Chapter 777 — The Old Fox and the Little Fox
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
Lu Li and the others stared at the Yin Son of Heaven, each grinding his teeth, and yet utterly helpless.
"Old Yin bastard!
" They were merely frontier lords among the forces the Heavenly Court had stationed in Youdu, whereas the Yin Son of Heaven was a frontier lord of the Heavenly Court who held the very existence of Mingdu in his grasp — a mighty one of the Emperor Throne. In strength, the four Military Commissioners could not hold a candle to him; even had they wished to fall out with him, they could not.
They had schemed and toiled, marshaling heaven knew how many Youdu magnates, and only so had they captured Shen Mu, god-child of Youdu, and set him in the Slaughter Cauldron to be refined — and then the Yin Son of Heaven appeared out of nowhere, slew those Youdu magnates in two moves, and came straight to pluck the peach for himself, with scarcely a breath of effort!
Those Youdu magnates could all be reckoned the personal following of the four of them, and now the Yin Son of Heaven had all but torn them up by the roots. The Youdu magnates had, almost all of them, once belonged to the powers of the Heavenly Court; after death they fell into Youdu and became the backbone of the four Military Commissioners' following. In life they had been of the Emperor Throne or the Lingxiao realm, but after death they were riddled with flaws and could survive only by attaching themselves to the four Military Commissioners.
Youdu, after all, remained Tubo's domain, and besides them there were powers of the Emperor Throne and the Lingxiao realm from hostile factions who fell here after death.
Unless they wished to be finished off by such powers, they had no choice but to attach themselves to the four Military Commissioners and, leaning on the might of the Heavenly Court, survive in Youdu.
So they were glad enough to be marshaled by the four Military Commissioners; honor shared is honor shared, and ruin shared is ruin shared — which was why, when Lu Li twice called them out to fight the god-child of Youdu, they came willingly. Banded together as they were, they could also stand against the Yin Son of Heaven of Mingdu. The Heavenly Court's power in Youdu stood in competition with Mingdu; great interests lay in it, and whether the Yin Son of Heaven or Lu Li and his fellows, each wished to press the other down.
The reason the Heavenly Court, while installing Military Commissioners in Youdu, had also forged a Mingdu was not only to check Tubo, but also out of fear that the Yin Son of Heaven would grow too great; Lu Li and his companions were needed to clamp him in.
That was why the Heavenly Court was glad enough to see Youdu and Mingdu locked in their endless struggle. And now, that scene of mutual restraint would likely be at an end.
From this one battle, the Heavenly Court's magnates in Youdu had been all but wiped out, leaving only the four Military Commissioners; let the Yin Son of Heaven gain the god-child of Youdu as well, and he would be another Tubo!
To win him over against Tubo, the Heavenly Court would surely grant him greater benefits. Lu Li and his companions were, so to speak, utterly defeated!
"Well worthy of an old Yin bastard who has lived from the first years of Longhan down to this day — by all accounts, the Yin Son of Heaven has never once come off the worse! " Lu Li and the others felt their hearts bleed.
Just then, the Yin Son of Heaven finally opened the Slaughter Cauldron.
He lifted away the Huntian Luo, and from within came the sound of escaping air, black currents of qi gushing out of the cauldron. Lu Li and the others were frantic.
The Slaughter Cauldron was the great treasure of slaughter the Heavenly Court had entrusted to the four Military Commissioners; the Yin Son of Heaven could not yet wield it.
If they could wield the great cauldron now, might they not refine the Yin Son of Heaven to death?
But they hesitated.