Chapter 569 — A Dark Past
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The Book of Life and Death was one he had gotten from the god Kuiwu; those who knew the Book had fallen into his hands were Xing An, Ban Gongcuo, and the demon monks of Leiyin Temple. Kuiwu must be a Heaven Official or an Earth Official of the Heavenly Court, a god who governs souls.
Kuiwu's Book of Life and Death was surely not something he had forged himself but a treasure bestowed upon him; of such treasures the Heavenly Court could not have many, and every volume of the Book of Life and Death has its owner — which was why the old ghost officer had said they would soon trace it to Shen Mu.
Tracing the Book of Life and Death was far simpler than tracing Shen Mu. "The name that just appeared in the Book of Life and Death is Yuhuang. " Shen Mu lifted the yellow talisman, uncovering half his face, and asked, "What sort of god is Yuhuang?
" "Yuhuang, a god of the Yellow Springs.
As Yuhuang breathes in and out, between one breath and the next, floods cover all the heavens and he reaps the souls of the world.
He is one of the four great commanders the Heavenly Court has stationed in the Dark Capital.
" The old ghost officer said, "You are not the only one he is looking for; there are three other great commanders — Xuanming, who governs souls; Hanlei, who governs calamity; and Luli, who governs the prisons. You should never have taken out the Book of Life and Death.
Tracing it to you is no difficult thing for them. " Shen Mu fell silent. After a moment he said, in a quandary, "If I gave the Book of Life and Death to the Great Honored One, or to Xing An, and pinned it on them, that too would probably be found out easily enough. .
. " The old ghost officer said, "You are only eighteen.
You can pin the blame only on a youth of your own years, and the two you name do not match in age. And once the four great commanders reap the soul of a youth your age, they will discover that he is not you. So the blame cannot be shifted so easily. .
. Peh! Why am I hatching crooked schemes for you? " Shen Mu lowered the yellow talisman and covered his face again.
Abashed, he said, "He who has the Way has much help; he who lacks the Way has little. My Lord must surely know that I am simple and honest, and so he gives me counsel. Since the blame cannot be shifted, can these four gods leave the Dark Capital and enter Taihuang Heaven or Jingping? " The little boat drifted on, borne toward Taihuang Heaven. On board, the old ghost officer still hung the storm lantern from the pole at the prow and sat down, saying with a kind of self-abandonment: "Their strength is too great; with ease they cannot enter other worlds. But to seize you they will always find a way.
When you cultivate to the Life-and-Death realm, your Life-and-Death Spirit Treasury will open and connect with the Dark Capital, and it may be that they find you then and invade through your Spirit Treasury.
" Shen Mu shuddered.
Invade through his Life-and-Death Spirit Treasury? Was a wielder of divine powers who had cultivated the Life-and-Death Spirit Treasury not in the most extreme peril?