Chapter 1005 — The Noble Spirit of Heroes, Awe-Inspiring Through All Ages
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The old man lifted his head and shot him a cold glare. "In ancient days there were righteous men who remonstrated at the cost of their lives, who carried their coffins to court. The emperor was muddled and deaf to all of it — why should I not burn paper for him? Burn it I will!
I have burned it for twenty thousand years, burned it until even in death he clawed his way into the Nether Capital and made himself its richest man! " Shu Jun laughed heartily and teased him: "If you mean to be a righteous man, then burn your paper in the presence of Kaihuang Shen Ye himself. Why burn it out here in these barren hills where no soul ever comes?
Who are you burning it for? You are no righteous man. " The old man's shoulders sagged, and he dropped down onto the ground, muttering: "You're right. I am no righteous man.
Had I been one, I would have carried my coffin to court twenty thousand years ago and remonstrated at the cost of my life. I finished that coffin long ago.
. . only I lost my nerve, and never dared carry it to court.
.
. " He flicked his sleeve, and a black coffin flew out — the very coffin he had made in those years, meaning to carry it to court and die in remonstration.
Shu Jun studied the black coffin.
Its surface gleamed with a high polish, as though it had been stroked over and over again.
He could not help laughing: "You old fellow — you've polished that coffin to a shine. Plainly you're a man who looks before and behind and never once arrives at a decision.
" The old man flew into a rage, about to explode — then thought it over, and saw that it was true. He had not dared carry the coffin to court, and so day after day he sat facing it, stroking it, turning it over, never able to screw up his resolve — and so of course it had been rubbed to a sheen.
Shu Jun was making ready to mock him further, but Shen Mu stopped him. "How should I address you, Elder? " Shen Mu asked.
The old man answered listlessly: "Of Kaihuang's Heavenly Court, Junior Guardian of the Four Assistants: Fang Youji. Now a keeper of graves in Qingming Heaven — a watcher of tombstones.
" Shen Mu said: "A Junior Guardian is a rank of the first order. How have you sunk so low as to watch graves? " Fang Youji rose.
"You are the Mu Heavenly Venerable; whatever you say is right. I am not much good with the sword — only with divine abilities.
I use my divine abilities to imitate sword arts. This one is called the Qingming Tribulation-Heart Sword! " He used his divine abilities to perform a sword art.
At once a fine rain filled the sky, bleak and desolate.
Though it was only an imitation, Shen Mu could still glimpse the sword Dao hidden within that single stroke. Kaihuang had founded this sword art to temper the heart in tribulation — to mourn the deaths of peers and comrades-in-arms, to make offering for the passing of his elders, to shape the present from the ancient past, to temper his own Dao heart, and no less to test the Dao heart of his opponent. This sword demanded exceedingly much of the Dao heart.
To face it with an unsteady heart was to lose.
The Junior Guardian Fang Youji performed it once through, and said: "I am imitating his third sword with divine abilities. It is a divine ability after all; it cannot fully reveal the subtlety of his sword Dao. If the Mu Heavenly Venerable cannot discern the wonders within, I can perform it several more times.
" Shen Mu closed his eyes, then opened them and smiled.
"There is no need. " Fang Youji hunkered down again and burned paper for that nameless grave. "The Mu Heavenly Venerable may go on to Xuantai Heaven.