Chapter 3
In the blink of an eye, two hundred years had passed, and it was now the Ji-Mao year.
Because I hadn’t reported to the Underworld for a long time, my name had long since disappeared from the rotation list of the netherworld.
This meant that if I failed in my Cultivation in the future and encountered calamity, my only fate would be utter annihilation.
But I wasn’t afraid at all.
The Night Patrolling Deity said that if I could endure until the thirteenth day of the fifth lunar month, I would be able to achieve Indestructible Bone.
They said that being a local Spirit Monster wasn’t bad either. If I did more good deeds, perhaps the people would build a small temple for me in the future.
Just thinking about it made me happy, and I had already started picking out a Cave Abode in the mountains.
To become a carefree and unrestrained Deer Cottage Immortal.
How wonderful.
As the saying goes, extreme joy begets sorrow.
I was only happy for a few days before, on a silent day, a group of people passed through the Deer Enclosure.
As expected, they got lost in the mountains and forests.
They wandered around and, by accident, discovered me hanging from an old tree in the wilderness.
It was noon then, the sun was blazing, the forest was silent, and the mountain wind blew gently.
Like the other Spirit Monsters in the woods, I was taking a nap.
When I woke up, I was already in pitch-black earth.
That group had buried me, then leisurely found their way out of the forest.
I screamed and struggled, clawing my way out of the dirt.
It was already night. The Night Patrolling Deity brothers and Fox Sister looked at me with grave expressions.
My white bones had hung in the wild old forest, concealed by branches and leaves, very well hidden.
For two hundred years, even if someone accidentally entered this place and discovered me, they would never dare meddle, much less climb the tree to take me down.
And yet, they actually buried me.
This wasn’t a big deal-I could just hang myself back on the tree and continue basking in the moonlight.
But the trouble was, I couldn’t hang myself up anymore.
After several attempts, watching me fall apart again and again, the Night Patrolling Deity brothers finally spoke: “It’s useless, Niannian. The one who buried you is the reincarnation of a Divine Emissary under the Ziwei Star Lord, a man of great virtue who has been good for ten lifetimes.”
So what?
“It’s fate, destiny. This is your tribulation. You can no longer achieve Indestructible Bone.”
And then?
“…You were buried by his own hand, and he even recited the Rebirth Mantra for you, delivering your lonely soul from suffering.”
“But I can’t reincarnate anymore.”
“So, before long, you will be utterly annihilated, completely erased.”
That day, the Night Patrolling Deity brothers and Fox Sister had a heated argument.
Only then did I learn that the one who buried me was also the Flower Picking Scholar of the Imperial Court, hailing from Yuhang in Fanxiong County.
A noble young lord from a prestigious family-Shen Qilang.
Fox Sister said that he, too, was a Divine Emissary sent down to the mortal world to undergo tribulations. After ten lifetimes of virtue, he could return to the ranks of the immortals.
But with a casual burial, he destroyed my Cultivation.
Why shouldn’t I destroy his Cultivation in return?
If his Cultivation was broken, the merit from burying me would be lost, and I would have avoided my tribulation and could continue Cultivating.
The Night Patrolling Deity brothers refused: “Shen Qilang is the Divine Emissary of the Ziwei Star Lord. If you break his Cultivation, Niannian, his ten lifetimes of virtue will be wasted, and he will never return to the heavens.”
“But at least he can still reincarnate as an ordinary person. What about Niannian? If she does nothing, she will be utterly annihilated. What did she do wrong? Who told that Shen Qilang to meddle and bury her?”
Fox Sister, sharp-tongued and indignant, said, “He only loses the chance to become an immortal, but Niannian loses her life. To think Niannian considered you two as friends! You immortals are so noble that you can disregard others’ lives? You’re allowed to destroy others’ Cultivation, but others can’t resist? Shameless!”
“That’s not what we mean. Shen Qilang buried Niannian out of kindness. If Niannian damages his merit, I’m afraid the Ziwei Star Lord will blame her, and a bolt of Heavenly Thunder will strike her down all the same.” The Night Patrolling Deity brothers’ faces flushed with anger.
They argued endlessly, and finally came to a conclusion.
Shen Qilang’s real name was Shen Yutang, a Divine Emissary under the Ziwei Star Lord, now in his tenth lifetime of tribulation in the mortal world.
If all went as expected, he would live an upright life, assist a wise ruler, become respected in old age, and care for the people-a truly selfless man.
After his death, the people would spontaneously erect the Lord Shen Stele in his honor and offer incense.
Only then would his ten lifetimes be complete.
The Night Patrolling Deity said, “People have many faces, and hearts change. Niannian, you must not act personally. The best way is to let the world break his merit. That way, you can’t be blamed.”
Fox Sister agreed, but later told me in private, “Don’t listen to those two old ghosts’ nonsense. If the world kills him, the retribution will still fall on you. Just listen to me-go have a Yin-Yang Union with him, sleep with him a few times, drain his Yang energy, and when he dies suddenly, you hide away for a few hundred years, and this will all blow over…”