Chapter 52 — Waiting for a Good Price
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
The headman raised his eyebrows. "If it comes to mutual destruction, the Nether Demon Cult will surely leave countless dead and wounded too, won't it? Why press us so relentlessly? If a pack of cripples and old folk like us costs your cult so dearly, the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping will be only too glad to reap the profit and swallow the Nether Demon Cult whole. What do you say? " The young Patriarch nodded.
"The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping has indeed been searching for a chance to subdue our cult and make it submit to the court. But our holy scriptures are lost and our Holy Cult Leader is slain — we are all but wiped out already. If you insist on going your own way, brother, then the little village you protect will have to try conclusions with our Holy Cult. Unfurl the banners! " The Elder of Punishments at his side bowed. "Yes, Patriarch.
Unfurl the banners!
" Shen Mu looked out and saw the three hundred and sixty great banners growing wider and larger, each one now a full acre or more across. "Roll up the banners," said the youth.
The Elder of Punishments called out in a loud voice, "Roll up the banners!
" One after another the great banners were furled, their surfaces vanishing — and behind them Shen Mu saw tens of thousands of Adepts, every one of them imposing, standing straight as spears, not making the slightest sound, striking a chill of utter desolation into the heart.
The headman sighed. "The Nether Demon Cult's teleportation banners truly live up to their name. One unfurling and one furling, and tens of thousands of Adepts march straight into the Barren Ruins — no wonder the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping is so eager to bring the Nether Demon Cult to heel. If he possessed that divine power of theirs, the armies of Jingping would sweep the world and unite all the nations!
" The young Patriarch sighed. "Without a Cult Leader, our Holy Cult is now a heap of loose sand. These forty years, the Nether Demon Cult's circumstances have grown harder and harder. I reckon the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping can scarcely hold himself back any longer; he will soon strike at us. Like you, I am old, with not many days left to look forward to. Now all I hope for is to find a new Cult Leader of dazzling brilliance.
" The headman's eyes flickered. "So the widow who killed the old Cult Leader on their wedding night — she is your best candidate? " The young Patriarch nodded and smiled bitterly. "Brother, you know as well as I how rare it is to find a Cult Leader of dazzling brilliance and wisdom. Our Nether Demon Cult has many followers, but those capable of bearing the title are very few, and those who could match the Cult Leader's widow are fewer still. With no other way open to us, we had to seek her out, bring her back to the cult, and let her serve as Cult Leader. " The headman glanced at Grandmother Zhu, somewhat pained.
"I hear it was this widow who killed your Cult Leader Fan Xuanshu. Why let her become the new Cult Leader instead of avenging the old one?
Is the murder of a Cult Leader not a monstrous disgrace to your cult? " The young Patriarch's eyes were bright as snow. He laughed. "Brother, have you forgotten? We are a demon cult — we cannot be judged by common sense. The new Cult Leader killed the old one; that proves the new one is the more capable, so of course she must be enthroned! " The headman's expression turned strange, and beside him Shen Mu and the Alchemist wore expressions stranger still.
The Nether Demon Cult actually had such a rule? "Grandmother, is there really such a rule? " the Alchemist asked. Grandmother Zhu nodded woodenly. The Alchemist could not help saying, "If there is such a rule, then after you killed the old Cult Leader, why did you not stay in the Nether Demon Cult and become the new one?