you, Human Emperor!"

Shen Mu returned the salute. "Please rest in peace, righteous men."

The Moon Herders' skeletons lay down one after another. One by one their heroic spirits flew up, passed through the Gate of Heaven's Mandate, and returned to Youdu. Shen Mu made an offering, then waved his hand, and the graves closed one by one.

The Yin Courier said, "I will not pursue today's matter further. I will only record one demerit against you."

Shen Mu walked among the graves, checking the names on each headstone. Hearing this, he turned his head. "In the war at Taihuang Heaven, the visitor from the Nether Capital held the Book of Life and Death and summoned countless souls of demons and demon gods back into their white bones. How great a crime is that? Has Tubo recorded it?"

The Yin Courier was slightly taken aback and said nothing.

Shen Mu sneered. "Is Tubo also afraid of the Black Emperor of the Nether Capital? The Nether Capital is part of Youdu, is it not? The Black Emperor split off the Nether Capital, and Tubo didn't dare let out a single fart. The visitor from the Nether Capital used the Book of Life and Death to summon countless demon souls and sacrificed them in blood, destroying Luofu Heaven and Taihuang Heaven—and Tubo still didn't dare let out a single fart!"

The Yin Courier was furious. "What do you mean, didn't dare let out a single fart?"

The Angler's ears twitched. He tightened his grip on the fishing rod, ready at any moment to save the boy. He thought, "This Shen boy is far too reckless. This Yin Courier is a clone of the King Tianqi Rensheng. To show him disrespect, and to disrespect Tubo in his presence—I fear Lord Tianqi will not let him off..."

Shen Mu put on a smiling face. "I merely meant that Tubo is rather spineless. He could at least say a word."

"What do you mean, spineless?" The Yin Courier was still furious.

Shen Mu fell silent, stammering.

The Angler was frantic with anxiety. The muscles in his back were taut, and even his thick nerves were stretched tight as bowstrings. He thought, "A second show of disrespect to Tubo—Lord Tianqi absolutely will not tolerate it!"

After a moment, the Yin Courier sighed. "It is not that Tubo will not act, but that he cannot. The Nether Capital's strength is of no consequence to Tubo, but the Heavenly Court's strength is far too immense."

Shen Mu curled his lip. "So he just bullies me? The little notebook recording my demerits is a thick stack—and what of the one recording the Nether Capital's? Is Tubo bullying the weak and fearing the strong?"

The Yin Courier was choked with anger. After a moment he burst out laughing despite himself. "I will not argue with you about this. Tubo is impartial. He will not make the notebook thinner because the Heavenly Court is powerful, nor thicker because you have no backing. The reason you have a thick notebook is that you have committed far too many evils."

"Those are things my brother did. How can you pin them on me?"

Shen Mu shook his head. "Suppose the visitor from the Nether Capital came to Jingping, used the Book of Life and Death to awaken the dead of Jingping, and then sacrificed them in blood. What could Youdu do? What could Tubo do? Would Tubo dare let out a single fart?"

The Yin Courier flew into a rage. "You dare use such foul language!"

Shen Mu looked aggrieved and disappointed. "Tubo cannot uphold justice. He is too heartless, and toward me he is especially cruel. I might as well have my brother return to Youdu..."

The Yin Courier stared at the expression on his face through the gate, then suddenly laughed. "The Heavenly Lord has placed yet another seal on you. You cannot release him. Do not try to trick me!"

Shen Mu lifted the willow leaf, revealing his third eye. The Yin Courier immediately saw that within the pupil of this eye there had suddenly appeared an overlapping pupil—another person's eye peering out, full of curiosity.

The Angler quietly turned his head, watching Shen Mu's third eye with curiosity, even forgetting to reel in his line.

He very much wanted to see whether within Shen Mu's eye there was Tubo's seal, whether there was a clone of the Heavenly Lord, whether there were the thoughts of the Red Emperor and the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha.

If the Yin Courier had not been present, he would have wished he could burrow into Shen Mu's eye to pay his respects to these venerable predecessors.

The Yin Courier's expression changed drastically. He said hastily, "Cover it! Cover it! I confess I am afraid of you. Let me think first..."