Chapter 569 — A Dark Past

The Book of Life and Death was one he had gotten from the god Kuiwu; those who knew the Book had fallen into his hands were Xing An, Ban Gongcuo, and the demon monks of Leiyin Temple. Kuiwu must be a Heaven Official or an Earth Official of the Heavenly Court, a god who governs souls.

Kuiwu's Book of Life and Death was surely not something he had forged himself but a treasure bestowed upon him; of such treasures the Heavenly Court could not have many, and every volume of the Book of Life and Death has its owner — which was why the old ghost officer had said they would soon trace it to Shen Mu.

Tracing the Book of Life and Death was far simpler than tracing Shen Mu. "The name that just appeared in the Book of Life and Death is Yuhuang. " Shen Mu lifted the yellow talisman, uncovering half his face, and asked, "What sort of god is Yuhuang?

" "Yuhuang, a god of the Yellow Springs.

As Yuhuang breathes in and out, between one breath and the next, floods cover all the heavens and he reaps the souls of the world.

He is one of the four great commanders the Heavenly Court has stationed in the Dark Capital.

" The old ghost officer said, "You are not the only one he is looking for; there are three other great commanders — Xuanming, who governs souls; Hanlei, who governs calamity; and Luli, who governs the prisons. You should never have taken out the Book of Life and Death.

Tracing it to you is no difficult thing for them. " Shen Mu fell silent. After a moment he said, in a quandary, "If I gave the Book of Life and Death to the Great Honored One, or to Xing An, and pinned it on them, that too would probably be found out easily enough. .

. " The old ghost officer said, "You are only eighteen.

You can pin the blame only on a youth of your own years, and the two you name do not match in age. And once the four great commanders reap the soul of a youth your age, they will discover that he is not you. So the blame cannot be shifted so easily. .

. Peh! Why am I hatching crooked schemes for you? " Shen Mu lowered the yellow talisman and covered his face again.

Abashed, he said, "He who has the Way has much help; he who lacks the Way has little. My Lord must surely know that I am simple and honest, and so he gives me counsel. Since the blame cannot be shifted, can these four gods leave the Dark Capital and enter Taihuang Heaven or Jingping? " The little boat drifted on, borne toward Taihuang Heaven. On board, the old ghost officer still hung the storm lantern from the pole at the prow and sat down, saying with a kind of self-abandonment: "Their strength is too great; with ease they cannot enter other worlds. But to seize you they will always find a way.

When you cultivate to the Life-and-Death realm, your Life-and-Death Spirit Treasury will open and connect with the Dark Capital, and it may be that they find you then and invade through your Spirit Treasury.

" Shen Mu shuddered.

Invade through his Life-and-Death Spirit Treasury? Was a wielder of divine powers who had cultivated the Life-and-Death Spirit Treasury not in the most extreme peril?

"But the Dark Capital has the Dark Capital's rules; to invade through the Life-and-Death Spirit Treasury and take your life is to break those rules. They will not lightly do such a thing. " The old ghost officer, past caring what came of it, simply spilled out more: "Yet though their true bodies cannot descend, they can send their disciples into Taihuang Heaven or Jingping, or find others to serve as their claws, and have them kill you. Or else, when Taihuang Heaven is taken by the demon race and made a blood sacrifice — the whole world offered up — the demon world will be joined and made to communicate with Jingping. Then the barrier between worlds will be no more, and they may enter Jingping directly. " Shen Mu's heart eased, and he laughed: "Killing me is not so easy either, and taking Taihuang Heaven is no easy matter. Taihuang Heaven has endured twenty thousand years, and now with Jingping at its back and reinforcements unending, it can hold out another twenty thousand with ease.

" The old ghost officer gave a cold laugh: "You underestimate the demon race. How long Taihuang Heaven can hold out is hard to say. .

. Taihuang Heaven has arrived.

Take off the yellow talisman and you may go back. " Shen Mu hurried to look.

It was still the battlefield of Taihuang Heaven, and it seemed indeed to be the very place from which he had been taken; so he jumped down from the boat.

"Give me back the yellow talisman!

" the old ghost officer shouted.

Shen Mu, the yellow talisman stuck to his face, took to his heels as though caught in thievery. "Insufferable! " The old ghost officer caught sight of him vanishing in a puff of dust and was furious; he was about to give chase when he stopped short, laughed despite himself, and said, "It is only a yellow talisman.

So long as he stirs up no trouble, let him have it. " The little boat retreated and vanished into the darkness. Shen Mu fled more than ten li before he turned to look back.

The old ghost officer and the boat had not followed. Only then did he breathe easy, peel the yellow talisman from his face, examine it, and tuck it carefully away.

"This yellow talisman is a good thing. Worn on the face, not even a god or a demon can recognize my true features. This trip to the Dark Capital did at least win me something good.

" He looked up and was slightly startled: in the sky were tower ships, one after another, sailing back toward Li City in triumph, only a few hundred li from him; the pill furnaces of the tower ships spewed thick light and flame, and by this they flew. "I was clearly away from Taihuang Heaven a long while — six hours at least. Why have these tower ships flown only a few hundred li?

At their speed they should have covered several thousand li. As it looks now, it was as though only a quarter of an hour had passed. . . " Shen Mu ran with all his speed and swiftly caught up.

First he overtook the marching troops on the ground, and before long he caught the tower-ship fleet and came to the flagship.

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and the Black Tiger God stared blankly at him, and all around them the others too showed shock.

They had still been discussing how Shen Mu had been taken into the Dark Capital by the ghost officer and what might come of it — and then they saw Shen Mu come running up from behind them.

Shen Mu laughed: "I am back. How long was I gone this time? " "Not quite an hour. " Sang Hua was astonished beyond measure. Stammering, she said, "You were taken by the ghost officer, and then you came back from the Dark Capital?

" "The ghost officer is the Lord of the Dark Capital. He took me to other worlds as well, and there we found a Divine Bridge expert named Han Zhen; he said he would go and reap his soul in three days.

Then he took me to see Tubo, and we spoke of cause and effect.

Tubo said he would settle the account after I die, and so he drove me back.

We also ran into some gods and demons of the Dark Capital who wanted to take me.

" As Shen Mu told it all, he found it strange himself: so much done in so short a time.

In the world of the living it would have taken three or five days at least.

Yet in the Dark Capital the time spent had been very brief, while in the world of the living only a little under an hour had passed. "The Dark Capital is like a dream.

Your going there was the same as entering a dream.

" The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping's eyes flickered. "It is enough that you came back alive. Is Tubo very terrible?

" Shen Mu shook his head. "Tubo is easy to talk to.

So is the ghost officer.

" The faces of the crowd turned strange. Tubo and the ghost officer easy to talk to?

Only Shen Mu could say such a thing! Anyone — even gods and demons — paled at the mention of Tubo, and of the ghost officers of the Dark Capital they were more secretive still, not daring to speak of them at all.