Chapter 83: The Mercy of the Buddha

"Did you hear someone crying?"

In front of them stood a door, its surface thick with cobwebs.

The three of them had been traveling together for several days. For reasons unknown, this entire area had fallen into desolation; most of the buildings were little more than crumbling ruins, some places bore the scars of a great fire, and here and there, a few withered bones lay upon the ground.

"Must have been war," Lu Wei murmured with a heavy heart.

He had often encountered such sights in the past.

"Master, the further we go, the fresher the traces become." Lu Wei had slipped away at some point, but Wen Jinge was long accustomed to her second disciple’s dual personalities, switching at any moment.

"Master!" Yang Wennan called them both over, eager to share his latest discovery. "This one’s glowing."

"What does it mean if it’s glowing?" Wen Jinge knew that many of the gadgets in his hands were leftovers discarded by Wang Xi once he’d lost interest. She wasn’t familiar with this one, but could hazard a guess. "Is it the demon tracker?"

"Yes," Yang Wennan nodded. "Here, here—if you follow this path straight ahead, it leads toward where the demon traces gradually vanish."

He sounded confident. "I sensed it as soon as I arrived, but just to be certain I used the bead. Now, it’s glowing as expected."

"Master, are we going to give chase?"

"No. What would we chase?"

[Chase!]

"And what are you doing, stirring up trouble again?"

[System scan complete: your great opportunity lies just ahead. Good luck!]

Wen Jinge: ...

[Simply put, gods who fall from the heavens aren’t in the original plot, so the story can change for us.]

"Oh." Wen Jinge asked coolly, "The point?"

[The point is, there’s a surprise waiting just ahead. Aren’t you tempted?]

"I don’t do things I’m not sure about."

[No, this one is certain.]

"Are you going to explain or not?" Wen Jinge lay down on the ground. Yang Wennan and Qiao Yu were startled, thinking she meant for them to camp here for the night, so they began to set up the tents.

[...] "Fine!" The 'Nonexistent' entity sighed. [Based on my deduction, the aura here was left by the Demon Clan’s Holy Son. You might learn the Demon Lord’s whereabouts from him.]

"What if we can’t find him?"

[If not...zzzzt, system malfunction...]

"......"

"Master, I’ll go find us some food."

"That won’t be necessary." Wen Jinge summoned two swords, and with a flick of her sleeve, the tents they’d just pitched vanished into her spatial ring. "Mount your swords!"

"Master..." Yang Wennan frowned; just now, he’d felt something. "Master, are you being threatened?"

Wen Jinge was startled. "You can sense that?"

"I can, but I can’t make out what’s being said."

Wen Jinge chuckled. "Come on, come on. Let’s see you show your skills!"

"Master, I’ll do my utmost." It was the first time Yang Wennan had spoken so earnestly, his face flushing red. "I’ll do everything to help you out of this predicament. From now on, your will is my command."

"If you really want to help me, focus on your star charts." Wen Jinge clicked her tongue, sprinkling them each with an invisibility charm. If she wasn’t mistaken, below was...

"Let your senior take over!"

Qiao Yu hesitated, eyes rimmed red as if on the verge of tears. "He... he refuses. Says he’s tired."

"Get up! I see the emblem of the White Deer Clan."

Qiao Yu’s eyes lit up, her violet pupils glowing as she switched to a more mature tone. "Where?"

"Look over there!"

Lu Wei’s expression froze; he didn’t want to speak with Wen Jinge. "Did you call me up here just to watch a lewd show?"

Wen Jinge took a deep breath and poked his forehead. "Look at his back, not the show. The totem on his back—your White Deer Clan regards antlers as auspicious. That man bears the mark of a White Deer slave on his back. Think about what that means."

Lu Wei closed his eyes and meditated for a moment. "Why does that thing in your head want you here?"

"Is Qiao Yu awake?"

"Master, I’m here!" Qiao Yu placed a hand on Yang Wennan’s shoulder, letting him grip her arm, then took out a brick she’d prepared in advance and knocked herself out.

Yang Wennan clicked his tongue but wisely asked no more.

"She’s out," Lu Wei said, his expression complex.

Back then, the reason he fell to darkness was because he’d wiped out the White Deer Clan. He’d thought there were no survivors, but Wang Xi’s arrow had awakened him, and now, he’d discovered the mark that only White Deer slaves bore.

Had he truly been manipulated, as Wen Jinge claimed?

"What do you need me to do?"

If Wen Jinge helped him with this, he would truly devote himself to her guidance.

"I’m here to find the Demon Lord." Wen Jinge tapped her own head. "The Demon Clan’s Holy Son has information, or so it says."

Lu Wei understood, revealing a trace of sarcasm in his tone. "All because of that god’s arrival?"

"Yes, after all—a god is a god." Wen Jinge could only sigh.

"God! You’re our god!" A little boy, as if recalling something amusing, threw clumps of mud.

"Is this how gods protect us?" An older boy joined in, hurling stones.

"You’re a joke! It’s you! Sob, sob!" The child’s breath hitched with tears. "You’re the one who killed my mother and father!"

A chorus of weeping erupted among the children, each venting their grief and anger, throwing whatever scraps they could towards the center of their circle.

There, a thinner figure was curled on the ground.

Filthy and reeking, his exposed skin blotched blue and purple, his body swollen and unhealthy, the boy looked helplessly at these once-familiar friends.

Again and again, escape had failed.

Most pitiful of all, the ones dragging him back were not the whip-loving steward, but the children themselves.

His gaze was cold and distant; these people, whose faces he knew so well, now seemed monstrous.

"God, you have to protect me! Hahaha!" The children, emboldened by his lack of response, rushed in and snatched the demon stone from him.

The demon stone was the steward’s reward for him. While all the other children were terrified of the cold corpses, only he could calmly collect them.

With a demon stone, a child could survive among the others.

Once, the villagers had called him their god.

Here, the steward despised him, but couldn’t deny his usefulness; he remained a god to this group of children.

But after today, he would be their god no longer.

An emptiness within him seemed to fill, and slowly, he wanted to laugh.

So he laughed, and the children panicked.

"You’re not a god anymore. We took it, and that’s that."

"Yeah! My mother died right in front of you, but instead of saving her, you rushed to bury her, and she was still breathing!"

One led, and the rest followed, fists raining down. In the end, the boy had no idea how many blows he’d endured.

"Buddha is merciful! I, a humble monk, cannot bear such a scene. Will you not go down, my friend?"