Chapter 644 — Strange Species of the South Sea
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Shen Mu walked out of the Human Emperor Hall. Outside, all was darkness, and the stars blinked in the sky. The youth let out a long breath.
He did not leave at once; instead he found a large rock near the hilltop and sat down. He sat staring blankly into space.
Beating the First Ancestor Human Emperor had vented some of his anger, but the weight on his mind had not lifted because of it. "Perhaps if I beat him again, the knot in my heart will come loose. .
. This false sky—even the tracks of the stars are in disarray. The gods who govern the constellations grow more careless by the day! " He widened his eyes and watched the somewhat disordered constellations. In the east the sky was gradually brightening, and the stars above ran about like horses on a gallop.
He thought, 'Lord Yangxing was the one who controlled the great sun among the constellations. Grandpa Tu from our village cut him down with a single stroke.
With no one to govern the sun in the sky, the other deities must be in a fluster as well. ' The stars above churned in confusion for a while, then the morning glow rose in the east, and the sunlight masked the disordered constellations, betraying no further flaws. Shen Mu sat there in silence and gave a cold laugh at the vanishing stars. The sun rising from the sea traced a crooked, wobbling path, like a kite soaring in high spirits, lurching this way and that.
This clearly showed that after Lord Yangxing's death, the other deities who controlled the sun were still unfamiliar with how to steer it, and so revealed ever more flaws. Lord Yangxing had followed Qi Jiuyi to Taihuang Heaven in search of Shen Mu, only to run into his mortal enemy Zaifu, who cut him down. After his death, there was no deity left in Jingping's celestial chart to work the sun-controlling formation.
Another deity must have taken over now, but was still unskilled, and so the flaws came thick and fast. Jingping's constellations were composed of formation charts—the sun, the moon, and the stars alike. The deities who presided over these charts each had their own duties; to rashly take over Lord Yangxing's star chart would naturally leave one flustered and unable to cope for a time. Shen Mu sat a while longer and watched the sun climb higher. At last it steadied, though it still drifted somewhat to and fro.
Its light spilled through the morning clouds, bathing the Southern Wilderness and the South Sea in a riot of color, bright and dazzling. Suddenly the gate of the Human Emperor Hall appeared once more, and the First Ancestor Human Emperor stepped out. Shen Mu glanced back at him, then turned away and went on watching the sunrise. The First Ancestor Human Emperor saw him, hesitated, and instead of leaving, walked over and sat down below the rock.
The First Ancestor Human Emperor stared at the rising sun for a while, then blurted out, "This sun. . .
it is an eyesore! " Shen Mu had meant to keep a straight face and ignore him, but the remark made him laugh in spite of himself.
"Bear with it," he said.
"Lord Yangxing, the one who governed this sun formation, was cleaved in two by Grandpa Tu from my village. " "So that is it.
" The First Ancestor Human Emperor said, "I have met that Lord Yangxing. When Jingping's sky was veiled, I watched them draw back the curtain of heaven and hang up the sun, moon, and stars.
It has not been easy for him—twenty thousand years of falsifying it all. " He looked at Shen Mu, and his voice dropped. "I am sorry.
.
. " Shen Mu was briefly taken aback, then laughed. "Why apologize to me? I beat you—it is I who should make amends.
" The First Ancestor Human Emperor shook his head.
"I meant to be your teacher, to pass on all the skills and insights of my life to you. But after you left, I came to understand.