Chapter 1057 — Two Thieves and One Constable Cross Blades
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
His gaze turned grim. "I know why you have come. You want to use the power of the ancient gods; you want to stand against the Heavenly Court. But have you never considered that the Four Emperors of old were themselves fearsome beings who accepted the blood-and-flesh sacrifices of the later-born? This age is better by far than that one!"
Shen Mu said woodenly, "So long as one does not resist?"
"Yes. So long as one does not resist!"
The Fire Celestial Venerable went on absorbing the rosy radiance of the Great Way from the Southern Pole Forbidden Zone, and declared loudly, "So long as no one resists the Heavenly Court, so long as no one stirs up any of this so-called reformation, everyone may live. As a Celestial Venerable of the human tribes, I can protect you all! If the Imperial Celestial Venerable were still alive, he would surely be proud of what I have achieved!"
The corner of Shen Mu's eye twitched. "Fire Celestial Venerable, you have lived in the Heavenly Court too long. You have not seen the state of the people who live in the various Heavens and in the Yuan Realm. Every time gods and demons descend to the lower world for blood-and-flesh sacrifice, what are the offerings if not the human tribes? Not resisting does not let a people live. At best it lets a portion of those with power and wealth live!"
"It is already far better than the ancient age."
The Fire Celestial Venerable bent low again, flames burning in his eyes, and the breath that issued from his mouth became a raging sea of fire that swept past Shen Mu's side. "The future will be better still. I now have the strength to protect the human tribes. I am not like the other Celestial Venerables of the human race! The Cloud Celestial Venerable was defeated and destroyed; the Moon Celestial Venerable withdrew into seclusion; the Ling Celestial Venerable knew no flexibility and died with no ground to bury him; the You Celestial Venerable knows only to wallow in self-pity, hiding away in the You Capital; the Shen Celestial Venerable knows only to defy Heaven, and when he failed he tucked in his head and his tail and dared not show himself again. Only I!"
"Celestial Venerable Mu, I alone have spent mind and strength for the human tribes, seeking for them a chance to live! For that chance I can work with the men who disgust me most; for that chance I can keep up empty courtesies with every other cunning sort! For that chance I must borrow their strength to root out the ancient gods, to wipe out every ancient god!"
He extended his palm toward Shen Mu and said earnestly, "Stop the reformation. Do not make things difficult for me in the Heavenly Court. Come to the Heavenly Court and lend me your strength. You are Celestial Venerable Mu, the mighty one who once beat me; I know your talents. With our hands joined, that finer age will come all the sooner! And then we shall divide power with the Heavenly Court; we shall shelter the human tribes, and they will be used as offerings no more!"
Shen Mu did not take his hand. He stared at that palm and said with a half-smile, "You want the human tribes to live on, even if they must live on their knees, even if a portion of them are sacrificed to flatter the gods and demons. And I too have a dream. In my dream, people live standing on their feet, and kneel to no one."
"In my dream, every person may give full play to their talents; people may become one of the gods, may command the courses of the heavens, may turn the Great Way of heaven and earth to human use. And they may also pursue no power at all. One may read, and become a God of Books; one may paint, and become a God of Painting; one may do the things one loves, and be named a god in the field one excels in."
"I want them to live in dignity, to live in sufficiency, and so to pursue their own dreams, and not, as you would have it, to muddle along with no thought but survival."