Chapter 896 — Only in Sacrifice Is Great Ambition Revealed

Kaihuang has sent his decree out from the Land of No Sorrow, ordering all of us gods under the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Azure Heaven Palace to abandon the Wasteland, to pull back entirely and preserve our strength. Since you are of Kaihuang's line, you must know how perilous the situation is. You may go to Fengdu for refuge. Hyah—" He raised his blade and galloped away. Shen Mu frowned, uneasy at heart. Kaihuang's decree was for a full withdrawal to preserve strength, which meant that the Woodcutter, the Martial Celestial Master, Di Yiyue, Tian Shu, the Four Celestial Masters and Four Heavenly Kings, would also receive Kaihuang's decree, telling them to abandon Jingping.

Jingping had survived all along only under the protection of Kaihuang's remnant forces.

Now that Kaihuang's order had come, the Four Celestial Masters, the Four Heavenly Kings, and even Fengdu would all pull back, and would not aid Jingping in the slightest.

He steadied himself, his voice hoarse: "Let's go. To Crimson Dragon City. " Along the way, Shen Mu saw in village after village and town after town the stone statues waking, stone turning to flesh and blood.

The god-men of Kaihuang's age gathered, forming into armies, leaving the lands they had once guarded. The people of the Wasteland stood at the village mouths and before the city gates, watching these god-men who had guarded them depart, their eyes full of bewilderment and helplessness. Shen Mu followed these armies of god-men to Crimson Dragon City.

The armies crossed the bridge at the Threshold of Life and Death of Crimson Dragon City and entered Fengdu.

Crimson Dragon City too was utterly silent. The city held many temples and a great many stone statues, and now these statues also revived and entered Fengdu one after another. "Sect Master Shen!

" Shen Mu waved a hand and smiled: "I am here; there is no need for alarm. " With that, he too stepped onto the Threshold of Life and Death and entered Fengdu.

The Hall of King Shen in Fengdu. The King of Hell's face was hidden beneath a dark cloak.

"There is no need to speak, son of Shen. I know why you have come.

Whatever the case, we have always been Kaihuang's people, not Jingping's.

Kaihuang's decree has been issued, and as Kaihuang's subordinates we must obey. " Veins stood out on Shen Mu's forehead, and he clenched his fists: "And human lives?

The lives of the countless multitudes of Jingping?

You command the mightiest army of Kaihuang's age. Will you watch the countless lives of Jingping be destroyed? That is hundreds of millions of lives. Their forebears too were people of Kaihuang!

" There was not a trace of feeling in the King of Hell's voice: "Kaihuang is my sworn father. He has his own designs. He gave the gods and demons under his command into my keeping, and I must answer for them. The Four Celestial Masters and the Four Heavenly Kings have each received their orders and have already withdrawn from Jingping.

Son of Shen, Shen Mu, you are, after all, of Kaihuang's line. Come to Fengdu. Fengdu has Youdu at its back; it can be held or retreated from. " Shen Mu was utterly disappointed. He rose and laughed with a cold sneer: "I am a son of Shen, but I am also the Human Emperor. The line of the Hall of the Human Emperor, from the first ancestor, the Human Emperor, down to my generation, has passed through thirty-seven generations.

Thirty-seven generations of Human Emperors fought and killed with all their strength for the people of Jingping, one falling only for the next to rise, and never one retreated. I cannot break the inheritance of the Hall of the Human Emperor. Farewell! " He walked out of the Hall of King Shen. Outside the hall, several thousand gods and demons stood bowing, waiting in silence.

"Star Lord of Seven Killings, Wei Liao, pays his respects to his benefactor!

" The god general at their head said in a deep voice: "Wei Liao is dead.

He is no longer Kaihuang's subordinate.

He wishes to follow his benefactor to war! " Shen Mu stared at them blankly, then showed a faint smile and forced himself to laugh: "Star Lord Wei Liao, you may be scattered into nothing, soul and all.

. .

" Wei Liao roared with laughter: "We died once for Kaihuang. What does it matter if we die once more for our benefactor?

Brothers, are you afraid? " Those several thousand gods and demons laughed aloud: "We were not afraid twenty thousand years ago.

After death, could we be afraid again? We would be unworthy of the name of heroes among ghosts!

" Shen Mu bowed low to the ground: "On behalf of the people of Jingping, I thank you all! I beg you also to move the people of the Wasteland and settle them in the cities of Jingping!

" He was about to leave when he saw a crowd of strange-looking old men and old women and handsome young men and beautiful young women come over, clamoring loudly. At their head was the Youthful Patriarch, who kicked Long Qilin aside and laughed: "After all, we are not Kaihuang's subordinates.

To go to our deaths for Jingping is where righteousness lies. " Shen Mu was stunned. Those handsome men and beautiful women, those old men and old women, were all the past Sect Masters of the Heavenly Sage Sect. In a great hubbub they said one after another: "We are the Heavenly Sage Sect, not the Dark Demon Sect.

Hiding away here is useless; it's time we went and did some proper work! " Shen Mu said no more.

He bowed low to the ground to the past Sect Masters of the Heavenly Sage Sect and to the Youthful Patriarch, and for a long while did not rise. The Youthful Patriarch helped him up and laughed: "This is not your affair alone; it is the affair of us all. We cannot let you carry it by yourself. Go on ahead.

We monsters and demons have hidden here long enough; it is time we came out of the mountains.

" Shen Mu rose and departed with Long Qilin and Yan'er. He came to the Threshold of Life and Death, and saw a small boat drifting over the Nai River.

The old man in straw cloak and hat on board took off his hat and laughed: "Human Emperor Shen, let me see you on your way. " Shen Mu boarded the little boat. Daoist Lingjing poled it upstream, carrying them to the Realm of the Living Dead, where he turned back into a nine-fingered skeleton and said leisurely: "The housing prices in Fengdu rise day by day. I'll never be able to afford a house on either bank of the Nai River.

Human Emperor Shen, the situation outside is very perilous. " Shen Mu was silent a moment, then said, "Daoist Lingjing, your body is dead and your Dao extinguished.

There is no need to think of such things anymore. " Daoist Lingjing laughed: "I fought with your master, Human Emperor Su, all my life. He cut off one of my fingers, and I loathed him. Yet when he brought out the Human Emperor's Seal, I still went with the Nether Demon Patriarch to lend a hand. For no other reason than this: the human race, and the other races of Jingping, were saved by the Human Emperor. Poling a boat and ferrying souls here is a meaningless life. Drift along for a few thousand or a few tens of thousands of years, and perhaps I might buy a little house on the banks of the Nai River. Rather than that, I'd sooner have one more blazing go at it.

The Nether Demon Patriarch has gone; I mean to go too. " Shen Mu said in a choked voice: "Daoist Lingjing, you and the Patriarch go to your deaths for Jingping, to block the Heavens above, yet not one of the people of Jingping knows that you are the heroes who guard them. " Daoist Lingjing rowed the boat through range upon range of white-bone mountains and laughed: "But I know that I am a hero.

I will follow my heart, and do what must be done. You have reached the shore. Next time you come, the one on the ferry boat may not be me. " Shen Mu leaped ashore and bowed.

The little boat departed and vanished among the mist and the white bones.