092 Do His Utmost

The scattered fragments of a fallen leaf had already sunk into the soil. It had once possessed a brief life, but now it had returned once more to the embrace of the earth, appearing for only an instant before reaching the end, leaving behind almost no trace at all.

Wind passed over the land, and dust rose into the air. She held out her hand, letting the breeze slip through her fingertips without leaving any mark, though the scent of earth lingered faintly in the air.

Li Tian looked at her in puzzlement. In her eyes, a trace of resolve was gradually emerging, as though she had made up her mind to hold fast to something.

“What are you thinking about?”

She bent down and gathered a handful of soil from the ground. “I’m thinking about the meaning of life. Your warning makes sense, but I believe that before a precious life, any danger or hardship is insignificant. Reincarnation does indeed demand suffering beyond what ordinary people can endure, but if one cannot even overcome such danger, if one abandons the pursuit of survival in the face of peril, then such a person is not worthy of the chance to be reborn.”

She tossed the soil upward. A gust of wind swept through, and nothing remained. Then she went on, “Life is sometimes like this dust, vanishing into the wind. Even a slight breeze can erase every trace that it ever existed, but that does not mean it never existed. Just like the dark butterfly transformed from that fallen leaf, though its life was so brief it could almost be ignored, it at least once embraced the sunlight. Without reincarnation, the dead would be left to linger in the underworld. I have experienced the despair of the Yellow Springs River and the malice that devours the dead. Compared with that, I think the souls who are given the chance to be reborn should be grateful that they still have such an opportunity to change their fate.”

“If you insist on this path, then only do not regret your choice in the future.” Li Tian did not refute her words. He was the supreme ruler of the underworld, and before meeting her, he had never understood the value of life, nor even the taste of sunlight. Perhaps her insistence was wrong; perhaps he had simply never understood what life meant to a human being. Arguing over it now would be meaningless.

“Whatever happens, I still want to try. At the very least, this is a chance. If I give up now, then I will not even have the right to regret it.”

For a time, silence fell between them. Neither Nuoluo nor Li Tian broke the stillness. Perhaps each had their own position, perhaps each had their own concerns. At least in this moment, they were both seriously considering the other’s advice.

Nuoluo’s gaze drifted toward the distant direction of Fengdu City. She had been away for some time and did not know how matters there had progressed. During her absence, she had roughly understood the basic state of the human world. Though it was still beset by difficulties, though the road to recovery remained long, the first light of hope was already visible. She believed that in the not-too-distant future, humanity would surely be able to build a more glorious world.

It was time for her to return to Fengdu City.

Inside Fengdu City, a bird stood atop the highest point of the Earth Goddess Temple, its gaze sweeping restlessly in all directions, as though searching for something.

By now, Fengdu City stood empty. Fortunately, there was not a single living human there, or people would surely have been terrified by what they saw. The bird was not only searching for something, but also muttering incessantly—or rather, complaining.

“Damn Nuoluo, actually abandoning Niaoniao like this, and still not coming back to see Niaoniao. Just wait until you return; Niaoniao will definitely make you pay.”

Needless to say, only Niaoniao would dare complain about Nuoluo in this way.

“You are not permitted to speak rudely about the Highness! You are not permitted to insult the Highness, you damned bird!”

The one roaring in anger was the Goddess of the Four Seasons. She stood beneath the temple, wishing desperately that she could slap this wretched bird down. In fact, she had tried to do exactly that before, but the difference in strength had made it impossible. The Four Seasons could not understand what kind of creature this damned bird actually was. Why had the Highness brought it here? It was said to have been encountered at Sunset Mountain; why had the Highness not simply left it there forever, instead of bringing it into the human world to cause trouble?

When Niaoniao heard the Four Seasons’ shout, it looked at her with open contempt and yelled, “Damn Nuoluo, damn Nuoluo...” Its expression clearly seemed to say: what can you do about it?

The already furious Four Seasons could no longer suppress the blaze in her heart and rushed forward, only for someone to stop her.

“Shining Time, what are you doing? Can you really tolerate its disrespect toward the Highness?”

Shining Time looked calmly at the Four Seasons. “Forget it. You still have the leisure to be angry with it. As for Niaoniao, even the Highness gives it three parts deference, let alone us. The Highness once told me not to interfere too much with Niaoniao’s behavior. Whatever it wants to do, let it do it. We should just pretend not to see it. Stop wasting time here. Think about how many things we still have to do. Rather than getting angry with Niaoniao, why not think about how to deal with the God of Sleep? He is the real problem.”

At the mention of the God of Sleep, Shining Time and the Four Seasons both darkened noticeably. They had truly never expected that the underworld would contain such a god. How could he possibly have come from the underworld? He was clearly sent down from the divine realm. Fortunately, the one confronting the God of Sleep directly was the Goddess of Space-Time; if it had been them, they would surely have gone mad long ago.

Niaoniao listened to their conversation and revealed a gleeful expression. It knew full well how formidable the God of Sleep was; fortunately, it had once managed to gain the upper hand and made him suffer as well. Now let them taste the God of Sleep’s power for themselves.

“I have good news for you. The Highness is coming back.” Shining Time whispered into the Four Seasons’ ear.

“Who is coming back?” Niaoniao flew down from the temple and landed in front of Shining Time. Her voice had been too soft; it had not heard clearly. Speaking so quietly could only mean she was deliberately trying to hide it from it.

“Why should we tell you?” The Four Seasons turned and pulled Shining Time away.

Niaoniao watched their departing backs resentfully. “If you won’t tell Niaoniao, do you really think Niaoniao can’t guess who it is? It must be that Nuoluo is coming back.”

At the thought of this news, Niaoniao once again flew to the top of the temple, as though it had already seen the figure it had been longing for appear before its eyes.

“Shining Time, what other news is there?” The Four Seasons knew that the Highness had always been in special contact with Shining Time, and some information only Shining Time would know in advance.

“The Highness didn’t say. She only worried about the situation in Fengdu City.”

“Oh, I see. Still, it’s wonderful that the Highness can return so soon.”

As they walked, Shining Time and the Four Seasons continued speaking, until they stopped before a private residence. This was their temporary lodging.

The light of the Earth Goddess Temple had gone out, so they could only live here, in the home of an ordinary human family. Yet the interior had been altered, everything modeled after the structure of the Earth Goddess Temple. Directly facing the gate was the main hall, while behind it were several scattered side halls.

Shining Time pushed open the gate. The courtyard was utterly silent. She and the Four Seasons exchanged a glance. At this time, Space-Time should have been in the main hall. If she was not inside, where could she have gone?

While they were still guessing where Space-Time had gone, they heard a loud crash from the main hall, as something was violently slammed to the ground, startling the Four Seasons just as she was about to enter. The Goddess of Space-Time was inside. What could have driven her into such loss of control?

Then came another sharp crack, as something else was smashed in two.

This was looking bad.

Shining Time and the Four Seasons pushed the door open and entered, only to see the main hall in complete disarray.

The Goddess of Space-Time stood with her back to the door, and though they could not see what she was thinking, the fury in her posture was unmistakable.

Hearing movement at the entrance, Space-Time turned around and looked at Shining Time and the Four Seasons without saying a word.

“Space-Time, what happened to make you so angry?” The Four Seasons cleared the fragments from the floor, restoring the hall to order.

“It must have been the God of Sleep who just came by, otherwise who else could make the always calm and restrained Goddess of Space-Time so unhinged?” Only the God of Sleep possessed such ability.

Space-Time looked at Shining Time, as though reproaching her for mentioning that detestable name. Every time the matter of Fengdu City was discussed, she and the God of Sleep would enter into fierce argument, and this time was no exception.

“What did you two argue about this time?”

Space-Time had already regained her composure. “He wants to tear down the Earth Goddess Temple.”

“What!” Shining Time and the Four Seasons were both shocked by the news. Even though the light of the temple had gone out, as long as the Earth Goddess Temple still stood, it meant Fengdu City remained under the Earth Goddess’s control. Once the temple was torn down, it would completely signify Fengdu City’s departure from the human world.

They already knew that this place would become the City of Reincarnation, and that in the future it would fall under the jurisdiction of the underworld, but they had still been making their final efforts, searching for a way to change the city’s ultimate destination.

Space-Time thought bitterly of the figure who had put forward this proposal. Though she knew such a thing would sooner or later come to pass, she was still furious. And what she found most intolerable was that when the God of Sleep said these words, it was as though he were already the master here, inspecting his own domain.

“We cannot agree to that. How could the temple possibly be torn down? Once the temple is gone, all our efforts will be in vain.” The Four Seasons clenched her fists tightly; she too had thought of the consequences.

Shining Time had long prepared herself ever since she first heard the words “City of Reincarnation.” Although she had not gone to the underworld with Nuoluo, when Nuoluo told her about these matters, every line revealed helplessness. Shining Time believed that if there were ten thousand possibilities, the Highness would never have allowed the underworld to interfere in any matter of the human world. It was only the circumstances at the time that forced the Highness to yield.

Since the ultimate fate of Fengdu City could no longer be changed, then they had to ensure that the influence of the underworld could not spread beyond Fengdu City.