Puzzled, Xiao Heavenly Venerable, Consort Qiang, and Consort Yan asked what had happened. Hong Heavenly Venerable recounted the affair at the North Pole Heaven, then chuckled: "I'm afraid I took advantage of Fellow Daoist Mu—I got an IOU out of him." Everyone expressed envy in turn, and Consort Qiang giggled: "When will Mu Heavenly Venerable give me an IOU as well?" Shen Mu smiled: "Easily done, easily done." Everyone roared with laughter. Just then, a streak of light swept across the sky. The white cat Xiao Qi, sharp of eye, let out a meow, and Consort Yan hastily called out: "Langxuan Divine Emperor, please stay, please stay a moment!" The streak of light came to a halt—it was indeed the Langxuan Divine Emperor. Seeing the two carriages, he hurriedly stopped and paid his respects: "So it is all of you!" Xiao Heavenly Venerable smiled: "The cold outside is severe; come up into the carriage quickly." The Langxuan Divine Emperor was about to approach when he caught sight of Shen Mu inside the carriage. He snorted coldly: "I will not share company with him!" With that, he turned and made for the Hao Heavenly Venerable's jeweled carriage. Hong Heavenly Venerable hastily smoothed things over, laughing: "Don't take it to heart, Fellow Daoist Mu. That is simply his nature—blunt of temper." Shen Mu said indignantly: "The Divine Emperor can never abide the sight of me. I wonder what I have done to offend him!" Everyone laughed: "You smashed his Langxuan Divine Palace time and again; naturally he bears you some resentment. Still, this is a small matter. Another day, when Hong Heavenly Venerable hosts a banquet, the two of you can talk it out and clear the air." Shen Mu was inexplicably moved: "I thank you all, fellow Daoists, for your kindness to me." The white cat meowed again. Everyone peered outside and, overjoyed, called out: "Ancestral God King, come this way!" The Ancestral God King halted his heavenly light. Catching sight of Shen Mu, his anger flared at once: "Where Shen Mu is, I am not!" With that, he stormed into the Hao Heavenly Venerable's jeweled carriage. Shen Mu fumed: "I offended the Langxuan Divine Emperor, but I have never offended him—why does the Ancestral God King always single me out?" Everyone laughed: "The Ancestral God King hates evil as he hates a foe; his eyes cannot abide the least grain of sand. Our eyes, however, are large—a few grains of sand in them are no hindrance." Shen Mu laughed heartily: "I open my heart to you all, yet you treat me as a great grain of sand—it chills my heart." Consort Qiang smiled: "Mu Heavenly Venerable need say no more—everyone's heart is clear and understands full well... Ah! Gong Heavenly Venerable! Fellow Daoist Gong, Fellow Daoist Gong, do come over here!" Gong Heavenly Venerable stopped, drew aside the carriage curtain, looked about in surprise, and said: "This carriage is full; I shall go to that one..." "Don't! Don't!" Consort Qiang hastily sprang up and caught her arm: "That carriage is full of stinking men. Here we have at least two women. You would surely be ill at ease there—better to remain here and let us sisters chat." Gong Heavenly Venerable, her expression unchanged, gently freed her arm and said: "Then I shall stay. Was it Kaihuang and the witch of the Creator clan who did this evil and damaged the Heavenly Court?" Everyone nodded. Hong Heavenly Venerable sighed: "The witch and Kaihuang worked evil, striking at the weak point we were bound to defend—we nearly brought about a great catastrophe. Hateful, truly hateful!" Shen Mu slapped the armrest and cried in rage: "I will never coexist with that old villain Shen Ye—if we meet, I shall tear him apart!" Everyone urged: "Calm down, Mu Heavenly Venerable, calm down! It is not worth letting that scoundrel anger you into ill health." Shen Mu, still fuming, said: "I shall spit right in his face!" Everyone said: "We all know Fellow Daoist Mu's feelings perfectly—no need to say more. Calm down, calm down." Consort Yan said with a smile: "Just now Mu Heavenly Venerable said that since the Ancestral Court has reappeared in the world, the profits should be divided equally. What do you all think?" They looked at one another. Hong Heavenly Venerable laughed: "Fellow Daoist Mu put it too bluntly, but though the words are crude, the principle holds. The benefits within the Ancestral Court are considerable indeed, and they ought to be divided. I am the Heavenly Venerable of the demon race, so naturally I must give some thought to the demon race." Consort Yan smiled: "I observed that the ancient god has many treasures there, all of them from the Ancestral Court, and so I grew somewhat covetous, wishing to acquire some for myself—but I never gave thought to my own race. That is my fault." Consort Qiang said with plaintive resentment: "His Majesty has not honored my chambers for many a year, so I have come to dote on jewels and trinkets—I too would like to get some to play with." Gong Heavenly Venerable remained cold as ice and said nothing. Hong Heavenly Venerable frowned: "If the seal upon the Ancestral Court were to be broken, it would by no means be a good thing for this world! It would be a world-annihilating calamity instead! I do not approve..." Shen Mu pried open Long Qilin's ear, fished out the little Tu Bo dozing inside, and smiled: "I have a way to enter the Ancestral Court without breaking its seal, which is why I proposed dividing the profits equally. Perilous as the Ancestral Court is, keeping its perils sealed forever is no solution either—the best course is to eliminate them. We Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Alliance bear this duty." He poked the little Tu Bo, who woke and regarded him with a solemn face, greatly displeased at having been roused. Consort Yan and Consort Qiang looked over, surprised and delighted, and laughed: "That Tu Bo brute is frighteningly huge—who would have thought this little fellow could be so adorable!" Shen Mu smiled: "Of course, he is perfectly adorable." The little Tu Bo yawned, opened its mouth, and spat out a scroll. Xiao Heavenly Venerable saw the scroll and raised his left eyebrow. Consort Qiang asked curiously: "What scroll is this?" "This little fellow's contract scroll." Shen Mu explained: "I once swore brotherhood with three elder brothers. Of those three sworn brothers, some died and some retired—it made me sigh endlessly. Today I thought of them once more, and was deeply affected." He took the contract scroll; his heart stirred faintly as he sensed its contents. His gaze shifted to Xiao Heavenly Venerable, whose face was serene. He, too, sensed that Shen Mu was reaching out to him through the scroll, and said: "I have considered it carefully. Mu Heavenly Venerable's proposal is not entirely impossible—let the profits be divided equally, then." Shen Mu sensed the contents of the contract scroll, and suddenly his mind reeled violently, his expression turning incomparably strange. Xiao was the ancient god Heavenly Emperor—yet when he went to sense the second of the sworn brothers, it was not Hong Heavenly Venerable as he had guessed! In those days, he had sworn brotherhood with the Creator Luo Xiao, Da Hong, and Gu Xiao, four men bound in fraternity. The vow that these brothers would die in the same year, same month, and same day had been forged into a vow contract by the little Tu Bo! Only when Gong Heavenly Venerable was present did Shen Mu dare to take out the scroll of oaths to threaten the ancient god Heavenly Emperor and the Grand Emperor! And yet—apart from the dead Luo Xiao and Shen Mu himself—he could verify that Xiao was the Heavenly Emperor, but the Grand Emperor was by no means Hong Heavenly Venerable! He slowly raised his head, and his gaze came to rest on the face of Consort Qiang, who sat opposite, chatting and laughing with Gong Heavenly Venerable. Consort Qiang burst out laughing: "Mu Heavenly Venerable is eyeing me with such shifty looks—beware lest His Majesty the Heavenly Empe