Chapter 944 — Bloodshed at the Ancestral King Palace

"Yun Chuxiu's temperament is strangely erratic. According to rumor, Her Majesty the Empress was born with the bearing of a mother to all under heaven, while Lady Yuanmu was lively and restless, clever and whimsical.

" Shen Mu walked over to Yun Jianli, Qi Jiuyi, and the others with Yun Chuxiu in tow, yet tempestuous waves crashed within his heart: "Is it possible that Yun Chuxiu is not the Empress at all—that she is Lady Yuanmu? In that old attack on the Empress, what if the one who died was not Lady Yuanmu, but the Empress herself. . .

" "Heavenly Venerable, the back of your neck is covered in gooseflesh!

" Yun Chuxiu looked at the back of his neck with curiosity, made a discovery, and exclaimed in surprise, "The back of your neck is sweating too! How strange!

" She reached out her soft, warm little hand and touched Shen Mu's forehead, then grew even more astonished: "And yet your forehead is dry as bone. Heavenly Venerable, you are ill!

" "You are the one who is ill!

" Shen Mu flew into a rage, flung this woman off, and hurried to the others' side, murmuring, "Sister Yan'er, come up to my shoulder. " Yan'er turned into a little green sparrow and flew up to light on his shoulder, and only then did Shen Mu breathe easier.

With Yun Chuxiu holding his arm, he felt an inexpressible unease.

This woman's temperament was bizarre, her moods changing without rhyme or reason—a moment ago she had been fighting for life and death, and now she was sweet enough to sicken. He could not fathom her true thoughts.

Yun Chuxiu's arm in his gave him the feeling of being entwined by a venomous serpent or a monstrous python; only with Yan'er perched on his shoulder could he relax at all.

Yan'er likewise studied the back of his neck in wonder, thinking to herself: "The Young Master was not flustered at all a moment ago—why is he flustered now? " "But there is one more point of doubt.

When I summoned the Empress's soul, I discovered that the Empress had not died. What is stranger still is that Lady Yuanmu in the crystal coffin once stirred as if rising from the dead, and was suppressed by our eldest senior brother, Wei Suifeng.

" Shen Mu's gaze flickered, and suspicion rose in his heart: "Then who exactly is this Yun Chuxiu? If she is the Empress, her temperament is far too fractured. Or could this be her true nature after all?

" Yun Jianli, Qi Jiuyi, and the others were on their guard against Yun Chuxiu; they remained as courteous as before, yet they dared not grow familiar, and only Shen Mu stayed perfectly at ease, his relation with Yun Chuxiu even a little closer than before. The two walked ahead, chatting and laughing, heading for the Ancestral God King's Ancestral King Palace.

"That Shen fellow is coming to my place? " Within the Ancestral King Palace, the Ancestral God King—the Ancestral Heavenly Venerable—had already received the news and laughed heartily: "Does the fellow not know that I mean to kill him, and still he dares come to offer himself for slaughter? Does he think that once he enters my Ancestral King Palace I will not be able to bring myself to strike?

" "Does Your Venerable truly mean to kill him?

" asked the Great Sun Star Lord.

This Great Sun Star Lord was not the Great Sun Star Lord among the ancient gods. That ancient god, Great Sun, knew too much and caught an arrow in the back, falling long ago in the Dragon-Han Era. The present Great Sun Star Lord was a deity of the Shanghuang Era called Dan Fenglai, who had joined the Ancestral God King's sect and been entrusted with a great post, becoming the general commanding the star hosts of the Heavenly Court.

The reason the Ancestral God King could stand as an equal among the demigods against Heavenly Venerable Hao and God Emperor Langxuan was precisely that he was the son of the Heavenly Duke, in control of all the stars of the heavens; most of the orthodox star deities had to answer his commands.

"Of course I won't kill him. " The Ancestral God King chuckled.

"Do you take me for a real fool? If I were, could I have reached my present station?

Sometimes deliberate brashness is no bad thing. Take the Jade Pool affair: all ten Heavenly Venerables came, every last one covering his face so none could tell who was who. The nine of them suspected one another; only I showed my true face.

The nine of them doubted and guarded against one another, and the one they never suspected was this reckless fellow of yours.

" He clasped his hands behind his back and said without haste, "Even if Heavenly Venerable Mu delivered himself to my doorstep for the killing, I would not touch a single hair of his. He is not my enemy—at least not yet. Though he bears the title of Heavenly Venerable Mu, for now he is nothing but a small nobody with an empty name; killing him would only drag a stink onto myself. " The Great Sun Star Lord Dan Fenglai was deeply impressed and praised him: "Your Venerable is truly enlightened. Then how should we deal with Heavenly Venerable Mu's visit to our Ancestral King Palace?

" The Ancestral God King said, "Heavenly Venerable Mu's aptitude is not bad, in truth. I traded blows with him over at the Great Dark Heaven; I used my strongest weapon and fought at the Divine Bridge level, and he was able to match me. Even when I brought out the twenty-eight heavens of the Dao realm I could not take him, and instead he killed the avatar of Heavenly Venerable Yu. So keep your disciples in line and do not provoke him.

" He smiled. "Tell him I am away.

Have the disciples treat him with the utmost respect and give him no chance to stir up trouble; treat him as you would a true Heavenly Venerable. He will gain no advantage from my domain, and will soon leave on his own. " Dan Fenglai bowed and assented, saying, "Your disciple will go out to receive him. " The Ancestral God King called him back: "One more thing: watch against someone slipping into the Ancestral King Palace to assassinate him. He has already been ambushed at Langxuan Divine Palace, and there will certainly be others coming to kill him.

Do not let this down-and-out wretch die on my ground. " Dan Fenglai departed and led a retinue to welcome Shen Mu. Shen Mu looked at this Star Lord and smiled: "Great Sun Star Lord, my memory of that meeting years ago is still fresh—I nearly died at your hands.

" Dan Fenglai laughed: "Back then I did not know you were Heavenly Venerable Mu, and besides, I held back.

I merely sent avatars and the Fire Crow Army to cut off the remnants of the Chiming clan; I never treated Your Venerable as an adversary. Heavenly Venerable Mu, my master is not here, and as his junior, I shall act as host in his place. Please—" Shen Mu followed them into the Ancestral King Palace, smiling: "That night at the Jade Pool I saw someone who looked like Your Star Lord intent on killing me—quite a formidable fellow, with a host of avatars turning into a flock of three-legged golden crows flying low over the sea.

" Dan Fenglai roared with laughter: "Cultivators of the Great Sun arts are beyond counting.

How could it be me? Your Venerable jests.

" "That's true. " Shen Mu's aura was faint, and he coughed several times; he glanced sidelong at the Great Sun Star Lord's junior fellow apprentices, only to see those disciples of the Ancestral God King keeping their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, blind to his display of weakness. Dan Fenglai asked solicitously, "Is Your Venerable unwell?

" Shen Mu seemed dazed for a moment, and only came back to himself after a while. His expression changed slightly; he took out a few spirit pills, swallowed them with trembling hands, and only when the medicinal force dissolved did he let out a turbid breath, sighing, "I have no soul and no spirit; I keep my life by spiritual consciousness alone. If that consciousness scattered, I would die.