Chapter 824 — One Sword to Godhood

"So the woman in the coffin truly is Jue Wuchen!"

Shen Mu's heart stirred slightly, and with his divine sense he asked the Lord of Heaven: "Then the other woman in the coffin — is she Her Majesty the Empress?"

His gaze fell upon the other woman. Her body was a thing of nature, born of the Great Dao between heaven and earth; though she was not so ravishing as Jue Wuchen, she was still a peerless beauty, rarely seen in the world.

She had the bearing of one who is mother to all under heaven. Her garments were forged from cloth woven of silk refined from the most precious divine gold; she wore a phoenix crown, a dot of vermilion at the center of her brow, and lips painted red.

Her body bore grave wounds. In Shen Mu's eyes they were not especially fatal — there were still ways to heal them.

But in the ancient age there had been none of the conditions of today; the wounds on this woman's body had been fatal enough.

After all, the Dao of Medicine did not belong to the Great Dao of heaven and earth, but was a Great Dao created by the living beings born after; in ancient times the Dao of Medicine had only just arisen, and was not enough to treat wounds such as these.

And the Great Dao of Creation, too, was a Great Dao created by the living beings born after; in that age it was not enough to help Her Majesty the Empress defy heaven and change her fate.

"It is Her Majesty the Empress."

Borrowing his eyes to survey the two female corpses in the coffin, the Lord of Heaven sighed: "So Her Majesty the Empress truly is dead. And this woman was divine and extraordinary beyond measure — who would have thought she too would become a corpse. I always believed the first of the ancient god leaders to fall was Lady Tianyin; I never expected it to be her. Then who, in the end, is the Empress of the Heavenly Court? Could it be..."

"Can you be certain she is the Empress?"

Shen Mu said abruptly: "Lord of Heaven, I have heard that the Empress and her sister look exactly alike. Perhaps the one in the coffin is the Empress's younger sister."

"It cannot be that woman. Though they were twin blossoms on a single stem in Guixu, there were still differences between them."

The Lord of Heaven said patiently: "The elder sister was pure as ice and flawless as jade, with a sacred, inviolable bearing — and so she became the Empress. The younger sister was far livelier, wild and mischievous. Their most obvious difference lay in that dot of vermilion at the center of the brow. The elder sister's was a red mark, supremely yin and supremely gentle; the younger sister's was a black mark at the center of the brow, exceedingly wicked and alluring."

Shen Mu examined closely the dot of vermilion at the center of the Empress's brow, and found that it was not painted on with cinnabar. Looking closer, it seemed to hold endless, inexhaustible patterns within it, profoundly mysterious and wondrous.

The Lord of Heaven sighed: "Sisters turning on each other for the sake of the Heavenly Emperor — what was the point? But why is Jue Wuchen dead as well? This woman lured the Heavenly Emperor into reincarnation and ambushed and killed him — truly ruthless and vicious, with extraordinary methods. Why has her corpse appeared here? Who killed her and laid her here?"

Shen Mu was left utterly bewildered by his questions. What the Lord of Heaven asked was exactly what he wanted to ask; but clearly the Lord of Heaven did not know the answers either, which was why he asked him.

"Don't cover your eyes!"

Seeing Shen Mu pick up the willow leaf, the Lord of Heaven said hastily: "This is interesting — let us look too."

Shen Mu had no choice but to put the willow leaf away, and heard the voice of the Crimson Emperor come through: "So this is Jue Wuchen? A beauty indeed — one's heart aches at the sight of her. If I were still alive..."

"You would die most miserably."

The voice of Lord Earth came: "Even the Lord of Heaven and the Heavenly Emperor could not resist the temptation. Had the Heavenly Emperor not gone off to his death, the Lord of Heaven would surely have reincarnated too, to flirt with this woman — and then lost his life. Old Buddha, has your mortal heart been stirred?"

The Great Brahma King Buddha said: "Fair flesh and whitened bones — to me they are no different."

"The trouble is, gods do not die of old age. There is only fair flesh, no whitened bones."

The Lord of Heaven said: "Old Buddha, there is still a flaw in your Buddhist dharma — beware of coming to grief. Great Sun Star Lord, what do you know about this woman?"

The Great Sun Star Lord said sullenly: "What could I know? Everything I know you have already wheedled out of me. Jue Wuchen died after me, and I would not dare harbor any thoughts about her."

...

"A peerless beauty indeed. If one could share a room with such a one... Strange — there are no visible wounds on her body!" the Divine Son Chi Ming said abruptly, having noticed something.

Everyone hurried to look closely. Indeed, there was no wound at all on Jue Wuchen in the coffin. She lay there peacefully, as if asleep, her fair cheeks touched with a faint pink flush — only she was not breathing.

"Could someone have used the arts of Youdu to forcibly strip away her soul?"

The crowd lingered before the coffin, unable to tear themselves away, wholly forgetting that the purpose of this journey was to determine whether the Empress was genuine — and not the woman in the coffin.

Feng Qiuyun suddenly sneered: "Men are all worthless creatures, and yet they dare call themselves heroes! A single woman — and a corpse at that — and you stinking men are bewitched body and soul. It is laughable."

Shen Mu said delightedly: "Sister Qiuyun, I am not bewitched — I am still perfectly clear-headed. Li Zheng, you too, right?"

Li Zheng's old face reddened slightly, and he chuckled: "I have long since grown used to the beauty of that old hag Si — naturally I am quite steadfast."

Feng Qiuyun gave a snort and looked at the Imperial Prince Qiuming: "Your Highness the bumpkin prince from the upper realm, the purpose of our coming to seek the Empress's coffin was to determine whether the one within is the Empress. Now that you have seen, do you have your answer?"

The Imperial Prince Qiuming withdrew his gaze and said in a low voice: "The one in the coffin is indeed Her Majesty the Empress."

A chill ran through everyone's hearts; even Luo Wushuang was deeply shaken.

Feng Qiuyun said: "Then who is the Empress of the Heavenly Court?"

The Imperial Prince Qiuming shook his head: "I do not know. And suddenly I no longer wish to know. Know too much, and you die quickly. I do not want to die. All I want now is this ghost ship. The rest of you may leave."

Every man's gaze rested on Jue Wuchen in the Empress's coffin. No one moved a step; the ghost ship no longer mattered. They all wanted to stay here, to keep company with the woman in the coffin.

Li Zheng sighed, withdrew his gaze, and drawing Shen Mu's hand, slowly backed away, saying: "We have no interest in the ghost ship, and no interest in... in the woman in this coffin either! We will go on ahead!"

He kicked Lord Huanlong, who struggled to his feet and followed them in retreating outward.

Just then, a burst of light came from no one knew where, turning everything before everyone's eyes to blinding white, so that nothing could be seen. Shen Mu's and Li Zheng's hearts clenched: "This ghost ship has reset time and space once again!"

Dragon roars came from within the hall, and wave upon wave of terrifying aura erupted. Shen Mu immediately sensed that the eight petrified divine dragons guarding the Empress's coffin were reviving in the light. He could not help but shudder with dread, and hurried to flee outside the hall.