Chapter 710 — Overlord of the Nether Capital and Sovereign of the Underworld
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Tian Shu's face went the colour of earth. He slumped limp in the boat, his features crumpled. "What was I to do? Kaikhuang put the divine blade Dique into my hands and told me to go cut Tu Bo down. How would I dare? So Kaikhuang gave me a great many fine wines. The wine was truly good, and once I had drunk it I would have dared to cut down Tu Bo—I would have dared to cut down Kaikhuang himself! So off I went to Youdu, blade in hand, all in a fever of excitement. It was only when Tu Bo seized me that I sobered up..."
Shen Mu's face turned strange again.
Tian Shu looked the very picture of a coward, yet he had this weakness for wine: timid on ordinary days, but once drunk, bold enough for anything.
Before wine, a field mouse; after wine, fierce as a tiger—that was a true portrait of him.
The old netherworld courier did not steer the boat toward the Palace of Tianqi Rensheng within Tu Bo's horn, but downward all the way, straight for Tu Bo's body beneath the Horn of Nine Bends.
Tian Shu's face was ashen. In his alarm he looked again and again at Shen Mu.
Shen Mu mumbled, "We are probably going to see Tu Bo's true body. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."
Gradually they could make out Tu Bo's enormous eyes. The nearer they flew, the vaster those three eyes became, until of Tu Bo's whole form it was hard to make out anything at all.
Shen Mu saw, too, that countless ghosts dwelt upon Tu Bo's skin, as though upon numberless continents. Countless ghosts lived there and built splendid cities; in some places they were still at war, battling upon Tu Bo's body until heaven and earth were torn asunder, and yet they could not harm him in the least.
He saw as well a great many monsters of enormous bulk, each bearing a palace on its back, the palaces chained fast to their bodies. They struggled forward, moving step by step across Tu Bo's frame.
"Those halls are the dwelling places of mighty sacred primordial spirits. The monsters were subdued by them and made into mounts."
Tian Shu said, "Anyone with a little standing in Youdu keeps one or two monsters as mounts. When they go visiting friends and kin, they have the monsters carry their palaces along the road—most magnificent and domineering. Back when I was knocking about Youdu, I cut a figure like that too."
The old netherworld courier laughed. "After the Heavenly King has seen Tu Bo, you may cut that figure again."
Tian Shu's face crumpled, and he said no more.
Shen Mu consoled him: "Rest easy. He is only trying to frighten you. Tu Bo is greatly magnanimous; he will not do anything to you."
The old netherworld courier smiled coldly. "The same goes for you. Do not imagine Tu Bo does not know. Some time ago someone stole Tu Bo's power—that was your doing, was it not? The wrongs you have done, Tu Bo has them all written down."
Shen Mu laughed. "Lord Prefect, I did it to save Lady Tianyin. Lady Tianyin governs the souls of the dead: when a soul is shattered, it falls under her charge; while a soul remains whole, it falls under Tu Bo's. I thought I could not let the Lady thus perish, her fragrance scattered and her jade shattered, and so I took without asking, borrowing a little of the strength of Tu Bo and the Lord of Heaven. Even the Lord of Heaven said I did well, that I did right."
"The Lord of Heaven said that?" the old netherworld courier asked curiously.
Shen Mu's face turned grave. "Naturally! The Lord of Heaven understands great principles; he was wholly in favor of what I did. The Lord of Heaven also said that Tu Bo would understand and approve of my conduct. If you say Tu Bo has my faults written down, you must surely be mistaken. Now that I have returned to Youdu, it is better that I not disturb Tu Bo—so why don't you send us back first?"
"We have already arrived."