Chapter 967 — Frenzy and Demonic Possession

Aboard the ship, Yun Chuxiu had once spoken of it: in those years she had led the Heavenly Court's two great Heavenly Masters, the Divine Martial Army of the Heavenly Court's Ten Guards, and a great many of her prized disciples into Taixu, and the slaughter had been grievous. The Divine Martial Army had been wiped out to the last man; not one of her disciples had returned alive; and both Heavenly Masters had been buried in Taixu. She had mentioned that one of those two, a Master Yue, had fathomed the secret of Taixu's inner demons — and yet even Master Yue had not walked out of Taixu alive.

Yet Shen Mu had seen through her all the same.

To save her own skin she had killed those Divine Martial soldiers and her own disciples, and even the two Heavenly Masters! If this wicked Daoist, Yue Tingge, was the Master Yue of whom Yun Chuxiu spoke, then how had he survived the slaughter wrought by a Heavenly Venerate?

And how had he fled in here?

"Anyone who can become a Heavenly Master has powers beyond all reckoning. Yue Tingge must have had some means of escape.

Yun Chuxiu once said that both Heavenly Masters were great masters at the Great Perfection of the Emperor Throne. .

.

" Cold sweat started on Shen Mu's brow. Just now he had revealed himself as the Heavenly Venerate Mu, and this Yue Tingge had come storming over to kowtow to him. If instead of kowtowing he had come to kill.

. . "Then by now my corpse would already be cold," he thought.

Luo Wushuang too was shaken beyond measure, and could not steady himself for a long while.

Of this Heavenly Master Yue Tingge he knew little.

Among the Heavenly Court's high ranks, few went by their true names; each chose a title for himself, and only those of no great standing did their business under their real names. He therefore did not know the true names of the Heavenly Court's Four Great Heavenly Masters. Nor, for that matter, was any of the present Four Great Heavenly Masters named Yue Tingge. The Heavenly Court's Four Great Heavenly Masters, Four Great Heavenly Kings, and Four-Colored Great Emperors were not fixed posts.

Their standing looked lofty, but to the Ten Heavenly Venerates they were expendable — when one died, another was swapped in.

Luo Wushuang's standing, both then and now, had never been high; he had only glimpsed Master Yue once from afar. What was more, Yue Tingge had been "dead" for more than ten thousand years, and the Heavenly Court's Heavenly Masters had long since been replaced. And where the Yue Tingge of old had cut an elegant, ethereal figure, his face was now that of a murderous fiend, unkempt and slovenly, with nothing left of his former look — which was why Luo Wushuang had not recognized him at first glance.

How had this Heavenly Master, "dead" for over ten thousand years, come to appear here? "Master Yue, there are a few questions I would like to ask of you. " Shen Mu stepped forward and addressed the wicked Daoist: "May I ask how you survived?

And the Heavenly Venerate who led you into Taixu — which of the Ten Heavenly Venerates was it? " The wicked Daoist Yue Tingge rose to his feet, shot him a glance, hoisted that roast beast's leg onto his shoulder, and strode out, saying in a savage voice, "It is out of respect for you as a Heavenly Venerate of the Longhan era that I do not kill you. Keep your nose out of other men's business!

" Shen Mu followed him out of the city, pressing on: "Where are the Creators of this place?

Why have I not seen them?

Have you met the Fire Heavenly Venerate, the Void Heavenly Venerate? Do you know where the Sorrowless Land lies? Have you come across the Heavenly Venerate Shen here?

" Yue Tingge showed a strange smile, somewhat crazed: "The Fire Heavenly Venerate and the Void Heavenly Venerate? They have come to kill me, haven't they? It must be so!

They have come to kill me! So I lured them into that death trap of a place, heh heh heh. . .

They will never get out, they will surely die there! And then I am safe. . . " Luo Wushuang caught up with Shen Mu and said quietly, "Something is wrong with this Master Yue.

Could a man penned up here for over ten thousand years have gone mad? " Yue Tingge flicked him a glance and sneered, "One-Hand, you think far too little of me.

Never mind ten thousand years — a million years would not drive me mad! I simply do not trust those Heavenly Venerates. " A moment before he had been incoherent; now he was lucid again: "In those years the Heavenly Venerate Shen became Kaihuang and founded his false dynasty, the Kaihuang Heavenly Court.

The Ten Heavenly Venerates of the Heavenly Court meant to deal with him, and as I was then the foremost of the Heavenly Court's Four Great Heavenly Masters, the strategy against him was of my devising. " Recalling the past, he was rather pleased with himself: "Kaihuang was, after all, the Heavenly Venerate Shen, one of the five founding elders of the Heaven Alliance — who would dare to remove him openly? And if he led his followers into the Heavenly Court, he would become one of the strongest powers in the Court's Heaven Alliance. He must not be allowed to take the Alliance in hand again; so the method I employed was to strip him away layer by layer, to seep in drop by drop through a thousand small holes.

" His voice quickened with excitement: "The Longhan Heavenly Court made contact with the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, even fostered its growth. Kaihuang's strongest subordinate, Di Yiyue, was beguiled by Yin Tianzi, and with him the War Heavenly King Li Youran and the Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu; the Court's power seeped little by little into Kaihuang's own, splitting his Heavenly Court from within. Then, when it burst out all at once, Kaihuang's forces could be torn up root and branch! " Proudly he said, "Against such a scheme Kaihuang was helpless, and in the end the Kaihuang Heavenly Court was overthrown in a single morning. But he was an outstanding man: seeing how the wind blew, he began to lay his plans, secretly forging the Sorrowless Land, and in the end slipped free.

Still the Ten Heavenly Venerates were uneasy, and they ordered me to seek out the Sorrowless Land. My merits were supreme, but I knew well enough the principle — when the cunning hare is dead, the running dog is cooked. . . " He hunched his head down between his shoulders, peering east and west with the utmost caution, and chuckled: "I know too many of their secrets.

They all want us dead. Sending me to find the Sorrowless Land was only a pretext; in truth they wanted me killed! " Shen Mu and Luo Wushuang exchanged looks. This Master Yue had gone crazed again. Lady Yuanmu's attempt on his life had been mere chance.

As one of the Ten Heavenly Venerates, Lady Yuanmu had led her people into Taixu, in truth also to seek the Sorrowless Land; but Taixu was too uncanny, and to preserve herself Lady Yuanmu had slaughtered every one of her subordinates. Master Yue was a man of wisdom and once could have seen this clearly, but by now he had lost his wits somewhat. ".

.

. Last time they failed to finish me off, and this time they have actually sent three Heavenly Venerates to kill me! Heh heh. The Fire Heavenly Venerate and the Void Heavenly Venerate I tricked and delivered into that death trap.

But there is still a third Heavenly Venerate — the Heavenly Venerate Mu. .

. " Malice came into his eyes and he glared viciously at Shen Mu; then of a sudden the malice vanished, his gaze turned shifty and evasive. Skulking in the corner of the street, stealing glances at Shen Mu from time to time, he whispered to the roasted beast's leg: "Should we trick the Heavenly Venerate Mu into that death trap as well, and let him die there.

. . No, that will not do. He may not be an enemy, and he has done us the kindness of teaching the art of becoming a god. . . You are right.

We will not kill him. We can kill One-Hand instead.

. . " A chill went through Luo Wushuang.