Chapter 112: Becoming Your God (XV)

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Chapter 112: Becoming Your God (XV)

Ever since the Evil God’s identity was exposed, all the Shu clansmen who had once run shops inside the city had moved beyond the walls. Although the Imperial Yi royal family had not expelled them for the time being, it would probably be difficult for them to maintain a foothold here in the future. And so, the chief summoned the entire clan to discuss what they should do next.

No one wanted to give up the peaceful life they had now. If they left this place, they would once again be forced to wander from place to place with no permanent home.

“If the Evil God hadn’t deceived us, how would we have ended up like this?” a young man suddenly demanded angrily.

“That’s right! If we’d known from the beginning that he was the Evil God, why would we ever have worshiped him?” another person agreed.

“We worked so hard to accumulate everything we had, and because of the Evil God, it was all destroyed in an instant.”

The crowd grew increasingly agitated, complaints and resentment rising one after another.

Just then, a teacup struck the floor with a sharp crack, instantly silencing the chaotic room.

Tima stood up, her icy gaze sweeping over everyone present. “What allowed our Shu Clan to live the life we have now?

“It began because several children and I playfully offered God Uno a few wild fruits all those years ago! For nothing more than those worthless fruits, God Uno drove away the wild beasts and gave us a safe place to settle down.

“Yes, he is the Evil God. But have any of you ever thought about the fact that precisely because he is the Evil God, our offerings could never actually increase his power? And yet he still willingly spent his divine power on us. He patiently taught us forging, cooking, medicine, etiquette, music… What other god in this world would devote himself so wholeheartedly to helping his own worshipers?

“Without him, we would probably still be wandering through the wilderness, barely surviving by farming and being rejected wherever we went. Because of him, we gained faith, a home, skills, and wealth. More importantly, he gave us dignity!

“We accepted all his kindness as though it were our due, yet in the end, we turned around and betrayed him. We even resented him.” Tears streamed down Tima’s face as accusation rang through every word. “Don’t any of you feel ashamed?”

Everyone lowered their heads in silence.

After a long while, someone finally whispered, “But he’s the Evil God…”

“So what if he is?” Tima demanded. “Has he ever wronged us? Has he ever hurt anyone? No! He has always silently protected us and helped us. So no matter what his identity is, I am willing to worship him. Even if I must offer up my life, I won’t hesitate for even a moment.”

Looking at Tima’s unwavering expression, everyone suddenly felt too ashamed to show their faces. They had depended on one another for years, yet because of outsiders’ rejection and condemnation, they had abandoned their own god. Just as Tima said, their offerings were meaningless to an Evil God who drew strength from slaughter and wickedness. Even so, Uno had still done everything in his power to protect them. The Evil God of legend might have been terrifying, but the Uno they worshiped was the guardian god who had given them a new life.

Although the resentment in their hearts gradually subsided, many still could not make up their minds. After all, asking a group of upright and simple people to accept the Evil God as their own deity meant overturning a sense of right and wrong that had been ingrained in them for years. It was not something they could change overnight.

That night, many Shu clansmen tossed and turned, unable to sleep. A few finally gave up altogether, climbed out of bed, and went outside to cool off.

Beneath a sky crowded with stars, the terraced fields the Shu Clan had carved into the mountains rose and fell in layers. Crops flourished across them, promising a rich harvest in the near future.

Looking over everything before them, several young clansmen couldn’t help smiling with satisfaction. Just then, more than a dozen points of fire suddenly appeared in the distance. It looked as though a group of people carrying torches was heading their way.

What was going on? The young men exchanged glances, then bounded toward the edge of the mountain fields and craned their necks to look down.

Below the terraced fields, a familiar figure sat alone upon a wooden post, quietly gazing toward the foot of the mountain. His back was straight, his figure seeming to merge with the darkness itself. Like an unyielding barrier, he silently guarded the Shu Clan’s land, refusing to allow any approaching intruder to cross even a single step.

It was God Uno…

As they stared at his back, the young men’s eyes burned with sudden tears, an aching bitterness welling up inside them.

Even after they had abandoned him, he was still protecting them in silence without their knowledge. No wonder they had been attacked inside the city while their lands outside remained completely untouched. It wasn’t because those people had been kind enough to leave them alone. God Uno had been secretly protecting them all along.

“Ugh…” One of the young men crouched on the ground, covering his face as he sobbed. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

The others soon began crying as well, ashamed of their earlier selfishness and ignorance.

【What other god in this world would devote himself so wholeheartedly to helping his own worshipers?】 Tima’s words echoed through their minds.

【We accepted all his kindness as though it were our due, yet in the end, we turned around and betrayed him. We even resented him.】

“No matter who you are, I’m willing to worship you,” one of the young men murmured. “Even if I have to offer my life, I won’t hesitate for even a moment…”

The next day, the chief led the entire clan to the Temple of Uno. They worshiped their god once more and prayed for his forgiveness.

After their initial confusion and resentment, the Shu Clan reaffirmed their faith, worshiping Uno as their god and vowing never to betray him again.

In truth, Shang Ke hadn’t thought nearly that much about it. He simply didn’t want the Shu Clan to lose the land their survival depended on. After so many years together, he knew their fundamentally simple and honest nature. Although their rejection had hurt him, he also understood the injustice they were suffering and their fear of the Evil God. That was why every night, he separated out a portion of his divine power to protect their land.

“They’re no longer your worshipers,” Saya had once reminded him. Gods despised those who betrayed their faith. Once a worshiper abandoned their god, that god would never grant them protection again.

Shang Ke had replied, “They may not be worshipers of the Evil God, but they are worshipers of Uno.”

Upon hearing that answer, Saya simply cupped Shang Ke’s face and kissed him fiercely. “You are Uno. My Uno.”

At that moment, in Saya’s heart, the Evil God ceased to exist. There was only the newly reborn Uno.

However, not everyone believed that the Evil God could truly change his ways.

The Fire God and several other gods who had suffered terribly at the Evil God’s hands in the past had never stopped trying to seal him again. Unfortunately for them, the War God protected Shang Ke so closely that they could never find an opportunity to act. In the end, they decided to lure him out instead.

Late one quiet night, the streets stood empty beneath the faint moonlight. A figure staggered out of a house, then came a second, a third…

Their expressions were vacant and their eyes lifeless as they slowly walked out of the city, like wandering ghosts.

Shang Ke, who was patrolling the Shu Clan’s terraced fields, quickly sensed something unusual. Following the strange aura, he hurried over and discovered several hundred people inexplicably trapped inside a deep pit.

At that moment, raging flames suddenly erupted around the pit. Smoke and ash billowed through the air, jolting everyone below awake. Screams and terrified cries immediately rang out.

“I didn’t actually expect this to succeed in luring you here.” A figure emerged from the flames. It was the Fire God who had once ambushed Shang Ke.

Several more figures appeared one after another behind him, surrounding Shang Ke from every direction.

The Fire God, the Water God, the Earth God, and… the Dream God.

Shang Ke finally understood how all those people had ended up inside the pit. The Dream God had actually used a sleepwalking spell on mortals.

“How does it feel to watch your worshipers suffer inside a sea of fire?” The Fire God laughed theatrically. “Hahaha—no, wait. I suppose you don’t care whether these mortals live or die at all.”

“Did you make a mistake?” Shang Ke asked calmly. “At least half the people down there aren’t even my worshipers.”

“So what?” The Fire God replied indifferently. “As long as they could lure you out, why should I care which god they worship?”

“Fine. You achieved your goal. Can you release them now?”

“Release them? They’re our sacrifices.” The Fire God casually gathered a ball of flame into his hand and gave Shang Ke a vicious smile. “Instead of worrying about these insignificant mortals, you’d better start worrying about yourself.”

“So you’re the ones who made that deal with the Death God?” Behind his ferocious mask, Shang Ke’s voice held no emotion. “Have you ever stopped to consider the consequences of making a deal with Death?”

“That has nothing to do with you.” The Fire God compressed the flame into a ball and casually tossed it up and down in one hand. “Everyone, we don’t have much time. Let’s begin.”

The other gods immediately mobilized their divine power. Four overwhelming waves of divine pressure bore down upon Shang Ke at once.

A violent wind erupted around Shang Ke, snapping his robes through the air. The Evil God’s power surged outward in response, meeting the combined attack of all four gods head-on.

Relying on their numerical advantage, each of the four gods used only half their divine power. Shang Ke, however, struck with everything he had, as though he intended to burn through every last trace of his strength. The collision actually forced all four gods half a step backward.

Their expressions changed. After exchanging glances, none of them held back any longer. Their power rose sharply as they attacked Shang Ke with thunderous force. The pressure created by their combined divine power closed around him like a cage, locking him firmly in place.

Every muscle in Shang Ke’s body tightened as he struggled against the four immense forces crushing down on him.

“Stop struggling. The War God is probably being held up by the Death God right now. He won’t be coming to save you.” The Fire God smiled mockingly. “I really don’t understand what the War God sees in you. Is the face beneath that mask exactly to his taste? Before we seal you, I simply have to see it for myself.”

As he spoke, a mass of flame shot from his palm and condensed into a giant hand, lunging straight for Shang Ke’s mask.

The flaming hand closed around the mask. At the same moment, ripples ran through Shang Ke’s spirit form. He stared directly at the Fire God and enunciated each word. “You are going to regret this.”

The Fire God sneered and increased his strength. Click. The mask came free. But before he could even make out Shang Ke’s face, Shang Ke’s body suddenly scattered apart, collapsing into a swirling vortex before disappearing without a trace.

“No!” A furious roar exploded through the night as overwhelming divine power surged toward them. But it was already too late. Saya could only watch helplessly as Shang Ke vanished before his eyes.

The mask fell to the ground with a soft clatter, landing beside Shang Ke’s abandoned clothes in the sand and gravel.

“UNO!” Saya’s voice tore through the sky in shock and fury, the force of it driving the Fire God and the others backward again and again.

Saya slowly bent down and picked up the mask. His fingers brushed gently over its surface. The air seemed to freeze as a suffocating wave of divine power spread outward, locking everything around him in place…

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