Chapter 1010 — The Struggle of Sovereigns, Close-Quarters Slaughter
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Even now, they could yet stride forth and begin anew! Amid the drums, Shen Mu sensed that will to battle from twenty thousand years ago, that spirit unyielding through a hundred setbacks, unbowed and unbroken, that bearing which dared to be first under heaven, dared to spill hot blood against the Heavenly Court, that grand ambition to shatter the cage and shatter injustice!
This essence, this vigor, this spirit was very like Jingping's—and yet different. In what specific ways it differed, Shen Mu could not tell in so short a time.
He opened his hand, and Kaihuang dropped from between his two fingers like a heap of rotten meat, crashing into the rolling yellow sand. Shen Mu's enormous face leaned down from the heavens, almost pressed against the tattered, ruined Kaihuang Heavenly Court, his voice like thunder, a great bell striking the ear: "You.
. .
" "Are you rebelling? " His roar shook heaven and earth; the breath he expelled became a gale that swept across the Kaihuang Heavenly Court.
An old man, white-haired, his upper body bare and powerfully built, slapped his chest with a steel blade and cried out fiercely: "Rebel? Then we rebel!
" Voice after voice shouted, roared, drowning out Shen Mu's voice: "Rebellion!
" "Rally the banners anew, and storm the Heavenly Court beyond the realm! " "This Wuyou Township—I am done staying in it!
I will fight my way out of this cage and do battle once more!
" .
. . Shen Mu's face darkened, and he bellowed: "Insolence.
. .
" He was about to speak when Princess Consort Zhen seized him and said in a low voice: "Shen'er, that is enough. Say no more!
" Yan Yunxi also flew over, and with a wave of her hand clouds and mist layered across the sky, hiding their figures. Layer upon layer of cloud piled in the heavens, gradually covering the Kaihuang Heavenly Court.
Within the mist, Princess Consort Zhen pulled Shen Mu downward, Yan Yunxi guarding at their side, staring around in alarm, speaking swiftly: "The hearts of the people can be used—but they have grown hot past the point of reason.
If you speak again, those fellows whose heads have been addled will harden their hearts and kill you as a Heavenly Venerable of the Heavenly Court beyond the realm!
" Shen Mu was startled, and stammered: "Surely not? " Yan Yunxi sneered: "You beat Kaihuang so savagely, and you set yourself up as the Heavenly Court—right now you are the symbol of the Heavenly Court beyond the realm.
At this moment, some can still tell that you are you and the Heavenly Court is the Heavenly Court, but others cannot.
With the crowd in such a frenzy, killing you would be perfectly normal.
They hate you to death.
" Shen Mu said guiltily: "I was beaten pretty badly by Kaihuang too.
Just now, Kaihuang's thirty-fourth heaven sword path ran me through.
" Yan Yunxi sneered. Shen Mu looked at Princess Consort Zhen: "Mother, isn't that so?
" Princess Consort Zhen nodded helplessly: "Kaihuang really did go too far—he wounded Shen'er badly.
" Just then Qin Hanzhen's voice came, quiet: "Quite a few addle-headed fellows have flown up into the sky; clearly they mean to kill you to vent the surging vigor in their bodies. I will go find Kaihuang and ask him to calm the crowd. At a time like this, only he can step forward. " And he hurried off again. Princess Consort Zhen and Yan Yunxi took Shen Mu dodging here and hiding there, lest he be exposed.
At this moment the people of Wuyou Township had been stirred up, reason crushed beneath emotion, emotion holding the upper hand, and they needed an outlet.
Shen Mu had already been cast as the representative of the Heavenly Court; if he was discovered, it would mean certain death. "There is no staying in the Heavenly Court. Let us get out! " Princess Consort Zhen and Yan Yunxi carried him swiftly away from the Kaihuang Heavenly Court.