Chapter 836 — The Moon Mirrors the River's Heart as the Rusted Banner Flies

"Hegemon Body Shen, what a grand tone."

Prince Qiuming smiled faintly, showing no anger, and said unhurriedly, "Why is it that you rude folk of the wilds are always so full of your own talents, always looking down on the sons of the imperial house? My birth is nobler than yours—I was born into the imperial family. My learning is richer, my experience broader. Any Emperor's Throne art of Lingxiao is mine for the taking, and I have the finest of masters to guide me. What do you have?"

The Village Chief, the Divine Son Chiming, the First Ancestor Human Sovereign, and the rest felt a chill in their hearts.

To be born into the imperial house was indeed an extraordinary advantage; on that point alone, Shen Mu could not hope to compare.

True, in his youth Shen Mu had been taught by the elders of Yincan Village, and was far better off than most—but set beside Prince Qiuming, it did not bear looking at.

Prince Qiuming was a golden phoenix born in a nest of gold; Shen Mu was merely a plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon in a thatched shed.

The Village Chief stole a glance at Shen Mu beside him and saw that the lad still wore that air of utter indifference. He thought to himself, "It's all that pig butcher's fault! The pig butcher taught him never to show fear before anyone. And blame that dead blind old man too—he taught him to piss on idols to break the god in his heart, and now the boy fears neither heaven nor earth..."

Shen Mu said with a laugh, "I may not have been born into the imperial house, but I too had nine towering figures to teach me, and foremost in all Yincan Village is this old man beside me. He is our village chief. He taught me swordsmanship, and he taught me how to be a man."

The Village Chief was deeply moved, his old face flushed with embarrassment. He thought, "Ahem. I did indeed teach him how to be a man—that is why he is so modest and courteous, yielding and forbearing in all things, very much in my own style."

Prince Qiuming laughed heartily, hands clasped behind his back, and raised his head to gaze at the bright moon in the sky—the moon hung wrinkled above—and sighed. "Teach you how to be a man? What use is being a man? Cruelest of all is the imperial house. In the Heavenly Court there are princes beyond counting; to rise above them all, one must pass through a gauntlet of blood and slaughter. Which of those who emerge is not tempered by life and death? At twelve I was sent to the Yin-Demon Graveyard to fight yin-demons. Of the fifty who entered with me, I alone came out alive! And what did you endure at twelve?"

Shen Mu thought about it, and was somewhat reluctant to speak.

The Village Chief reminded him, "Shen, have you forgotten? Back then old woman Si bought a plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon, and every day you fought it tooth and nail, and it chased you running all over the ground."

Shen Mu's face turned black as iron.

Prince Qiuming laughed heartily again and shook his head. "My birth is nobler than yours, my learning greater, my experience broader—and I work harder than you besides. You, visit my grave? What a joke."

Shen Mu said, dead serious, "And yet killing you is truly no trouble for me. Prince, you are not even the equal of the plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon I met last time. Killing that pheasant-dragon took me and my senior brother Zhe Huali joining hands. Killing you will take a single move."

Zhe Huali fought hard not to laugh, and the demon saber on his back curved its eyes in mirth—alas, it could make no sound.

Prince Qiuming shot him a glance, a faint smile on his lips. "Zhe Huali, you were once a talent of the Lingxiu Army. Who would have thought that after descending to the lower realm you too would become a frog at the bottom of a well. Hegemon Body Shen, the reason I tell you all this is not to boast—it is simply the truth."

He looked at Shen Mu and smiled. "That the lowly commoners of the lower realm call you the Hegemon Body is truly laughable. One can well imagine how short-sighted these base races of the lower realm must be. If you are the Hegemon Body, then what physique am I, born of the imperial clan? Do you know why, when I was ordered down to the lower realm, you were the first I had to kill?"

Shen Mu shook his head. "I do not know."

"I came down to the lower realm to kill the Three Heroes of the Jingping Reforms, and you stand first in line—precisely because of your title as the Hegemon Body."

Prince Qiuming leisurely admired the night scene of the Yong River and said, light as wind and thin as cloud, "Once you are dead, one of the Three Heroes of the Jingping Reforms is gone. Only then will these commoners know the majesty of heaven, know terror, bow their heads and kneel as subjects, accept the present state of things, and harbor no excessive longings—no more thoughts of that wretched reform. So you are the first to be eliminated."

Shen Mu asked curiously, "Then who is the second person the Prince means to eliminate?"

"Jiang Baigui, Imperial Preceptor of Jingping."

Prince Qiuming said gravely, "Jiang Baigui is revered as a sage who appears once in five hundred years; killing him will carry great shock as well. Let these foolish folk of the lower realm know that their so-called sage is not worth a fart in the eyes of the Heavenly Court—something to be crushed at a whim. The last I shall kill is Emperor Yanfeng. He must die on his knees, and he must die kneeling before these lowly commoners of the lower realm."

His expression turned cold. "A mud-turtle emperor of a tiny, trifling country, ignorant of heaven's grace, ignorant of the height of heaven and the depth of earth, vainly coveting the sacred instruments of state—naturally he should be made to kneel and die after every last hope is shattered!"

"Well said!"

The two visitors from the Heavenly Court behind him clapped their hands in praise. "That is how it should be—only so can the majesty of heaven be made manifest!"

"The Prince is brilliant and martial; to have the Prince personally handle the trifling matter of the Jingping Kingdom is to waste great talent on a small task!"

Prince Qiuming, his face full of smiles, looked at Shen Mu. "Hegemon Body Shen, do you dare accept the challenge?"

Shen Mu was about to agree when the Village Chief said in alarm, "Shen, there is no need to agree. We have the numbers now—with the Divine Son Chiming and the First Ancestor, we have him for certain! Why risk yourself and fight him to the death?"

Prince Qiuming said leisurely, "The two behind me are masters of the Jade Capital realm of the Heavenly Court, charged with my safety and with aiding me in quelling the Jingping rebellion. And the Luoshen Blade of the Lingxiu Army is likewise a subordinate of the Heavenly Court—you surely know the strength of the Luoshen Blade; I need say no more. You have only two Jade Capital experts. I have one more."

The Village Chief frowned deeply.

The First Ancestor frowned slightly as well and looked at Luo Wushuang.

Luo Wushuang said nothing, looking at Zhe Huali with suspicion.

Zhe Huali pretended not to see, his gaze resting on Shen Mu the whole while.

Shen Mu laughed. "Rest easy, Village Chief. He is merely a prince of the Heavenly Court—it is not as though I have never killed one before. I will be back in no time."

The Village Chief said in a low voice, "Be careful. Probe his skills first—do not open with a killing move. Once you have seen through his abilities, then take your time."

Shen Mu nodded and raised his hand. "Prince Qiuming, after you."

Prince Qiuming's aura suddenly surged. His qi and blood erupted like an iron-blood banner raised in the air, fluttering in the river wind.

Zhe Huali was startled. Aboard the ghost ship, Prince Qiuming had defeated him using three different Emperor's Throne arts—but he had never used this iron-blood banner art.