Chapter 1712 — The Empress and the Demon Sovereign
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
That place was a thousand li of bare red earth, a thousand li of karma fire blazing, and in the heart of the karma fire dwelt a demon god, bound by chain upon chain.
The Empress walked into the karma fire, her heart surging. As she drew nearer to the demon god in the flames, her Dao heart wavered ever more violently — a thing most rare for her.
That demon god in the karma fire was her son.
After she attained the Dao, she had suddenly remembered her son, and a fierce urgency had risen in her heart, driving her to come and see him.
That urgency grew stronger and stronger — a feeling she had never known before.
Xie Wuqi had been ensnared by Heavenly Emperor Hao's plots, forced into rebellion, then suppressed by the ancient god Heavenly Emperor Taichu and cast into the Jade Lock Pass of the Ghost Capital, there to suffer the roasting of karma fire. In the past, though the Empress had thought of her son, the affection of an imperial house ended there; that longing between mother and son had never been so strong as to shake her Dao heart.
But now that she had attained the Dao, the bond between mother and son had abruptly become unbearably fierce!
At last she came before Xie Wuqi.
Xie Wuqi knelt upon the ground, his body wrapped in chains. He had eight arms, and the eight arms were drawn back by the chains as he knelt there.
The Empress's body trembled. She was about to step forward when a young man came to Xie Wuqi's side, tending him with care.
Xie Wuqi lifted his head and looked at him most gently.
The Empress was startled: this young man was none other than Crown Prince Mingya!
Heavenly Emperor Hao's son, Crown Prince Mingya!
The Empress's expression turned strange. That Crown Prince Mingya was Heavenly Emperor Hao's son was a thing nearly everyone among the Ten Lords knew — only Crown Prince Mingya himself did not.
Crown Prince Mingya had always believed himself the son of the ancient god Heavenly Emperor Taichu, believed himself Heavenly Emperor Hao's younger brother, and believed that Taichu had been murdered by Heavenly Emperor Hao. Thus, sharing Xie Wuqi's plight, he had entered the Ghost Capital to free Xie Wuqi.
Lord You had released them, and they had lived here ever since.
The Empress stepped forward. Crown Prince Mingya's heart gave a start, but he did not block her; silently he withdrew.
The Empress stroked Xie Wuqi's face, seared hideous by the karma fire, and could not keep back her tears. In those years she had felt so little of kinship; now that she had attained the Dao, she knew not why she had grown so tender and full of feeling, and the bond of mother and son burst from her in an emotion beyond all words.
Xie Wuqi raised his head and looked at her with savage eyes. After a moment the savagery softened, and a whimper rose in his throat; he rubbed his coarse face against her palm.
"My lady, Xie Wuqi has been burned by the karma fire for nearly a million years. His soul has been scorched to broken remnants, and so his mind is unclear."
Hearing that voice, the Empress turned abruptly — and saw Achou Tubo, a man of incomparable ugliness.
Achou Tubo was so ugly he scarcely seemed human, and yet he was truly of the human race. In those years Tubo had reincarnated as a man, not by the path of seizing a body, but by entering the womb of an ordinary woman and being born after ten months of gestation.
Yet Tubo's primordial spirit was so mighty that it had still reshaped his form, giving him the visage of Tubo.
"Tubo, Lord Mu did after all restore you to life."
The Empress said coolly, "But you suppressed my son in the Ghost Capital for nearly a million years, burned his soul to broken remnants, left his mind unclear — you harmed my son, and you dare to come before me?"