Chapter 929 — Meeting Beneath the Moon at Yao Terrace
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 5
"I heard that man has gone to the Yao Pool, saying he wishes to pay his respects to Her Majesty the Empress! Truly audacious beyond belief! A million years ago, it was at the Yao Pool that he grievously wounded Lord Hao!"
"Her Majesty the Empress has permitted him to stay at the Manhui Corridor Pavilion—the very place where Lord Yu was assassinated all those years ago!"
"I went to the Yao Pool myself and saw that man. His aura is withered and decayed, skin and bones, his complexion truly poor, his vital essence draining away moment by moment. I suspect he has come to mourn old friends and seize the opportunity to seek death—it all depends on who cannot resist killing him, and then bears the infamy of all ages!"
"Who would dare kill him? Aren't they afraid of being attacked by political enemies?"
"There are plenty who want to kill him, and plenty of ways to do it. After killing him, just find a few scapegoats."
"The Heavenly Court of today is no longer the Heavenly Court he once knew."
…
The Yao Pool Holy Realm, the Manhui Corridor Pavilion.
Shen Mu came to the window of the Manhui Corridor Pavilion, gazing at the enormous lotuses blooming one after another in the Yao Sea, and at the divine turtles carrying sacred mountains on their backs as they roamed through the Yao Sea, just as before.
His body was somewhat gaunt, his complexion indeed not particularly good. Revisiting an old haunt filled him with boundless emotions.
Though the Heavenly Court of today and the Heavenly Court of the early Dragon Han era had not changed in their essential form, they were vastly different.
In those days, the Heavenly Court had been surrounded by thirty-six Heavenly Palaces and seventy-two Treasure Halls. Now, most of those Heavenly Palaces and Treasure Halls had relocated elsewhere, scattered throughout the universe to suppress the heavens and earth, with only a few Heavenly Palaces remaining.
Even so, the scale of the Heavenly Court was grander than before—a thousand towers and ten thousand halls, incomparably luxurious.
The Yao Pool had also been rebuilt. In those days, the Yao Pool had already been exceedingly vast; after a million years, this Yao Pool was more like a Yao Sea, its sacred scenery breathtaking beyond measure.
It was here that he had attended the Yao Pool Grand Gathering and experienced a great upheaval—an upheaval that had shaped the course of a million years of history.
In those days, both he and Kaihuang had relied on cleverness, astonishing an era with a foundation of knowledge that surpassed the early Dragon Han era by a million years. Had he and Kaihuang been born in that era, perhaps they would have been but two unremarkable figures in that magnificent and tumultuous age.
This was also the reason why many of the younger generation in the Heavenly Court looked down on him. These young people believed that if they had been the ones to travel back to the early Dragon Han era, they would have done better, not worse.
Yan'er came to his side, carrying a platter of fruit, and said, "Young Master, the palace maids picked some fruit. I had Long Pang and Young Master Qi taste them earlier. Long Pang and Young Master Qi are still alive, so they should not be poisonous."
Qi Jiuyi and Long Qilin, following behind her, could not help but darken their expressions at these words, a sharp pain twisting in their hearts.
The Phoenix Ship had delivered them outside the Southern Heavenly Gate before promptly returning to the Yuan Realm. Only Qi Jiuyi had stayed behind, out of worry for Long Qilin's safety.
After Shen Mu arrived at the Heavenly Court, the news spread throughout the Heavenly Court. He sought an audience with Her Majesty the Empress, but she did not appear in person. Instead, she sent someone to invite him to stay at the Yao Pool, in the Manhui Corridor Pavilion where Lord Yu had been assassinated all those years ago.