Chapter 522 — The Star Beast's Rigorous Interrogation
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
The court historian recorded that in the winter of the Gengchen year the earth shook in the capital: Jade Mountain at the Grand Academy sank seventeen zhang into the ground, and the Crimson Flame Dongxiao opened for eight hundred li, a sight of extraordinary splendor. But the cause of that quaking the historian did not record; he merely applied the oblique brush of the Spring and Autumn Annals and noted that Shen Mu, Grand Libationer of the Academy of the Heavenly Sage, had been remiss in his teaching, and was punished by the Emperor with the forfeit of two years' salary and a demotion from the fourth rank to the junior fifth. Yet by the account of those in the palace, the Emperor had been startled from sleep that morning by a tremendous roar and had hastened out to see for himself; and when he saw that the place of the blast was Jade Dragon Lake, that countless red dragon carp had been blown belly-up until the water was white with them, and that the lake had grown several times wider and several times deeper than before, he flew into a thunderous rage on the spot. It is said the Emperor's own hand was wounded, and that he clamored for someone's head.
At the time he stalked the mountain with a blade in his fist and murder in his reddened eyes, and found no trace of that someone; he found only the Dragon Qilin and the Box, both asleep. So he kept his watch, blade in hand, beside the Dragon Qilin, and only when noon came and no one appeared did he let the matter be. Other rumors say that the man in question fled a thousand li at first light, and that at noon the Dragon Qilin woke, mounted the Box, and gave chase, and that it took two days and two nights to run him down.
Still other rumors say the Emperor went to the barracks and paced a long while beside the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, and at last sighed: "His merits outweigh his faults; his crime does not merit death.
Let him be demoted and fined. " And with that he set down his great saber and turned and walked away.
Of course, these are all rumors and cannot be verified; the court historians do not record rumors for which there is no evidence. More than ten days later, Shen Mu raised the Boundary Between Life and Death in Crimson Dragon City in the Wasteland; a long river spanned the void, and Crimson Dragon City became the link to Fengdu, and for a time there was uproar beyond measure.
Crimson Dragon City had originally been the property of the Shen family, and most of the shops in the city belonged to the Church of the Heavenly Sage, which carried goods from Jingping out to sell in the Wasteland, and carried Wasteland goods out to sell in Jingping. This place was the first stop on entering the Wasteland, and the cultivators who came to the Wasteland for training all chose to lodge here; in those days the number of cultivators in Crimson Dragon City swelled violently and prices soared, and Si Yunxiang and Xue Hu'er were delighted beyond measure.
After several more days officials of the Ministry of Revenue came to the Wasteland saying they had come to collect taxes, and Shen Mu drove them off; they went weeping to Emperor Yanfeng.
Yanfeng was caught between laughter and tears: "The Wasteland is not within Jingping's borders. You go there to collect taxes, and if he does not kill you, that is his courtesy to me.
By the Wasteland's rules, you deserve to lose your head. Do not make a fool of yourself; the Wasteland is not our territory.
" "Your Majesty, Grand Libationer Shen is bleeding money! The trade of Crimson Dragon City alone is a fortune! " the Minister of Revenue protested loudly.