Chapter 1607: The Writing Reveals the Man
Before long, Qin Mu’s letter of surrender appeared in Heavenly Lord Hao Tian’s imperial study.
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian unrolled the letter and read it carefully, then burst into loud laughter, unable to hide the pride in his heart.
The more he read, the more delighted he became. The various clever little thoughts hidden between Qin Mu’s lines made him clap and laugh heartily. From the text, he could discern Qin Mu’s reluctance, fear, despair, helplessness, and blustering bravado, as well as his greed for power and unwillingness to let go of his status.
“In a mere letter of surrender, no more than two thousand words, Lord Mu can dissect his own heart so clearly and thoroughly—truly a literary talent rivaling the greatest writers!”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian said to his chief minister, “After I finish reading, you shall read it aloud to me.”
The chief minister acknowledged the order.
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian continued reading, then burst into laughter again and shouted, “Bring me wine! How can I enjoy Lord Mu’s surrender letter without wine to liven the mood?”
Soon, divine attendants presented fine wine. Heavenly Lord Hao Tian drank while admiring the letter, praising, “Brilliant prose, brilliant prose! I should print hundreds of thousands of copies and distribute them across all the heavens and realms, so every god and demon can read it… Damn that Lord Mu!”
Suddenly, he flew into a rage. The wine cup in his hand shattered with a crack, spilling wine all over the floor.
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian’s face was twisted with anger as he stared fixedly at that line of text. Sure enough, it was Qin Mu’s writing: “Already slept.”
In the imperial study, no one knew why he was so furious. They exchanged glances, not daring to speak.
“That damn Lord Mu! Wasting a divine maiden, a crime unforgivable! This wretch dares to boast to me? I’ll have his head!”
Unable to contain his rage, Heavenly Lord Hao Tian slammed his hand down, smashing the desk to pieces. He stood up and bellowed, “I won’t kill him yet! Drag his envoy here—I’ll kill him to vent my anger!”
The chief minister hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, even when two nations are at war, envoys are not executed. Moreover, Lord Mu has come to surrender. If Your Majesty kills the envoy, how can Lord Mu still dare to surrender?”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian’s chest heaved with fury: “If I don’t kill him, I cannot quell the rage in my heart!”
The chief minister hesitated, “Your Majesty, a small impatience can ruin great plans…”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian glared at him: “What harm is there in killing one of his envoys? Lord Mu has angered me—I’ll first have Lord Xu annihilate half of Yan Kang’s population! Go, bind that envoy and bring him to me!”
The chief minister dared not argue further and hurriedly left.
At that moment, Yu Chenzi was at White Jade Qiong’s Qiong Hua Heavenly Palace. White Jade Qiong knew he was Yan Kang’s envoy and, to avoid suspicion, refused to see him.
Yu Chenzi lifted his robes and knelt with a thud outside the Qiong Hua Palace gates, causing passing deities to stop and stare.
Fearing the matter would escalate, White Jade Qiong quickly ordered him to be brought inside. She scolded, “Yan Kang’s envoy, you are far too reckless. I am a human, and you kneel at my door. If word spreads, others will think I’m colluding with Yan Kang! Did Lord Mu send you? That old rogue always tries to trap me in dishonor!”
Yu Chenzi rose from his seat but knelt again, weeping loudly, “Heavenly Teacher Bai, please save the human race!” He kowtowed repeatedly.
White Jade Qiong hurriedly helped him up, but Yu Chenzi refused to rise, holding out Qin Mu’s jade pendant with both hands. Sobbing, he said, “Lord Mu’s hair turned white overnight for the human race. Feeling that there was no way out for humanity, he wept until he fainted, only waking six or seven days later. He said only Heavenly Teacher Bai could save the human race from extinction.”
White Jade Qiong’s expression was complex. She did not take the Reincarnation Pendant and said, “If Lord Mu surrenders, Heavenly Lord Hao Tian won’t necessarily destroy the human race. I fear Lord Mu still harbors thoughts of a comeback, or even a fight to the death, which is why he thinks I can help him win.”
She also had a similar jade pendant, one Qin Mu had forged to save her.
Qin Mu forging a second one clearly meant he expected repayment.
But she dared not accept this pendant, nor did she want to.
Yu Chenzi’s heart trembled slightly, silently praising this woman’s extraordinary intelligence.
“Heavenly Teacher Bai, Lord Mu is truly at the end of his rope, with no way out.”
Yu Chenzi wiped away his tears and said, “As a human, can Heavenly Teacher truly bear to see the human race annihilated? Even if Lord Mu surrenders, the humans will be nothing but fish on the chopping block, at others’ mercy!”
White Jade Qiong sighed. “What do you want me to do? I am a heavenly teacher of the Heavenly Court. I won’t side with the human race just because I am human. However, if it’s something trivial, I can help you a little, but don’t expect too much.”
Yu Chenzi’s spirits lifted. “Lord Mu dares not ask for much—only that Heavenly Teacher go see Heavenly Teacher Meng Yungui.”
White Jade Qiong’s gaze fell on his face. She was silent for a moment, then said, “Heavenly Teacher Meng Yungui is also a human heavenly teacher. Though he ranks second, even Shang Pingyin is no match for him. He could easily be the first heavenly teacher, but how could a human hold that position? That’s why Shang Pingyin still holds the title.”
She took two steps around the kneeling Yu Chenzi and stopped. “Lord Mu’s schemes might fool Shang Pingyin, but not Meng Yungui. Meng Yungui is more focused on power and profit, more cautious and self-preserving, and more slippery. You can’t hide such petty tricks from him.”
Yu Chenzi felt a chill and said, “Lord Mu asks for nothing more than that Heavenly Teacher Bai see Heavenly Teacher Meng and ask him to raise his blade just a little when he turns it on his own kin, so that some humans might slip through the net and survive.”
White Jade Qiong closed her eyes and let out a long, soft sigh. Then she opened them, reached out, and took the Reincarnation Pendant. “My opinion, Meng Yungui will still heed. I will go see him. You can rest assured.”
Yu Chenzi kowtowed heavily again. White Jade Qiong, irritated, waved her hand. “Go, go! Don’t come to my Qiong Hua Heavenly Palace again.”
Yu Chenzi rose and took his leave.
But before he could leave Qiong Hua Palace, the chief minister led a host of heavenly soldiers and generals filing in, storming the palace. The entire Qiong Hua Palace erupted in uproar.
“Bind him!” the chief minister shouted.
The heavenly soldiers swarmed forward and, without explanation, locked Yu Chenzi in chains and bound him tightly.
White Jade Qiong hurried out, frowned, and said politely, “Chief Minister, the envoy sent by Lord Mu is also my nephew, here to request surrender. What crime has he committed? Why arrest him?”
The chief minister said, “The surrender letter he delivered has issues. His Majesty flew into a rage and wants to personally behead him. I wouldn’t dare barge into a heavenly teacher’s residence, but His Majesty’s orders leave me no choice. Please, Heavenly Teacher, grant me this favor.”
Yu Chenzi said, “Auntie, this is likely a misunderstanding. Don’t worry about your nephew—I can clear it up once I explain to His Majesty.”
White Jade Qiong stepped forward, straightened his clothes, and said, “Rest assured, I will find a way to keep you alive.”
Yu Chenzi breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she wasn’t referring to his life but to the human race’s.
In the imperial study, Yu Chenzi was dragged forward. Before the divine general could kick his knee, he proactively dropped to his knees with a thud.
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian was holding the surrender letter, reading it carefully, and said with a smile, “Lord Mu put some thought into this surrender letter, listing all of Yan Kang’s wealth. He’s quite considerate.”
He closed the letter, his expression darkening.
Yu Chenzi shuddered at the right moment. Heavenly Lord Hao Tian’s mood had improved, but seeing him reminded him of that unpleasant passage. He said flatly, “Lord Mu sent you, so you must be a silver-tongued fellow. I hate silver-tongued people the most…”
“Your Majesty, that old thief Lord Mu is using you to kill me!”
Yu Chenzi quickly cried out in grievance, “Your Majesty, don’t fall for Lord Mu’s scheme!”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian raised an eyebrow and laughed, “You mean Lord Mu wants to use my hand to kill you? What virtue or ability do you have? Why wouldn’t he just kill you himself, instead of using me?”
Yu Chenzi stiffened his neck and said, “That lecher Lord Mu is debauched and depraved. I repeatedly admonished him, earning his displeasure. But I am a disciple of the Dao Ancestor, so he can’t kill me without cause. So, when he sent this surrender letter, he threw me out to die! I know all of Yan Kang’s secrets. He’s fooling Your Majesty in that letter! He secretly kept a lot of his wealth, planning to take Divine King Lang Wan and Empress Yan Xiu and other beauties to live a life of pleasure after surrendering!”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian laughed dismissively and shook his head. “You’re projecting your own pettiness onto a gentleman. Lord Mu has fought me for so many years—he’s not that kind of scoundrel.”
Yu Chenzi said, “Your Majesty, after surrendering, he plans to take his beauties and riches back to Yong River to herd cattle!”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian laughed so hard he bent over. “The great Lord Mu, a cowherd?”
The chief minister quickly added, “Your Majesty, Lord Mu was indeed a cowherd in his youth. I’ve already looked into it. Lord Mu herded cattle by Yong River in his early years—the character ‘Mu’ in his name comes from that. Empress Yan Xiu often calls him ‘the cowherd’ as a term of endearment. My spies in Yan Kang say Empress Yan Xiu is looking for her old father, planning to abdicate, likely to herd cattle with him…”
“Is that so?”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian was astonished. “My mortal enemy is such a man?”
Yu Chenzi said, “Your Majesty, after Lord Mu returned from the Netherworld, his Dao heart collapsed. He kowtowed and knelt, crying out to heaven and earth with no response, ready to come and surrender with a thorny branch on his back—utterly pathetic. It took Heavenly Lord Ling and Heavenly Lord Yue to drag him back, but Lord Mu was set on surrendering, so he wrote the letter. I was right there. That old rogue, defeated by Your Majesty’s brilliance, let his old and new grudges surge up and sent me as the envoy to have me killed!”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian became interested. “You were there when he wrote the surrender letter? Tell me in detail!”
Yu Chenzi then recounted Qin Mu’s mindset while writing the letter, of course omitting the part where Qin Mu had to work himself up emotionally.
He acted it out, vividly capturing Qin Mu’s demeanor while writing, and Heavenly Lord Hao Tian laughed heartily.
Yu Chenzi said, “The writing reveals the man, Your Majesty. You can summon experts in calligraphy and painting to study the letter and see if I’m lying.”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian, cautious, glanced at the chief minister.
The chief minister quickly said, “Lord Wen Chang has a group of divine experts skilled in calligraphy and painting. They can be summoned to examine Lord Mu’s handwriting.”
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian waved his hand, and the chief minister hurried off.
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian looked at Yu Chenzi, still kneeling below. “Rise. If what you say is true, I’ll spare your life.”
Yu Chenzi kowtowed repeatedly and stood up.
Soon, Lord Wen Chang arrived with his proud disciples. They paid respects to Heavenly Lord Hao Tian, requested the surrender letter, and studied it meticulously. The emotions in every word and sentence were interpreted by these masters of calligraphy and painting, matching Yu Chenzi’s account almost perfectly.
Heavenly Lord Hao Tian laughed. “Human talents—the elder son Qin Ye, the younger son Qin Mu. The elder died by my hand, and the younger has had his Dao heart shattered, reverting to a cowherd. I can rest easy!”
“Your Majesty, wait!”
Suddenly, a voice came from outside the imperial study. Before the person arrived, his voice preceded him: “If Your Majesty trusts me, first drag this Yan Kang envoy out and behead him, then immediately send troops to attack Yan Kang!”