Chapter 526 — I Can Do It Myself!
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
You are unlike the Human Emperors of old. They were deceived by their masters and had no choice but to be Human Emperors; had they been permitted to renounce the title, they would have rejoiced and gladly abandoned it. And you? You were deceived as well, I expect? " Shen Mu climbed shakily to his feet, sealed the wounds on his body, wiped the blood from his lips, and panted hoarsely: "The Village Elder did not deceive me.
He told me that being Human Emperor brings no benefit at all—only pursuit and assassination, every eye in the world fixed on you, your life forever in danger. . . " "Then why do you still stand up? " The First Ancestor was baffled.
"Why have you still not given up? A thing that brings no benefit—why do it?
Are you a fool?
" Shen Mu bared his teeth, stained red with blood.
"If no one does it, will there never be any hope at all?
You will not do it—why not let me?
" "Because you are stupid!
" The First Ancestor Human Emperor attacked, each blow heavier than the last, bellowing, "A fool who does not know how to give up!
You will only throw your life away! Among the enemies you will face, men like me are beyond counting. If you cannot even stand against me, how will you contend with them? My mistakes must not be borne by those who come after! Give up! " Boom!
Shen Mu met him head-on and staggered back. The First Ancestor attacked like a storm, every strike solid as a mountain, keen as a blade. "Give up! Give up!
Give it up!
" Shen Mu tumbled head over heels, driven out of the Human Emperor Hall; he had barely risen when the First Ancestor was already before him, one seal for heaven, one seal for earth, the two seals joined, blasting him away. Shen Mu fell among several grave mounds, and the First Ancestor Human Emperor abruptly appeared, his foot upon Shen Mu's chest.
"Giving up or not? " Shen Mu seized his ankle and flung him off, stood up once more, and rushed at him, shouting, "The title of Human Emperor is not one you conferred on yourself—it was given to you by all the races!
You cannot take it back!
" "The Human Emperor is a lie! Let me shatter the falsehood in your heart! " The First Ancestor's gaze was cold. He reached out, seized Shen Mu by the neck and lifted him into the air; Shen Mu hooked his hands, twisted his body like a great python, and in a flash was astride the man's arm, throwing him over.
Bang—the falling First Ancestor caught him with a punch in midair, and he crashed down again.
The First Ancestor rose and walked over to the thatched hut, sneering, "It is these incompetents who conjured up the falsehood that a Human Emperor should give himself for the world, should fight for the world's lives—and it is they who filled young men like you with hot blood. Let me destroy their bones instead, grind the bones of these seekers of empty fame to muck and to powder!
" He burst into the thatched hut, stamped the Second Ancestor's stone tablet to fragments with one foot, and snatched up the Second Ancestor's bones. "How dare you!
" Outside, the wind howled. Shen Mu roared.
The First Ancestor turned and raised his palm to meet the fist that came smashing at him—a fist drenched in blood, a fist carrying boundless wrath—and the blow set his five fingers trembling without cease. Boom—countless thunderbolts came crashing down upon the First Ancestor's face and blasted him out of the thatched hut. The hut burst apart, and a man of blood caught the Second Ancestor's bones out of the thunder, laid them carefully in place, knelt and bowed once, then shot off like an arrow loosed from the string, chasing the First Ancestor into the air!
"You cannot—let me!
I can! " Far off came the dull sound of a body striking the ground, and a gray-blue cloud rose slowly into the sky.