Chapter 52

Lin Yu was caught off guard for a moment, but she quickly regained her usual composure. Hu Sheng couldn't read her emotions.

Lin Yu replied, "Alright."

Now it was Hu Sheng's turn to be stunned. He asked in astonishment, "Alright what? Aren't you going to ask why?"

Lin Yu's gaze drifted into the distance. After a long silence, she said, "No matter what the reason is, since you've already come to warn me, doesn't that mean the matter is already set and there's no turning back?"

Lin Yu saw things clearly. Hu Sheng couldn't predict what her great calamity was. Rather than panicking and trying to save herself, it was better to let things take their course. What was bound to happen would happen sooner or later; there was no avoiding it.

Hu Sheng was silent for a while before finally speaking. "Last night, I cast a divination for you. While I was interpreting the hexagram, the Heavenly Frost Star grew dimmer and dimmer, almost about to fall. It shouldn't last much longer."

Just as the Purple Star represented the mortal emperor, every star in the heavens corresponded to a mortal identity, and the Heavenly Frost Star represented the Divine Maiden of the mortal realm.

"The Heavenly Frost Star once fell. It only returned on the day you ascended, hanging high above once more. I never thought that in just over a month, it would dim again. This is not a good omen."

If the Heavenly Frost Star remained unstable, it would very likely fall again, and then Lin Yu would perish along with it.

Lin Yu simply replied again, "Alright."

Lin Yu had never really had much of a concept of life and death. Who knew where people went after they died? She had fought with all her might to rise from being a trapped sacrifice to where she was now, so she could accept any outcome with equanimity.

Hu Sheng suddenly smiled too. "You're completely different from when you were a child. Back then, I always told Bai Shi that you were like a little madwoman without feelings. Now, you've become much more composed."

Mentioning his deceased wife, Hu Sheng's brows and eyes were tinged with sorrow. He sighed with emotion. "Actually, nothing has changed. You were fearless when you were young, and you're still the same now."

Hu Sheng stared fixedly at Lin Yu, trying to find traces of the past in the woman before him. But Lin Yu was already completely different from ten years ago. Throughout a person's life, their features generally didn't change much, but Lin Yu's features held not a single resemblance to her younger self.

As he looked, Lin Yu curved her brows and smiled at him. "Uncle Hu, go back. I understand."

After seeing Hu Sheng off, Lin Yu returned to her bedchamber. The room was empty, and Chen Lu was nowhere to be found.

Last night, the floor that several little immortal attendants had dirtied had already been carefully cleaned by Chen Lu. There wasn't a single stain on the floor; it was so shiny it reflected light. Lin Yu knew Chen Lu must have wiped it several times over.

"Chen Lu." Lin Yu called out toward the door.

Soon, the sound of "pat pat pat" footsteps came from the corridor outside. Chen Lu trotted over, pushed the door open, and smiled at Lin Yu. "I'm here!"

"Where's Ting He?"

"Oh, she's in the backyard. She was hurt really badly and lost a lot of blood, but she's fine now."

Lin Yu frowned. "The backyard?"

A bad feeling suddenly rose in Lin Yu's heart, because she remembered that was an empty room, shabby and bare, with nothing in it, and the windows let in drafts from both sides.

She quickly hurried toward the house in the backyard. Chen Lu didn't notice the change in Lin Yu's expression and cheerfully followed behind her.

As she walked, Chen Lu said, "No need to walk so fast. I've already bandaged her up. She's not in any immediate danger."

Hearing Chen Lu's words, Lin Yu instead walked faster and faster. Finally, she pushed open the backyard door with a "bang" and stood at the threshold, taking a deep breath.

She didn't go in, instead maintaining her pushing gesture without moving.

Chen Lu, following behind, couldn't stop in time and bumped into Lin Yu. She was still chattering away. "You can count on me… Hey, why did you stop?"

Chen Lu poked her head out and looked into the room. With a single glance, she also held her breath, then let out a startled cry. "Why isn't she moving!"

Chen Lu was instantly alarmed. She stepped over the threshold, rushed into the room, and lay on top of Ting He, pressing her head against Ting He's chest. "Her body isn't warm either, ah! Did she die?"

Lin Yu followed her in and tested Ting He's breathing. Fortunately, she was still breathing. Chen Lu had bandaged her well enough; there was no more bleeding, and her pulse was relatively steady.

Ting He's clothes hadn't been changed, and her garments were covered in dried blood. Her clothes weren't thick at all.

It was the dead of winter, and it was already unimaginably cold. Let alone having a patient who had suffered heavy bleeding from severe injuries lie on a hard, bare bed board for several hours.

Lin Yu sighed and flicked Chen Lu's forehead hard. "Didn't you even cover her with a blanket?!"

Chen Lu suddenly realized. "Ah?"

After re-bandaging Ting He and changing her medicine, Lin Yu carefully checked several times to make sure she was fine. Then she gave Chen Lu detailed instructions on what to pay attention to, several times over. Only after confirming everything was properly arranged did she return to her room to rest.

Having scurried around for an entire day and night, Lin Yu fell asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes.

In her sleep, Lin Yu felt a subtle, soft sensation gently brushing against her wrist. Her drowsiness gradually faded, and she forced her eyes open to look. At some point, a large, gray-white cat had appeared in the room.

The large cat was lying on the low couch beside Lin Yu's bed, fast asleep. With each breath, its belly rose and fell, and Lin Yu's wrist, hanging down by the bedside, happened to rest on the cat's belly.

The gentle sensation in her sleep came from that.

Lin Yu had just woken up and her mind was still foggy. She didn't process what was happening. She stared at this large cat for a long time, puzzled, wondering where it had come from.

The cat slept very soundly, its fur trembling with each breath. Lin Yu instinctively reached out and touched the cat's ear.

The tip of the cat's ear had several long white hairs. Just as Lin Yu's fingertip lightly touched the tip of the cat's ear, suddenly, its ear twitched. The cat slowly woke up, and man and cat stared at each other.

Seeing that Lin Yu was awake, the cat's eyes instantly widened, a glimmer of light in them. It immediately sat up and wagged its tail like a dog, looking at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu: ?

Suddenly, the cat transformed into a human form. A man wearing a white cloak, with white hair and blue eyes, appeared before Lin Yu. Astonishment flickered in Lin Yu's eyes. Now she finally recognized him.

Wasn't this the Snow God who had his Snow Mirror stolen in Jiangnan a few days ago? Why had he come to her place?

Lin Yu coughed lightly and asked, "Snow God, sir, what is it that you're doing?"

The Snow God controlled the wind and snow of the mortal realm, and had always lived in the Snow Mountain of the Resting God. He only operated in the northern regions and rarely went to the southeast. Around the Imperial City, snow would generally only fall after the New Year.

People didn't actually need wind and snow, so the Snow God had always had a low profile. Not only did he have few believers, no one even prayed to him for snow.

But that was fine. He had a good attitude. If no one asked him, he would just go around and make it snow on his own, whether people needed it or not. He'd snow first and ask questions later.

Lin Yu held no hostility toward the Snow God. She just stared at him blankly.

The Snow God, under Lin Yu's gaze, stood there stiffly, then held out his palm toward her. "Snow Mirror. Pay me back."

Lin Yu: …

She knew he hadn't said a word back then for no good reason.

The Snow Mirror had been hidden away by the God of Glory, and after his death, no one knew where it had gone.

After deliberating for a moment, Lin Yu spoke up. "You're putting me in a difficult position. I'm just an ordinary mortal. How am I supposed to find a divine artifact for you?"

The loss of the Snow Mirror wasn't really related to Lin Yu. If anyone was to blame, it was the God of Glory's ill intentions in ambushing the Snow God and taking the Snow Mirror. The Snow God knew this well.

But there was nothing he could do. He was at his wit's end and could only swallow his pride and come to Lin Yu.

He had searched for many days, turning the heavens and the earth upside down, but still hadn't found where the Snow Mirror was.

Seeing no other way out, the Snow God gave up struggling. He plopped back down on the low couch at Lin Yu's feet. "I don't care. I've never been well-liked by those folks in the Nine Heavens anyway. Now that I've lost my divine artifact, if I go back, they'll laugh at me to death. If I don't get the Snow Mirror back, I'm never going back!"

As he spoke, his face crumpled. "You have no idea what kind of miserable life I've been living!"

Lin Yu asked curiously, "What miserable life?"

Seeing that Lin Yu wasn't planning to help him but instead wanted to hear about his miserable life, the Snow God broke down. "Aren't you the Divine Maiden of the mortal realm? How can you not have a way either?"

Lin Yu: "I got the position through connections."

The Snow God: "But you also killed…"

"Stop!"

The Snow God suddenly brought up her past crimes, and Lin Yu immediately called for a halt. She had almost forgotten that the Snow God had witnessed the entire process of her killing a god…

At some point, the Snow God's tail had come out again. He wagged it and said, "I don't have a big request. I just want you to help me find the materials to recast the Snow Mirror. You're a Divine Maiden now. Surely you can help with this little favor, right?"

"Without the Snow Mirror, I can't even return to the Nine Heavens. Divine Maiden, please take pity on me… To repay you, I'm willing to stay by your side and be your beast of burden!"

The Snow God had a good plan. Going back to the Nine Heavens would mean being laughed at, so it was better to follow behind Lin Yu, the mortal Divine Maiden. In the future, when he recast the Snow Mirror and returned to the heavens, he could say he had been cultivating with the Divine Maiden.

Then no one would know about the embarrassing incident of him being ambushed and losing the Snow Mirror.

Lin Yu: ?

"I don't need a beast of burden."

"Then I'll be your attendant, serving you every step of the way!"

Lin Yu didn't reply, as if considering. The Snow God transformed back into his true form as a large cat, sidled up to Lin Yu's leg, lay down, and started rolling around, acting spoiled. "Just take me in. I have nowhere else to go."

Lin Yu raised a brow slightly. This Snow God was truly different from all the other gods. He didn't seem like a god at all.

The other gods were mostly aloof and proud, but he had a lickspittle demeanor, shameless and willing to do anything.

Lin Yu thought for a moment, then finally said, "I can help you, but…"

The Snow God leaned in. "But what?"

Lin Yu revealed an ambiguous smile. "You've been an upper god for so many years. You must be quite familiar with those gods in the Nine Heavens, right?"

The Snow God froze. "Yeah, that's right… But they all look down on me. I don't play with them."

Lin Yu: "I'll help you find the materials for the Snow Mirror to recast it. In exchange, you'll provide me with some information, how about that?"

The Snow God didn't understand what was worth asking about the news of those foolish people, but since Lin Yu had agreed to take him in, he said excitedly, "Of course!"

…

After who knows how long, Chen Lu's voice came from outside. She burst through the door, gasping for breath. "Lin Yu! The Emperor summons you to the Imperial Prison!"

"Hey, what's this?" Chen Lu leaned over to the large cat and patted its belly.

Lin Yu patted the cat's head, stood up, and said casually, "This is… a cat. Play with it nicely. Don't fight. I'm off."

Chen Lu's eyes lit up instantly. "Really?"

"Really."

Lin Yu walked out of the courtyard, and behind her came Chen Lu's excited shouts and cat meows. As she walked, Lin Yu suddenly let out a soft chuckle.

…

The Imperial Prison.

Fu Ming stood before the empty cell, the heavy iron lock still hanging on the iron bars. There wasn't the slightest trace of damage to the cell door. They had searched everywhere in the vicinity, and there wasn't a single gap.

The Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, along with more than a dozen people, knelt behind Fu Ming, not daring to breathe. The crowd filled the not-small prison to the brim, and the atmosphere dropped to freezing point.

Fu Ming's tone was icy. "Are you saying that the Prince Dai's consort vanished into thin air right before your eyes?"