Chapter 32

Lin Yu was momentarily startled, then stepped forward to accept the letter. The envelope was made of deerskin and carried a faint scent of herbs. She slid out the letter paper inside.

Elegant handwriting graced the page, and as Lin Yu read it line by line, her brows gradually knitted together.

"Divine Maiden, I have already gathered all the sacrifices you mentioned. Because my father's condition truly cannot wait any longer, I, a devout believer, wish to move up the ceremony of the living sacrifice to today. At the hour of Hai tonight—I have consulted the calendar, and today is Heavy Snow, an auspicious day. This believer will await you at the Ruyue Inn."

At the very end of the letter was Lu Yao's name.

The Ruyue Inn—Lin Yu had heard of the place before. Built on the edge of a cliff, it was said to have a history of over a hundred years. It was famous because it was considered the boundary between yin and yang, a place where, according to legend, one could see the spirits of the departed.

Just then, Fu Ming suddenly appeared behind her. "What are you looking at?"

Lin Yu handed the letter to Fu Ming, whose expression also shifted. "What is she planning?"

"At the time, I demanded two thousand virgin boys and girls as sacrifices," Lin Yu said. "She couldn't possibly have gathered them all in just one day. She went to all that trouble to burn down the Rain Goddess Temple, fake her death, and escape—so why would she now voluntarily expose that she's alive and ask to meet me?"

Fu Ming: "Nothing good, that's for sure."

Lin Yu guessed, "She needs to use her own death to scheme something?"

Fu Ming was puzzled. "But what does she lack? In wealth and status, she's the richest merchant in Jiangnan. In marriage, she's in love with the God of Glory. What could she possibly need to scheme for on her own?"

Fu Ming's words suddenly reminded Lin Yu of something, and her eyes lit up. "Affairs between gods and mortals have always been against the secular code of ethics!"

At that moment, Yu Jia returned to the inn. When Lin Yu saw him, her eyes sparkled with urgency, and she waved him over.

"Yu Jia!"

Yu Jia approached, confused. Lin Yu asked him, "What punishments do gods face if they get involved with mortals?"

Yu Jia pondered for a moment. "They get struck by lightning."

Fu Ming let out a soft laugh and turned his gaze away. Lin Yu pressed her forehead. She already knew about the lightning. She continued, "...Anything else?"

"They stir up public outrage." Yu Jia suddenly realized something and lowered his voice. "Which god has fallen in love with a mortal now?"

"'Now'?" Lin Yu said. "Has another god fallen for a mortal before? Also, is there any punishment for the mortal?"

Yu Jia thought for a moment. "That's a long story. As for punishments for mortals, there is one, but it's not really a punishment."

Lin Yu pressed eagerly, "Tell me!"

"It's said that a hundred years ago, a mortal fell in love with a god and went to worship his statue every day. And the god actually manifested!"

Yu Jia spoke vividly. "The god was moved by the mortal's sincerity, and so they fell in love. After that, in order to be with the god, the mortal endured the twelve Heavens-Asking Thunderbolts set by Tian Zun, and after ascending to the Nine Heavens, they stayed with that god for a hundred years."

Fu Ming was hearing this story for the first time. He suddenly asked, "Heavens-Asking?"

"Heavens-Asking..." Lin Yu repeated the unfamiliar term. "Is it very powerful?"

Yu Jia: "Of course. Unlike other thunderbolts, which test whether one is strong enough to withstand them, the Heavens-Asking Thunderbolt strikes down those whose hearts are impure—no matter how strong they are, a single bolt will kill them."

Yu Jia glanced furtively at Fu Ming, then carefully asked Lin Yu again, "So which god has fallen in love with a mortal this time?"

"The God of Glory," Lin Yu said airily, then left, with Fu Ming following alongside her.

"Oh—so it's the God of Wealth," Yu Jia mused, but then realization hit him like a thunderbolt. He whipped around to stare at Lin Yu's retreating back, momentarily losing control of his volume. "Wait! The God of Wealth fell in love with a mortal alone?!"

"What did you say?" A woman dressed like a wandering knight had just entered the hall and caught his words. She darted in front of Yu Jia, her expression hostile. Yu Jia realized his mistake and hastily shut his mouth.

Yu Jia: "It's nothing, I was just reading a storybook. I apologize for disturbing you, miss..."

The girl carried a sword on her back, and her robes were patched with thick layers. Her face was grim. Yu Jia turned to search for Lin Yu to rescue him, but when he looked back, she was already gone. He turned again, and Fu Ming had vanished too. Yu Jia was on the verge of tears...

Yu Jia let out an awkward laugh, wishing he could crawl into a hole in the ground.

...

Fu Ming followed Lin Yu back to their room. In the corner behind the door, Lu Yao's father lay quietly. Lin Yu walked over, knelt on one knee beside the corpse, and examined it.

She flipped open the old man's eyelids to reveal murky eyeballs—the pupils were no longer visible. She stared at the yellowish-brown orbs, lost in thought.

Lu Yao had chosen an ancient inn to meet Lin Yu, and her purpose was Lin Yu's heart blood. The Ruyue Inn, the living sacrifices, the Divine Maiden's heart blood—no matter how she thought about it, Lu Yao was up to no good, and this trip was fraught with danger.

Fu Ming stood behind Lin Yu, quietly watching her. "I will send men to raze the Ruyue Inn tonight and capture Lu Yao alive."

Lin Yu suddenly turned her head, realizing she had been so deep in thought that she had not noticed Fu Ming's arrival behind her.

Lin Yu: "No need... I plan to go see Lu Yao and get her to reveal her intentions." She curled her lips into a smile. "I suspect whatever she's trying to do must be extraordinary—likely connected to the God of Glory, and the truth behind the Rain Goddess's fall."

Fu Ming frowned. "Then I'll send hidden guards to set up an ambush."

Lin Yu: "No need. Since she's asked to see me alone, she must have prepared everything to lure me in. Sending guards rashly would only alert her."

Fu Ming: "Then I—"

Lin Yu cut him off. "I'm going alone."

Fu Ming said nothing.

Fu Ming wanted to say more, but then he heard a "click"—the sound of something falling to the ground.

Lin Yu followed the sound and found a red bead next to the hem of Lu Yao's father's clothes. She looked up at Fu Ming, and they exchanged glances of confusion.

"What's this?"

...

At night, Lin Yu walked alone through the wind and sand. It was a remote mountain forest, surrounded by barren hills. The fierce wind whipped against her, her cloak flapping wildly. She felt colder and colder, her hands and feet nearly numb from the cold.

After a long while, a lantern light appeared in her sight. As she moved forward, the light grew brighter. She followed the glow, and finally, at the edge of a cliff, she saw a plaque engraved with four characters: "Ruyue Inn."

Lin Yu looked up. The inn rose story after story, towering almost into the clouds, while beside it was a bottomless cliff. Crows occasionally flew past, cawing hoarsely, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

Seeing Lin Yu arrive, Lu Yao walked out of the inn. She was still dressed in white, like cold moonlight.

Lu Yao feigned a lighthearted air as she took Lin Yu's hand, pretending to be affectionate. She smiled. "Divine Maiden, let me take you inside."

Lin Yu frowned and shook off Lu Yao's hand without mercy. "Where are the sacrifices?"

Lu Yao lost her composure for a moment, but she quickly masked it and replaced it with a familiar smile. "The sacrifices are inside the inn. You'll see them when you go in."

Lin Yu smiled, deliberately provoking Lu Yao. "Miss Lu, do you really take me for a fool? It's only been a day—how did you manage to gather so many sacrifices? Don't try to pass off some random junk as an offering and fool me."

Lu Yao: "Of course not, Divine Maiden. I am a somewhat notable figure in Jiangnan, after all. A mere two thousand children is nothing to me. Besides, in the future, I will be your most devoted follower."

With that, she reached for Lin Yu again to pull her inside, but Lin Yu stood rooted to the spot, unmovable. Lin Yu said, "No need. We'll talk right here."

Lu Yao was about to continue tugging at her when, at that moment, Lin Yu suddenly realized she could no longer summon her remaining magical power! She caught the scent of strange medicinal herbs—it was the letter paper!

Lu Yao had soaked the letter paper in special herbs to seal Lin Yu's powers. Lin Yu raised her eyes to the strong light spilling from the inn. There had to be a reason Lu Yao was so eager to drag her inside—once she stepped through that door, she would be at a disadvantage.

Pretending nothing was wrong, Lin Yu quietly sealed her own meridians and, as if casually changing the subject, asked, "Miss Lu, where is your father?"

But Lu Yao's eyes suddenly turned cruel. She dropped all pretense. In a flash of lightning, she conjured a spike-like object out of thin air and thrust it at Lin Yu!

Lin Yu was caught off guard and struck. Instantly, the weapon's power overwhelmed her, leaving her rigid and unable to move!

Lin Yu acutely sensed that this was a divine artifact, carrying the aura of the Rain Goddess—it was the Rain Goddess's own artifact!

Lin Yu's body stiffened, and she was shoved to the ground by Lu Yao, unable to resist, like a marionette with no one pulling the strings. She struggled with all her might to speak, her voice so faint it was nearly inaudible: "What happened to the Rain Goddess?"

"She's dead," Lu Yao said, dropping her mask and revealing her true face. She crouched down and patted Lin Yu's cheek. "Don't worry about her. You'll soon be just like her."

"Two idiots!" Lu Yao couldn't stop the laughter bubbling out of her. "So what if you're of noble birth? You still end up dying, and worse than the common folk."

Lu Yao grabbed Lin Yu's arm and began dragging her toward the inn. Lin Yu's fingers dug deep into the dirt in resistance, but it was futile. Inch by inch, she was dragged to the inn's door!

Just as Lu Yao was about to open the door, Lin Yu suddenly said, "Kill me."

Lin Yu was testing her.

Lu Yao froze, her hand on the door pausing. She smiled eerily. "Do as I say, and I won't kill you. I just need you to do me a favor. It won't hurt. After all—I'm your devoted follower."

Controlled by the divine artifact, Lin Yu knew that Lu Yao's goal was surely her death. Yet she had the ability to kill her right then and take her blood, but she hadn't. That meant whatever she planned to do was far worse than killing her.

Lu Yao pushed open the inn's door, and a cacophony of noise spilled out, like countless ghosts singing.

A hollow voice floated out. "So this is the new Divine Maiden? Bring her in!"