Chapter 1572 — Fighting Our Way Out of the Land of Comfort
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
Kaihuang watched him go, then turned and went straight to the Supreme Heaven of the Land of No Sorrow, the Taiqing Realm.
With his own hands he beat the war drum, summoning the civil and military ministers of the Thirty-Three Heavens of the Land of No Sorrow.
This was the Drum of War, the drum that mobilized the Thirty-Three Heavens of the Land of No Sorrow. When its beat sounded, every civil official and military officer charged with preparing for war had to come to the Taiqing Realm.
When Kaihuang's single roll of the drum ended, he sat down before that great drum, tens of feet high, closed his eyes, and did not move.
Four days later he opened his eyes. On the square before the great drum, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers stood in full and orderly array, making no sound at all.
Through those four days people had come there without cease from every quarter, but each who arrived made no sound, only silently took his place and waited in stillness.
Heavenly Venerable Moon came as well, and seeing this scene could not help but marvel at the severity with which Kaihuang commanded his troops.
Kaihuang stood up, his gaze keen as a sword, and swept the faces of those soldiers, young generation and old alike.
"I have attained the Dao."
His voice rang out, neither high nor low, yet full and powerful. It carried not only across the square but to Pingyu Heaven, Longbian Heaven, and Yulong Heaven, all the way to Taihuang Heaven, so that in every corner of the Land of No Sorrow, every last person could hear his words.
"I have attained the Dao. I have power enough. There is no need for you to remain here any longer. The Land of No Sorrow should leave the Void of the Far Shore."
His voice came clear into every ear, its words plain and unadorned, returning to simplicity and truth, just like his sword dao.
"A true Land of No Sorrow does not exist in this world. It is not here in the Void of the Far Shore, and it will not be found beyond, either."
He strode forward, passing before one old general after another. "Once we go beyond, it will be more perilous than here, and more people will die."
At that moment Shen Mu stood aboard the Golden Ship of Salvation, sailing out of the Land of the Great Void and into the myriad heavens and worlds. He watched the Origin World draw nearer and nearer, his gaze deep and far-reaching.
At the same moment, in the Void of the Far Shore, Kaihuang's voice burst like thunder in every ear. "I will lead you to the Origin World, to the place where the Land of No Sorrow first began, to the place where your forefathers lived for generation upon generation. They were there. They cast down their heads and spilled their hot blood there. Every inch of that soil holds their sweat and their blood; every inch of that soil buries the bones of your ancestors!"
Aboard the Golden Ship of Salvation, Shen Mu gazed far off toward Jingping, where the fortunes of Jingping ran high.
He smiled, turned the golden ship about, and sailed toward Yongjiang.
"Some of you are old generals who followed me into battle. Some of you were born in the Land of No Sorrow. Some of you have never left this place in all your lives and believe it to be your homeland."
"But it is not!"
"Your homeland is the place where your ancestors lived!"
"When we leave this time, you may die in battle out there. Your kin, your friends, may die in battle out there. It may be your husbands, your wives, or even your sons and daughters who fall!"
"It may even be that your surname, your clan, will leave no bloodline behind at all!"
"But go we will. We must return there! For that is the land of our ancestors! For that is the place where we have lived and multiplied, generation after generation!"
"There is no Land of No Sorrow there. In the whole universe, in all the worlds, no Land of No Sorrow exists! But we, with our own hands, our own sweat, our own blood, our own unbending bones, will build our own Land of No Sorrow!"