After Transmigrating into an Evil God - Chapter 3

Could he perhaps tug at it a little?

Li Chi suddenly had this thought.

How like a mischievous cat. Li Chi was just about to dismiss this idea when he suddenly noticed that one of the thin threads extended in the direction of the Li Manor.

These thin threads sometimes gathered and sometimes scattered, without any trace of spiritual energy, seemingly without any danger…

Li Chi hooked his finger, and a breeze containing divine power brushed past that thin thread.

The gentle airflow swept over the thread as if passing through empty space, unchanged, yet his divine power was absorbed into it. At the same time, Li Chi felt his divine consciousness lightly touched.

In that instant, he seemed to suddenly understand something, but the thought flashed too quickly for him to think it through clearly. He could only instinctively use this barely-there force to tug at the thin thread.

The originally floating, mist-like thread immediately condensed, becoming clearly visible.

The Manor Spirit looked at Li Chi in confusion. He couldn’t see those threads, nor had he seen Li Chi’s finger moving beneath his sleeve.

Li Chi acted as if nothing had happened. After he tugged at it, that thread remained condensed without dissipating, but Li Chi didn’t know what would happen—he was simply curious and wanted to wait and see the result.

After a moment, Li Chi saw where the other end of the thread was connected.

A small purple-gray mouse ran out from around the corner. Its fur was clean and smooth, with round ears and a long tail, looking quite adorable. It held an herb in its mouth and ran straight toward the Manor Spirit. However, its eyesight didn’t seem very good, only noticing Li Chi beside it when it got close.

The little mouse was startled, dropping the herb from its mouth with a plop, and turned to flee.

Two slender fingers lifted it into the air. The frightened mouse squeaked and writhed in mid-air. Li Chi placed it in his palm and soothingly stroked its fur a few times. The thread that had condensed on the Manor Spirit was connected to this little mouse at the other end, and the mouse also had several other threads that gathered and scattered indefinitely.

Li Chi was curious about these threads and had no intention of letting this little mouse escape. His aura was clear and pure, with spiritual energy flowing around him. The silly little mouse, after being stroked a few times, comfortably curled up in Li Chi’s palm and closed its eyes.

“This is a wild beast from the mountain forest that has developed spiritual awareness,” the Manor Spirit explained. “When there are sudden torrential rains or when encountering danger, they come to me for shelter, helping me clear weeds and small trees from brick crevices and walls in return.”

Li Chi nodded thoughtfully and placed the little mouse back on the ground. The mouse, greedy for spiritual energy, reluctantly hooked Li Chi’s finger with its tail. After staying on the ground for a moment, it sniffed around in confusion, picked up the herb that had fallen to the ground, and brought it to the Manor Spirit’s feet.

Li Chi could see that this little mouse had poor eyesight and relied on its sense of smell to distinguish its environment. It had found an herb and wanted to give it to the Manor Spirit as repayment.

Although he still didn’t understand what these threads were for, now wasn’t the time to investigate. After initially satisfying his curiosity, Li Chi bid farewell to the Manor Spirit.

After returning to his courtyard, Li Chi waved his hand to set up protective barriers. After ensuring no one would disturb him, he slowly pressed his finger below his left eye, where the skin was smooth and soft.

When he had seen those threads, a coolness had suddenly emerged below his left eye. Though the coolness had now faded, Li Chi felt there was something there.

The soft skin gradually changed, and the sensation under his fingertip became hard, smooth, and intricately textured. Li Chi conjured a water mirror. In the reflection, the deity’s clear aura and ink-black pupils were unfathomably deep. Two slender fingers slowly moved away from below his left eye, revealing a purple-gold scale.

This indifferent, noble face suddenly took on an otherworldly beauty.

The dark purple scales shimmered with pale golden light, and within the flowing luster, complex dark patterns were faintly visible. Li Chi gazed at the scales in the water mirror and suddenly felt an irresistible drowsiness.

The water mirror dispersed, turning into a small cloud of spiritual mist. Li Chi had already closed his eyes, his body slowly tilting as he leaned against the altar and fell into sleep.

…”Wronged and with no one to appeal to, crying out in pain and misery… we pray for divine witness. We humbly beseech your favor!”

The sound of prayers lingered.

The deity looked down to see an altar built of earth and stone, roughly constructed, without divine statues or offerings, only a figure kneeling in front.

When the deity observed with his left eye, the worshipper was shrouded in a layer of shifting mist that obscured their form. When observed with his right eye, the mist dissolved and their appearance became clear.

The deity stared at the worshipper for a while and recognized that it wasn’t mist, but clusters of threads that gathered and scattered indefinitely. They extended into the void and disappeared, their other ends unknown.

These were… threads of karma!

He immediately understood, and knowledge about karmic threads surfaced one by one.

Every action of living beings plants causes, and when karma entangles the body, it becomes like this person.

The person kneeling on the ground stood up, took out a dagger from their robes, cut their arm, and sprinkled blood on the altar.

The deity showed neither sorrow nor joy, his eyes like an abyss. He extended two fingers, and his bone-white fingertips were instantly stained with crimson blood.

The blood-stained fingers touched a karmic thread that was about to dissipate, and in the next instant, blood color swept through!

Blood-red karmic threads condensed from the void, their taut ends pointing far into the distance.

The person in front of the altar seemed to sense something, turned to look in the direction the karmic threads pointed, and broke into an expression that seemed both crying and laughing.

“I reverently inform the deity!”

Li Chi opened his eyes. The sky had already turned dusky yellow.

Without realizing it, he had slept until afternoon.

Li Chi recalled what he had seen in the dream—it should have been a memory of this deity from the past.

He rubbed the area below his left eye, where the purple-gold scale had hidden itself again.

Li Chi had thoroughly examined this divine body during his cultivation, but had never discovered a hidden scale there. If it hadn’t manifested when he saw the karmic threads, Li Chi might never have noticed it even now.

However, now, although the scale was hidden, he could always feel its presence and could actively control whether it appeared.

Li Chi examined his divine body again carefully. Apart from the weakness caused by severe injuries, there was nothing else noteworthy.

But… a divine body with scales—what exactly was this deity’s identity?

Since this was ultimately a matter without immediate answers, Li Chi lowered his finger and turned to studying the karmic threads instead.

All living beings in the world, in their actions and thoughts, inevitably plant causes. Where there are causes, there must be effects, but though causes are planted, effects may not necessarily mature.

Like a person striking a bell: striking the bell is the cause, the bell ringing is the effect. After striking, it immediately rings—this is seeing the effect immediately after planting the cause.

Like a person farming: sowing is the cause, harvesting is the effect. Sowing in spring and harvesting in autumn—though the cause is planted, one must wait some time to see the effect.

When karma is not yet mature, though karmic threads exist, they gather and scatter indefinitely. When karma matures, karmic threads become solid.

When he had previously tugged at the karmic thread between the Manor Spirit and the little mouse, he had catalyzed the maturation of the karma between them, which is why the mouse brought herbs as repayment. This was similar to what the deity in the dream had done by condensing the karmic threads on the worshipper.

However, what the deity in the dream had done was obviously much more advanced and complex than his method.

He had merely tugged at karmic threads to make them mature early, while the deity in the dream had not only stained the karmic threads with blood but had also made the worshipper aware of it. Li Chi didn’t believe that the blood color was merely dyeing the karmic threads—there must have been other effects that he didn’t understand.

Li Chi recalled his feelings when tugging at the karmic threads.

Though it was clearly closely related to himself, the Manor Spirit was completely unaware of it. When the mouse brought herbs as repayment, it also felt it was following its own intentions. The development was reasonable and natural—who could have imagined he was manipulating from behind the scenes?

Moreover, when tugging at karmic threads, there were no spiritual energy fluctuations to detect. Those who couldn’t see karmic threads had no way to guard against it.

This time he had tugged at good karma planted by the Manor Spirit, but what if he tugged at evil karma?

Karmic threads… such methods were truly terrifying.

But he wondered, how had a deity capable of such feats fallen to his current state?

Li Chi sighed and removed the protective barriers.

Outside the altar, a clean, ancient wooden box had been placed at some point, filled with books.

The Li Manor’s collection was vast; these weren’t all of them, just a portion the Manor Spirit had initially selected.

Unable to guess Li Chi’s preferences, he had chosen one or two books of every type to include.

Li Chi only briefly flipped through them but could sense the Manor Spirit’s thoughtfulness. He couldn’t help but feel moved. He was currently severely injured with weakened aura—just a frail minor deity who had suddenly appeared in someone else’s residence. Not only had the Manor Spirit treated him with courtesy, but he was also so kind. This was truly his good fortune.

It was just a pity that he currently possessed nothing and had no memories, so he had no way to repay this kindness. This place was quiet and secluded—he only hoped he wouldn’t be asked to leave in the future.

On the other side, after delivering the selected books, the Manor Spirit was also reflecting.

Though the Manor Spirit was now weakened, he had once witnessed the Li family’s prosperous times, so he could be considered well-informed.

He had heard that some powerful deities’ auras resonated with heaven and earth, and after dwelling in a place for a long time, they could even change the surrounding environment.

Like the Flame Lord of the northwest lands—where his divine temple sat, the spiritual energy was scorching and the ground was covered in fire soil.

The Manor Spirit had never thought that one day he too would encounter such a deity, even personally experiencing the deity’s transformative effect on himself. After all, he was just a weakened object spirit whose spiritual form had nearly been unable to condense.

Li Manor was not some rare blessed land or cave heaven. Not only had its human presence declined, but one couldn’t even find a single clean room—it barely qualified as quiet. Without fortunate coincidence, it probably wouldn’t even merit a deity’s glance.

But now, after the deity had settled here, in just three short days, the surrounding spiritual energy had become abundant and lively, and his own spiritual form, which had been on the verge of dissolution, had been able to re-condense.

Currently, only this one manor benefited, but in the future, it might benefit the entire mountain forest.

Moreover, such a powerful deity showed no arrogance but was instead so gentle and seemingly easy to get along with.

It was just a pity that he was currently only an object spirit just beginning to recover. If the deity hadn’t wanted to borrow books, he would have had nothing to offer in return.

He only hoped that the Li family’s book collection would make the deity stay a while longer…