Chapter 46

"What about me?" Lin Yu asked, looking bewildered. "Is the branch still not low enough? It's no trouble—just tell me if you can't reach it."

Lin Yu applied a little more force, bending the branch all the way down. The flexibility sent the prayer charms at the tip swaying in unison, and this time, the branch came down almost to the old woman's waist. Surely she could reach it now.

Lin Yu pressed the prayer charm back into the old woman's hands and said with sincere eyes, "Go on, then. Aren't you in a hurry to get back? You wouldn't want your son and daughter to find out you snuck out in the middle of the night."

Lin Yu wanted to see what tricks the old woman was really up to, and what was so special about this prayer charm.

The old woman was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. After a tense standoff, she gave up and, craning her neck, said, "I... I've suddenly decided my wish isn't such a good one. I won't hang it today. I'll come back tomorrow to get a new charm. Thank you for your help, miss."

With that, the old woman turned and left without waiting for Lin Yu's reply. Seeing nothing more to be gained, Lin Yu didn't bother calling her back, having no real hope of finding leads from the old woman anyway.

Lin Yu released the slender branch. The moment she let go, it snapped back up with all its full load of prayer charms, sending countless crimson strips of cloth dancing on the branch tips. Endless "longevity" characters wove between the slips, almost blinding to look at.

Lin Yu glanced in the direction the old woman had gone, then, walking the opposite way, headed into the Earth Immortal Temple.

Lin Yu had often passed by this temple in the past, but she had never once set foot inside. Within the temple, golden candlelight cast a brilliant glow over the imposing statue. Too many candles had been lit, raising the temperature along with the brightness until it was almost dazzling.

Gods generally did not accept incense offerings—most demanded gold and silver, cultivation, willing devotion, or living sacrifices. But the Earth Immortal was different. As the embodiment of the land itself, he governed the petty affairs of mortals, and thus his temple alone still received the humble incense of ordinary people.

Lin Yu looked at the statue, then took a few sticks of incense from the altar. She extended the incense tips into the burner, scraping them against the other lit sticks until they caught flame.

Holding the incense in her hands, she addressed the statue, "Earth Immortal Elder, I wish to beseech you to grant me..." Lin Yu paused there, her gaze sweeping across the temple.

"Grant me a thousand autumns, give me ten thousand years—blessings of longevity without end."

After stating her wish, Lin Yu thought for a moment: one must be devout when praying to the gods. And so, holding the incense piously, she bowed deeply to the statue, then inserted the sticks into the burner.

Suddenly, the tiny spark on the incense flared brighter, and before she could react, the incense burned her hand.

Lin Yu winced and pulled her hand back. When she looked up again, a young man in red robes now appeared atop the Earth Immortal's statue, around twenty or so years of age.

Unlike the statues of other gods, the Earth Immortal's statue sat cross-legged. The young man lounged sideways across the bent knees of the great effigy, propping his head on his hand as he regarded Lin Yu with keen interest.

A flash of surprise crossed Lin Yu's eyes. The Earth Immortal had always been called "Elder Earth Immortal" by the people, because whenever he appeared before mortals, he took the form of a white-bearded old man. Why had he changed to a youthful appearance now?

But gods could freely alter their age and appearance. There were even deities who changed their image every few centuries. Lin Yu simply assumed that since the Earth Immortal had obtained the Book of Life and Death and now governed mortal lifespans, he had chosen to adopt a younger look for himself.

After all, who would pray for immortality before a wizened old figure with a hoary beard, teetering on the brink of death, who looked as though his own lifespan was nearly spent?

Lin Yu remained silent. The Earth Immortal studied her for a while, then asked, "Here for the Book of Life and Death?"

The Earth Immortal's gaze finally settled on Lin Yu's face. He couldn't help but marvel—so thick was the divine aura emanating from her. How could a mere mortal carry such a heavy presence of heavenly power?

Lin Yu's steady voice rang out. "Yes."

The Earth Immortal said, "A young woman like you, and you've come seeking eternal life?" He casually tossed something familiar toward Lin Yu. A dark red slip arced through the air.

Lin Yu raised her hand and caught it effortlessly. It was a prayer charm.

Lin Yu replied, "Is that not allowed?"

The Earth Immortal set aside his conjectures and curved his lips into a smile. "Allowed."

He sat up straight. "Same rules as always: a hundred taels of silver for a prayer charm, a hundred taels of gold for a long-life fruit, a thousand taels of gold for ten extra years of life. But you seem kind-hearted, so I'll gift you a prayer charm. As for the rest..."

The Earth Immortal's manner was flippant. "Which would you like? A long-life fruit, or—"

He made no mention of what the old woman had said about having her name erased from the Book of Life and Death, and Lin Yu did not ask. To bring up the Book of Life and Death so early on would be too obvious a goal and would inevitably invite suspicion. The time was not yet ripe.

As for the long-life fruit... Lin Yu guessed it must be one of those strange fruits she had seen in the prince's residence. Her expression showed hesitation, as though she were weighing her options. She asked, "These... what do they do?"

Perhaps because the hour was late and no one else was around, the Earth Immortal was bored enough to actually explain. "The prayer charm—go find someone younger than yourself and have them hang it on the tree for you. Then the two of you will exchange the remainder of your lifespans."

"But you'd be getting the short end of the stick with a prayer charm," he added. "Unless you find a child of three or four, you won't gain more than a few years."

Lin Yu finally understood what the old woman had been trying to do. She nodded to show she understood. "And the long-life fruit?"

The Earth Immortal smiled at Lin Yu. As their conversation went on, the divine aura radiating from her grew thicker and thicker, a powerful sacred presence enveloping the entire Earth Immortal Temple.

This kind of aura—the Earth Immortal, a minor deity who had only recently made a name for himself in the Nine Heavens, had never felt anything like it. He didn't need to think twice to know that Lin Yu was someone of consequence, surely closely connected to some immensely powerful deity.

But it would never occur to him that the divine aura on this young woman was a byproduct of god-slaying—that when she killed the God of Glory, his dissipating energy had clung to her.

The Earth Immortal's smile deepened. He gathered his power and conjured a long-life fruit, tossing it to Lin Yu once more. "Go on, taste it. A single one will sustain your boundless vitality for a full year. During that year, your name is separated from the mortal world—no matter what happens outside, your life, your age, your appearance will all remain untouched."

In other words, eat one long-life fruit, and you would stay young and healthy, free from sickness and calamity, for an entire year.

Lin Yu caught the fruit. Sure enough, it was the same kind she had seen in the prince's residence.

The grinning baby-face fruit was in her palm again, only this one was even more bizarre. It was laughing so hard its mouth stretched wider and wider, the grin nearly splitting all the way to its ears.

And that raised a question. According to Zhou Yuan, Prince Dai had eaten so many long-life fruits. They should have kept him safe and sound for over a decade. How could he have died so suddenly?

Lin Yu stared thoughtfully at the deeply sunken eyes of the baby face. All at once, it seemed to roll its eyes, staring straight at her. Her knuckles trembled.

That eerie nursery rhyme began to sound again.

"The span of life in this world is fixed, o foolish heart, that longs for long life, stray not down the wrong path to your doom! O foolish heart, foolish heart, heaven will not fail you—walk into the Yellow Springs and find eternal life!"

At the sound of the rhyme, Lin Yu was unfazed. She had already heard it once before. But the Earth Immortal's expression suddenly shifted. He leapt down from the massive statue, staring grimly outside the temple. In a cold voice, he said, "Come out!"

The Earth Immortal's command had no effect. The nursery rhyme only grew louder, almost singing directly into Lin Yu's ear, tinged now with a note of mockery.

The Earth Immortal let out a cold laugh. His eyes swept across the temple, as though pinpointing the source of the voice. At last, his gaze landed on Lin Yu.

Suddenly locking eyes with him, Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat. His gaze was no longer as genial as it had been at first. It had turned sinister, glinting with the fierce light of some nocturnal predator.

Lin Yu had no idea where the nursery rhyme was coming from, but judging by how close the voice sounded just now, and the fact that when she'd heard it in the prince's courtyard it seemed to emanate from her own belly, she guessed—could this rhyme still be coming from her own body?!

Lin Yu's eyes trembled. A sharp realization struck her: something had attached itself to her from the very beginning! She frowned as the Earth Immortal walked toward her, step by step.

Lin Yu was still a novice in the cultivation arts, with only a thin theoretical foundation. She didn't know what being possessed would entail, but judging from the Earth Immortal's expression, she knew something was wrong.

His tone remained lazy, but his steps drew closer, and closer. Addressing Lin Yu's direction, he said, "Still not coming out, eh? Then don't blame me." With that, he swung a palm toward her neck!

A beam of magical light exploded from Lin Yu's hand, ready to strike the Earth Immortal! Then she froze. In a flash, the Earth Immortal seized her throat—but Lin Yu felt no pain. His hand passed straight through her body, grabbing hold of the thing that had possessed her.

In the span of a breath, the Earth Immortal twisted and wrenched it free from Lin Yu's body, flinging a water-blue soul to the ground!

Without pausing, the Earth Immortal lunged past Lin Yu and pinned the soul to the earth, strangling it tightly to prevent its escape. It was only then that Lin Yu turned to look, and noticed something strange.

When people died, they became living souls. Whatever they looked like in life, their living souls were the same—no change in form. The souls she'd seen in the prince's residence had been no bigger than a palm.

This soul flung to the ground was also tiny, reaching only about knee-height, shorter than even Chen Lu. So how old had it been when it died? Three? Four? Five or six?

A person's temperament in life determined the color of their soul after death. Water-blue was an extremely holy color. The soul in the prince's residence had been a faint golden yellow—a pure soul, uncontaminated by the mortal world. So then...

An impossible thought shot through Lin Yu's mind like an electric current—that soul in the prince's residence had come from a child still in its mother's womb, a child not yet born!

Lin Yu's gaze grew heavy. She watched the Earth Immortal's heaving back, his crimson garments draped over him, winding all the way down to his sleeves, falling across the fragile little soul's body. His wide sleeves nearly covered half of the soul.

The soul suddenly burst into laughter, its blurry form shifting into a grinning baby face. Lin Yu could hardly believe her eyes, because the soul looked exactly like the face on the long-life fruit in her hand!

The long-life fruits were made from unborn children, or newborns barely old enough to babble!

The Earth Immortal spoke flatly. "Your nature hasn't changed. I cannot keep you."

A child's wailing reached Lin Yu's ears. It shrieked, the voice so young that it was impossible to tell if it was a boy or a girl. "Waa! Wuu—Mama—" And then, in an instant, the cries stopped.

The water-blue soul shattered into pieces, slipping through the Earth Immortal's fingers. He had crushed it into utter oblivion!

In that single moment, the soul was gone—broken. Rebirth, reincarnation, birth—all reduced to nothing.

The Earth Immortal's mood improved somewhat. He patted his palm, brushing off nonexistent blood, then began smoothing down his already spotless sleeves and lapels.

With that finished, he turned and saw Lin Yu. Instantly, he was back to his carefree state. "Miss, you must excuse me." His gaze fell once more to the grotesque long-life fruit in her hand, and he warned, "Eat it quickly. If you wait, this fruit will be useless."

The shock still hadn't faded from Lin Yu's eyes. She listened to his words, feeling a strange catch in her throat. She forced the words out. "This... with your great power, how could a long-life fruit be useless?"

Seeing Lin Yu so rattled she could barely speak after witnessing what had just happened, the Earth Immortal was puzzled. Given the powerful divine aura she carried, she ought to be someone who understood divinity and had remarkable courage. He'd only crushed a single soul in front of her—why was she trembling like this?

Well, never mind. The most important thing now was to find out which immortal stood behind Lin Yu, and whether they could be of use to him. So the Earth Immortal composed himself, and patted Lin Yu's back in a show of comfort.

"Don't be afraid, miss. Eat it. This fruit in your hand is that impudent little demon who dared to defy godhood, and who tried to harm you. Eating it is your revenge."

The Earth Immortal had no idea how terrifying his words must sound to a mortal. If it had been anyone else, they'd have thrown the fruit away and fled screaming long ago.

With one hand, he pushed the fruit to Lin Yu's lips; with the other, he continued gently patting her back.

The grotesque baby face suddenly loomed large. Lin Yu took a deep breath and dodged away from his touch. In dealing with others, the worst thing you could do was expose your back. A flicker of suspicion crossed her mind—could the Earth Immortal be trying to kill her while she was off guard?

It made sense, really. She'd just uncovered the secret of the long-life fruits and witnessed him strangling that soul. Killing her to silence her would be only natural.

But if she were to try to fight back against the Earth Immortal now... Lin Yu considered it. She didn't know his relationships or his weaknesses. It might be difficult...

After a moment's deliberation, Lin Yu replied, "Then I thank the Earth Immortal Elder for his kindness. But with this believer so shaken and unsettled, to enjoy such a treasure right away would be a waste of your good intentions. In a few days, I will return with my offerings, and I will request another long-life fruit then." The Earth Immortal had no idea what Lin Yu was really thinking. He assumed she'd simply come to her senses, gotten over her fear, and—afraid that the longer she lingered, the more trouble might arise—was eager to be on her way. But how could he let her go so easily?

So the Earth Immortal asked, with feigned casualness, "And do you have a deity you worship, miss? The night road is dangerous. I could send the immortal you believe in to safeguard your journey."

Lin Yu couldn't understand why the Earth Immortal was acting so strangely. One moment he seemed ready to silence her, the next he was offering his protection. But she was certain he must have some motive. A person didn't show kindness to a stranger for no reason—unless they wanted something from you.

She barely knew him, yet he'd gifted her a prayer charm worth a hundred taels of silver, and a long-life fruit worth a hundred taels of gold. Whatever he wanted in return must surely be worth far more.

A deity she worshipped... Lin Yu worked through his words. The only gods she'd had contact with were the Rain Goddess, the God of Glory, and the Snow God. The Rain Goddess was dead, the Snow God had waned. That left only the God of Glory.

Lin Yu's eyes brightened. The God of Glory had just died, and news of his death hadn't gotten out...

Lin Yu met the Earth Immortal's eager gaze and smiled.

"This believer has always worshipped none but the God of Glory."