Chapter 1654 — The Fool of the Southern Heaven
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
More and more firelights appeared throughout the Southern Heaven; a million streaks fell upon every heaven, yet once they touched ground they turned to flowing fire and scattered.
Suddenly, one streak of firelight smashed into the earth, shaking mountains and rivers, and became the form of Huotian Zun, tumbling more than ten li before it came to rest.
Huotian Zun clambered up with difficulty, panting hoarsely: "I am not dead yet..."
His body swayed, and of a sudden his wounds erupted; with a thud he dropped to his knees, hands braced against the ground, and chuckled: "So long as I weather this tribulation, I still have a chance at victory, I can rise again from the ashes... I can go and throw myself upon Mutian Zun's mercy. Yes, I can go to Mutian Zun!"
His eyes gradually kindled; gazing at the ground, they filled with hope: "Yuntian Zun is my lifelong friend; more than once he invited me to join hands with him against the Heavenly Court. If I go to him, he will surely not refuse. Heh heh, Mutian Zun is now utterly defeated; if I go to him, I will instead become his honored guest, and he will have no choice but to employ me! Heh heh, Kaihuang is dead, and I am the mightiest being of the human race..."
At that moment, footsteps sounded.
Huotian Zun raised his head with effort, and saw before him a small mountain village, all of it farming households that lived by tilling the soil.
The footsteps belonged to an old farmer whose face was seamed with line upon line of wrinkles. He looked seventy or eighty, though his true age was likely under fifty.
Life was too hard, too poor; toiling with his face to the yellow earth and his back to the sky, growing old fast was only natural.
The old farmer must have been at his field work; a manure pit stood nearby, and in his hand he gripped a dung rake. He had likely been raking dung just now, for the stench of filth still clung to him.
The old farmer drew near with dim, clouded eyes, sizing him up warily, and quavered: "You---you are Huotian Zun?"
Huotian Zun nodded: "I am Huotian Zun, lord of the Southern Heaven. Does your village have any panacea elixirs? My wounds are grave..."
The old farmer was startled and overjoyed at once. He swung up the dung rake and brought it down hard; the rake's three tines sank into Huotian Zun's forehead, striking sparks of firelight in every direction and splattering his face with filth!
"You..." Huotian Zun's mind went blank.
Seeing he had not killed him, the old farmer swung the dung rake up and brought it down again, delight in his voice: "Come quick! Come, everyone! The fire-thief who betrayed the Heavenly Court has fallen into our village! We are made!"
Huotian Zun's fury surged to his heart, but his wounds were too heavy, and he could hardly struggle to his feet.
Then the village's old and young, women and children, and its able-bodied all poured out in force, some with cleavers in hand, some with hooks, iron shovels, hammers, mattocks, spades, swarming in and shouting to beat and kill!
The villagers surrounded him and struck, every manner of farm tool laid upon him.
But how could they injure Huotian Zun? Let them attack however they would, they could not harm a single hair on him.
"Why do you kill me?"
Huotian Zun was shocked and enraged, and hissed: "You pack of ingrates! It is I! I who protected the Southern Heaven, protected you lowly wretches! Without me you would long ago have died!"
From somewhere a strength welled up in him; beneath the villagers' blows he forced himself to his feet, seized the dung-rake farmer by the neck, and hoisted him up.
The villagers around stared at him in terror, not daring to move.
The old farmer struggled, breath failing, yet forced out a gasp and cried: "Fire-dog, you still dare to talk back? To be disloyal to your sovereign is a crime vast as heaven. The Sage's Precepts say: he who is disloyal to his sovereign is no better than a beast, and all men may put him to death! You are that beast!"