After Transmigrating into an Evil God - Chapter 25.1

A spring thunderbolt struck down, hitting the massive stone in front of the Li Manor gates.

An amber piece containing a pine seed, hidden within the stone’s crevice, was split open by the roaming lightning and fell into the soil. Stimulated by the spring thunder’s vital force and nourished by the gentle spring rain, it sprouted vigorous green shoots.

By the wall stood a half-carved qin. Its wood heart, sharing the same origin as the old pine tree, sensed the connection. Within the pine wood that had accumulated over two hundred years of death energy, life force was born.

Li Chi looked at the qin whose essence had transformed. Now was the time for it to emerge into the world.

…….

When Ding Qin returned to the mountain forest, the rain had become gentle. She maintained a water-repelling spell and sensed the High God’s aura in the falling drizzle.

Warm and gentle, brimming with vital force.

Ding Qin’s eyes curved with a smile. She came to Li Chi’s courtyard and saw the deity seated cross-legged under the corridor, a qin resting across his lap.

With flowing wide sleeves and black hair draped over his shoulders, a curtain of rain fell from the eaves before him.

Ding Qin’s attention wavered for a moment, causing her rain-repelling spell to falter, and moisture dampened the ends of her hair.

The deity under the corridor looked up and pointed with raised fingers. “Calm your mind.”

The wetness on Ding Qin’s body dispersed. She walked under the corridor, and the water curtain under the eaves parted on its own.

“High God,” she sat cross-legged beside him. “Why did you also go to Shuigu Town? What did you see at the Shuigu Well?”

“I had never been to Shuigu Town before, so naturally I wanted to see it for myself.” Li Chi adjusted the qin strings, smiling leisurely. “What did you see?”

“I saw a swimming dragon above the well,” Ding Qin said, her eyes curious and bright.

“The Huai River Divine Lord is imprisoned in that well.” Li Chi replied, adjusting the strings while telling the story of the Huai River Divine Lord and Yu Jian.

As Ding Qin listened, her small face gradually wrinkled with difficulty and confusion.

“Something troubles you?” Li Chi asked.

Ding Qin nodded. “Although I feel the Huai River Divine Lord should have saved people, not saving them wasn’t really a fault. Why punish him for inaction? Moreover, it’s also a rule that deities shouldn’t interfere too much in the mortal world.”

“Have you seen constables and bailiffs?” Li Chi asked.

Ding Qin nodded.

“If a passerby sees someone being robbed, they need not help. But bailiffs and constables must act, because that is their duty. They receive salaries, so they must fulfill their responsibilities.”

“But the Huai River Divine Lord didn’t accept incense offerings,” Ding Qin asked again.

“He didn’t enjoy mortal incense, so naturally he had no responsibility to save people, which is why he wasn’t convicted for failing to save anyone.” Li Chi looked up at the sky, his gaze distant, as if seeing the Divine Court above the Nine Heavens. “He was convicted because the life energy in his domain was in chaos.”

Li Chi lowered his head again and asked Ding Qin, “What do you think a god is?”

Ding Qin pondered for a long time.

Li Chi spoke leisurely, “Deities serve heaven and earth, enjoying the virtue and fortune of heaven and earth. Divine authority arises from their duties, and guilt is born from dereliction. Those who enjoy mortal incense have responsibilities to the mortal world; those who enjoy heavenly virtue and position have responsibilities to heaven and earth.”

Ding Qin seemed to understand somewhat.

Li Chi plucked the strings, and a melodious note rang out. Under Li Chi’s control, these two Seven Emotion Triggers didn’t produce any extraordinary effects, only making sounds like ordinary strings.

But the sound was somewhat hollow.

Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire—within each of these seven emotions were different subdivisions. Spring’s vital force is joy, autumn’s bountiful harvest is joy, achieving one’s wishes is joy, escaping from suffering is joy. How complex were these seven emotions?

Although he had obtained the “fear” and “sorrow” Seven Emotion Triggers, he had only gained a small part of these two emotions.

To complete this qin, there was still much waiting ahead.

Ding Qin’s gaze fell on the qin. “High God, why does this qin only have two strings?”

“Because the other strings haven’t been found yet.” Li Chi plucked the strings to test their sound.

“May I help you find them?”

Li Chi lowered his eyes, his palm passing over the strings. Those two strings, fine as silk threads, concealed their form.

“Can you still see the strings?” Li Chi asked.

Ding Qin exclaimed in surprise and activated her spirit eyes, but only saw an empty qin surface. After these spirit eyes were re-sealed by Li Chi, there were few things in this world she couldn’t see through. Yet now, no matter how she looked at this qin, she couldn’t see those two strings that had just been visible.

Li Chi shook his head. “Let’s wait a while longer.”

Unable to see the hidden Seven Emotion Triggers meant she also couldn’t see the seven emotions condensed on karmic threads. Ding Qin was still unable to extract the Seven Emotion Triggers.

Ding Qin’s heart filled with disappointment, but Li Chi smiled. “You’re still young, why be in such a hurry?”

His gaze fell into the distance. “Jin Yan is coming back soon…”

……

In a nearby mountain forest.

Jin Yan flapped his wings, flying and urging, “Faster, faster! I’ve been away for several days! If we don’t return soon, it’ll be too late!”

A red fox with brilliant fur galloped through the forest, opening its mouth to speak in a clear young man’s voice. “Stop rushing me! We’re already hurrying as fast as we can!”

Jin Yan complained as he flew. “It’s all because of you! Why did you have to move for no reason? It took me forever to find you.”

The red fox instead stopped and rested. “Slow down. Unlike you, I don’t have wings to fly everywhere.”

Jin Yan grew anxious. “I misspoke, all right? Respected elder can move wherever you please, it’s all my fault for being nosy!”

The red fox suddenly turned hostile, its clear young voice annoyed. “Who are you calling ‘respected elder’?! Where do I look old?”

“How strange!” Jin Yan exclaimed in surprise. “Didn’t you used to love having those little fox cubs call you grandfather or old master? Why the sudden change?”

“How is that the same?” The red fox sat in place, its entire coat fiery red and brilliant, with only a tuft of snow-white thick fur on its chest, looking both elegant and dignified. “Besides, they don’t call me old master anymore either.”

“What do those little fox cubs call you now?” Jin Yan asked curiously.

The red fox glanced at him reservedly. “Young master.”

Jin Yan burst out laughing. “What happened to you? Moving house and changing titles. Wasn’t your old mountain cave good enough? Why move to such a noisy place?”

“What do you know?” The red fox rolled its eyes at him, then asked, “Is that High God you mentioned really that impressive?”

Jin Yan, seeing his expectant expression, said, “How many times have you asked me this along the way? What exactly do you want from the High God?”

The red fox hesitated for a while. “I want to take human form.”

Jin Yan said with curiosity, “Given your situation, won’t you be able to transform in another two or three hundred years anyway? Besides, didn’t you already learn to assume human form through illusion? Most people can’t see through your illusions, so can’t you just make do with that for now?”

“How is that the same?” The red fox snorted. “Just tell me—can that High God do it or not? I have no other requests. If not, I can save myself a wasted trip.”

Jin Yan mocked. “It’s only because you haven’t met that High God yet that you have such doubts. Let me tell you, even if the High God doesn’t agree to help you transform, as long as you can cultivate by the High God’s side, the arduous work that would normally take two or three hundred years to achieve transformation will only take twenty or thirty years.”

The red fox was startled and asked doubtfully, “You’re not lying to me, are you?” What kind of deity would it be, whose residual grace could save him ten times the cultivation effort?

Jin Yan said indignantly, “Though I talk a lot, when have I ever lied?”

The red fox was silent for a moment, then said, “If this is true, I thank you for this opportunity. I will certainly repay you.”

Jin Yan scoffed. “I don’t need your repayment.” His eyes turned, and his curiosity rose again. “Why exactly did you move into that mortal’s courtyard?”

The red fox didn’t answer, instead mocked, “Should I tell you so you can use my story for entertainment and then gossip about it everywhere?”

Jin Yan pursed his beak and stopped asking. Since this fox wanted to stay by the High God’s side, he would learn the truth sooner or later anyway.

Hmm… he might not be able to stay. If he and Ding Qin had incompatible temperaments, he probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to remain.

He wondered how Ding Qin had been doing after all these days…

……

At the Li Manor residence, Ding Qin was very much looking forward to this teacher she hadn’t yet met.

She was too weak now—insufficient in strength, knowledge, and experience. But now she had an opportunity, and she must grasp it well. Only by becoming stronger could she help the High God!

The rain gradually ceased. The white-robed, black-haired deity withdrew his gaze from the distance, lowered his head, and smiled at Ding Qin. “All right, go back now. I need to rest.”

Ding Qin obediently took her leave.

Li Chi carried the qin back to his room and lay on the bed.

Deities served heaven and earth, enjoying heavenly virtue and position, with divine authority arising from their duties. What then were his duties?

Clouds and mist arose spontaneously, purple-gold scales faintly appeared beneath his eyes, and the deity entered a dream.

……

“Don’t you feel that something is lacking in this heaven and earth?”

The white-robed, black-haired deity reclined against the clouds, surrounded by warm, harmonious yang energy.

“Something lacking?” The opposing deity held a cup and drank alone, yin transformation energy swirling with each movement.

“Taiyin, you understand destiny—how can you not know what I mean?” the white-robed, black-haired deity asked.

Taiyin fingered his wine cup. “Since I understand destiny, I know that worldly changes follow their own patterns. Just let them develop naturally—why interfere?”

“The life energy in the world often falls into chaos. Haven’t you noticed?”

Taiyin looked up, his eyes like a sky full of stars. “Chaos will naturally settle.”

The deity shook his head. “Cause and effect are severed and entangled in chaos. I wish to organize them and establish the Underworld as a stabilizing force.”

But Taiyin disagreed and advised. “You and I were born divine. The mortal world changes like shifting seas and mulberry fields—it has its own operation. You’ve already invested too much.”

The white-robed, black-haired deity curved his lips with indescribable desolation and mockery. “…Born divine?”

……

Li Chi opened his eyes and sat silently in meditation.

This was the third time he had dreamed of the original owner’s memories, but the first time he had learned a name in the dream.

Taiyin.

This deity was surrounded by yin transformation energy and interacted naturally and casually with the original owner. They should have been friends—at least at the time in the dream, their relationship had been good, able to discuss various secrets naturally.

Taiyin knew the identity of this body, but he knew nothing about Taiyin.

Li Chi pressed his forehead. He would investigate slowly, but needed to be careful.

Taiyin understood destiny. If he saw him, he would probably immediately notice something unusual about this body. Moreover, Taiyin was powerful, and he didn’t know if the name Taiyin had other significance—he mustn’t reveal himself while inquiring.

Besides this, the dream had revealed something even more important:

This world actually had no Underworld!

Though there was a Divine Court, there was no Underworld. If so, how did the reincarnation of living beings after death proceed?

Li Chi pondered for a long time, then reached out and summoned down from the shelf that copy of “Examination of Mountain and Wilderness Oddities” by Qianhao Sanren.

The book contained many strange tales, but not one mentioned City Gods, underworld officers, or other deities related to the underworld administration.

Li Chi set down the book and went to the courtyard to begin his daily cultivation.

As dawn approached, the deity sat on the great blue stone with eyes half-closed. A purple-gray mouse lay by the stone, a silver fish swam in the pond, a girl sat cross-legged under the tree, and a wild monkey sat alongside by the wall.

A faint spirit mist condensed into sweet dew, carrying profound spiritual essence that gradually enveloped the entire Li Manor and slowly spread beyond the estate.

After some unknown time, the meditating deity suddenly opened both eyes. “Ding Qin, Jin Yan has brought your teacher. Go greet them at the gate.”

At the Li Manor gate, Jin Yan’s feathers were still damp with morning dew.

They had risen early and, after sleeping half the night in the mountain forest, began traveling before dawn.

Though he hadn’t lived at the Li Manor for long, after being away this long, Jin Yan actually felt homesick.

He flapped his wings and flew directly over the courtyard wall, calling out as he flew, “I’m back! Ding Qin! Ding Qin! I’ve brought your teacher back!”