Chapter 81: I Roast Myself

And so, such an opportunity to approach the divine, untainted and infinite, was abandoned by Wen Jingge without a trace of regret.

“Don’t you want to know a little more?”
“The water is deep—go in and you’ll drown. Would you still want to swim?”
“I’m good at swimming.”
“Those who drown are always the ones who can swim. Luxury cannot deceive the poor.”
“What is luxury?”
“A species that’s useless to look at, to use, to store, yet so expensive that even if we sold ourselves we couldn’t afford it.”
“Oh…” Lu Wei mused, turning his gaze to the pair of master and servant still trailing them in the distance. “Do you know what it means to be a guest from beyond the heavens?”
“Hmm?” Wen Jingge sensed something unusual; wasn’t that just a roundabout way of referring to her? She remained unruffled. “Have you seen one?”
“Ten thousand years ago, I didn’t like to study.” Lu Wei reflected for a moment, then glanced at the disciples gathered in the tents, all earnestly reading, the atmosphere thick with learning.

Yang Wenan’s tent had been set up by Wang Xi. As for why she’d fallen behind, she claimed to be seeking the innkeeper to negotiate compensation.

Wen Jingge was unaware that while her disciples agreed to follow her in wickedness openly, they secretly performed acts of kindness in her name. How she would react if she discovered this, none could tell.

Lu Wei couldn’t help but chuckle softly, earning a look of displeasure from Wen Jingge and a swift kick. “Pretentious!”

“Since I can remember, ten thousand years ago, there were indeed beings from outside the heavens. It was they who taught people here how to live. But things changed quickly. Those celestial visitors began to treat the original inhabitants as servants. I was among the servant army.”

“And then? Are they the gods you speak of? Fatherless, motherless, origin unknown?”

“The earliest gods were like that.” Lu Wei sighed, his gaze seeming to pierce time, reaching far back. “People then were much like those who tried to kill us earlier. The gods of that era resembled the man who’s been trailing us.”

“I thought you’d call him a ‘male god’.” Wen Jingge laughed, unable to contain herself as she rolled about. “Male god? More like male lunatic.”

“…” Lu Wei was speechless.

He now wondered if Wen Jingge’s past fascination with Bei Mo Ling, when she slapped him and lost herself in that madness, was akin to her treatment of gods now—regarding them all as incomprehensible lunatics.

“Why do you feel no reverence whatsoever?”

“I fear ghosts, but they’ve never harmed me. I respect people, yet they leave me battered and bruised. Compared to the fanciful and the far-off, I’d rather lie here like Ah Cai, do nothing, and wait for someone to feed me.”

Wen Jingge reached out, pointing to a distant bonfire. If her eyes didn’t deceive her, the little girl had returned to her true form, and on the rack roasted chicken wings.

The little girl, self-sufficient, was cutting her own flesh; though her wings didn’t regenerate as quickly as a man’s hair, for the master and servant who couldn’t hunt, life was good enough.

“You see? Is such a god worthy of my reverence?”

Lu Wei pursed his lips and shook his head. “Truly not.”

Once, he too had fought with real swords atop a warhorse, his courage forged in blood. He was nothing like that clinging, sickly figure.

“So-called heavenly visitors—after hearing your tales, I think I understand.” Wen Jingge rested her head on her arm, gazing at the sky. The blue stars were beautiful; the brightest star was at the edge, its constellation newly appeared. “You hold the chart of the Star Palace in your hand. Do you understand it?”

“That question should be for your master.” Lu Wei replied offhandedly, but suddenly his hairs stood on end, the drowsiness from reading evaporated. “Wen Xiao Wu!”

The name Wen Xiao Wu was reserved for moments of utmost importance, when Lu Wei followed the conventions of Xuan Yun Sect.

Most other times, he called her Wen Jingge, often with anger and impatience.

“What is it?” Wen Jingge sat upright, instinctively grabbing a handful of grass.

Far off, the master and servant pair burned their chicken wings, the acrid smell drifting over. Wang Xi had been about to go argue, but seeing the two masters’ stern expressions, she reconsidered, and returned to her tent with renewed seriousness.

“You know it. You always inadvertently mention things that happened before. You’re so clever, you must have realized your memories are waking up.”

The burnt smell was overwhelming; Lu Wei frowned. “That day you mentioned the tradition of killing one’s master, Liang Si toward you…”

“I feel nothing now.” Liang Si cleared her throat, calmly stuffed two wads of cotton into her ears. “Now it’s about the grand master. Good, I can’t hear you. Please continue.”

Lu Wei: …

Just to be sure, he looked at Wang Xi. “Can you hear us?”

“No, I put in cotton as well.”

“Good, let’s proceed.”

Wen Jingge: …

“A tradition—once is chance, twice is coincidence, three times and beyond is custom. Am I right?”

“Right.” Wen Jingge: There you go, being foolish again.

“You’re almost omnipotent, which shows the Diviner invested more in you than anyone else in the sect. Liang Si wanted to kill you the first time she met you. And above you? What do you feel about the Diviner?”

“Nothing.”

“Good!” Lu Wei racked his brain, but could only offer that comment. His face stiffened. “Who stands to gain the most?”

“Liang Si said, before, she wanted to kill the sect leader. After awakening, it was me. Clearly, something changed in my body…”

“Then the first to change was your eldest brother.”

Inside the tent, two pairs of eyes flashed briefly, then returned to their books, pretending nothing had happened.

“So…” Lu Wei added another dose of medicine, “The greatest problem in Xuan Yun Sect isn’t you, but your eldest brother. As for your amnesia, I suspect it’s closely tied to him as well.”

Wen Jingge said nothing.

Lu Wei pressed on, adding fuel to the fire. “I don’t know why, but you treat everything like a game. The mountain people’s attitude shows that long ago, you deliberately avoided too much interaction, so as not to leave lasting memories. It’s as if, since arriving at Xuan Yun Sect, you’ve been contemplating the best way to disappear.”

“Are you finished?”

“Hm?”

“I suspect you’re a spy sent by those two idiots across the way.”

“Why?”

Lu Wei was innocent; he’d finally used his brain, could Wen Jingge not praise him for once?

Who was he helping, if not her?

“Because you’re equally idiotic.”

“Huh?” That remark he could not accept.

“Can’t I think of what idiots can think of?” Wen Jingge pointed to her head. Lu Wei looked over, shook his head, and listened as she continued, “If you keep talking, those two will think I’m about to serve them roasted chicken as their slave.”