Chapter 918 — Being and Non-Being Beget Each Other, Yet All Ends in Void
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
As though he had suddenly gone mad, he laughed and wept at once, and many of the prison guards flung down their work and ran over to hold Yan Shaoqing up.
Yan Shaoqing cried out, tore himself free of them all, and said in a shrill, desolate voice: "False! You are all false!"
He injured several guards and killed a number of them outright, and then all at once his body went stiff as a puppet's, and he stood there dully, staring blankly at his own hands, which were covered in blood.
After a long while he turned his head with difficulty and said to Shen Mu: "Heaven Venerable Mu, is this real now, or false?"
Shen Mu sighed and said: "Zuo Shaobi, I mean to take my leave. Will you not see me off?"
The muscles of Yan Shaoqing's face twitched wildly; his features contorted.
He followed behind Shen Mu, walking outward.
Before long he had escorted Shen Mu and the others out of the Great Prison, and Shen Mu turned and said with a smile: "Stay your steps, Zuo Shaobi. There is no need to see me further."
Yan Shaoqing bowed and said woodenly: "I humbly see the Heaven Venerable off."
Shen Mu, smiling, slowly seated himself; fire clouds rose seething beneath the Dragon Qilin's feet, and with him aboard it was about to depart.
"Heaven Venerable Mu, is this real now, or false?" Yan Shaoqing's voice came from behind him.
Shen Mu patted the Dragon Qilin on the head, and the Dragon Qilin hastily halted.
Shen Mu laughed. "When the true is made false, the false too is true; where non-being is made being, being returns to non-being. Zuo Shaobi, you are the first man in the Heavenly Court in the divine power of consciousness. Is it truly so important whether a thing be true or false, whether it be or not be? Please go back."
Yan Shaoqing's body trembled slightly, and he raised his head to look at him.
The Dragon Qilin bore Shen Mu away into the distance.
The corners of Yan Shaoqing's eyes twitched; he saw Shen Mu's shadow upon the Dragon Qilin's head squirming, dividing from one shadow into three!
Thunder roared in his skull, and in the next instant he raced back, plunged into the Great Prison, and flew to the cages where the Jingping Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng were held.
He stood there woodenly. The two cages were utterly empty; neither Emperor Yanfeng nor the Jingping Imperial Preceptor was inside them!
"So that is it. So that is it..."
Yan Shaoqing laughed low in his throat: "So it was I who taught you how to undo the seals upon the cages. So this is no dream, nor any illusion of divine consciousness... When the true is made false, the false too is true; where non-being is made being, being returns to non-being. A fine trick — oh, a fine trick..."
Suddenly a prison guard passed by, saw that the cages were empty, and let out a shriek: "The prisoners have broken jail!"
Yan Shaoqing turned to look at him and smiled. "The prisoners are plainly still in their cages. How have they broken jail?"
The guard was stunned for a moment; he looked again at the cages, and there indeed were Emperor Yanfeng and the Jingping Imperial Preceptor within them.
Bewilderment came over the guard's face, and Yan Shaoqing said: "Making a fuss over nothing. Go about your business... Wait. Heaven Venerable Mu came to visit the prisoners — how much time did he spend?"
"Less than a quarter of an hour," said the guard.
"Less than a quarter of an hour?"
Yan Shaoqing's heart sank; it had felt to him as though several months had passed. He waved his hand and sent the guard away.