Chapter 207 — Cunning as a Ghost
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
This time, Shen Mu felt a genuine chill of dread run through him.
That day, when the Imperial Preceptor Jingping fought his great battle outside Daxiang City, Shen Mu had stood atop the mountain peak gazing at the battlefield, yet could not clearly see the moves of those powerhouses. The Demon King of Dutian had watched the battle through his eyes, enabling him to see the techniques of the Imperial Preceptor Jingping and Poor Scholar and the others with perfect clarity—he could even comprehend the profound mysteries of the moves of such terrifying beings!
But at the time, Shen Mu believed he had concealed it well and had not alerted this Demon King.
And now it seemed his little schemes had been utterly useless. The Demon King of Dutian had long since sensed the fluctuations in his heart, and had even guessed his innermost thoughts!
"Foolish summoner, playing your seemingly clever little tricks before the greatest ruler of Dutian is utterly pointless."
The Demon King's voice continued to resound in his mind, rattling his eardrums: "A feeble life like yours had best not try to play games before me. My power is beyond your imagining! Submit to me, worship me—that is your only way out."
Shen Mu steadied himself and suddenly smiled: "Great Lord of Dutian, in this world, the only one who still understands the Talisman Command for Summoning Ghosts and Dispatching Gods is me—the only one left who can still wield this art."
The Demon King of Dutian fell silent.
After a moment, his voice sounded again: "An interesting little brat, daring to haggle with me. Very good, very good..."
Shen Mu's heart was uneasy. He did not know whether this bargain of his would succeed.
If it failed and the Demon King turned hostile, he would most likely be in dire trouble.
If the bargain succeeded and his life was spared, then once he returned to the village, he would ask the village head and the others to gradually do away with the Demon King of Dutian.
Judging by the Demon King's behavior, it was indeed possible to kill this Demon King.
Because when Shen Mu had traveled in the company of the Imperial Preceptor Jingping, the Demon King of Dutian had shown no unusual movement, remaining perfectly quiet within Shen Mu's body.
And only when the Imperial Preceptor Jingping was locked in fierce combat with Poor Scholar and other sect-leader-level beings did the Demon King dare to borrow Shen Mu's eyes to observe the battle—both to gauge the Imperial Preceptor's true strength and to seek out his weaknesses.
But at that time, Shen Mu was surrounded by experts of the Youmo Sect, and the Demon King had also made no sound.
Later, as Shen Mu healed the Imperial Preceptor's wounds along the way, the Demon King remained silent throughout.
When Shen Mu parted from the Imperial Preceptor and arrived at the Imperial Academy, where he encountered the Lame Old Man and Old Master Huo, the Demon King still did not appear.
Now that Old Master Huo and the Lame Old Man were gone and Shen Mu was alone, he had finally shown himself.
If the Imperial Preceptor Jingping, Old Master Huo, and the Lame Old Man posed no threat to him, he would not be so cautious.
In other words, he had revealed his fear.
That is to say, he could be destroyed—unlike Fan Xuanshu within Granny Zhu's Dao-heart, who was nearly impossible to erase. So long as the method was clever enough, he could still be obliterated.
"My Dutian is finished, destroyed, with nothing left but boundless darkness. So I need to find a new world for my people of Dutian—a place where my people can live and multiply."
The Demon King's voice came: "I went to great lengths to transmit the Talisman Command for Summoning Ghosts and Dispatching Gods to this world, to the people of this world, and now you are the only one who understands this art. You should know that I will not let you off easily."
Shen Mu was completely reassured and let out a breath: "So you want me to summon demons again, to summon you over?"