Chapter 948 — The Sea Right Before My Eyes
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
" The Shen Mu opposite him had his pupils contract sharply, divine light misting in his eyes; then the light withdrew, and he said calmly, "The wound in my Dao-heart needed far longer to cure. For a thousand years after, whenever I closed my eyes, I saw your sword piercing my body, saw your fist smashing into me, smashing my bones to splinters and my tendons to pieces. " Shen Mu said apologetically, "I should have killed you then, and you would not have suffered such torment.
" The Shen Mu opposite said coldly, "It was a thousand years before I walked out of your shadow. But when I did, I knew that I was no longer the man I had been. The old me was merely a blade in my Imperial Father's hand, meant to remove Heavenly Venerable You—a formidable foe who might one day threaten his throne. It was you who made me die once and come back to life. From that time on, I swore I would live for myself.
" Still imitating Shen Mu's manner of speech and bearing, he continued, "I began to grow deep and unfathomable. Among the princes I drew no attention—after all, I was a failure, a fellow beaten into a dead dog by Heavenly Venerable Mu.
Yet the more this was so, the more opportunity I had, and the more my Imperial Father favored me. I helped him lay a scheme to remove the Eldest Prince—depose him, kill him. He was the son of the Empress and my Imperial Father; he had once humiliated me, mocked me as a bastard, jeered that I had been beaten into a dead dog by Heavenly Venerable Mu. So I gave him the name Xie Wuqi, as a mark of shame, so that even after death he would go on suffering torment in Youdu! " Shen Mu saw the smile that rose on the face of the self opposite him—as plain and artless as his own smile. Yet beneath that artlessness lay thick hatred and the exhilaration of vengeance fulfilled.
"After Xie Wuqi's death, none of the powerful princes were any match for me. Some died, some were wounded, and some I broke so thoroughly that their Dao-hearts collapsed. " The other Shen Mu chuckled darkly. "My Imperial Father felt that fellows like Heavenly Venerable Yun and Heavenly Venerable Ling still posed a threat to the Heavenly Court. So he decided to groom a trusted confidant to deal with them and keep them in check—and so he chose me. Heh heh—at that time, he had no choice but to choose me. And so I came to the Yuan Realm and established the Longxiao Heavenly Court, to stand against Heavenly Venerable Yun and his lot, fighting them tooth and nail. But through it all I built up a cadre of my own. With that cadre, I could slowly plot my grand enterprise. " Shen Mu praised him, "Heavenly Venerable Hao, you have grown up.
" "That is entirely thanks to you. " The smile on the other Shen Mu's face grew ever purer, ever more sunlit—like a big boy's. "I fought Heavenly Venerable Yun for a very long time.
The human race and the postnatal living beings were too weak; they were no match at all for the demigods. To bolster the confidence of the humans and postnatal beings, he actually took on your appearance and came to strike at me. How laughable.
" He could not suppress a laugh. "At the time I truly was frightened, but I quickly realized that Heavenly Venerable Mu was not you. No matter how closely he imitated you, he could not fool me. " His face seemed to smile and yet not smile, to weep and yet not weep. "Who else could know you as I do? The demon that appears in my countless nightmares—it is you! Heavenly Venerable Yun was too naive, imitating you! Yet I did not expose him before the crowd.
I sought him out alone and told him of my plan.
And so I, a man you hate to the bone, joined the Heaven Alliance without the slightest hindrance.