荒墟牧神 - 第701章 代人受罰 - 簡牘書房

The old underworld bailiff shot Shen Mu a glance. "Replying to Lord Tu, it has been entered — volume eight, page one thousand and four. Every account is recorded clearly; not a single stroke will be missing."

Lord Tu set down the book in his hand, picked up the eighth ledger, and leafed through it. "Is it recorded every time he opens the Heaven-Bearing Gate as well?"

"It is."

The old bailiff said, "He frightens me half out of my wits; I could hardly leave it unrecorded. And every person who has died at his hands is written down too — clear as day, without the slightest discrepancy — awaiting the reckoning after his death. But those are small matters; I keep them in the miscellaneous volumes."

Lord Tu laid down the eighth volume. "Where are the miscellaneous volumes?"

The old bailiff answered, "There are too many of them. I opened a room specially to store them, and it is nearly full. Shall I bring the miscellaneous volumes here as well for Lord Tu to review?"

"No need."

Lord Tu, himself somewhat pained by the thought, shook his head. "So long as it is all recorded clearly and distinctly, that is enough."

Thud.

Tian Shu toppled straight over. His ram's head struck the ground hard, bouncing twice before it settled. Qi Jiuyi could not help saying, "Brother Tian, Lord Tu surely did not mean you — he meant Brother Shen, Shen Fengqing."

Tian Shu said weakly, "I know he meant him. I thought he and Lord Tu were on friendly terms. Turns out it is the kind of friendship that comes of recording every misdeed he has done. I was hoping he could get Lord Tu to do him a favor; now I think the result of Lord Tu doing him a favor is one more charge laid at my door! Let me lie here a while — I suddenly feel very weak..."

Lord Tu looked at Shen Mu. Shen Mu stood there ill at ease, head lowered, now and then stealing a glance at him and then, as if startled, snatching his gaze back.

Lord Tu said, "Sheltering the criminal Tian Shu and setting him loose to wreak havoc upon the world — this fault is charged to your account. Do you accept it?"

Shen Mu said hastily, "I don't—"

"Charge it to him," Lord Tu said to the old bailiff.

The old bailiff readily assented, took up his brush and wrote it down, then said to Shen Mu, "Lord Tu is just and impartial. He did not ask you in order to hear your opinion, but to inform you, so that when you die in the future you will not die an aggrieved ghost."

Shen Mu was at once relieved, and laughed. "In the future? Then Lord Tu will not kill me this time."

Lord Tu glanced at him. "Your allotted span is not yet spent, so for the time being I will not touch you. But the longer you remain in Youdu, the weaker your mortal body grows, and you will die in the end. I summoned you here today not for your sake, but for his."

He raised a hand and pointed at Tian Shu. With a whish, a whip coiled around him. Tian Shu struggled but could not break free, his face ashen.

Shen Mu stepped forward and planted himself across Lord Tu's path, saying in a clear voice, "May I ask Lord Tu — what crime has Tian Shu committed?"

"He cut off my horn, stole my Youdu, and carved out territory to found Fengdu. Those are grave crimes."

Lord Tu said gravely, "Do you step forward to speak for him? Do you mean to take his punishment upon yourself?"

Shen Mu said in a low voice, "The Imperial Gate Divine Saber was designed by Kai Huang; the order was given by Kai Huang. Tian Shu merely carried out his orders. If a subject obeys his sovereign's command, is that a fault?"

Lord Tu said, "The one who wielded the blade was gravely at fault from the very start."

"Does Lord Tu bully the weak and fear the strong?" Shen Mu asked.

Tian Shu broke into a cold sweat, and Qi Jiuyi was likewise uneasy, thinking, "How does Brother Shen dare say anything at all? Even though he is the Divine Son of Youdu, speaking to Lord Tu like that — that title will not save him at all!"

Lord Tu frowned slightly. Firelight rippled between his ox horns.