Chapter 1746 — The Selfish Squire
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Heavenly Venerable Xu raised a hand, and the great army of Youdu's fiend-gods halted.
Behind the army lay countless dark, brooding hordes of Youdu fiends. Some of those fiends had form: they crawled upon the ground, the black bone-spurs on their backs quivering, black smoke seething from their bodies. Others were formless, now rushing up into the sky and bursting with a pop into a plume of black smoke, now gathering themselves together again.
"Father God.
" Heavenly Venerable Xu stepped quickly forward and knelt on one knee. Opposite her stretched paper boats beyond counting, hundreds of millions of them, and upon every boat stood an aged underworld constable in the likeness of Heavenly Venerable You. And there in the midst of that countless fleet stood A Chou Tubo, his frame towering, drawing every eye.
"Your daughter pays her respects to Father God!
" Heavenly Venerable Xu bowed her head and said in a clear, carrying voice, "When Father God heard that Heavenly Venerable Mu had run amok in Youdu and struck Father God down, his heart was wrung with anguish, and he longed to kill Heavenly Venerable Mu and avenge Father God. But Heavenly Venerable Mu's strength is too great; your daughter is no match for him. Now that Father God has returned to life, we two should join hands and together raze Heavenly Venerable Mu's Jingping, and wash away the debt in blood! " A Chou gazed at her with deep, dark eyes. Heavenly Venerable Xu stayed kneeling there, her head bowed, and for a long while she did not raise it.
A Chou walked toward the edge of the fleet, and all at once paper boats drifted forward, barring his way and refusing him passage out of the formation.
"You, there is no need for this.
" A Chou smiled.
"This has been my cherished wish for these several hundred thousand years.
If it cannot be fulfilled, I cannot attain the Dao.
" Heavenly Venerable You hesitated, and the paper boats parted to either side, one after another. A Chou walked out to the front of the two armies and came to stand before Heavenly Venerable Xu.
He reached out both hands, his tone and voice as gentle as those of the loving father he had been back in the Longhan era.
"Xu, my daughter. . .
" The single horn atop Heavenly Venerable Xu's head suddenly shot forth, and with a hiss it pierced through his chest!
A Chou seemed to feel no pain at all. His hands came to rest on her elbows, and his ugly face wore a smile.
"The thing I regret most in this life is that I failed to protect you, to protect your brothers and sisters, to protect your mother. . .
" Whum. The Nether River long whip flew from Heavenly Venerable Xu's waist, whirling with a shriek, and bound A Chou tight; then with a soft chunk it tore open his body and burrowed deep into him!
The whip bored in and out of his flesh, dragging out gobbet after gobbet of blood and meat.
Dark dragon scales even grew along its length, slicing into his flesh, gliding around his primordial spirit, cutting that spirit until it was covered in wounds.
Even the golden body he had forged over several hundred thousand years in the karma fire of countless living beings could not withstand Heavenly Venerable Xu's divine art and divine weapon!
Still that ugly smile remained on A Chou's face, and his karma-fire golden body healed itself of its own accord. So long as the karma fire endured, he could not die. "Let go of all this fame and fortune and power, my daughter.
" He bent lower, his voice growing gentler still.
"The thing I have hoped for most in this life is that you and I might be reunited as father and daughter, that we might become true human beings, far from the whirlpool of power, far from these struggles, an ordinary father and daughter, nothing more. . . " "Father God!
" Heavenly Venerable Xu wrenched her head up. Within her eyes burned a hellish karma fire beyond measure.