Chapter 939 — Song and Dance to Celebrate the Peace
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
" Shen Mu was taken aback; screams came to his ears, and he turned quickly to look. He saw that many of the divine soldiers and generals who had come with the official were seizing the palace maids of Yaochi; having bound them, they beheaded them on the spot, annihilating their primal spirits and scattering their souls. The divine soldiers and generals worked swiftly, slaughtering all the palace maids and dragging their corpses away, to be thrown onto boats and carried off.
In the sky the goddesses still danced, the divine music rising and falling, songs still sung and dances still danced; the dancers and musicians seemed unable to see the river of blood below.
Chill after chill rose in Shen Mu's heart; he turned back to look at the divine official beside him.
That official, his face full of smiles, said in a low voice, "Tonight they heard words they should not have heard and saw things they should not have seen, and so must be dealt with.
Let the Heavenly Venerable not take offense, nor make matters hard for your humble servant; this is the convention. " Shen Mu fell silent. What was dreadful was not the official's words, but the convention. He looked at Qi Jiuyi and Yun Jianli; neither of them showed any reaction, and plainly such things happening in the Heavenly Court were long familiar to them; that was what was most dreadful.
"Reform and change must alter not only the arts of the Dao and divine powers, but this dreadful cast of mind as well.
To change only the arts and powers and not this cast of mind, even if this rotten Heavenly Court were overthrown, would merely build another, more rotten, Heavenly Court! " There was a desolation in his heart.
From the Shanghuang era, the ideal that human life outweighs heaven; to the Kaihuang era, the ideal that humans are the root and gods serve humans; to what Jingping upheld, shattering the gods within the heart, the way of the sages lying in the common people's daily use, generation after generation had striven for it and shed blood for it.
Yet that ideal had never reached the Heavenly Court! If reform meant no more than changing the arts of the Dao and divine powers, it could never be called reform!
"What is the Heavenly Venerable thinking?
" the divine official asked with a smile.
"I am thinking.
. .
" Shen Mu's face was calm, and beneath that calm surface churned magma, like a volcano about to erupt: "Sooner or later, I will smash this rotten world to pieces.
" The divine official was startled a moment, then smiled.
"The Heavenly Venerable thinks well, but the surging tide is beyond anyone's power to resist. Hurry!
" He shouted to the divine soldiers and generals, "Clean this place up! Do not delay the Heavenly Venerable's rest! " Before long the darkness shrouding Yaochi dispersed, and Yaochi was made new; Yaochi was like a sea, displaying its vastness.
The divine turtles that had once borne the divine mountains and islands had all died in that night's battle; now, from somewhere, the Heavenly Court had produced another batch of divine turtles and moved in more divine mountains and islands, so that these turtles bore the mountains and islands swimming through Yaohai as before.
There were also goddesses planting enormous lotuses; the lotuses bloomed, and many delicate women transformed from flower spirits dwelt in the kingdoms within the flowers, sitting by the sea washing their feet and hair, playing the zither and singing, a scene of inexhaustible beauty. The divine official bowed to Shen Mu. "Heavenly Venerable, this place has largely been restored.
Is the Heavenly Venerable satisfied?
"