This night came too suddenly.
When Nan Shan returned to Shou Xin’s room, her mind was still a little foggy.
“You’re finally back,” Shou Xin yawned repeatedly.
“If you hadn’t come back soon, I would have gone to look for you.”
Nan Shan forced a smile.
“It’s already dark, where else could I go if not back here?”
Actually, she could still go to the temple.
After the last sliver of light disappeared, Ji Yue’s figure gradually became transparent.
The last words he left for her were:
“There’s no time left. You can go back to find Shou Xin, or you can come to the temple to find me. This time, I respect your choice, but I hope you choose the latter.”
“Come see me at the temple. Maybe you’ll change your mind.”
And just like that, he vanished.
Nan Shan’s hand, which had been holding his, suddenly loosened, and she only grasped air.
Her first instinct was to go to the temple to find him, to bring back this person who had suddenly disappeared.
But the feeling of grasping at emptiness was too painful, and she didn’t want to go through that again.
“Go to sleep,” Shou Xin yawned again, taking a bell from his pocket to set up a barrier around the room.
“Wait!” Nan Shan suddenly looked up.
Shou Xin paused, gazing at her with sleepy eyes.
“Is there something else?”
Nan Shan stared at him for a long time, noticing how his features were somewhat similar to Ji Yue’s, but his expression was forever innocent and unaffected.
She suddenly made up her mind.
“I… I’m going out for a while.”
After saying this, Nan Shan felt much lighter.
Shou Xin was surprised.
“Now?”
“Yeah… I’m just going out to take a look. I won’t do anything. Even if I go out, I won’t do anything. I just want to see him…”
After learning the truth of the night, she couldn’t leave Ji Yue alone there.
She wouldn’t do as he wished, but she wanted to see him.
Nan Shan strode out. With every step, she grew more determined.
Shou Xin stood there in a daze, watching her close the door, and it took him a while to realize what she had done.
“Well, it’s not like it’s the first time she’s not coming back at night.” Shou Xin wearily flopped onto the bed, thinking about tomorrow’s menu while falling into a sweet, dark dream.
After running to the courtyard, Nan Shan felt a moment of confusion.
She suddenly wasn’t sure if her decision was right.
Before she could even think of an answer, loud knocking sounded from outside the courtyard.
“Open the door! Open the door!”
Nan Shan quickly looked toward the locked back gate.
“Old Zhong, hurry and open the door! The time is almost here!”
“We can’t delay the auspicious time, quickly open the door!”
It seemed like many people had gathered outside, banging loudly on the door.
Nan Shan frowned, not remembering hearing such sounds during the previous nights.
As she was pondering what was going on, the door to Zhong Bo’s room creaked open, and a man in his forties walked out.
“Zhong Bo?”
Nan Shan was surprised.
The younger-looking Zhong Bo seemed not to hear her voice.
He quickly wrapped his clothing tighter and hurried to open the door.
“Weren’t we supposed to wait until morning? The child is already asleep,” he asked while rubbing his hands.
“What child? You should speak more respectfully. That’s our Ji Yue, the Immortal Lord,” someone corrected him.
Zhong Bo led the crowd toward the main bedroom, and Nan Shan, who happened to be in their path, was about to cast an invisibility spell on herself.
But then, the group walked right through her body.
Souls?
Nan Shan froze, then quickly realized.
It was an illusion.
After dark, the resentment stirred up, creating this illusion.
This illusion was nothing but a replay of past events that had truly happened.
Nan Shan remembered fainting the last time and immediately sealed some of her acupoints to prevent being attacked by the resentment again.
After doing so, the group had already reached the door of the main bedroom.
They looked at each other in confusion before Zhong Bo pushed the door open.
Nan Shan immediately followed inside.
The moment she stepped over the threshold, she realized this was not the room she stayed in—not the room of this current time and space.
The room was spacious and tidy.
There were writing supplies and books on the desk, and some scattered toys in the corner, obviously belonging to a child.
As Nan Shan approached the bed, she braced herself, but when she saw “Shou Xin” on the bed, her heart still tightened uncontrollably.
“Child, child?”
Zhong Bo called gently to the sleeping child, his eyes filled with unmasked love.
The child on the bed groaned, turning over but unwilling to wake up.
“Child, child, wake up,” Zhong Bo called again.
Finally, the child opened his eyes, paused for a moment, then sat up confused.
“Father?”
Hearing the child’s address to Zhong Bo, Nan Shan’s heart sank.
“Shh…” Zhong Bo quickly glanced outside, lowering his voice, “Don’t call me that in front of others.”
The child froze, then noticed the people outside the door, each one gazing at him with admiration and fervor, making him feel inexplicably afraid.
“Who are they?”
He asked timidly, hiding behind Zhong Bo.
Zhong Bo patted his shoulder, soothing him.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. They’re the ones who will help you become a god.”
“Become a god?”
The child looked even more confused.
Zhong Bo nodded.
“Yes, you’ll become a god, an immortal.”
Nan Shan could no longer listen.
She immediately tried to take the young Ji Yue away, but when she reached out, her hand passed right through their bodies.
She woke up, her brows tightly furrowed, watching Zhong Bo coax the child, while the others rushed to undress him and put on new robes.
The robes were clearly meant for an adult, and they hung awkwardly on him.
It looked ridiculous, but no one thought it was wrong.
The child blushed, his eyes brimming with tears as he shyly looked at Zhong Bo.
“Don’t be afraid, you’ll become a god,” Zhong Bo said, his expression full of sympathy, but still encouraging him.
The child seemed less afraid, so Nan Shan watched as they lifted him up, chanting strange tunes as they headed toward the temple.
Though she knew everything was an illusion, Nan Shan couldn’t help but follow them.
But as soon as she entered the temple, a strong stench hit her nose.
The young Ji Yue vomited from the smell, his clothes quickly becoming soiled.
Yet no one helped him clean it up. Instead, everyone gathered around a huge pot, stirring the contents from time to time.
Nan Shan had experienced this scene in the illusion before.
She knew the pot contained the remains of the previous Immortal Lord and that the horrifying events would soon unfold.
Still, she felt anger rising within her as she rushed to Ji Yue, trying to stop these people.
“Have you all gone mad? What are you trying to do to a seven-year-old child?!”
“Zhong Bo! You claim to be his father, why aren’t you protecting him?!”
Unfortunately, no one responded.
Those people skillfully passed through her body and expertly tied Ji Yue up with hemp rope.
Ji Yue finally realized something was wrong and began to struggle like a fish thrown onto shore.
“Child… don’t move!”
Uncle Zhong rushed over to stop him.
“Father, Father…”
Ji Yue, terrified, forgot to cry and kept calling out to Uncle Zhong over and over again.
The crowd immediately grew dissatisfied:
“Old Zhong, how can you let the Immortal Lord call you father?”
“Ridiculous! Being able to serve the Immortal Lord is already an honor, and yet you let him call you father? You really don’t know your place!”
“Everyone… everyone!”
Uncle Zhong held Ji Yue and softly pleaded, “He’s still too young. Please, allow me to persuade him a bit before we proceed with the deification ritual.”
“That won’t do. If we miss the auspicious time, it will affect the Immortal Lord’s powers. Can you bear the consequences?”
The leader said without any room for negotiation, pulling Ji Yue away.
Ji Yue trembled all over, still calling out for his father.
Uncle Zhong, holding him, tried to calm him down once more but was forcibly pulled away.
Ji Yue was carried to the edge of the pot, and a fat woman scooped a ladle of golden soup from the pot, greedily swallowing it before pouring it over Ji Yue’s head.
Nan Shan could no longer bear to watch, but her eyes were fixed on this scene.
The boiling water, the innocent seven-year-old child, and a group of greedy adults together formed this terrifying scene.
When the ladle of golden liquid was poured over Ji Yue’s head, a sound of painful wailing echoed in the temple.
The crowd cheered and danced around the child, whose flesh was scalded and blurred.
The young Uncle Zhong covered his eyes, sighing deeply, while others took up ladles, pouring spoonful after spoonful of golden liquid onto the child’s body.
Wherever the golden liquid touched, the melted skin and flesh gradually formed a golden shell.
Little Ji Yue curled up on the ground, his body in excruciating pain, but still able to breathe heavily.
“Don’t be afraid, once the golden liquid is done, you’ll be a god.”
Uncle Zhong softly reassured him.
Ji Yue trembled, silently looking at him.
Uncle Zhong couldn’t bear it and turned his face away, then looked back.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”
Ji Yue finally closed his eyes.
Unlike Nan Shan, who lost consciousness after feeling a brief pain in the illusion, this was a slow, conscious form of torture.
Nan Shan’s breath trembled, and when she regained her senses, her face was covered with tears.
When the last ladle of golden liquid was poured down, Ji Yue, barely opening his eyes, seemed to gaze at her across thousands of years of time.
“Ji Yue…”
Nan Shan quickly stepped forward.
The pot disappeared, and little Ji Yue vanished too, leaving only the cold temple and towering gods with pitiful gazes, surrounded by heavy incense smoke.
Although Nan Shan couldn’t see Ji Yue, she could feel he was there, enduring the ants-like prayers at every moment.
When her mind briefly wandered again, the temple vanished, and Nan Shan found herself back in the courtyard.
Outside, there was intense knocking on the door.
“Open the door! Open the door!”
“Old Zhong! Quickly open the door!”
For a moment, Nan Shan thought the illusion was repeating, but when the door in the corner opened and the aging Uncle Zhong hunched out, she realized this was a new illusion.
“He’s coming, he’s coming.”
Uncle Zhong walked swiftly, though his steps were shaky, and in an instant, he reached the door.
The locked door was opened, revealing a crowd outside.
Nan Shan immediately saw Aunt Li among them.
“Is Immortal Ji Yue here? Is he here?”
Someone asked.
Uncle Zhong hesitated for a moment, and when the others saw this, they pushed in.
He hurriedly tried to stop them.
“What are you doing? Disturbing the Immortal Lord’s rest, can you bear the consequences?”
“Stop talking nonsense! We want to ask him face-to-face whether he still cares for us common people!”
Aunt Li shouted angrily.
Nan Shan, watching her furious expression, suddenly realized that this scene was happening in the present moment, following the events that occurred after she had fainted the previous night.
This was when everything in Dong Yi would turn into a desolate wasteland.
Faced with Aunt Li’s fury, Uncle Zhong kept explaining, “How could that be? The Immortal Lord would never stop caring for the people of Dong Yi. Please, go back, we can talk tomorrow.”
“Don’t feed us that nonsense! Don’t think we don’t know. You want to enjoy Immortal Lord’s blessings alone!”
Someone shouted.
“That’s right! You’ve gained immortality by following the Immortal Lord, yet you won’t even let us ask him for an explanation. Why is that?”
Another person demanded.
“I don’t mean that, it’s just that the Immortal Lord is resting now…”
Uncle Zhong’s words were interrupted when the leader of the group suddenly grabbed his collar and pulled him close.
“You know the truth, don’t you? The Immortal Lord’s power is fading, and he can no longer bless the people. It’s time for us to choose a new Immortal Lord.”
The man said coldly.
Uncle Zhong’s lips moved, but he remained silent for a long time.
The man released him and said indifferently, “Now you have two choices. One, cooperate with us and convince the Immortal Lord to ascend to heaven. The next Immortal Lord can still be raised by you, and you will still live forever. Two, protect the Immortal Lord until his divine bones waste away, and without the Immortal Lord’s protection, you won’t live well either.”
Uncle Zhong’s eyelids twitched, and the wrinkles on his face deepened:
“Perhaps there is a way to satisfy both sides…”
“Do you think there’s another way? After all these years, with the gods changing in Dongyi, is there any other method? You, an old man who’s about to die, what other solution could there be?!”
The man shouted angrily.
“Do you want to make the entire Dongyi lose the protection of the gods?!”
“Do you want to destroy Dongyi?!”
Others began to get angry, and the crowd became more agitated.
Uncle Zhong’s eyes reddened in an instant, but he remained silent for a long while.
The crowd, no longer willing to wait, rushed towards the main room.
Some of them, running too fast, almost collided with Nan Shan.
She stepped back in time, and inadvertently raised her hand.
Their clothes slipped from her palm.
It was real.
Nan Shan looked up at the people wildly banging on the door of the main room.
In the quiet dark night, their screams and pleas sounded so out of place.
These were the voices Nan Shan had heard every night before, but now, she heard them outside, in the courtyard.
It wasn’t a procession of hundred ghosts, but rather the human heart that was more terrifying than any ghost.
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