Chapter 896 — Only in Sacrifice Is Great Ambition Revealed
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
Kaihuang has sent his decree out from the Land of No Sorrow, ordering all of us gods under the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Azure Heaven Palace to abandon the Wasteland, to pull back entirely and preserve our strength. Since you are of Kaihuang's line, you must know how perilous the situation is. You may go to Fengdu for refuge. Hyah—" He raised his blade and galloped away. Shen Mu frowned, uneasy at heart. Kaihuang's decree was for a full withdrawal to preserve strength, which meant that the Woodcutter, the Martial Celestial Master, Di Yiyue, Tian Shu, the Four Celestial Masters and Four Heavenly Kings, would also receive Kaihuang's decree, telling them to abandon Jingping.
Jingping had survived all along only under the protection of Kaihuang's remnant forces.
Now that Kaihuang's order had come, the Four Celestial Masters, the Four Heavenly Kings, and even Fengdu would all pull back, and would not aid Jingping in the slightest.
He steadied himself, his voice hoarse: "Let's go. To Crimson Dragon City. " Along the way, Shen Mu saw in village after village and town after town the stone statues waking, stone turning to flesh and blood.
The god-men of Kaihuang's age gathered, forming into armies, leaving the lands they had once guarded. The people of the Wasteland stood at the village mouths and before the city gates, watching these god-men who had guarded them depart, their eyes full of bewilderment and helplessness. Shen Mu followed these armies of god-men to Crimson Dragon City.
The armies crossed the bridge at the Threshold of Life and Death of Crimson Dragon City and entered Fengdu.
Crimson Dragon City too was utterly silent. The city held many temples and a great many stone statues, and now these statues also revived and entered Fengdu one after another. "Sect Master Shen!
" Shen Mu waved a hand and smiled: "I am here; there is no need for alarm. " With that, he too stepped onto the Threshold of Life and Death and entered Fengdu.
The Hall of King Shen in Fengdu. The King of Hell's face was hidden beneath a dark cloak.
"There is no need to speak, son of Shen. I know why you have come.
Whatever the case, we have always been Kaihuang's people, not Jingping's.
Kaihuang's decree has been issued, and as Kaihuang's subordinates we must obey. " Veins stood out on Shen Mu's forehead, and he clenched his fists: "And human lives?
The lives of the countless multitudes of Jingping?
You command the mightiest army of Kaihuang's age. Will you watch the countless lives of Jingping be destroyed? That is hundreds of millions of lives. Their forebears too were people of Kaihuang!
" There was not a trace of feeling in the King of Hell's voice: "Kaihuang is my sworn father. He has his own designs. He gave the gods and demons under his command into my keeping, and I must answer for them. The Four Celestial Masters and the Four Heavenly Kings have each received their orders and have already withdrawn from Jingping.
Son of Shen, Shen Mu, you are, after all, of Kaihuang's line. Come to Fengdu. Fengdu has Youdu at its back; it can be held or retreated from. " Shen Mu was utterly disappointed. He rose and laughed with a cold sneer: "I am a son of Shen, but I am also the Human Emperor. The line of the Hall of the Human Emperor, from the first ancestor, the Human Emperor, down to my generation, has passed through thirty-seven generations.
Thirty-seven generations of Human Emperors fought and killed with all their strength for the people of Jingping, one falling only for the next to rise, and never one retreated. I cannot break the inheritance of the Hall of the Human Emperor. Farewell! " He walked out of the Hall of King Shen. Outside the hall, several thousand gods and demons stood bowing, waiting in silence.
"Star Lord of Seven Killings, Wei Liao, pays his respects to his benefactor!
" The god general at their head said in a deep voice: "Wei Liao is dead.
He is no longer Kaihuang's subordinate.