Who wants to become a god? Aren't you all forcing me?

#484 - Chapter 483 That's Not a Lie

Xiang Nanzhi scratched his head and chuckled.

"However..." The Northern Yin Emperor changed his tone: "Your brain is working in the wrong direction. The Underworld doesn't plan to rescue Li Ji this time. Just stay here and behave yourself during this period, and don't run around."

"Not rescue him?"

Xiang Nanzhi raised a single eyebrow, a glint of wisdom flashing in his eyes.

The Emperor is worried that I'll mess things up and doesn't want me to interfere!

Thinking of this, Xiang Nanzhi bent down, picked up a starch sausage, and handed it to the Northern Yin Emperor with great enthusiasm.

"Emperor, don't think I'm usually careless and sloppy. When you truly understand me, you'll find that I'm a serious, stern, and considerate person.

If you don't believe me, you can ask King Yama. He can vouch for me, so you don't have to worry that my involvement will make things worse. To say nothing else, just..."

Xiang Nanzhi was about to gesture when the Northern Yin Emperor directly interrupted him, abruptly asking, "Have you ever thought about what the Underworld would face if it interfered in Li Ji's matter?"

"Face what?" Xiang Nanzhi was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting the topic to change so abruptly.

The Northern Yin Emperor crossed his legs and asked calmly, "Everyone knows that Li Ji and Li Chenqiu have a close relationship. If the Underworld interferes in this matter, what do you think the outside world will think?"

Xiang Nanzhi restrained his smile: "The outside world... the outside world will think that there might be a connection between Li Chenqiu and the Underworld."

The Northern Yin Emperor raised a finger: "That's one thing. If it were just that, I could take action and do Li Chenqiu a favor, but unfortunately, there's no 'if'.

When Li Chenqiu enters the Antonomy Department later and wants to compete for the position of Director, he will definitely need to rely on the Ying family's power. If we save Li Ji, everyone will suspect the relationship between the Underworld and the Ying family at that time.

In addition, the Underworld and the Ying family have a history of cooperation. Li Chenqiu's path to becoming the Director will only become more difficult, and the Ying family will be caught in a whirlpool of public opinion. If other consortiums push at this time..."

The Northern Yin Emperor paused, his gaze becoming even deeper: "The six major consortiums may become five major consortiums. Do you understand now?"

"This..." Xiang Nanzhi pursed his lips and finally nodded: "I understand, but can Li Chenqiu understand? If you do this, I'm afraid it will disappoint him..."

The Northern Yin Emperor said softly, "He will understand."

"Impossible. Based on my understanding of Li Chenqiu, even if he understands the reason why the Underworld is doing this, he won't..."

"If you don't tell him, he will understand. Do you understand now?"

Xiang Nanzhi asked in disbelief, "You... you lied to him?"

The Northern Yin Emperor stood up, put his hand on Xiang Nanzhi's shoulder: "That's a benevolent lie, a reassuring lie. Even if I don't see him, the result won't change, so—that's not a lie."

...

In the dark cave, the flames flickered, dispelling the surrounding darkness.

Li Chenqiu, with dull and lifeless eyes, sat cross-legged in front of the fire, propping his chin with one hand, his dark eyes reflecting the alternating light and darkness of the fire.

"Boss... what do you think I should do to save you?"

Li Chenqiu murmured to himself, weariness wrapping around each word, as if a gust of wind could blow the sentence apart at any moment.

Whoosh—

The early autumn wind rushed into the cave, ruthlessly extinguishing the fire, and the cave fell into darkness.

Li Chenqiu did not relight the fire. He groped in the dark, took out the Winter Night Painting and the Finishing Touch Brush from his space ring, and jumped into it.

In the Winter Night Painting, the wind and snow continued, and the small wooden house sat quietly at the foot of the mountain. Nothing had changed.

Li Chenqiu tightened his clothes, hunched his back slightly, and walked step by step towards the small wooden house.

"It's strange, why can't this charcoal be lit?"

Fu Yuesheng squatted in front of the barbecue grill, looking at the instructions with a focused expression, not even noticing that Li Chenqiu had entered the Winter Night Painting.

"Is anyone there?" Li Chenqiu's voice came from outside the door.

"Huh?!"

Fu Yuesheng straightened his back, his face filled with joy. He hurriedly came to the closed wooden door with the instructions in hand, and after controlling his facial expressions, slowly opened the door.

"If there are no accidents, I should all..."

Fu Yuesheng's voice suddenly stopped. He squinted his eyes and sized Li Chenqiu up and down: "Why do you look so depressed? Did something happen?"

Li Chenqiu simply replied, "Yes, something happened."

Fu Yuesheng gestured towards the door: "Sit down and talk about it."

"Okay."

Li Chenqiu came to the door and sat down.

Fu Yuesheng took a cushion and placed it on the ground, plopping down on it: "Tell me, what happened to make you look like this? I'm quite curious."

In the time that followed, Li Chenqiu told everything that had happened in the past few days in detail. Because Fu Yuesheng had been imprisoned for hundreds of years, he didn't understand many things.

Li Chenqiu explained as he spoke, spending several hours to give Fu Yuesheng a general understanding.

"Tian Yuan Federation, Antonomy Department, Consortiums, Underworld... the outside world is really interesting. I wish I could go out," Fu Yuesheng said with emotion, his eyes full of longing.

"There will be such a day."

"I hope I don't have to wait too long." Fu Yuesheng smiled slightly and turned his gaze to Li Chenqiu: "What are you going to do next?"

Li Chenqiu smiled bitterly: "I... I don't know. It seems I can only wait."

"Didn't that Northern Yin Emperor say that your boss has a special status and won't die so easily, and isn't he the strongest Resurgent? Since he promised to save him, what do you have to worry about?"

Fu Yuesheng comforted him.

Li Chenqiu stuck his fingers into the snow in front of the door and drew circles: "If there's really a high probability that my boss won't die, then why did the Northern Yin Emperor want to confirm whether I, who was imprisoned in the Antonomy Department, was a Shadow Acacia Body?

There's only one possibility. He's afraid that my real body is outside, hearing some bad news, doing something irrational, and exposing my identity.

The words he said later, I feel, were all to comfort me. My boss is just a Resurgent now. I'm too clear about the Celestials' hostility towards Resurgents. No one will protect him.

As for the so-called secret operation, trying to find a way to rescue him, I feel that the chances of success are not high. The Underworld is a Resurgent force. How much power can it have in this kind of official institution... the chances of success are slim!"

Fu Yuesheng shook his head and chuckled: "People! They always like to worry about things they can't change. There's no difference between living a painful day and living a happy day.

So why make yourself suffer? Just leave it to fate. Maybe you'll wake up one day and things will take a turn for the better!"

Li Chenqiu propped his forehead with one hand, hiding his entire face in the shadows: "But... but what if my boss just dies after I wake up? What should I do?

I don't want to gamble... my mom is already gone, my best friend is also far away, my second brother has also disappeared, I have no one around me... I can't afford to gamble, I dare not gamble, I want my boss to live well..."