Chapter 471 — The Heavenly Grand Banquet

Though it was women who held power in the Western Lands, their power struggles and mutual crushing were in no way inferior to Jingping's.

Shen Mu followed the Imperial Preceptor Jingping to the main hall of the True Heaven Palace. The murals here differed from those in the other halls.

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping stood before a mural, gazing at it with a calm expression, when suddenly the corner of his eye twitched violently and a look of shock and dread appeared on his face.

Shen Mu also looked toward that mural and saw upon it a majestic heavenly court, where a figure attired as a Great Emperor was feasting the gods, and countless deities had come to the banquet!

"Tubo!"

Shen Mu was greatly shaken—among those countless deities, there was actually Tubo, with horns growing from his head!

In this mural, Tubo's status was exceedingly high, his features faint and indistinct.

And in this mural, there were many other beings whose features were likewise hazy and indistinguishable!

That is to say, there should be many more beings like Tubo.

The countless deities in the painting were varied in posture and vividly lifelike, as if truly alive within the painting. Clearly, the painter of the mural was extraordinarily skilled.

Shen Mu's gaze swept back and forth among the gods, but he never found a portrait of the True Heaven Mother, nor did he find Bagou. "Could it be that the True Heaven Mother had not yet been born at that time?"

The corner of the Imperial Preceptor Jingping's eye was still twitching. His voice hoarse, he said, "This is the true Heavenly Palace, this is the true Heavenly Palace... No wonder even the Kaihuang Kingdom was destroyed..."

Shen Mu seized his hand. The Imperial Preceptor Jingping's hand was actually trembling, and his eyes revealed deep shock, bewilderment, and blank confusion!

"The Imperial Preceptor Jingping was frightened by a mere painting?" Shen Mu laughed.

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping raised his hand and pulled free. His voice was still hoarse. "You are not afraid? Have you not seen how many deities there are in this Heavenly Palace? Have you not seen that Tubo is among them? Do you not know that the fall of the Kaihuang era might also have been the work of the Heavenly Palace's gods?"

A look of despair came over him, and he laughed aloud. "I originally thought I could sweep away corruption, restore to the world a bright and clear order, keep the masses from being deceived, make the common people smash the gods in the temples and smash the gods in their hearts, and give them the courage and strength to contend with Heaven—yet it turns out to be nothing but a joke! Cult Leader Shen, you know nothing! You do not know that if I continue the reform, the Kingdom of Jingping will meet the same end! Heh heh, reform, heh heh..."

His every hope was ashes, his spirit gone. He waved his hand and said, "I will not go to the Heavens Above. After I return, I will take my wife and children into seclusion. Cult Leader, you... you continue being your Cult Leader. As for the reform, do not touch it again."

He turned and walked out of the hall, his bearing desolate, having suddenly lost the courage to struggle on.

"Heavenly King, just now you asked me whether I knew. I will answer you now!"

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping stopped.

"I know."

Shen Mu wore a sunlit smile. "I am implicated more deeply than you. The Kaihuang you speak of also bore the surname Shen. The orphan of the destroyed Kaihuang Kingdom stands before you."

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping's body gave a great shudder. He halted abruptly and turned to look at him, his voice failing. "You—you..."

Shen Mu flashed eight white teeth in a dazzling smile. "My name may be false, but my surname is not. The Shen of Kaihuang is my Shen. I am not afraid—what are you afraid of? Heavenly King, I have suddenly had an idea. Come help me grind ink."

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping was still reeling from Shen Mu's words, confused as to his meaning.

Shen Mu took out a painting brush, tossed him the inkstone, and studied the mural—the one that had so thoroughly crushed the Imperial Preceptor Jingping's courage—with keen interest. After a moment, Shen Mu's eyes brightened as he found the key. He laughed. "Is the ink ready?"

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping was dazed, inkstone in hand. Shen Mu laughed. "Heavenly King, this is not like you. Where is the sage who appears once in five hundred years?"

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping drew a long breath, cast the countless thoughts from his mind, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to grinding ink for him.

Shen Mu lifted the brush, saturated it with ink, and daubed and drew in the lower right corner of the mural, adding a few strokes. He laughed. "Help me wash the brush clean."

"You—!"

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping forcefully suppressed his anger and said coolly, "The Kaihuang era passed twenty thousand years ago. A hundredth-generation descendant of Kaihuang may not be nobler in status than a farmer. If you are making sport of me, I will make life difficult for you, guaranteed for a lifetime."

Shen Mu laughed heartily. "Wash it first, then we will talk."

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping washed the brush, washing it very carefully. He did everything carefully, meticulously.

Shen Mu put away the brush and inkstone, seized his hand, and hurled himself at the mural, laughing. "I will take you to the banquet—the grand feast of the Heavenly Court!"

The two struck the painted wall with a smack, and their figures vanished, merging into the painting.