Chapter 1147 — Once, I Was Human
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
"Shepherd Heavenly Venerable—" The Heaven Lord's voice came from a place impossibly high and impossibly far, entering his mind, heard by him alone. With that voice he even "saw" the Heaven Lord's white brows, his long beard, and those eyes brimming with snow-white radiance, enthroned high in Xuandu.
"You borrow my power to resurrect a mortal. " No expression could be read on the Heaven Lord's face; his voice was long and drawn out: "You killed the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces, you killed the ancient gods of the Three Pillars Heaven, and now you borrow our power to resurrect a mortal.
Are you still the Great Master of Myriad Kalpas Without Extinction?
" "Heaven Lord, nothing here escapes you.
You saw me kill the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces, saw me kill the Three Pillars Heaven, and you did not stop me from cutting them down.
" Shen Mu's divine consciousness rippled through his mind as he conversed with that exalted being. "And now I would borrow your power to remake this mortal's soul. Will you lend it to me? Reviving her is simple; the power I borrow from you is so slight it is a single drop in the ocean to you.
" The Heaven Lord was silent a moment, then said, "Will you resurrect the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces and of the Three Pillars Heaven?
" "No. " Shen Mu's tone was extraordinarily calm. Slowly he said, "Heaven Lord, you have long known the answer.
I will not resurrect them. Ancient gods are not nobler than mortals.
If an ancient god does evil, I will cut down the ancient god as well. " "Right and wrong, good and evil — who is to decide them? " The Heaven Lord said, "The wolf eats the sheep — how innocent is the sheep? The sheep eats the grass — how innocent is the grass?
When the ancient gods take humans as sacrifices, is that not also the wolf eating the sheep?
Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, seen from the height of the Dao of Heaven, your so-called good and evil, right and wrong, are muddled beyond distinction.
The Dao of Heaven is impartial: it does not condemn the wolf for eating the sheep, nor condemn the sheep for eating the grass. " Shen Mu said, "That is why you are the Heaven Lord and I am not. I can only look at these things from the standpoint of a human.
Heaven Lord, you are not truly impartial either — you look at this world from the standpoint of the ancient gods.
You can sit by while the ancient gods butcher the living, sit by while all beings become sacrifices to the ancient gods; yet when I kill ancient gods, you still take offense. " The Heaven Lord was silent. "Will you lend me the power to resurrect this little girl? " Shen Mu pressed.
The Heaven Lord was silent again for a moment, then said, "Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, son of the Shen family, have you ever considered that you cannot change any of this? When the ancient gods are no longer the orthodoxy of heaven and earth, and the demigods replace them, they will prey upon the living all the same. Even if you kill the ancient gods, you will only let the demigods wholly replace them — and then the fate of all beings in the heavens and myriad worlds will be no better than it is now, perhaps even worse. " Shen Mu asked stubbornly, "Heaven Lord, will you lend me the power to resurrect this one small mortal? " The Heaven Lord was silent a long while, then said, "I will lend it to you.
But you cannot go on doing this.
You cannot keep slaughtering ancient gods.
If word spreads that you slaughtered the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces and of the Three Pillars Heaven, it will drive the other ancient gods into opposition against you and make them your enemies. " Shen Mu said, "Should I smile at them, sit by while they make sacrifices of my people, chat and laugh with them, and pretend I saw nothing? Teach me, Heaven Lord. " The Heaven Lord said, "You can look upon all beings from the height of the Dao of Heaven — all are equal, and there is no need to intervene. " "That is why I am not the Heaven Lord.
" Shen Mu laughed.