Chapter 1197 — Reunion with Old Acquaintances
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
"He was wounded too, yet even four Heaven Venerables could not hold him. " Shen Mu said, "He went back to the Great Void straight away and met Fire Heaven Venerable and Void Heaven Venerable in battle, and left the Heavenly Court in a fine mess.
" Tian Shu the Heaven King laughed through his tears: "That is the man he is! Never mind four Heaven Venerables — even ten could not hold him!
No one can hold him! " Shen Mu rose, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "But he needs you. He is waiting on the battlefield for his old soldiers, his old subordinates.
" The Heaven King Tian Shu flung himself over the table and wept aloud: "I am a coward, a craven through and through. I can only drink to summon up my courage, and my drinking ruins everything besides. I even cursed him for a coward who dared only hide away in the Carefree Land.
. . when the truth is that I am the coward. .
.
" Shen Mu walked out of the wineshop and said to Chixiu the Divine, "Let us go.
" Chixiu the Divine glanced at him and led him onward. They came to the Shen King Hall.
Its doors were shut fast, and two ghost kings with blue faces and tusks stood guard outside.
Chixiu the Divine knocked on the door and said, "Yama, Heaven Venerable Mu has come to call. " Something inside was knocked over with a clatter, and then Yama's voice came: "I am not in. .
. never mind, let him in.
. .
wait, I will go and receive him myself. " The doors opened. Yama was all somber black, shrouded beneath a dark cloak, his face hidden from view.
"Heaven Venerable Mu.
. . " His face could not be seen, but the emotion in his voice was tangled indeed.
Shen Mu stepped into the Shen King Hall and looked about him, then laughed: "Yama is as poor as ever. There is not a single treasure here worth a second glance.
" Yama was silent a moment, then said, "In the Jingping Tribulation. . .
" Shen Mu cut him off: "The Jingping Tribulation is over.
I will not live in the past. The people of Jingping survived the calamity, and they live well enough now.
" Yama's voice was bitter: "You saved Jingping.
The price you paid was enormous.
" Shen Mu turned around and smiled: "I am very well now, and I have gone further than I had before the Jingping Tribulation. The calamity brought me blessing. " "You suffered a great deal. " "I am stronger than before, sturdier, and my heart of the Dao is firmer than ever, never once shaken. " Yama said, "You bore the fate of Jingping alone.
.
. " "No! " Shen Mu laughed. "Every soul of Jingping bore it together.
I could not have carried it alone; with all of them bearing it with me, it was carried, and the crisis of survival was passed at last. So it was in the Kaihuang Era too.
The remnants of Kaihuang should not be scattered and divided any longer. " Yama fell silent.
Shen Mu made a circuit of the Shen King Hall and laughed: "It is too quiet here, too bleak — like a neglected wife banished to the cold palace.
Even you have grown gloomy.
This place does not suit me. I will go and see the others. " He strode out, saying in an unhurried voice, "Youth turns white, great ambitions burn in vain; what use, before the old steed at the manger, to sigh and whistle his grief?
" Yama watched him leave the Shen King Hall, then bowed his head and threw the cloak back from his shoulders, revealing a head of silver hair — though his face was still that of a youth. His gaze was cold and dark, yet flames danced in his pupils. "The Fisherman Heavenly Master should be fishing over by the River of Forgetfulness.
" Chixiu the Divine led Shen Mu onward, saying, "The ravines there are steep. A pity there are no fish; beneath the River of Forgetfulness only lonely ghosts and wild spirits drift through the water. " Before long Shen Mu saw the Fisherman Heavenly Master — an old man seated on a little folding stool, a fish basket beside him. Two small red fish had their fins propped on the rim of the basket, looking this way and that.