Ch 52: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

“You have a very unusual body.”

“And you are?” Lu Yao sized up the straw-hatted little person, a suspicion forming in her mind.

The little person straightened slowly and removed his straw hat.

When Lu Yao saw his face, her certainty wavered.

He had crimson eyes similar to Yingtong’s, but unlike Yingtong’s sharp, vibrant gaze, his eyes were dull and lifeless. His short, pale-golden hair framed a face with a terrifying scar: the right half appeared to have been severely injured, with the skin stripped away, leaving large patches of raw, pale pink scars.

He was wrapped in a dusty animal hide, exuding an air of desolation. From his left wrist sprouted a moonflower stem.

“My name is Lingyao. I’d like to request a guest room.”

The previously aggressive tone seemed only to have been meant to draw attention. When Lingyao spoke again, his voice was calm and polite, as if he were a different person.

Lu Yao turned and walked ahead, motioning for Lingyao to follow. After a few steps, she noticed Yingtong wasn’t moving. She stopped and called back to him, “Yingtong, let’s go. Breakfast includes your favorite shrimp dumplings.”

“I don’t even like shrimp dumplings,” Yingtong retorted.

“I’m also making sea urchin steamed egg, beef potstickers, and your favorite brown sugar glutinous rice cakes,” Lu Yao added casually.

Yingtong: “…”

Lingyao glanced back at Yingtong, a flicker of strange light in his dull eyes.

The inn was particularly lively in the morning. The moment they stepped inside, the warm aroma of food filled the air. Every guest room had occupants.

Lingyao’s scars were truly startling, drawing countless stares as he entered.

He checked into the Treehouse Rooms and spent the entire day wandering around the inn, eating and idly exploring.

His appearance clearly suggested he was from the Shenmu tribe.

But none of the Shenmu tribe members recognized him.

The Shenmu tribe had always been small in number, with every member carefully recorded.

Lu Yao discreetly took a photo of Lingyao and showed it to the elder chieftain, who confirmed that there had been no such person in their tribe in the past 600 years.

Neither Lingyao’s name nor appearance matched anyone in their records.

Late at night, Lingyao came to find Lu Yao. His dark red eyes stared at her intensely. “May I tell you my wish?”

Lu Yao had suspected it all along—this little person was the god of the Nitean continent.

Lingyao didn’t want to talk inside the inn and asked Lu Yao to accompany him to the new sacred tree.

Lu Yao grabbed a coat, tucked her phone into her pocket, and followed him outside.

During the peak sunny season, Nitean’s daylight lasted under three suns, but at night, only one moon remained.

The night was cool and tranquil, the valley utterly silent.

There wasn’t a breath of wind, only the soft silver glow of string lights on either side of the fence, casting a hazy luminescence.

Lingyao refused to be carried in Lu Yao’s palm, walking ahead on his own, leaving her to carefully follow behind.

Over the past few days, Lu Yao had been nurturing the sacred tree with the divine powers of the Deep Sea Goddess and the Goddess of Abundance. It had grown rapidly and now reached her knee.

Standing before the budding sacred tree, Lingyao’s dim red eyes flickered with a faint glow. He extended his hand carefully, almost touching the tender new leaves, but hesitated and withdrew it. Letting out a wistful sigh, he turned to look at Lu Yao.

“That red-eyed boy likes you,” the god remarked.

Lu Yao: “…”

Her first encounter with a gossiping god.

“I’m envious,” Lingyao added, striding to the half-meter-tall brick fence. He lightly jumped onto it, sat cross-legged, and patted the spot beside him. “Come, sit here.”

Lu Yao: “…Alright.”

Lingyao: “Do you know the story of the sacred tree?”

Lu Yao shook her head. “Does it have anything to do with your wish?”

This kind of opening was all too familiar to her.

She didn’t mind hearing a story but preferred skipping the long prelude and getting straight to the point.

Lingyao: “Yes, it’s related to my wish.”

Well, there was no avoiding it.

Lu Yao indicated her willingness to listen.

About 30,000 years ago, the goddess who ruled the Nitean continent wasn’t Lingyao but the Sun Goddess, Yangxi.

True to her name, the Sun Goddess Yangxi was like a warm sun that illuminated the world with her radiance. She doted on her people, granting nearly every request and even sharing some of her divine power with them.

Unfortunately, human greed knew no bounds, and they failed to restrain themselves.

When Yangxi discovered that some of her people were abusing the divine power, she punished them and withdrew part of it. This, however, incurred humanity’s resentment.

20,000 years ago, greedy and depraved humans organized a grand “god-hunting contest.”

They sought to kill the goddess and divide her divine power among themselves.

Lu Yao found this absurd. “Humans could oppose a god?”

Lingyao sneered. “Human souls are the filthiest. They’re easily tempted by desire, like overinflated balloons, oblivious to their limits and imagining themselves the masters of the world. Even gods can become their prey.”

Lu Yao fell silent.

Born as a human…

The Sun Goddess was heartbroken by her failure to guide her people properly. Yet, as the Sun Goddess, her compassion was boundless. Even at the end, she couldn’t bring herself to destroy her people.

At the time, the goddess had a divine messenger named Ling.

Ling, seeing greedy humans continually harm the goddess, began secretly eliminating them.

As a divine messenger, he shouldn’t have misused his power in this way.

But Ling couldn’t stop himself.

His once beautiful grayish-blue eyes became tainted with blood-red hues until the goddess noticed his actions.

The divine messenger fell into darkness and turned against the goddess.

The Sun Goddess’s divine power waned, throwing the world into chaos.

At that time, the god-slayers were even more ruthless than now. They would sniff out even the slightest trace of sin, hunting down gods like rabid dogs and delighting in their slaughter.

It was then Ling realized that he had hurt the goddess far more deeply than the humans had.

Before the god-slayers discovered them, the Sun Goddess split her divine essence. Half became the sacred tree to support the world, and the other half was forcibly given to Ling to elevate him to godhood.

The divine messenger Ling became the new god, Lingyao.

The first thing Lingyao did after ascending to godhood was to erase humanity.

For the next 10,000 years, Lingyao guarded the sacred tree, awaiting judgment from the god-slayers.

But they never came.

One day, 10,000 years later, Lingyao, exhausted, collapsed beneath the sacred tree. A tiny fruit fell from the tree and hit him on the head.

This was the birth of the Nitean little people.

The newborn little humans grew to the size of a thumb, naturally pure-hearted, with lifespans three times that of ordinary humans, and an extraordinary attachment to Lingyao.

But Lingyao hated these little people.

He sensed the sacred tree’s power was fading. Though the loss was gradual, it would eventually run out.

Lingyao erased all remnants of human civilization, assigned roles to the little people, and bestowed upon them a small amount of survival knowledge. He forbade intermarriage between tribes and left behind the terrifying legends of the big humans before departing from the sacred tree.

Lu Yao: “Why forbid inter-tribal marriage?”

Lingyao: “It might make them grow brains.”

Lu Yao: “…What do you mean?”

Lingyao: “Without restrictions, they’ll eventually become as greedy, arrogant, and ugly as the big humans. But within their small bodies, it’s even more revolting.”

Lu Yao: “…And what have you been doing for the past 10,000 years?”

Lingyao’s expression changed. The sinister aura surrounding him dissipated, and he became solemn. “I’ve been searching for a way to bring her back. For 10,000 years, there’s been nothing out there. But then, you came.”

Lu Yao felt a growing sense of unease. “…What do you mean?”

Lingyao’s gaze softened unnaturally as he looked at her. “You have a very special body.”

Lu Yao stood abruptly and turned to leave.

Though she didn’t know exactly what Lingyao intended, her internal alarm was blaring like crazy.

The next second, Lu Yao’s body became immobile.

Lingyao, a fallen god turned dark deity, was consumed by obsession, becoming a twisted force.

He leapt onto Lu Yao’s shoulder and gently nuzzled her cool skin. “You’re such a perceptive human, even waking her ahead of time. Your body is truly worthy of her.”

Whizz! A slender rod flew past, grazing Lingyao’s cheek, leaving a milky-white liquid dripping from the wound.

From the shadows emerged Yingtong, holding a small golden lotus in his hand. He coldly glared at Lingyao. “A mere fallen god dares dream of reviving a goddess. That’s forgivable. But you shouldn’t have set your sights on her.”

Lingyao wiped the “blood” from his cheek with the back of his hand and sneered, “And you, a mere fallen being, covet what isn’t yours. Let me deal with you first, then strip her soul away. All I need is the body.”

Lu Yao: “…”

How spectacular could a fight between a fallen god and a god-slayer be?

Before Lu Yao’s mental commentary concluded, Lingyao had already been forced to his knees, coughing blood under Yingtong’s pressure.

Apparently, Lingyao wasn’t exactly a combat-oriented god.

Coughing up white blood, Lingyao scoffed disdainfully, “Kill me, and she’ll be trapped here too. Isn’t that interesting? Go ahead, do it!”

Suddenly, a breeze stirred the stagnant air. The binding force on Lu Yao was released as the surrounding space regained its flow.

She turned to glance at the young Yangju tree behind her, then approached Yingtong, stopping to look down at Lingyao. “What exactly is your wish? Maybe I can help fulfill it.”

Lingyao sneered. “You?”

Lu Yao nodded. “Me.”

The god-slayer beside her was terrifyingly powerful. Lingyao clearly couldn’t win.

Thinking quickly, Lingyao decided to stall for time. He replied casually, “I want… I want to guard her again, to accompany her, as I did ten thousand years ago. I would never betray her again.”

Lu Yao: “That’s all?”

Lingyao mocked, “That’s all. But I doubt this god-slayer will let me go so easily.”

Lu Yao glanced at Yingtong.

Yingtong loosened his grip.

Lingyao: “…”

Lu Yao looked at the scar on Lingyao’s face, already scabbed over. “Why is your blood milky white?”

Lingyao: “It’s nothing. My true form is a flower.”

Lu Yao: “An Acorus?”

Lingyao remained silent.

That was as good as an admission.

The Acorus had always grown alongside the yangju tree. Even when Lingyao left the sacred tree, the Acorus remained to accompany it.

While the yangju tree expended its divine power to nurture new humans, Lingyao used his own power to sustain it.

Later, the Shenmu tribe began using Acorus dew to water the yangju tree.

Lu Yao whispered a few words to Yingtong.

The night passed, and as dawn’s first light broke over the horizon, a tiny budding white Acorus appeared beneath the young Yangju tree.

Lu Yao asked, “Without gods, what will happen to this world?”

Yingtong shook his head. “This world already has a new god. Everything will continue as it is.”

A new god?

When had that happened?

Lu Yao was more concerned about the mission. Lingyao had technically been “executed,” but would that count as fulfilling his wish?

Yingtong: “I’m leaving.”

Lu Yao dropped her scattered thoughts and asked in surprise, “So soon?”

Yingtong: “Yes. Oh, come here for a moment.”

Lu Yao leaned in.

Yingtong whispered in her ear, “The way Nitean little people obtain a fetus seed is…”

Lu Yao’s eyes widened. “It’s that simple?”

Yingtong nodded, about to warn her not to try it recklessly.

Lu Yao reached out and lightly poked Yingtong’s navel three times.

Poof!

A small flower bloomed on top of Yingtong’s head, its five round petals unfolding in a fiery red.

Lu Yao exclaimed in surprise, “It’s that easy!”

Yingtong: “…”

He covered his head, glared at Lu Yao furiously, then turned and ran off.

He never appeared again.

Lu Yao watered the yangju sapling and the Acorus nestled beside it before heading back to the inn.

As she stepped through the door, a thin slip of paper fluttered down.

Catching it, Lu Yao found four words written on it:

“Do Not Disturb Ascension.”

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️