Chapter 1000 — Putting Yourself in Another's Place
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
"That is not what the Divine King Langwan said back then. When we first came to the Other Shore and founded Wuyou Township, the Divine King Langwan and the Creator race regarded us as alien invaders and were determined to wipe us out to the last. " The Divine King Langwan shot her a glance; the pendant pearls of her phoenix crown swayed gently as she said, unhurried, "Every inch of land on the Other Shore, every zone of its starry sky, was wrought by the consciousness of our Creator race, cast in the blood of our clansmen.
The Creators suffered the disaster of extinction and fled to this place; it is our last soil for abiding and multiplying. Fellow Daoist Shen Ye came from far away, and my race treated him with courtesy and honor, and never deceived him—was that not so? " Kaihuang nodded. "In those days I followed the chart to this place and received the Divine King's generous hospitality; I am grateful beyond words.
" The Divine King Langwan said, "Fellow Daoist Shen Ye said his people were in distress and asked to borrow a place to shelter. The Creators, pitying that you shared our affliction, allowed you to borrow land in which to live. Fellow Daoist Shen Ye asked to borrow the land of a single sword-stroke, and we granted it—was that not so? " Kaihuang nodded in silence.
The Divine King Langwan said coldly, "We treated you with utter sincerity, and in return Fellow Daoist Shen Ye, with one stroke of his sword, severed half the territory of our Other Shore. Broad-minded my race may be, but not broad-minded to such a degree. We dealt with you in good faith, and Fellow Daoist Shen Ye played us for fools with his schemes. Put yourselves in our place—if someone came to sever half your Wuyou Township, would you consent? " Yan Yunxi said, "Even though His Majesty was cunning about that land of one sword-stroke, the Creator race for its part did not keep its promise; instead you led your people to attack, until both sides were plunged into the misery of war, and our Wuyou Township suffered the far heavier toll of death and wounds. . .
" The Divine King Langwan sneered. "Heavenly Master Zixi, do you hold no verdict in your heart as to right and wrong, straight and crooked?
" Yan Yunxi said, "The number of our people and gods and demons slain by your Creators is a hundred times, a thousand times the number of your own dead. Where are those victims to seek redress? Where is there still a straight and crooked, a right and wrong, to be spoken of? Divine King, our Wuyou Township has never wished to make an enemy of the Creators.
We came only to ask for a place to dwell.
His Majesty said so himself that year—we came to borrow land and live; he was waiting for a single person, and once that person arrived he would leave this place and return Wuyou Township to you. Why then must you be so set upon eradicating us? " Shujun said angrily, "You invaded my race, and you won't even permit us to resist? And you claim that to be right? " Yan Yunxi was on the point of answering, but Kaihuang raised his hand to stop her.
"Heavenly Master, the fault was ours in the first place; we cannot blame the Divine King. " He looked at Shen Mu. "Does the Holy Infant have words to say? " Shen Mu said, "We are all fallen souls adrift at the far ends of the earth, and to oppress a fellow fallen soul is the one thing that ought not to be.
" Qin Hanzhen coughed once and said, "Venerable Mu is of the human race; he ought to think for the human race and put himself in the place of the Celestial Court of Kaihuang as its circumstances stood then.