Chapter 511 — Posing a Deafening Question

"Only now do I understand Wenyuan's breadth of mind and ability—how far they surpass the rest of us cult leaders. " In the rear garden of Wenyuan Hall, the former cult leaders rose one by one.

Si Yuanwei, overcome with feeling, suddenly recalled something and said, "Why was it, again, that I took you as a disciple back then? It strikes me all at once—what excellent judgment I had! " The young patriarch flushed slightly. "When you took me as your disciple, Master, you said it was because I was beautiful and gifted—though the chief reason, of course, was that I was beautiful.

" Shen Mu looked around him. Everyone here was handsome or lovely; among the successive leaders of the Dark Demon Cult, the young patriarch included, there was not one ugly face. Si Yuanwei's cheeks reddened a little too.

She laughed. "Now I remember.

I took you as a disciple meaning to have you break my dao-heart through the love of man and woman. My Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture is chiefly a cultivation of the heart. I broke my own master's dao-heart, and so I took his seat as cult leader. I, too, needed someone to break my dao-heart—for nothing stands until something is broken. If you could break my dao-heart, you would be cult leader; if you could not, you would only drive me one step further, and perhaps I might become a demon, or a god. Only afterward I kept watch against you, and Cult Leader Yulian found his opening and struck me down in secret. " Cult Leader Yulian looked smug. "Master only guarded against the little junior brother's love, never guessing that an arrow from the dark is the hardest to fend off. How old was the little junior brother then? And already you had your eye on him.

Had you not harbored such designs, had you kept better watch against me, perhaps the little junior brother really could have become the Holy Cult Leader. " Shen Mu fell into thought. The reason the Dark Demon Cult had the word "demon" in its name was, he suspected, bound up with this very manner of master-and-disciple inheritance. This style of master—indulging a disciple to strike at her—could only be called demonic. Fan Xuanshu was a case in point.

When Granny Zhu plotted against Fan Xuanshu, Granny Zhu was still only at the Heaven-Human realm; by true strength she could never have killed Fan Xuanshu, who was already at the Spirit Bridge realm. And yet Fan Xuanshu had given her the chance.

The master-disciple strife of the Dark Demon Cult must have begun with the founding patriarch. But the founding patriarch's purpose had been to make each generation of the Dark Demon Cult stronger than the last, and so he laid down the rule: a disciple who defeated his master could become cult leader. That rule, without anyone noticing, had slowly soured. Add to that the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture, so uncanny and unfathomable, so apt to breed demonic nature, and a rule that looked so fine had gradually degenerated into what it was today. The young patriarch laughed.

"Had I become Holy Cult Leader, I would most likely have been like all of you—tangled up in the interests of the Heavenly Sage Cult and heedless of the common people.

Not becoming cult leader was, in the end, my salvation. " The successive cult leaders nodded in agreement. "As for Cult Leader Shen. .

. " Si Yuanwei turned to look at Shen Mu and was silent a moment. "We shall not hold it against you that you came to the cult leader's seat by irregular means. Since taking the seat, you have done tolerably well—though had it been us, we would have done tolerably well too.

" Shen Mu said modestly, "Naturally. Every one of you former leaders is a dragon among men, a phoenix among women. In my seat, you would surely have done better than I. It is only that when you held my seat, you did nothing at all.

" The faces of the former leaders twitched; their expressions shifted through sun and shade as they choked down the urge to kill him.

The boy had nothing to fear, after all.

He was the Holy Cult Leader, charged with the weighty duty of passing on the leadership; the transmission of the scriptures upon the stone still depended on him to hand them to the next cult leader. Kill him, and the Dark Demon Cult was finished. Shen Mu said gravely, "Just now this junior was rude. I only chafed that you elders would use wrong and outdated rules to bind those who come after, and so I gave offense.

I beg the pardon of every past leader of the Holy Cult. " The faces of the successive leaders all eased. Cult Leader Zuyang hurried to raise him to his feet, smiling. "Young Cult Leader Shen has achieved what none of us achieved, and for that we admire you without end.

Among all the past leaders, even if you cannot rank in the top three, you may rank in the top five. They say that after death all things are void; a trifling spat—do you think we would take it to heart?

" Cult Leader Hu Jun laughed. "Beyond admiring your cultivation, what worries us more is that when you go back, you might not let the followers burn paper money and make offerings to us on the festivals! " "Exactly, exactly!

" The others laughed. "We have no wish to become like those poor wretches of the Human Emperor Hall, with not a soul to burn paper for them! " "The present Human Emperor of the Human Emperor Hall is truly good for nothing—not so much as a stick of incense or a sheet of paper offered on the festivals. Look at him: as splendid as the Human Emperors of the Hall were in life, so wretched are they now.

Not like us—splendid in life, and splendid after death! " Everyone roared with laughter. The young patriarch laughed along for a few moments, then suddenly remembered Shen Mu and stole a glance at him. Shen Mu gave a few dry laughs as well. A mercy that he had no face and no skin now; otherwise he would surely have flushed crimson. None of the past leaders of the Dark Demon Cult knew that his other identity was the present Human Emperor, and that the reason the past Human Emperors of the Hall were so wretched was precisely that he, the Human Emperor, had never gone to burn paper or incense for them.

"When I return to Jingping, I must make a trip to the Human Emperor Hall and let the past Human Emperors live in comfort—they must not be so poor! " he resolved silently. "Cult Leader Shen.

" The young patriarch's face turned serious.

"You have come to see me. So when you return to the world of the living, what do you mean to do?

" The laughter died away. Everyone looked to him, waiting to see how he would answer. Shen Mu considered for a moment, then smiled. "When I return to Jingping, the first thing I will do is open roads.

" "Open roads first? " The young patriarch frowned.

"Roads and traffic do serve the people, but they cost a great deal of money. Jingping has been through several great wars; its treasury is empty.

If you have the people's livelihood at heart, why open roads first? Jingping's roads were already well developed. To open more roads now is to waste the people's strength and drain their wealth.

" Shen Mu said with spirit, "Because I have already pacified the Western Lands! " The young patriarch was shaken to the core. "You led an army and took the Western Lands?

How many troops did you bring?

The Western Lands are vast—how did you conquer them? " The other past leaders were shaken as well, unable to believe it.

"One man—myself—with the Dragon Qilin and Xiong Qi'er.

I pacified the Western Lands. " Shen Mu smiled faintly.

"The Western Lands are now joined to Jingping.

But the Western Lands lie a hundred thousand li from the Central Lands. As they say, the whip cannot reach, and heaven is high and the emperor far away. Right now the roads between the Central Lands and the Western Lands are cut. For a short while the Western Lands may keep the peace, but given time, they will surely rise in disorder. What I want to do is open communication between the Western Lands and the Central Lands!