Chapter 689 — Meeting the Lord Again
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
The Yin Courier's expression changed drastically. He said hastily, "Cover it! Cover it! I confess I am afraid of you. Let me think first..."
Shen Mu pressed the willow leaf back into place.
The Yin Courier paced back and forth on the little boat, looking deeply troubled. He wanted to enter the world of the living to speak with him in detail, but it was not night, and he could not show himself.
Shen Mu waited quietly. After a moment, the old Yin Courier sighed. "Very well. Bring me your Book of Life and Death. I will imprint a divine ability upon it to suppress the other party's Book of Life and Death. That should suffice, yes?"
Shen Mu said earnestly, "Lord, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. If you taught me this divine ability, would that not be better?"
The old Yin Courier shook his head. "You little rascal, you are digging a pit for me to jump into. I would have to be a ghost to trust you. If I passed the divine ability to you and you learned it, you would use it against those fellows in the Nether Capital. And with your disposition, you would certainly spread this divine ability until everyone under heaven knew it. By then, the divine abilities of my Youdu would be worth no more than cabbages."
Shen Mu looked embarrassed and ashamed. He brought out the Book of Life and Death and handed it to him. "Lord, you are wise."
"Naturally I am wise."
The old Yin Courier turned his back, cast his divine ability, and imprinted it upon the Book of Life and Death. Then he turned around, tossed the book back to him, and said, "Do not go summoning souls from Youdu without cause. It is terrifying! Who knows whether it is you summoning or your brother planning to summon some souls to eat? And that moon-fisher over there—your idea is far too dangerous. Abandon it as soon as you can, or his brother will gnaw on your big head!"
He departed by boat.
Shen Mu dispersed the Gate of Heaven's Mandate and let out a breath of relief. Excitedly, he leafed through the Book of Life and Death, examining the divine ability the old Yin Courier had left upon it.
The Angler said hesitantly, "This Lord Tianqi speaks so bluntly? Gnaw on my head? Shen boy, is your brother very fierce?"
Shen Mu nodded repeatedly. "Utterly savage! You must never provoke him!"
The Angler fished up a moon. His primordial spirit stroked and kneaded it, refining the moon down to the size of a plate. Calmly he said, "What do you think of my strength?"
Shen Mu praised him. "The Heavenly Master's mighty power is unmatched. Your strength is very great, many times greater than Teacher Woodcutter's."
The Angler said, "Am I strong enough to provoke your brother?"
Shen Mu scratched his head. "Last time my brother threw me into his eye and trapped me there. I saw the Heavenly Lord's clone and the Red Emperor's clone beaten into complete submission by him."
The Angler's face turned ashen. He said no more and focused on fishing for the moon, though his arm—always so steady—was trembling slightly.
Shen Mu continued examining the divine ability on the Book of Life and Death. The book had originally been bright as a mirror, but now in its center there was an additional mass of runes that seemed utterly chaotic.
These runic marks were extremely complex, like ghostly scribbles, revealing nothing at first glance. Yet looking deeper, one found another world within.
Beneath the ghostly scribble exterior lay an incomparably complex and intricate runic structure. Some patterns were like pillars holding up the sky, extending downward from above with no bottom in sight. Some patterns were tangled and interwoven like a net. Still other runes flowed and changed ceaselessly, flickering with all manner of colors.