Chapter 512 — Scion of the Netherworld
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
"Even a wise man like Xing An cannot let go of the gains he has won, until greed clouds his heart."
Shen Mu could not help shaking his head. Xing An's inability to decide would be the death of him. Yet it was hardly surprising: he had spent a lifetime tirelessly cutting apart other men's bodies and taking them for his own. To give them up now was to give up the road he had walked, to negate his entire life. It truly was hard for him to accept.
The greater a man's achievements and the sterner his resolve, the harder it is for him to change himself, to change his own understanding — and the harder to admit fault.
"The sky is about to brighten!"
Suddenly a shrill, desolate cry went up from within Fengdu. Shen Mu hurriedly looked toward the sound, and saw that atop the ridges of hall after hall crouched great beasts, lifting their heads to study the sky and crying in sharp voices, "Take care, every office and every city! The sky is about to brighten!"
Within Fengdu, wandering souls filled the air, darting in every direction; on the ground, hosts of awe-inspiring gods and devils ran to and fro in frantic haste.
Shen Mu was somewhat startled. He said to Chi Xiu, "Chi Xiu the Divine, what happens when the sky brightens?"
The god Chi Xiu seemed unconcerned. "When the sky brightens, the sun will rise. They must all hide themselves, or the sun's pure yang fire will scorch them. This sun is not the one you see outside."
Shen Mu was full of doubt. Then, all at once, the darkness beyond Fengdu receded at furious speed, and the mist-shrouded Youdu turned blindingly, dazzlingly bright.
It was the first time he had witnessed daybreak come to Fengdu. The streets, so lately crowded with gods and devils cavorting in wild revel, turned cold and deserted in an instant; every god and devil shut doors and windows, wandering souls sank into the abyss, and the great beasts on the hall ridges fled into the halls one after another. All of Fengdu fell silent in the blink of an eye.
Then the white light turned red, and a sun immense beyond measure rose burning with leaping flame from the far horizon of Fengdu. In an instant fire came rushing, sweeping in from the east, a rolling wall of flame like a flowing ocean, blotting out sky and earth, filling every street, drowning every palace and dwelling.
The blazing pure yang fire submerged one divine city of Fengdu after another, fierce and scorching, until even space itself seemed to twist!
Shen Mu bathed in the pure yang fire. His body, which had become bare bone, began faintly to show flesh and blood, meridians and channels; he looked down and could even see the five viscera and six bowels within his ribs!
And when he looked at the gods and devils cowering by the windows of the palaces, their flesh and blood were slowly turning illusory, revealing stark white bone!
The sun's true fire seemed utterly useless against him — it worked only on the gods and devils of Fengdu, able to sear their bodies and burn their souls and primordial spirits!
In the east, the colossal sun burned hotter and redder, and through it one could dimly make out palaces standing within the sun, immeasurably vast. Before the divine temples inside the sun stood giant drums, raised upright, and mighty-bodied gods and devils drummed them madly, so that the sun's pure yang true fire streamed ceaselessly, pouring toward Fengdu.
Inside the sun: ten thousand temples, ten thousand great drums, ten thousand giants, drumming madly, true fire gushing and streaming, drowning Fengdu!
"This is..."
Shen Mu's heart and mind shook. Then he heard screams and turned quickly. The great ball of flesh that Xing An had become was burning fiercely in the sun's true fire, dozens of faces twisting, struggling, screaming in unbearable agony.
The true fire burned their forms into shadows, dimly revealing Xing An's true body beneath.