Constantine sat on the ground. The passage to Hell had now been opened.
Groups of people poured in from the mortal world.
When they saw the blood everywhere,
cries rose one after another.
"Oh my god… the boss has pacified Hell!"
"He really is the chief priest—astonishing…"
"Where's Satan? Don't tell me he's dead too!"
Under the tide of praise, Constantine's handsome face grew redder and redder.
He didn't even dare clear his throat.
If they kept bragging like this, he really wouldn't be able to keep a straight face.
"All right, knock it off. The goddess did this. I was just the audience."
"Uh…"
The believers looked a bit embarrassed, but their enthusiasm quickly returned.
Either way—whether it was the chief priest or the goddess—Hell was finished.
That was enough.
Spreading the faith would be even easier from now on.
If anyone refused to believe, they could come tour Hell and see for themselves.
Simple and to the point.
Prisoners who used to be hard to manage in regular prisons? Just throw them straight into Hell.
If that didn't straighten them out, nothing would.
Although Satan, the ruler of Hell, was dead, there were still many demons left to be cleaned up by Constantine and the others.
That would take time.
For the next few months, most likely,
he wouldn't be able to get away.
…
On the other side—
El Quette stepped down from the altar, a charming blush on her face, humming a little tune as she walked toward the temple.
She ran into Baguio along the way.
Seeing her, Baguio's expression brightened—
and then her heart thumped hard.
"El Quette, why are you back so soon? Is it done?"
"Done."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing much. I killed the demon kings of Hell and its lord and came back. I feel much better. Thanks."
With that, she kept walking, smiling.
She didn't see Baguio's stricken look.
Good grief, the killing intent is off the charts.
Punishment was probably unavoidable.
And yet, strangely, she hadn't seen a single goddess show up beside El Quette to pronounce sentence.
Could there be some trick to it?
Baguio tilted her head, thinking of Ishtar's case.
She finally decided:
God had intervened because that girl had destroyed human living environments.
But El Quette had been in Hell.
So it was fine.
"In other words, as long as I don't interfere with human affairs, I can play however I like?"
An impish light flashed across Baguio's face.
She rubbed her hands together in excitement.
In the distant Qinglin Temple,
Liu Che kept shaking his head as Baguio's voice carried over. All of them problem girls.
Clack.
A chess piece landed.
Miaoshan, seated opposite him, saw him smiling and couldn't help asking, "What's making God laugh?"
Now that the knot in her heart had loosened,
she was approachable again.
When God invited her to play chess, she readily agreed.
The chessboard was woven from stars.
It wasn't Go.
It was a starry grid—lines as rules, planets as pieces.
Calling it "chess" wasn't quite right; it was more like a lesson in applying the laws.
A number of goddesses stood nearby to watch.
In addition to a few senior figures, Yang Chan and several other goddesses were present.
Only, this sister of Erlang Shen wasn't focused on the laws at all; she kept staring at Miaoshan.
Miaoshan knew the girl was curious,
but there was no time to explain now.
She only gave her a gentle smile.
"I'm smiling for this shrine," Liu Che said. "When I created the world, there was only one person. So when you come here, your strength grows. I hope that, across the long years, you can help me ease my boredom…"
Yang Chan cocked her head. "Is God lonely?"
"Boredom is a kind of loneliness," he said. "The world of gods is full of scheming. I expect a war of gods before long. In the end, those who can truly be in tune with me are you goddesses."
It was the plain truth.
The god-realm was vast,
but the law of the jungle reigned.
The strong devoured the weak. To cultivate a mighty deity, countless lives could be sacrificed without the least qualm.
He used the Myriad Worlds as a ranch—by comparison, it was nothing at all.
Many gods, to keep their believers,
even caused natural disasters themselves.
Then, after the destruction, they gathered a new flock. With enough wealth and power, they did as they pleased.
Liu Che was the opposite.
He valued human nature more.
Especially since comprehending the Way of Emotion, he felt the seven emotions and six desires were normal.
So in the shrine, he never overcontrolled the goddesses; as long as they didn't make catastrophic mistakes, he let the smaller mischiefs go.
He didn't suppress their natures.
Kikyo was brewing tea; when she heard Liu Che's words, she covered her mouth and smiled. "Precisely because of that, many sisters are afraid of being overlooked."
Liu Che smiled at that,
but didn't answer.
Yang Chan, sitting beside him, had a faint blush on her cheeks.
She'd never experienced romance.
Facing God and the other women every day was… enviable.
Commonly known as "burning eyes."
And with what she heard and saw—how good God was—
Liu Che's shadow had slowly settled into Yang Chan's heart.
From fear at the beginning,
to calm,
and now to anticipation.
It had taken only a little over a month.
If she were overlooked, she'd probably end up like the ordinary goddesses—riding cranes and wandering the god-realm every day.
The goddesses God favored could stay by His side.
After a while, the game ended.
Miaoshan made a single misstep and lost the whole board.
Liu Che stood and smiled. "You continue. I'll take care of some matters."
"Yes."
He faded into nothingness and returned to the god-realm proper.
Yang Chan seized the opportunity and said to Miaoshan, "I want to talk with you—would that be all right?"
"Of course."
Miaoshan arched a brow and answered with a smile.
The two went together to Yang Chan's quarters—a small courtyard within a hall.
The scenery was exquisite:
mountains and water, beautiful peach blossoms.
"Sister Miaoshan, are you really the Bodhisattva Guanyin from my world?"
"Guanshiyin is dead. I am only Miaoshan, a goddess of the Eternal God."
She spoke evenly, without joy or anger, very calm.
Yang Chan hesitated for a moment and asked in a small voice, "If God told you to… to wait upon Him, what would you do? Cater to Him, or refuse?"
"So you're asking me in place of asking yourself, aren't you?"
Miaoshan finally understood.
No wonder the girl had been watching her earlier—she was tangled up over this.
It was almost funny.
Who would have thought Yang Jian's sister could be so "cute."
Innocent, really.
"I… I don't know."
Yang Chan lowered her head, pouting slightly, fingers rubbing the hem of her clothes.
She'd never liked any other man.
In her heart, her second brother had always been the strongest—the one she admired most.
But when the Eternal God appeared,
the shadow in her heart had been replaced without her noticing.
That left her both worried and afraid.
Miaoshan watched the peach blossoms in the distance and said softly, "If you come, be at peace. That's a saying among our people: it means you can't defy fate, so better to be calm.
"That is how I speak to myself now.
"After I recovered my emotions, I blamed myself. I had done good deeds, and yet I had abetted the wicked.
"Only after spending time with God
"did I understand that I'd thought too much.
"In God's heart, the mistake is not admitting the past—not acknowledging one's own heart. Here there is no shortage of time, no sorrows of mortality.
"So why not follow your heart?"
Follow your heart.
That was Miaoshan's conclusion.
Combined with Liu Che's words and deeds and his way with all the goddesses,
she believed it.
Since she had given her promise to God in this life, whatever He wished was reasonable, and should be.
As God had said just now—
beyond strength, He sought a true partner, one who could soothe His mind.
Yang Chan understood.
She smiled. "Thank you for your advice. I understand."
With the knot untied, her spirits lifted.
In any case, living happily each day was enough. If she liked Him, she liked Him. No more resisting.
That was enough.
…
In the god-realm proper—
a man stood before Liu Che.
He was very tall.
He had creation-stage strength and looked at Liu Che with a cool, indifferent stare.
"I heard you have something going on with Xiao Luan?"
"And who are you?"
Liu Che's tone was cold; he showed the other man no courtesy.
A mere creation-stage god
daring to posture before him—another fool playing at garlic.
Because of his teacher, too?
A love rival?
What did that have to do with him?
Hearing Liu Che's tone, the god in glazed armor bared his teeth. "A new arrival dares speak to me like that? Didn't your teacher tell you—before a creation-stage god, you should show proper humility?"
"Idiot."
Liu Che couldn't be bothered to waste words. He gathered three laws into a single punch.
They traded blows.
The nearby buildings powdered to dust.
Time and space twisted and shattered, turning upside down.
"Bl—!"
The Golden-Armored God had assumed Liu Che only possessed high-god strength and held back. With just that one punch,
he was nearly killed.
Three laws:
the Law of Love weakened his will to fight;
the Law of Time churned the flow of moments around them;
the Law of Fire became boundless force, hammering his body head-on.
A divine treasure at the main-god level—
shattered on the spot.
The golden-armored creation god went flying.
Liu Che's face was like ice. "Who do you take me for? A mere creation-stage god dares yelp at me? Courting death…"
His eyes flashed.
Time reversed. Time froze. Time jumped.
He punched again.
The so-called creation-stage god, without landing a single effective strike, became nothing more than Liu Che's sandbag.
He hadn't intended to expose his true strength.
But before this idiot—
he struck anyway, for a simple reason:
to establish authority.
If you don't accept it, come take your turn.
The terrifying spectacle drew the eyes of countless gods.
But the long river of time swelled up and blocked their view.