The Evil Deity's Second Career - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As the seasons cycled through heat and cold, the surrounding temples continued to enjoy a steady stream of incense and offerings, while I remained destitute.

I might as well just sleep.

But this particular slumber was far from peaceful.

A cacophony of noise kept ringing in my ears, making it impossible to stay asleep.

“Shi Jia, don’t think I won’t hit you just because you’re my friend.”

I opened my eyes and was nearly blinded by a flash of golden light.

After closing them for a moment to recover, I opened them again and looked toward the source of the brilliance. I was genuinely startled. Who had been so kind as to give me a golden body?

I stood there at a loss, clutching my shimmering golden robes.

Shi Jia was hiding outside my temple, secretly wiping away tears. When he realized I had spotted him, he tried to run away.

“Why are you running?”

I caught him, and Shi Jia clutched his handkerchief, sobbing loudly.

“Zhu, your good days are finally coming. I’m just so happy for you.”

I turned to look at the people currently gilding my statue, my face full of confusion.

“Why are they giving me a golden body?”

Shi Jia stopped crying and reverted to his usual loud-mouthed self. “How should I know? Don’t worry about it. Getting a full meal is what matters.”

The deities from next door all came over to watch the spectacle. My dilapidated little temple had never seen so many people.

“Zhu, what kind of luck have you stumbled into? No one has given me a golden body in all these years.”

“Exactly, exactly. Zhu, you really have a blessed life.”

“Hey, Zhu, what exactly are you the deity of? We still don’t even know after all this time.”

Shi Jia chased them all out, standing at the door with his hands on his hips. “None of your business! Out, out, out! All of you, leave!”

I thought those people were just there to gild my statue, but to my surprise, they used a large crate to uproot me and pack me inside.

As the wheels began to roll away, Shi Jia ran alongside, shouting, “Zhu, you have to be happy!”

“And don’t you dare forget me!”

I slept for the entire duration of the journey.

It wasn’t until someone opened the lid of the crate that I could see again.

I had arrived inside a magnificent palace, one even more beautiful than Zhao Caishen’s.

“Your Highness, everything has been handled.”

“You have done well. Go and receive your reward.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

A woman dressed in palace robes of gold-woven cloud brocade walked toward me with graceful steps. She looked familiar, as if I had seen her before. It wasn’t until she drew closer that I recognized her: she was the woman who had knelt before me crying on that rainy night.

She had gold leaf pressed onto her forehead and wore pure gold hairpins; she was a completely different person from the one I had first met.

A pair of hands with crimson-stained nails brushed over the gold plates on my body. “The application is quite fine. I wonder if the deity is satisfied?” As her fingers moved, the faint, cold fragrance drifting from her sleeves kept wafting into my nose.

“I’m quite satisfied, but could you please stop touching me?”

I frowned and spoke with displeasure.

“Who is there?!”

The woman seemed startled, jumping back a few steps in terror like a cat that had its tail stepped on.

What was wrong with her?

I looked at her in confusion. she leaned in closer again, her eyes fixed on me without blinking.

“I am not used to being so close to people.”

“Ah!”

With another sharp scream, the woman’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted right in front of me.