Chapter 1622 — Had He Died Then, Who Would Know Truth from Falsehood
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The Village Headman watched Celestial Venerable Fire with wary eyes, his heart ill at ease.
Celestial Venerable Yun's fleshly body had been stripped of all cultivation by Shen Mu; only the cultivation of his primordial spirit remained at his disposal. Mighty though that primordial spirit was, whether it could match Celestial Venerable Fire was another matter altogether.
Since his return from the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court, Celestial Venerable Fire's cultivation and strength had grown by leaps and bounds. That he should appear so abruptly in the Ancestral Court, blocking their path as though he had foreseen all things, gave one an uneasy feeling.
How had he known that Celestial Venerable Yun was bound for the Ancestral Court? How had he placed himself so precisely upon the road they must take?
Celestial Venerable Yun remained perfectly composed. Celestial Venerable Fire spread his arms wide, but Yun did not step forward to embrace him. Instead he smiled and said, "To meet an old friend again gladdens my heart greatly. Fire, you seem to harbor some doubts; you speak rather sourly of Celestial Venerable Yu and Celestial Venerable Mu. Might you tell me of it?"
Celestial Venerable Fire lowered his arms, seeming somewhat disappointed that his old friend had not embraced him at their reunion, and said with a smile, "I would rather not speak of such painful matters. I have labored tirelessly for the safety of the human race, yet I am forever misunderstood. Heh heh. In all the years since you left, it was I who preserved the human race, who kept it from the peril of extinction. And yet whether it be Celestial Venerable Ling or Celestial Venerable Yue, Founding Emperor or Celestial Venerable You, all of them do nothing but mock and sneer at me!"
The more he spoke, the angrier he grew. He said with a cold laugh, "Celestial Venerable Mu above all! In those years I respected him for avenging Brother Yu, for being a man of hot blood. Yet none has misunderstood me more deeply than he! I have swallowed humiliation and borne heavy burdens for the human race, even willing to shoulder the infamy of destroying my own kind, but I preserved the human race, and in Southern Heaven I built a world of my ideals! And what has he ever done for the human race? Nothing but lead them in rebellion and chaos! Nothing but wreck the grand order I had built! And he has the gall to call me a traitor to the human race!"
He looked at Celestial Venerable Yun, his gaze fervent. "They do not understand me. Yun, you surely understand me, do you not?"
Celestial Venerable Yun was silent a long while. Then he raised his head and smiled. "I understand you."
Celestial Venerable Fire's spirits soared. He laughed aloud. "I knew you would understand me! In the days of the Longhan Era you and I spoke at length more than once, each laying bare our ideals. Our ideals may have differed, but you know what manner of man I am!"
Celestial Venerable Yun nodded. "In the Longhan Era the human race was feeble, merely one of the more conspicuous among the countless races of the heavens and the myriad worlds, and yet we gave birth to the Nine Celestial Venerables of Longhan. But in those days the strength of the human race was negligible. Even we, the Nine Celestial Venerables of Longhan, were but meat upon the ancient gods' chopping block, to be carved as they pleased. It was not until Celestial Venerable Mu slew the five ancient gods of the Five Luminaries upon the Heavenly River that the world was shaken by the power of the human race."
Celestial Venerable Fire's expression darkened slightly; the mention of Shen Mu's exploits displeased him.
Celestial Venerable Yun went on, "Even so, the strength of the human race was far too weak. Despair shrouded me at every hour. Feeling keenly the insufficiency of my own power, I came to you again and again, begging your aid. And you said you would seek another path for the human race."