Shen Jue’s gaze sharpened abruptly. He stared at the immortal palace shrouded in mist for a long while, seized by an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
This palace was identical to the temple where the Goddess had once lived, the one he had seen in Chaoyang City.
“That is the Divine Lady’s temple,” he said quietly.
Everyone aboard turned to look at him.
The old fisherman nearly dropped his oar. His lips trembled, and it took him a long moment to force out a sentence.
“Th-the Divine Lady... lives here?”
Shen Jue did not answer.
He merely ordered the boat to draw closer.
The nearer they came to the island, the thinner the mist grew. A faint, fresh sweetness drifted through the air, like the mingled scent of grass, trees, and damp earth after rain had cleared, refreshing and soothing to the soul.
Meanwhile,
inside the temple on the island...
Yun Shu stood on the terrace of the divine temple, her bright eyes gazing through layers of mist toward the fishing boats on the sea.
Then, through the surveillance feed, she spotted Shen Jue standing aboard one of the boats. Her brows drew together slightly. “Lil' Sys, what was Shen Jue’s favorability at again?”
“Host, after you stopped the undersea volcano from erupting last time, the male lead’s favorability had already risen to seventy.”
Little Fox scratched its head anxiously. “If he gives you another thirty points of favorability, that means the mission will be complete. You’ll immediately unbind from me and be sent back to your original world. There’s no way I can stop you from leaving.”
By the end, its voice was thick with sadness.
It didn’t want to be separated from Yun Shu.
From the day the Lord God created it, Yun Shu had been the first—and only—person to treat it kindly. It would never meet anyone better than Yun Shu again.
If only it could stay bound to Yun Shu forever...
“This favorability rating is such a headache.” Yun Shu rested her hand on the railing, her fingertips tapping against it at an idle, uneven rhythm.
“Creating an alt account right now to lower the favorability would be too rushed and might expose me. But if I take the time to plan it out, it’ll throw off my entire strategy of rescuing the civilians and taking Wuling City.”
She opened the surveillance feeds inside Wuling City.
The city’s devastation unfolded before her inch by inch, like a blunt knife scraping at her heart.
The main street was silent and deserted. A man lay facedown on the ground, so emaciated he barely looked human. Every rib jutted from his body, his limbs thin as kindling. Only his eyes remained large.
He edged forward inch by inch, his knobby fingers digging into the cracks between the bricks as he searched for scraps of food he had no idea when he’d left behind.
Not far away, beneath the corner of a wall, a child thin as a wisp of smoke curled into a ball. Clutching a dead rat in his hands, he took bite after numb bite, tears streaming endlessly down his face.
His sobs were caught in his throat, coming in broken snatches that sounded especially jarring in the dead-silent alley.
Yun Shu switched off the surveillance feed, unable to bear watching any longer.
“They don’t have time to wait anymore,” she said, her voice suddenly very soft. A thin mist clouded her eyes.
Whenever she saw scenes like this, she would think of the forebears in her own world who had suffered through such hardships.
Born in an age of peace, she could only learn about what her ancestors had endured through documentaries.
When she was little, she loved sitting in front of the television with her older brother and sister, watching the discs their parents brought home. Whenever the Long March scenes came on, she wished she could climb right into the screen and bring them a bowl of hot food, or at least a padded coat.
Unfortunately, even after she talked her eldest brother into taking the back off the television, she still couldn't send anything through.
She still remembered it clearly. That day, her brother's howls echoed through the compound from morning to night. His backside was beaten raw, yet he never gave her up. When it came to loyalty, he truly had it covered.
After dying and transmigrating into the world of this novel, she chose to save the people here.
Wasn't that, in its own way, her attempt to make up for the regrets she had carried in her heart?
“Host, how about I knock Shen Jue out again?” Little Fox said, making as if to go for another underhanded strike.
“Lil’ Sys, the last time you knocked Shen Jue out, it was because he’d injured himself by crashing into the protective barrier of the Xuanyuan Ark. That’s why he didn’t suspect foul play.”
Yun Shu paused briefly before continuing, “If he were to lose consciousness for no apparent reason, Shen Jue would definitely grow suspicious.”
“Once he became suspicious, he’d follow every clue to verify his theory. There’s no guarantee that, in the process, he wouldn’t actually discover something.”
Little Fox said, “Host, your Goddess persona is practically welded onto you already. Why are you still being so cautious?”
“Lil' Sys, don't underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. They were limited by the circumstances of their era, and their ideas and technology lagged behind, but that doesn't mean they were less intelligent than modern people.
“If I let down my guard and the Goddess persona I've built up collapses, then perhaps the believers' faith in me won't change in the short term. But as time goes on, once they realize that a Goddess is human too, that she can be hurt and can die, many people's faith will begin to waver.
“That is human nature. It cannot be avoided.
“As long as this world still needs a god, there can be no flaws in my Goddess persona.”
Yun Shu turned invisible and flew down from the high platform.
Little Fox, seeing this, had no time to process what Yun Shu had just said and hurried after her.
Yun Shu quickly found the blue whale.
“Pearl-Pearl, Lucky-Mud!”
The blue whale happily swam circles around the girl and the fox.
“Little Blue, there’s something I’d like your help with.” Yun Shu reached out and patted the blue whale’s broad forehead.
“What is it?” The blue whale’s eyes were clear and innocent.
Yun Shu said, “Find a way to drive some schools of fish toward the little island where we had that barbecue together last night.”
The skills from her Tide of All Things outfit could also provide Shen Jue and the others with some gifts from the sea. But she was worried that if she showed up herself, Shen Jue would rack up her affection points like crazy.
“Pearl-Pearl, I get it! Do you want me to raise those two-legged creatures on the island for you again?”
The blue whale declared confidently, “Don’t worry. This time, I definitely won’t let any bad people onto the island.”
“You don’t need to feed them. They’re here to catch fish, so you only need to give them some fish,” Yun Shu explained patiently.
The blue whale nodded.
“Oh, I see now!”
Then, under the watchful eyes of Yun Shu and Little Fox, it swam toward the small island.
“Host, I have a bad feeling about this. That silly fish is so slow-witted—it might mess things up,” Little Fox muttered in Yun Shu’s ear.
Yun Shu patted Little Fox on the head. “Little Blue only has the intelligence of a three-year-old. Try to be understanding.”
Though she said that, she still turned invisible and followed the blue whale from a distance, just in case.
Shen Jue was considering whether he should go ashore.
Suddenly, a dull thud sounded against the bottom of the boat, as if some enormous creature had risen from the depths of the sea.
At once, every fishing boat lurched. The fishermen cried out, nearly losing their footing.
“What’s going on?” someone shouted.
“Below us... There’s something beneath the water!”
Everyone tensed, gripping their harpoons and blades as they stared at the churning sea beside the boats.
