Chapter 1378 — Men Are Ever Fickle
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
The latter half of the booklet recorded that among the people of Jingping there were those suspected of being the reincarnated bodies of ancient gods such as the West Emperor, the East Emperor, and the North Emperor; and beyond these ancient gods there were, astonishingly, reincarnated bodies of other colossi of the Heavenly Court as well—and a great many of them! Shen Mu was struck dumb. These lofty beings had always turned up their noses at the Jingping Reforms, had even done everything to crush them, to scorn them, to obstruct them, forbidding the disciples of their own gates from so much as touching the Jingping Reforms.
Any who did come into contact with the Jingping Reforms were put to death without exception! And yet they themselves had quietly split off a soul and half a spirit and slipped them into Jingping to draw nourishment from the Reforms! For hypocrisy, truly, one could scarcely find men more hypocritical than these!
"They made ready for both outcomes long ago.
If they win, so be it. " Shen Mu pressed his palms together and shut the booklet with a soft smack.
"If they lose, they shed one skin for another and become the heroes of the Jingping Reforms, steal the fruits of the Reforms, and keep their high offices still!
Their power will never slip from their grasp!
" A murderous air hung on his face. After a moment the murderous air faded, and his features grew placid. The colossi of the Heavenly Court might divide their souls and be reborn in Jingping; so long as these people did not seize the high offices of Jingping, let them be, there was no need to trouble over them. But the instant they tried to climb into high office and wrest power from Jingping, they must be rooted out!
The Headman and the Alchemist drank their tea while watching the play of his face.
The Headman said in a low voice, "A matter to be settled with a single stroke of the sword, and our Shen'er's face still shifts from clear to cloudy—poor stuff for one who bears the name of a Heavenly Venerable. " The Alchemist nodded.
"One packet of medicine is all it takes.
No trouble at all. " "Bring the Butcher, and it is the work of one cleaver. " "The Deaf Elder could flatten them into a plane as well.
" The two traded jibes at Shen Mu's expense.
He had long since grown used to their envy; silently he committed the contents of the booklet to memory, then tossed it to them.
"You make it sound easy.
Then leave it to you two elders to handle. " The Headman's and the Alchemist's expressions shifted a little. The booklet was like a scalding taro—take it or leave it, they were wrong either way.
Killing the reincarnated bodies of Heavenly Venerables was easy; the vengeance of a Heavenly Venerable, though, was a fearsome thing indeed! Shen Mu said gravely, "The You Heavenly Venerable has not confirmed which of them is truly the reincarnated body of which of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, so for the time being we need not deal with those Ten, lest we kill the wrong man.
The rest need only be watched; so long as they do not overstep, there is no need to bother with them.
And this matter must be told to Emperor Yanxiu as well, so that she may be prepared. " Only then did the Headman set his heart at ease. He put the booklet away. "Once you killed two of the reincarnated bodies of the Xiao Heavenly Venerable, the other Heavenly Venerables will all be on their guard and will not tread on your reverse scales. They ought not to do anything out of bounds.
" The Alchemist nodded. Shen Mu had shot dead two of the Xiao Heavenly Venerable's reincarnated bodies with ten arrows; with such a thunderbolt of a method, even the Ten Heavenly Venerables must weigh carefully whether to snatch power in Jingping under Shen Mu's very nose. "There is one thing, Shen'er, that you would do well to weigh carefully.