Chapter 1295 — Brazen and Black-Hearted
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Suddenly someone choked and fell to coughing, again and again, and at once the eyes of every god at the gathering swung round upon him; the man fought down his coughs until his face went scarlet with the strain.
Celestial Venerable Hao broke the silence, gasping for breath: "Had Celestial Venerable Mu not lent a hand, the consequences would have been unthinkable. I fear I would have perished at the Great Emperor's hands."
Shen Mu said weakly: "Heaven looks after the good, and Celestial Venerable Hao hardly seems a man fated to die young. I too spent every last shred of my strength before I could hold off the Great Emperor and save your life."
Celestial Venerable Hao, his breath faint as a thread: "That I dragged you into this, Daoist brother, I deeply regret. I have no way to repay you; hereafter I shall spare no sacrifice, but serve you with the toil of a horse or a hound."
Shen Mu was so stirred that a sickly flush rose to his cheeks: "You speak too gravely, far too gravely! Celestial Venerable Hao is the chief who holds the Celestial Court and its altars in his hands. Thinking of the Celestial Court's sake, how could I not throw caution to the winds and come to your rescue?"
Every god general and celestial venerable present looked at one another.
Suddenly Shen Mu and Celestial Venerable Hao broke into violent coughing in perfect unison, each wearing the look of a man who might drop dead at any moment.
Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu did not look well either, and now they too began to cough.
"Four celestial venerables gravely wounded at once — truly a season of many troubles," someone murmured.
Shen Mu rallied his spirits and declared loudly: "That is wrong! Shen Ye, that old villain of Carefree Township, and that old hag Lang Wan — they are gravely wounded as well! Now is the finest hour for the valiant sons of our Celestial Court to win merit and found their fortunes! I shall myself, broken body and all, lead troops into battle and take the old villain Shen Ye's head with my own hands, to repay the Celestial Court!" That said, he began coughing violently once more.
The Four Great Heavenly Kings, the Four Great Heavenly Masters, and the Four Emperors all coughed in turn. Bai Yuqiong sighed: "This cough seems to be contagious..."
Celestial Venerable Huo asked with concern: "Brother Hao, are your injuries grave? Celestial Venerable Xu and I went to your rescue, but Kaihuang and Lang Wan came charging in as well, and we could not shield you in time, Daoist brother."
"I won't die."
Pale-faced, Celestial Venerable Hao said flatly: "Having survived, I had meant to trouble none of you and retire into seclusion to heal. Little did I expect that someone in our Celestial Court would bite the hand that feeds him and dare to murder me while I recovered. Heh heh. A fine calculation indeed."
Every heart turned cold, and every gaze swung to Shen Mu.
Shen Mu seemed not to notice, picking up a dish from the table and putting it into his mouth.
As for Bai Yuqiong, Celestial Lord Xi, and the Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu, though their faces showed nothing, they could not keep their hearts from quailing.
That day, in the dark valley of the Taixu Demon Realm, when Celestial Venerable Hao was set upon and slain at, the three of them had been present, each striking his own blow; they did not know whether Celestial Venerable Hao had seen through it.
Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu betrayed nothing. Celestial Venerable Xu said: "Brother Hao, do you know who it was that struck at you?"
How could Celestial Venerable Hao possibly say?
To name Celestial Lord Xi and the others would be to force Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu to act on the spot and kill him; he was not so foolish as that.
"Those who sought my life concealed their true identities."