“Once a celestial official of the Heavenly Palace completes their mortal tribulation and ascends, they sever all ties with the mortal realm. Naturally, he will not return.”
The Divine Lady's voice was as calm and clear as autumn water.
Yet, to Fang Shuo's ears, these words were like a sudden clap of thunder, striking him from the crown of his head straight down to the soles of his feet.
He froze on the spot, the color draining from his face inch by inch as his lips trembled slightly.
Only after a long while did he hear his own voice squeeze out of his throat, incredibly hoarse.
“When my mother was dying...”
“He promised her he would take good care of me and let me live a carefree life.”
“How could he just abandon me!”
As he spoke, his voice began to shake. His eyes grew intensely red, and tears fell in large droplets, splashing onto the lamp and his bloody, scraped hands.
“Now he's gone back to the Heavenly Palace to enjoy his blessings, leaving me all alone in the mortal world with no one to rely on. Can a heartless, untrustworthy man like my father really be an official in the heavens?”
With that, he wiped at his streaming tears with the back of his hand, smearing his face with dirt and soot.
He looked exactly like a pitiful puppy abandoned by the roadside.
He looked up, gazing at the Divine Lady with pleading eyes.
“Divine Lady, you are a god, and my father is just a celestial official. Your authority must be greater than his. Can you banish my father back to the mortal realm so he can't be an official anymore?”
Yun Shu: “...”
He really was a remarkably “filial” son.
“Though I have the authority to discipline celestial officials, all things must adhere to the heavenly laws. Immortal Lord Tiande served diligently as an official in the mortal realm for twenty years, benefiting the local people, and did nothing to harm heaven and earth. As for the betrayal of trust you mentioned, that cannot serve as a reason for me to banish him. A celestial official's mortal tribulation—their birth, aging, sickness, and death—is ordained by heaven and beyond his control.”
Hearing this, Fang Shuo grew anxious.
His brain short-circuiting, he blurted out utter nonsense, “Divine Lady, actually, my father was a deeply corrupt official! He accepted bribes from merchants every single year! It's absolutely true, I swear to you! Not a single word of this is a lie!”
Yun Shu looked at Fang Shuo, who was doing everything he could to drag his own father down, completely speechless. She had no choice but to give him a good scare.
“Are you aware that if what you say is true, and Immortal Lord Tiande's mortal tribulation was fraudulent, his punishment would be far worse than simple banishment?”
“Once proven, even if he is my close friend, I will show no mercy. I will personally escort him to the Immortal-Slaying Platform, strip him of his celestial bones, and ensure he can never reincarnate as a human again.”
Just as she expected.
Fang Shuo was neither clever nor brave. Pale with fright, he began kowtowing to Yun Shu repeatedly. “I... I didn't finish what I was saying just now! My father did take a lot of money from those merchants, but not a single penny of it went into his own pocket! He used all of it to relieve the commoners and refugees! Many people in Chaoyang City know about this, I'm not lying!”
“Even though my family is very wealthy, it's all inherited ancestral wealth. It's definitely not money my father embezzled from the people while in office. My father was a very frugal man. He only spent money on me, and saved as much as he could on himself.”
His forehead struck the gravel, leaving it bloody and raw, but he didn't dare stop. Tears mingled with blood and streamed down his face.
It's all my fault. How could I be so brainless? To think I actually came up with such a terrible idea as ruining my own father's reputation.
“Divine Lady, I was wrong.”
“I just couldn't bear to lose my father. I wanted him to come back. Divine Lady, I know I was wrong. I don't want him back anymore. Please show mercy and spare my father! I was wrong...”
“Enough,” the Divine Lady sighed softly. “Fang Shuo, seeing that you recognize your mistake and are willing to correct it, you may rise.”
Fang Shuo looked up blankly. “Divine Lady, I spoke out of turn just now. Are you not going to punish me?”
“Just this once. Do not let it happen again.”
The Divine Lady's tone was indifferent.
Seeing how leniently the Divine Lady treated Fang Shuo, Shen Jue's dislike for him intensified.
Such a fool only got lucky by being born well, having a father who was an immortal reincarnate and close friends with the Divine Lady.
The more he thought about it, the more indignant he became.
Fang Shuo scrambled up from the ground.
He stood uneasily before the Divine Lady, completely unaware of the hostility Shen Jue harbored toward him from behind.
“Divine Lady, could you please be merciful and let me see my father? He hasn't even given me my courtesy name yet...”
The Divine Lady cast a glance at him. “If you can bring this safety lamp to every mine in the mortal world to accumulate merit, I will consider allowing the two of you to meet.”
Fang Shuo's face fell. “Divine Lady, that's far too difficult. I don't think I can do it at all.”
The more he spoke, the more discouraged he became. “Even if I walked until my legs broke, there's no way I could visit every single mine by myself.”
Yun Shu felt the sheer exhaustion of playing a lute to a cow.
Recalling Fang Shuo's slacker personality, she said, “I am not asking you to carry the lamp and guide the miners all by yourself.”
Fang Shuo looked utterly blank, his face practically screaming the words, “I don't understand.”
Yun Shu: “...”
“Today, I intend to go to Yecheng Academy to preach the Dao.”
Having said that, she waved her sleeve, and a pure white carriage materialized out of air. “You shall accompany me.”
She was too lazy to try and guide this stubborn ox anymore. It would be much easier to hand him over to Shen Yu and let him torment him instead, saving her the trouble.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the celestial carriage took flight and left the mine.
“We respectfully send off the Divine Lady...”
Kneeling among the crowd, Shen Jue stared up at the celestial carriage as it slowly vanished into the horizon, his hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides.
He did not understand what he had done wrong to make the Divine Lady dislike him more and more, distancing herself from him.
A wave of negative emotions weighed heavily on his chest, suddenly making it difficult for him to breathe.
Once upon a time, he had looked down on his father's concubines, who did nothing but fight for favor in the inner courtyard all day long.
But now, how was he any different from them? In fact, he was even worse off. At least his father's concubines had an official status, whereas he was merely a believer of the Divine Lady.
...
The celestial carriage soared over mountains and through forests.
Fang Shuo sat outside the carriage, carefully wiping the coal dust from his hands and face, terrified of dirtying the Divine Lady's ride.
Nestled in Yun Shu's arms, the little fox grumbled, “Host, is this Fang Shuo an idiot? How has he not realized that our Floating Dream Celestial Litter has an automatic self-cleaning function?”
Yun Shu stroked the little fox's head. “For the sake of Fang Shuo helping us smoothly take over Chaoyang City and earn a massive amount of Shock Value, let's bear with him a little longer.”
The Floating Dream Celestial Litter traveled incredibly fast. In just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, they arrived at Yecheng Academy.
Before the celestial carriage could even touch down...
A solemn silence had already fallen over the academy gates.
Shen Yu, Cheng Ji, and others stood with the academy's scholars, lining both sides of the path. Their attire was immaculate, and their expressions were deeply respectful.
The bluestone path stretching from the main entrance to the main hall had been meticulously swept and washed with fresh water, leaving not a single fallen leaf in sight.
“The Divine Lady is here,” Shen Yu murmured softly.
Everyone looked up in unison.
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