Chapter 833 — March With Me

Zhe Huali started, then abruptly seized on another crucial point. "What about Lin Xiao, then? He must board before the Four Emperors, mustn't he? In which cycle does he board? A man of his strength—if he boards again, we may well be no match for him. And if he escapes along with Celestial Venerable Ling's divine ability, he will be a grave threat to our future selves!"

"Knowing when he boards is easy enough."

Shen Mu patted his bulging belly and laughed. "The moment our bellies go flat, that will mean the cycle in which Lin Xiao boards has arrived. Even if he can leave this ship, he will carry no memories of being aboard. And there is something even more terrifying..."

Zhe Huali looked at Shen Mu, and at the sight of that smile, a chill ran through him.

Shen Mu said evenly, "He came under orders; he must hide Jue Wuchen away. So even when Celestial Venerable Ling's divine ability is broken, he will board the ship again, fall into the cycle again and again, and become the little figure inside the lantern again! He will be trapped on this ship forever! And not just him—everyone across the thirty-six cycles, so long as they hold no memories of the ghost ship, will repeat what they did before and board again."

He said softly, "They will cycle on without end—boarding again and again, dying again and again, living again, then boarding once more. The only way out is to refuse to board this ship when the ghost ship comes."

Zhe Huali's face changed drastically and he stammered, "You mean I will not keep my memories of this time either? That I will board this ship again? No—no, didn't you say you could borrow the power of the Four Emperors to break Celestial Venerable Ling's divine ability? Didn't you say all the dead would come back to life, and all those turned to void would be freed and returned to their own eras!"

Shen Mu smiled. The sun sank in the west and vanished; the ship's lights came on, throwing his face into shifting patches of light and shadow.

"I will break Celestial Venerable Ling's divine ability—not destroy it. Her ability will re-form itself in time. It will not vanish because of this."

"To Celestial Venerable Ling, her divine ability knows no such thing as time. Everything in this world is matter. Even living beings are matter. Her ability can scatter any life, and it can reassemble scattered matter into the life it once was. That is the highest reach of creation."

In that flickering light, Shen Mu's gaze was dark and unfathomable. "Even with the power of the Four Emperors, I will only break her ability for a time. I cannot grind it out of existence entirely. Once I break it, everyone will be freed from their void-state, and the dead will be reassembled and brought back to life. Prince Qiuming, whom I killed, will revive as well. They will no doubt board this ship again and repeat what they did before. However..."

He smiled. "You will keep your memories—because you are still alive. The moment we borrow the Four Emperors' power to break Celestial Venerable Ling's ability, you and I will leave this ship and return to our own era. You were never reassembled by her divine ability, so your memories will remain."

Zhe Huali let out a breath of relief, then said abruptly, "I will stop Teacher Luo from boarding this ship."

Shen Mu blinked, briefly taken aback.

"He is my benefactor-teacher, after all," Zhe Huali said. "The debt I owe him for teaching me and raising me is heavy as a mountain. I will stop him."

"I understand."

Shen Mu nodded. "That is exactly the kind of man you are."

Zhe Huali smiled. "Once I have stopped him from boarding, I will sever all ties with him, gratitude and loyalty alike, and go to Jingping."

Shen Mu nodded again. "Tread carefully."

"You be careful too," said Zhe Huali. "When Prince Qiuming revives, he will surely come for you again."

Shen Mu smiled. "Then he will die even faster."

Light burst forth across the ship and drowned them.

Shen Mu stroked his belly gently and laughed. "Lin Xiao has brought Jue Wuchen—he is about to board. Let's go, get clear of them! Once Lin Xiao boards, only a few cycles remain before the Four Emperors board!"

Zhe Huali hurriedly felt his own belly; the round, full stomach of moments ago had already shriveled flat.

The two of them left at speed.

The light dispersed; the sun rose in the east. A company of gods and devils hurried aboard bearing a coffin and made straight for the great hall where the Emperor and Empress's coffins rested.

Before long they heard the sounds of slaughter from the great hall. Clearly Lin Xiao had discovered he could not leave the ship, and had begun cutting down his own companions in a killing frenzy.

"Sect Master Shen," Zhe Huali asked, "will Celestial Venerable Ling board the ship?"

"She will. But we will not see her."

Shen Mu listened quietly to the sounds of slaughter and gazed at the pillar before him, on which Celestial Venerable Ling had left an inscription in verse. His face was calm. "She is not within her own divine ability. The poem she left will remain on that pillar forever."

"Kill you all, and no one will be left to leak the news."

From afar came Lin Xiao's voice, cackling with laughter. "The Emperor and Empress will look after my descendants and see them rise high and prosper, generation after generation!"

Light burst forth once more, and when it settled, Shen Mu looked toward the drill grounds before the great hall. On those empty grounds, the figures of gods and devils were surfacing one after another, slow and steady.

Shen Mu strode forward, walking to meet this mightiest army of gods and devils of the Dragon Han Heavenly Court, the command tally of the Feathered Forest Army held high in his hand.

Gods and devils of overwhelming power turned one after another to look at the young man walking toward them.

Zhe Huali followed behind him, his heart uneasy.

The Feathered Forest Army, one of the Ten Guards of the Dragon Han Heavenly Court, was the Court's strongest fighting force!

Should these gods and devils conceive a murderous intent, they would not need to lift a hand—their aura alone could crush the two of them dead!

Abruptly, every god and devil bowed their heads, one knee to the ground, both hands raised high above their heads, and cried out with one voice, a voice like thunder: "All of the Feathered Forest Army greets the Left Commandant!"

"Rise."

Shen Mu stretched out his palm. "March with me to war!"

In the distance, a lantern rose silently into the air. Its door opened, and the inch-tall little figure that was Lin Xiao watched the scene, struck with utter terror.