Chapter 1058 — The Deep Recesses of the Peach Grove
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 5
There was once a man, steeped in wickedness, who, to resist Jingping, did not scruple to release poison upon the grasslands and killed ninety percent of the people there; later, amid the tribulation of Jingping, his conscience stirred and he died saving others. Though I had the power to revive him, or to summon up his soul, I did not revive him, for I felt that if I did, I would have no face to meet the people of the grasslands who perished there. " "Then how will you face the ancient gods? " asked the Celestial Venerable Moon. Shen Mu's heart and spirit were shaken to the core. The Celestial Venerable Moon's words truly struck at his soul. The wicked man he had spoken of was the Great Venerable, who had used witchcraft poison to kill the vast majority of the herders on the grasslands, a crime beyond pardon; even if he had done one good deed, Shen Mu could not on that account forget his ruthlessness. But what of the ancient gods?
In the Longhan era, and even in the dark ages before it, the ancient gods fed upon the living creatures born after heaven and made offerings of all beings; now Shen Mu needed their strength, needed to join hands with them against the Heavenly Court, and so it could be said the ancient gods were doing a good deed. Could the ancient gods be pardoned on that account? Be not too harsh upon the good, be not too good to the wicked. How simple the saying, and yet how hard this simple principle proves to carry out! "Sympathy is immeasurably cheap, yet a heart of harsh censure is shameful too.
" The Celestial Venerable Moon's voice came from behind the screen: "I have already found the three people you spoke of.
They are in Yuhua Heaven, and they mean to rob the lair of Meng Yungui, the Second Heavenly Master among the Heavenly Court's Four Heavenly Masters.
I will bring them here.
" The Primal Realm, Yuhua Heaven. This heaven was the ancestral land of Heavenly Master Meng. He had risen from Yuhua Heaven and soared in fortune all the way to becoming the Heavenly Court's Second Heavenly Master, one of the rare Emperor-Seat powerhouses under heaven.
Once he had gained power, Heavenly Master Meng began to build up Yuhua Heaven, plundering wealth from the other heavens and sending it there.
This Heavenly Master had no other pastime, only a love of wealth, and so Yuhua Heaven was exceedingly rich; some even said his riches surpassed those of the Ten Celestial Venerables. Yet this Heavenly Master was a master of formations, the foremost formation expert in the Heavenly Court, and all his wealth was guarded by killing formations of every kind, exceedingly well fortified. At this moment, the Lame Elder and Old Master Huo had already slipped into Heavenly Master Meng's treasure vault, and with them was an honest, simple-faced youth: Lan Yutian.
The Lame Elder had always preferred to go his own way, but ever since Granny Zhu picked Shen Mu up by the river, he had taken a liking to the work of minding children.
Granny Zhu, vexed that little Shen Mu wet the bed, would give him away to others, and every time it was the Lame Elder who stole little Shen Mu back. Later, when he came out into the world again, the Blind Old Man, the Silent Craftsman, the Pill Master and the rest all had countless matters to see to, and no one kept him company; Shen Mu did not often come back either, and running about by himself, robbing tombs and dropping in on other heavens, was dull work.
Then one day it came to the Lame Elder that Shen Mu had a younger brother, Lan Yutian, and so he ran to Youdu and stole Lan Yutian out of it.