The Evil Deity's Second Career - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

This wasn’t the first time I had felt pity for a mortal.

Once before, I had stumbled quite badly because of it.

Nevertheless, I decided to give Ji Lanci a hand, if only for the incense she offered me.

“It’s been so long, yet I still don’t know which deity you are, My Lord.”

I looked up and stood, facing my sole believer.

“I am Zhu.”

Ji Lanci wanted to laugh, but she didn’t dare.

“Are you serious, My Lord?”

What was there to be serious or fake about? I had no reason to deceive anyone.

“Of course. I am Zhu.”

Seeing that Ji Lanci still looked like she wanted to believe but didn’t quite dare to, I grew a bit impatient. “It’s normal if you haven’t heard of me, but centuries ago, my name was known to everyone. Anyone who wanted to achieve great deeds on the battlefield, be granted a title, or become a high official had to come and pay their respects to me.”

“And then?”

Then…

Then came an era of peace and prosperity, and I was no longer needed. Naturally, I was forgotten by the world.

“Then, I became what you see now.”

Ji Lanci fell silent.

After a moment, she pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to me. “Which character is your name?”

I glanced at it. She had written down every character she could think of that sounded like the name, but not a single one was correct.

“This one.”

“Zhu? Like the color vermilion? That’s a good one! There’s an old poem that says: ‘Behind the vermilion gates, meat and wine go to waste…'”

“Add the radical for ‘speech’ to the side.”

Ji Lanci swallowed the rest of her words.

She gave a forced smile. “So, My Lord is actually Zhu-as in ‘to execute’!”

I arched an eyebrow. “You’ve heard of it?”

Ji Lanci replied, “I just did.”

…

Ji Lanci was truly a resilient woman. Even though she was stuck in the Cold Palace where no one cared for her, she lived quite vibrantly and never neglected me in the slightest.

Every day, I was able to eat fresh incense and candles. This was all thanks to Ji Lanci spending her silver to grease palms and buy them for me.

“Am I eating a bit too much?”

“Actually, I don’t need to eat such expensive ones.”

Ji Lanci didn’t see it that way. “I was the one who invited you back, My Lord, so naturally I won’t mistreat you. Rest assured, as long as I am around, I will make sure you eat the best and most expensive offerings.”

I was quite moved by her words. I thought she had some secret plan or backup.

But later, the gold and silver she had brought with her grew less and less, until the bottom of the chest was visible.

Only then did I realize Ji Lanci had nothing left. She was just like her father-a braggart.

I was panicking, but Ji Lanci wasn’t.

She even gave her last piece of gold to the guard at the entrance of the Cold Palace.

I was baffled. “If you give that to him, what will we do?”

Ji Lanci didn’t explain much, only saying, “You have to bait the hook to catch the fish.”

“Did your father teach you that too?”

“Yes.”

I decided to let her be. She had her own rhythm.