Chapter 647 — Utterly Convinced
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
Then he looked at the god Chi Xi and saw that the execution overseer had had who knew how many bones broken, his flesh and blood a blurred ruin, one head hanging limp as though his neck were snapped. "Truly, no harm done to the harmony," he muttered inwardly.
The god Chi Xi's face was none too pleasant either. "Young Friend Shen, you have gained my Mystic God-Slaying Blade; I must ask you to return it.
" Shen Mu shook his head.
"That little box was given to me by the Sacred Teacher; I cannot return it.
By the rules of our Desolate Ruins, what is won by one's own skill, what is picked up, and what others steal and give as gifts — such things are never given back.
" And he said, in perfect earnest: "Why, I myself was picked up by Granny, and Granny said whoever comes asking gets nothing back!
My lame old grandpa steals things all over the place to give away, and he never gives them back either. " Chi Xi choked with fury, trembling from head to foot, and the First Ancestor Human Emperor said hurriedly, "Brother Daoist, he is only a child. " Chi Xi could not well explode, so he said coldly, "Every time the Mystic God-Slaying Blade's case is opened, it must drink blood — blood to moisten the edge — or else it will turn on its master.
You have already used it once, have you not?
I see the glow of blood clinging to you.
The next time that case opens, the Mystic God-Slaying Blade will kill you and drink its fill! " Shen Mu started, and an uneasy dread settled in his heart.
"What blade? " said the First Ancestor Human Emperor.
"Bring it here and let me see.
" Shen Mu took out the little box. The First Ancestor Human Emperor examined it closely, studied it a while, found he could not open it, and his expression shifted slightly. "A God-Slaying Blade of the Chiming Era — a thing of direst omen.
The grudge-aura of a Throne god is sealed within; it is dreadful beyond words!
" He thought to hand it back to Chi Xi, but Shen Mu cried out in alarm, "Careful — he'll take that blade and kill you with it!
" The First Ancestor Human Emperor went cold, and returned the little box to Shen Mu. "If it can go unused, then on no account use it. I can feel the grudge and killing intent of a Throne-level mighty one emanating from within the box.
You have used it once already, have you not?
Last time it drank no blood, and its grudge has already wound itself about you. Best to let it drink, and so lay that grudge against you to rest. " Shen Mu nodded, pressed a hand upon the box, and said to the god Chi Xi, "Senior, could you call out that scrapped disciple of yours — the fellow with the two deer legs? " Ban Gongcuo, hidden in the dark, heard this and was on the point of stepping out when it dawned on him all at once, and fury blazed up in him: "That villain means to sacrifice me to his blade!
"