Chapter 36

Snow Mountain of the Resting God.

The Snow God lay drinking among the trees. Endless snow drifted down from the sky, and the river that flowed from the mountain peak to its base had frozen solid. The Snow God seemed in high spirits. With a flick of his sleeve, the snow fell even harder.

A trail of footprints suddenly appeared in the vast snowy expanse.

The Snow God sat up lazily, leaning against a withered tree trunk as he studied the newcomer.

The Snow God: "Why are you back again? Wasn't the snow I sent to Jiangnan this morning—where it shouldn't have snowed at all—enough for you? Or does your wife want to see something else?"

The God of Glory looked crestfallen: "My wife is dead."

"What?" The Snow God sprang up from the snow. "How did she die?"

The God of Glory: "I can no longer sense her presence. I've searched heaven and earth, and there's no trace of her. She must no longer be among the living."

The Snow God had never lost a wife, so he couldn't empathize. At a loss for how to console him, he said, "Well... you're still young anyway. Why not find another?"

Hearing this, the God of Glory suddenly flew into a rage: "What did you say! Yao Niang was my one and only wife!"

The Snow God was startled by his shout, and the snow on the withered branches behind him shook loose and fell.

Although the Snow God thought it more likely that this Yao Niang had simply run away because she couldn't stand this madman, he still had to comfort the God of Glory somehow.

The Snow God racked his brains and finally asked: "Then... should I go pay my respects to her? Offer some sacrifices?"

The God of Glory kicked at the packed snow, sending snowflakes flying. He clenched his fists and said, "I'll make them pay!"

Even the Snow God couldn't stand this madman before him anymore. Forcing a smile, he asked, "What kind of price..."

The God of Glory: "Do you know how tragically Yao Niang died? The Rain Goddess Temple caught fire... she was burned alive. She always cared so much about her beauty, but she was charred beyond recognition..."

His voice sounded hoarse with grief: "When I saw Yao Niang's body, I couldn't bring myself to believe it. I refused to accept it was her. I... I searched everywhere for her, but I found nothing..."

The Snow God: "And then?"

"When I returned to our home, those filthy commoners were still gathered at the door demanding silver, claiming they'd rescued Yao Niang's body. It was precisely because they hadn't put out the fire in time that Yao Niang had died!"

The God of Glory punched the tree trunk behind the Snow God. Only then did the Snow God notice the unwashed bloodstains on the God of Glory's hands. "So you killed them?" he asked.

The God of Glory: "They deserved to die!"

His expression was nearly deranged. He grabbed the Snow God by the shoulders: "Help me. Those people killed Yao Niang. I want them all buried with her. Go to Jiangnan and make it snow for a whole month—freeze them all to death. Please?"

The Snow God's heart jolted. Jiangnan was a warm, prosperous land where snow fell only once every few years. His snow that morning had already defied the will of heaven. And now the God of Glory wanted a month of blizzards, to freeze the people of Jiangnan to death through natural disaster?

What's more, the mild climate of Jiangnan meant there were no facilities for keeping warm—ordinary households didn't even own thick cotton coats. A month of snow would freeze the canals, and the impact would reach far beyond Jiangnan. Neither people, nor livestock, nor crops would survive.

"This..." The Snow God hesitated. "This defies the will of heaven..."

The God of Glory laughed savagely: "What will of heaven? You are heaven! Aren't you?"

"No, Brother Zhu, if Tian Zun were to blame me, I couldn't bear it."

The God of Glory's gaze turned sinister: "So you're refusing to help me, is that it?"

The Snow God stepped back and bumped into the withered tree. The snow on its branches shook loose and dumped onto his head. Brushing the snow from his head and clothes, he stammered, "It's not a matter of whether I help you..."

Before he could finish, the God of Glory suddenly seized him by the throat!

"You—" The Snow God's face flushed crimson. He clawed at the God of Glory's arms, trying to fight back, but he was merely a deity of wind and snow with no followers to speak of, and thus his powers were feeble. The God of Glory was different—his followers were everywhere under heaven!

He was no match for the God of Glory at all!

The God of Glory squeezed, and the Snow God felt a surge of powerful divine energy pour into his body, exploding inside him. He couldn't even speak.

"You—"

Before the Snow God could beg for mercy, the God of Glory lifted him and hurled him into the vast snowfield. The force was too great; the Snow God was knocked unconscious. The God of Glory channeled his power into the snow crater where the Snow God had landed, and the Snow Mirror flew out from his body!

The Snow Mirror was a divine artifact that controlled the winds and snow of the mortal realm. It had long since fused with the Snow God's flesh and blood. Now that it had been brutally ripped out by the God of Glory, the Snow God was thoroughly ruined.

The God of Glory sneered in the direction where the Snow God had fallen, mocking his overestimation of his own strength, then flew off toward the south.

What he didn't see was the Snow God slowly crawling out of the snow pit after he left, glaring fiercely at the direction of his departure.

...

Lin Yu stared blankly at the vast snow outside the window. Fu Ming walked in.

"What are you thinking about?"

Lin Yu idly spun the God-Slaying Spike. "Nothing."

Lin Yu: "Has Lu Yao been found?"

Fu Ming shook his head. "No word yet."

Lin Yu propped her chin on her hand, thinking. Lu Yao had undoubtedly died—that much was certain. But at the time, Lin Yu had overlooked the fact that, in order to control Lu Yao, she had fed her the most powerful Soul-Renewing Pill.

That left only one possibility: Lu Yao had died, but the Soul-Renewing Pill had saved her. She had been reborn and crawled out of the pile of corpses.

The Soul-Renewing Pill had been administered by Lin Yu herself. Since Lu Yao had become a revenant, she would remain under Lin Yu's control forever. There was nothing to fear from her.

Snow fell heavily outside the window. After sending someone to escort Nunu back to the Imperial City, they had nothing to do for the time being—Zhou Yu and Zhang Yulin had yet to return. So Lin Yu and Fu Ming sat by the window playing chess.

"How long has it been since Jiangnan last saw snow?" Lin Yu suddenly asked.

Fu Ming paused in placing his piece, then also looked out the window. "Seven or eight years, I'd say. I never expected two snowfalls in a single year."

Fu Ming: "A timely snow promises a bountiful harvest. Next year should be a good year for the crops."

The charcoal fire in the room burned warmly. Neither of them cared about winning or losing, so a game that should have been decided long ago kept taking unexpected turns, stretching on indefinitely.

Lin Yu asked casually: "How's the counterfeiting case coming along?"

Fu Ming took a sip of tea: "The people involved have all been arrested, but the interrogations aren't finished. Still, the God of Glory's actions have ultimately damaged Jiangnan's economic foundation. Recovery won't be quick."

Lin Yu: "Then how about we make the God of Wealth spit out all the fortune he swallowed?"

Fu Ming was taken aback, not understanding her meaning. "Spit it out how?"

"We kill the God of Glory." Lin Yu's gaze was fixed directly on Fu Ming. The room was getting warm now, her face flushed from the charcoal fire, but her eyes were unwavering.

Lin Yu repeated herself: "Kill the God of Glory, and the people's fortune can be restored."

It was indeed the fastest and most effective solution, but it was fraught with danger. Fu Ming: "The God of Glory has more followers than any other deity under heaven. We can't deal with him overnight."

Lin Yu was somewhat surprised. She'd expected Fu Ming to dismiss her idea—for a mortal to slay a god sounded like a pipe dream.

If anyone other than Fu Ming had been sitting across from her, they'd likely think she'd lost her mind.

Lin Yu curled her lips into a smile: "So what? In my hands, I don't just have the God-Slaying Spike—I also have Lu Yao."

Granted, Lu Yao hadn't been found yet, but a revenant couldn't have gotten far. Lin Yu would track her down eventually.

And Lu Yao was the one variable in the God of Glory's life.

While Fu Ming was still thinking, Lin Yu placed a piece on the board and said to him, "You've lost."

Fu Ming snapped back to attention and looked at the board. Meeting Lin Yu's gaze, he said, "Yes, I've lost."

Lin Yu: "Let's go!"

"Where?"

"For a walk." Lin Yu reached out a hand to Fu Ming. He gently grasped it and pulled himself up, then followed her outside.

As soon as they stepped out into the thick snow, Lin Yu realized it had piled up over a foot deep. Amid the biting wind and heavy snow, a figure in black and a figure in white strolled slowly forward.

...

The two wandered aimlessly through the streets. The wind and snow were too fierce, the weather freezing, and there was no one about. As they walked, Lin Yu spotted a familiar sight—the Golden River.

From a distance, she could see a thick layer of ice covering the river. The water of the Golden River was no longer flowing.

"How can this be..."

Lin Yu hurried toward the riverbank, her pupils contracting. The Golden River's surface was frozen solid!

The south rarely saw snow, let alone snow like this—and the river had never been frozen over before!

Lin Yu instinctively stepped onto the ice, but Fu Ming, following behind, reacted quickly and yanked her back.

Fu Ming: "Careful. The ice might not be solid all the way through."

Lin Yu steadied herself against Fu Ming's shoulder and stepped onto the ice, testing it. Then she walked fully onto the frozen surface, while Fu Ming watched the river beneath her feet nervously from the shore.

Lin Yu stomped her foot a couple of times before telling Fu Ming, "It's frozen all the way down."

"Come back up. You'll catch cold." Fu Ming extended his palm toward her.

Lin Yu naturally placed her hand in his warm palm and returned to the riverbank.

Lin Yu: "Do you remember what I said before, that the people of Jiangnan were destitute and struggling to survive because of the God of Wealth?"

Fu Ming gave a soft "mm" and tucked Lin Yu's icy hand into his own palm. "Cold?"

There were still unhealed wounds on Lin Yu's hand—scratches from when she'd been caught in a door crack while stalling for time against Lu Yao. But Fu Ming didn't know where the wounds had come from, and he'd never asked.

Lin Yu had been frowning in thought, but at his question, she realized just how close the two of them were standing. A wave of unease washed over her, and she abruptly pulled her hand away.

Fu Ming's palm closed on empty air, and he withdrew his hand. Neither of them brought it up again.

Lin Yu looked into the distance. How would the suffering commoners make it through this winter...

A sudden flash of inspiration struck her. She turned to Fu Ming: "Who are the corrupt officials in Jiangnan?"

Fu Ming: "Why do you ask?"

A delighted expression spread across Lin Yu's face: "Your Majesty, since you've already come out on a personal tour of inspection, why not take this opportunity to investigate and punish all those rotten rats?"

Fu Ming: ?

...

At the prefect's mansion, chest after chest of valuables was carried out by the Imperial Guards. The snow was pristine white before the hall, and the servants of the prefect's household, bound hand and foot, knelt in neat rows in the snow.

Fu Ming sat in the main seat, chin propped on his hand, watching the disgraced officials before the hall with great interest.

Lin Yu counted the confiscated goods as she remarked on how much the prefect had managed to embezzle—this money should be enough to subsidize the people.

The prefect was a gray-haired old man in his fifties. He knelt on the ground, his face dark and silent, watching helplessly as years of accumulated wealth were confiscated.

As Lin Yu passed by the prefect, he—not knowing who she was—glared at her with venomous eyes, his face full of defiance.

Lin Yu noticed the gaze and turned her head. "You—"

Realizing he'd been caught, the prefect suddenly straightened his kneeling posture, then abruptly lowered his head, not daring to look at her.

Suddenly, a guard rushed in from outside the hall: "Your Majesty, we've found the young master of the Xie family! He is currently imprisoned in the dungeon."