Chapter 836 — The Moon Mirrors the River's Heart as the Rusted Banner Flies
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"Hegemon Body Shen, what a grand tone."
Prince Qiuming smiled faintly, showing no anger, and said unhurriedly, "Why is it that you rude folk of the wilds are always so full of your own talents, always looking down on the sons of the imperial house? My birth is nobler than yours—I was born into the imperial family. My learning is richer, my experience broader. Any Emperor's Throne art of Lingxiao is mine for the taking, and I have the finest of masters to guide me. What do you have?"
The Village Chief, the Divine Son Chiming, the First Ancestor Human Sovereign, and the rest felt a chill in their hearts.
To be born into the imperial house was indeed an extraordinary advantage; on that point alone, Shen Mu could not hope to compare.
True, in his youth Shen Mu had been taught by the elders of Yincan Village, and was far better off than most—but set beside Prince Qiuming, it did not bear looking at.
Prince Qiuming was a golden phoenix born in a nest of gold; Shen Mu was merely a plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon in a thatched shed.
The Village Chief stole a glance at Shen Mu beside him and saw that the lad still wore that air of utter indifference. He thought to himself, "It's all that pig butcher's fault! The pig butcher taught him never to show fear before anyone. And blame that dead blind old man too—he taught him to piss on idols to break the god in his heart, and now the boy fears neither heaven nor earth..."
Shen Mu said with a laugh, "I may not have been born into the imperial house, but I too had nine towering figures to teach me, and foremost in all Yincan Village is this old man beside me. He is our village chief. He taught me swordsmanship, and he taught me how to be a man."
The Village Chief was deeply moved, his old face flushed with embarrassment. He thought, "Ahem. I did indeed teach him how to be a man—that is why he is so modest and courteous, yielding and forbearing in all things, very much in my own style."
Prince Qiuming laughed heartily, hands clasped behind his back, and raised his head to gaze at the bright moon in the sky—the moon hung wrinkled above—and sighed. "Teach you how to be a man? What use is being a man? Cruelest of all is the imperial house. In the Heavenly Court there are princes beyond counting; to rise above them all, one must pass through a gauntlet of blood and slaughter. Which of those who emerge is not tempered by life and death? At twelve I was sent to the Yin-Demon Graveyard to fight yin-demons. Of the fifty who entered with me, I alone came out alive! And what did you endure at twelve?"
Shen Mu thought about it, and was somewhat reluctant to speak.
The Village Chief reminded him, "Shen, have you forgotten? Back then old woman Si bought a plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon, and every day you fought it tooth and nail, and it chased you running all over the ground."
Shen Mu's face turned black as iron.
Prince Qiuming laughed heartily again and shook his head. "My birth is nobler than yours, my learning greater, my experience broader—and I work harder than you besides. You, visit my grave? What a joke."
Shen Mu said, dead serious, "And yet killing you is truly no trouble for me. Prince, you are not even the equal of the plume-crested fire pheasant-dragon I met last time. Killing that pheasant-dragon took me and my senior brother Zhe Huali joining hands. Killing you will take a single move."
Zhe Huali fought hard not to laugh, and the demon saber on his back curved its eyes in mirth—alas, it could make no sound.
Prince Qiuming shot him a glance, a faint smile on his lips. "Zhe Huali, you were once a talent of the Lingxiu Army. Who would have thought that after descending to the lower realm you too would become a frog at the bottom of a well. Hegemon Body Shen, the reason I tell you all this is not to boast—it is simply the truth."