Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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A cold snort finally came from inside the house: “No matter where you come from, get out of here before the gods punish you!”
The elderly people present immediately fell silent upon hearing this voice. Even the old lady who had been chatting happily with Tuan Tuanyi just moments before changed her expression, trembling as she stepped aside to make way for him: “Divine Envoy.”
Wei Xi immediately heard Mr. Gu say, “So this is the cult’s messenger! This person is extremely cunning. He takes advantage of the fact that the police dare not interfere, and makes the old men and women in the cult handle his bad deeds while he hides behind the scenes as if nothing happened!”
After saying that, he was speechless for a moment: “…This time, I guess it was because he saw Mr. Tuan preaching to his followers that he finally couldn’t sit still anymore.”
The envoy was a young man with a hooked nose and sinister eyes. He stared coldly at Wei Xi and his group. Mr. Gu was right; he had indeed been hiding behind the scenes and had only come forward because he had heard that things were not going well. Now, facing this group of colleagues, he was in a very bad mood: “Did you hear me? Leave immediately! Don’t spread rumors here anymore!”
Even when Tuan Tuanyi was caught poaching people, he wasn’t embarrassed at all. He just retorted, “Why should we? This isn’t your territory. What do you mean by spreading heresy? We’re all in the same profession. You’re allowed to preach, but we’re not? Haven’t you heard of religious freedom? Can you at least be a little more polite?”
The messenger angrily retorted, “Nonsense! Who is traveling with you? How could our worshipped deity be the same as your so-called Heavenly Venerable!”
Tuan Tuanyi sneered: “That’s true. Our Heavenly Venerable has even been on TV, and has a huge number of fans online. He’s a legitimate deity certified by the state, quite different from you guys who are being chased all over the streets by the city management officers.”
The messenger was furious but didn’t know how to refute it. Seeing the wavering emotions in the eyes of the middle-aged and elderly believers who had been painstakingly cultivated in the urban village, he finally couldn’t hold back and shouted, “I see you’re refusing to listen to reason and are now asking for trouble!”
As soon as he finished speaking, an indescribable tension quietly descended, and the black-robed elders present became dazed. Then, one after another, they all fainted. Mr. Gu, who was next to Wei Xi, also fell headfirst into the rain.
Even the divine messenger collapsed to the ground with a fanatical expression. Then a majestic voice rang out: “I have been a god for 6,418 years. Since the beginning of time, I have never heard of a Heavenly Venerable who has attained the Dao.”
Another chilling male voice seemed to echo him: “What kind of evil spirit dares to call itself a god? How absurd!”
One by one, the people around him fainted, leaving only himself conscious for no apparent reason. Coupled with the fact that the voice seemed to explode right next to his ears, Tuan Tuanyi was quite frightened. He took several steps back before he could figure out what the two men meant and guess their identities. He immediately protested: “What the hell! Saying that our Celestial Venerable is an evil spirit? You cultists are the evil spirits! Don’t you have any self-awareness?!”
The two male voices: “…”
They fell silent, seemingly only now realizing their current identities and unsure how to refute it. After revealing themselves, they could only ignore the previous statement and turn to the others: “It’s you.”
Xia Shouren look was somewhat complicated. He looked at the two of them and sighed. Shuo Zong held up his umbrella and called out their names in a low voice: “Long time no see, Feng Bo and Shui Shi.”
The two sides gazed at each other from afar. The Wind God and the Water Master were still wearing the wide robes and sleeves they wore in the Heavenly Court, but the thick immortal aura around them had been tinged with strands of black.
They both smiled and said, “It has indeed been a long time, Immortal Tianlu[1]. I never expected that we would meet again on such an occasion after so many years.”
Shuo Zong nodded calmly: “Indeed.”
Feng Bo glanced at the God-Slaying Whip that Shuo Zong was holding, his eyes flickering slightly: “You want to kill us? We’ve known each other for a while, and we’re both officials in the Heavenly Court. Aren’t you afraid of divine punishment if you kill us?”
Shuo Zong handed the black umbrella in his hand to Wei Xi: “There are no more Heavenly Court officials or gods left.”
“Que’er.” Wei Xi sensed something was wrong before he even understood their previous way of addressing each other. “You want to fight?”
The apprentice, who handed him the umbrella, glanced down at him, his gaze and voice softening considerably: “Stand here and don’t move. The Five Elements Barrier Umbrella will protect you. I’ll be fine in a moment.”
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky. Feng Bo and Shui Shi stood their ground, staring coldly at Shuo Zong. Their gazes swept over the pendant on his chest, which shimmered in the lightning, and they couldn’t help but sneer: “No wonder you’re so confident. I didn’t expect that not only the God-Slaying Whip, but also the Yellow Emperor’s Purple Gold Chain are in your hands.”
The tense atmosphere instantly relaxed, and Shuo Zong immediately raised an eyebrow: “Is it good-looking?”
He then gestured to Wei Xi, saying, “He gave it to me.”
Xia Shouren: “???”
Feng Bo & Shui Shi: “??????”
Who asked you that!
….
Feng Bo and Shui Shi dared not slacken their efforts. They exchanged a glance, ignored the inexplicable conversation, and charged straight toward Shuo Zong.
Lightning ripped through the sky, and Tuan Tuanyi, terrified, cowered in a corner: “What’s going on! How did Junior Brother suddenly start fighting with them?!”
Feng Bo and Shui Shi were incredibly powerful. As constellations chosen by the Heavenly Dao, they possessed divine bones and were a natural pair. Now, with their combined strength, their combat power was invincible. Even someone as powerful as Shuo Zong could not easily subdue them. The God-Slaying Whip in his hand unleashed a dense killing array, but it only managed to inflict a few wounds on Feng Bo and Shui Shi.
Xia Shouren was not good at fighting to begin with, and he was knocked down by Feng Bo’s magic weapon by accident. He rolled on the ground a few times, clutching his injured spot and looking straight up at the sky.
The Wind God’s divine robes fluttered in the whirlwind he created, but his face was contorted with rage from Shuo Zong’s merciless killing blows: “We only wanted a few human sacrifices, and we didn’t even succeed. When did human lives become so valuable to you!”
Shuo Zong’s eyes showed no emotion other than indifference: “I don’t know if human life is valuable or not, I only know that you have willingly become demons, causing chaos in the world and demanding human sacrifices from believers. If I don’t kill you, the precarious Heavenly Dao will be crushed by you.”
“The Heavenly Way! Where is the Heavenly Way now!” Feng Bo roared with hatred. “And those believers! I have protected them for thousands of years, but they forgot me completely in an instant. What kind of believers are they! At best, they are just a bunch of fickle fools!”
Wei Xi didn’t understand what they were saying, and Tuan Tuanyi also felt something was wrong: “What’s going on? Isn’t this a cult’s evil god? How can he claim to be a priest and say he’s been around for thousands of years?”
Xia Shouren helped him to his feet and vaguely recounted the whole story to him. Even though he was an opponent, he couldn’t help but speak with a sorrowful tone when talking about this topic, because of the shared sense of sorrow that comes with the death of a rabbit.
After listening, Tuan Tuanyi seemed to understand but didn’t quite get it, and said, “Oh, I see. You mean they became incredibly popular right after their debut, like stars in the heavens, and never experienced a period of obscurity. After taking a break for over a hundred years, they wanted to make a comeback like before, but suddenly found their fame nowhere to be found, and all the fans who claimed to love them for ten thousand years had left? Damn, that’s so tragic. No wonder they’re mentally broken.”
Xia Shouren, who still wanted to indulge in a bit of melancholy: “…”
Feng Bo and Shui Shi, filled with resentment as they listened to Xia Shouren’s story, were left speechless.
Xia Shouren’s sadness suddenly disappeared: “…That seems to make sense.”
During the days since Feng Bo and Shui Shi awoke, they had learned about some new professions in the human world. They thought to themselves, “What kind of nonsense is this?” and shouted indignantly, “Shut up! Stop talking nonsense!”
Tuan Tuanyi looked at them sympathetically: “You said you were gods in the Heavenly Court, but my junior brother said the Heavenly Court is gone. So you mean you two used to work in a public institution, and then the institution went bankrupt and you were laid off, right?”
Feng Bo & Shui Shi: “…………”
Xia Shouren: “…More or less.”
Tuan Tuanyi sighed, “Alas! It’s the same everywhere, there’s no future working in a state-owned enterprise. These days, if you want to develop your career, you have to rely on private companies. What are they doing here? Why don’t they come to the Taicang Sect and work with my master? The enlightened celestial beings in our sect are doing much better than them.”
Feng Bo and Shui Shi were furious: “What kind of enlightened celestial being is this! He’s nothing but an evil spirit, yet he dares to impersonate a deity!”
After saying that, he was probably so angry that he lost his mind and fought without any strategy. Feng Bo even lost his grip on the divine fan and it flew out and smashed directly onto Shuo Zong’s head.
Shuo Zong: “…”
Feng Bo, realizing he had made such a basic mistake, cried out in alarm. Wei Xi, who had been on edge since earlier, widened his eyes in shock when he saw his disciple hit by the fan. Perhaps in his anger, he suddenly found strength from nowhere, folded his umbrella, kicked off the wall, and actually leaped into the air.
Enraged, Wei Xi swung his umbrella and slapped Feng Bo hard across the face: “How dare you! You dare to hit my disciple with a fan!”
Feng Bo: “…”
Feng Bo wanted to say that the fan had actually flown out accidentally, but he was also angry after being slapped. Seeing Wei Xi’s constitution, he became even angrier: “You have quite the nerve! Where did this mortal come from! How dare you offend the gods!”
Wei Xi couldn’t stay in the air and almost fell after jumping, but fortunately a strong arm wrapped around his waist and kept him firmly in mid-air.
Wei Xi was born without knowing what fear was. When he saw that Feng Bo still dared to yell at him, he immediately glared at him and slapped him again.
Feng Bo: “…”
The Wind God could no longer bear it. With a sharp cry, he flew towards Wei Xi’s location.
Shuo Zong, standing behind Wei Xi, gripped the God-Slaying Whip tightly, his gaze turning cold as he prepared to raise his hand.
Before he could even make a move, a burst of intense golden light suddenly erupted from Wei Xi’s chest, sending Feng Bo flying backward.
This unexpected turn of events plunged all the creatures present into a brief silence.
The next second, a blurry figure slowly appeared before Wei Xi, sleeves tucked in, speaking softly: “My disciple is still young and doesn’t know any better. You are a dignified Immortal, why bother arguing with a child?”
Feng Bo: “…”
With the help of Shui Shi, Feng Bo steadied himself and looked in shock at the suddenly appearing figure. The figure was short and thin, with indistinct features, and seemed very weak, but his whole body was surrounded by layers of golden light that shone with an astonishing brightness.
Deities possessing divine bones could see the golden light of merit. Feng Bo and Shui Shi, having traversed the world for thousands of years and witnessed all that could be seen, had never seen anyone with such profound merit. That merit was truly astonishing, to the point that they dared not touch it, fearing that if they harmed the slightest thing, they would be instantly annihilated by the Heavenly Dao.
They stared at this unreasonable, domineering parent who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, both incredulous: “You…who are you? What have you done? Where did all this merit come from?!”
“Huh? Merit? What did I do?” The man’s eyes were unfocused, his back hunched, and his sleeves were tucked in. He seemed unaware that he had any merit. After thinking for a moment, he remembered something and showed an embarrassed expression. “…If I had to say, maybe… because I cured the believers’ athlete’s foot and hemorrhoids, right?”
Feng Bo & Shui Shi: “……………………???”
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[1] In Chinese culture, Tianlu (sometimes synonymous with or a variant of the Pixiu) is a mythical, auspicious hybrid creature known for attracting wealth, good fortune, and warding off evil.
