Chapter 1640 — Disciples of the Mystic Sect
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"Give him the least scrap of hope, and he will pull himself together again — even if that hope is so faint as to be no hope at all."
The Great Brahma Heaven King Buddha said, "That is the kind of man he is; he lets no hope slip past him. Ling Tianzun, what happened earlier?"
Ling Tianzun said, "Earlier, he had already made ready to bear brambles and beg forgiveness — to go to the Heavenly Court, kneel, and concede defeat, imploring Hao Tianzun to preserve the human race."
The Dao Ancestor and the Great Brahma Heaven King Buddha fell silent.
Had he not been driven to the last extremity, a man like Shen Mu would never in this world have made such a move.
The pressure Shen Mu had faced was too great — great enough to crush him!
What weighed on him most was not Kaihuang's death; Kaihuang's death was only the fuse. What mattered most was the fall of Youdu.
The loss of Youdu was what crushed him!
"Mu Tianzun, the Heavenly Court's armies may perhaps be held off for ten years, even several decades. But what of Hao Tianzun, Huo Tianzun and the rest coming against us in person?"
The Dao Ancestor asked, "How are they to be withstood?"
Shen Mu sank once more into thought. Granny Zhu shot the Dao Ancestor a furious glare. The Dao Ancestor flushed with embarrassment and asked the Great Brahma Heaven King Buddha, "Should I not have asked?"
The Great Brahma Heaven King Buddha said, "It should be asked, only not now. Since it has been asked, you need not weigh it on your heart. Benefactor Si's heart is simply that of a mother overfond of her child."
The Dao Ancestor praised him: "The White-browed Monk is thoroughly versed in the ways of the world."
In the Wendao Court, Shen Mu was pacing again; for seven or eight days on end he walked without pause, pondering countermeasure after countermeasure.
"Has Yuchenzi returned?"
He suddenly asked in a loud voice, "Yuchenzi!"
Yuchenzi had only just come back to the Wendao Court; he ran up, short of breath, and said, "What are the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping's orders?"
"I will write a letter of surrender, to be submitted to Hao Tianzun, declaring that I am willing to capitulate."
Shen Mu spoke swiftly: "You will carry my letter of surrender into the Heavenly Court and deliver it to Hao Tianzun. On this errand, you may die."
Yuchenzi said gravely, "To die for the state is fitting. I am willing to offer up my head for Jingping."
Shen Mu took up the brush; Yuchenzi ground the ink.
Shen Mu was about to set brush to paper, and then stopped.
Yuchenzi was puzzled. He saw Shen Mu slowly gathering his spirit, growing ashen as though dead within, every hope extinguished; two streams of tears fell first, and when he set down the brush its tip trembled twice, as though he were choking back sobs.
Then his brush began to move, writing on the paper words of surrender to Hao Tianzun — earnest in phrasing, yet within that earnestness there lurked unwillingness, a will to stake everything, even life itself, for the safety of the human race, a resolve to be shattered jade rather than a whole tile.
Yet then he lowered his posture again, saying, "Your Majesty is honored as Heavenly Emperor, and I too am honored as a Tianzun; that I should lead such ministers as Ling, Yue, You and Taishi to surrender cannot be done rashly."
In his words he earnestly begged the Heavenly Emperor Hao to send envoys, to discuss the transfer of power between the two sides and the concrete particulars of the surrender; and his language betrayed, too, a lingering attachment to power: "I would ask for a corner of land as a place of retirement, and there, leading its people, I would cast a golden image of Your Majesty and pray and bow before it day and night."