Chapter 1255 — How to Have It Both Ways
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
Yet in the very next instant, Yin Jiuzun came charging into the Taixu Netherworld with the Reincarnation Bell, and the tolling of the bell came straight for Shen Mu.
Shen Mu unfolded his Divine Treasury domain, and was once more shaken into a single great eyeball; sprouting legs and feet, he took to his heels, fleeing out of the Netherworld into the land of Taixu, making for the breach in the city wall. Yin Jiuzun followed hard on his heels, flung the Reincarnation Bell out with a wave of his hand; the great bell spun, and with a clang it plugged the breach in the wall.
"Hahahaha—" Laughter came from the great eyeball as it rushed straight at the bell, and swiftly grew into the whole of Shen Mu; he spread his arms to embrace the Reincarnation Bell, but a shadow flickered, and Yin Jiuzun's headless body had already alighted upon the bell's loop, his robes streaming.
"Heavenly Lord Mu, you cannot escape.
. . " The voice within the bell had barely spoken these words when a hand white as jade suddenly pressed down, and with a smack flattened Yin Jiuzun upon the bell's loop into a puddle of muck.
The jade-white hand flicked the flesh and blood from the bell's loop, then lightly lifted the Reincarnation Bell up.
Shen Mu halted, let out a breath, straightened his robes, and said with a laugh, "Bai Yuqiong, White Heavenly Master, you have finally deigned to act. " The owner of that jade-white hand was none other than Bai Yuqiong; holding the Reincarnation Bell in one hand, she gave it a light shake, and the fragment of the Yin Son of Heaven's spirit within it was wiped out by her outright; the Reincarnation Bell turned into a little bell.
Bai Yuqiong put the Reincarnation Bell away, turned her gaze upon Shen Mu, and a trace of wariness showed on her face as she said softly, "What manner of demon, so bold as to dare hunt down Heavenly Lord Mu?
It is well that the Heavenly Lord is unharmed; otherwise Yuqiong's guilt would be beyond measure.
" Shen Mu laughed heartily and strode through the broken wall into the divine city, saying leisurely, "This land of Taixu is full of traitors and rebels. Perhaps some rebel faction learned that I, Heavenly Lord Mu, had come to aid the Heavenly Court in battle, and so lay in ambush to hunt me down.
But I wonder—I came to Taixu without stirring anyone, yet these rebels knew my position. . .
" A flicker of killing intent passed through his eyes. "Just who leaked the word? " Bai Yuqiong understood, and smiled. "Fortunately the Heavenly Lord is blessed by Heaven, and came to no harm.
" Shen Mu said with a half-smile, "Heaven's protection is not so certain.
In this land of Taixu, even the Lord of Heaven and the Lord of Earth cannot reach this place—so whence comes Heaven's protection?
" Bai Yuqiong knew there was more to his words. Bai Yuqiong had long since recognized Shen Mu and the Reincarnation Bell, and knew that the one controlling the bell was the Yin Son of Heaven; but the reason she had held back from acting was that in her heart she still hoped the Yin Son of Heaven would do away with Shen Mu.
She was the reincarnation of the Vermilion Bird, the Southern Emperor, yet she did not wish to become the Southern Emperor.
She believed that once she became the Vermilion Bird, the Southern Emperor, Bai Yuqiong would be dead. And Shen Mu knew her true identity, and had the means to revive the Southern Emperor's soul within her, awakening all her past lives; and then she would die, and the Southern Emperor would be reborn.
Though she felt some admiration for Shen Mu, and was deeply grateful for the help he had given her when she was still Que Feiyin, no amount of admiration or gratitude outweighed her own life.
So she meant to use the Yin Son of Heaven's hand to rid herself of Shen Mu, and then seize the Reincarnation Bell from the Yin Son of Heaven.