"You little wild girl, when did you sneak out!" The village chief pulled He Yao behind him, his face wary as he looked at the woman in front of him, and signaled the villagers not to act rashly.
"Are you Lu Zhi?" The woman took out a faded photograph from her pocket, scrutinizing Lu Zhi from head to toe, her face filled with surprise. "You've changed so much since you were eighteen."
Lu Zhi: ...Thanks, that was a veiled insult.
At the same time, Lu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. At least from her demeanor, he could temporarily confirm she meant no harm.
"Hello, my name is Li Mei." Li Mei extended her slender hand amicably to Lu Zhi and said, "I am your brother's subordinate."
Lu Zhi's half-extended hand stopped. "My brother?" he asked doubtfully. The original owner's memory only contained deceased parents, no other relatives. He asked suspiciously, "Are you mistaken?"
Li Mei clasped her hands on her chest and slowly said, "Your name is Lu Zhi, you live in Qinghe Village, your mother's name is Liu Panqing, and your father's name is Lu Yi. They both died ten years ago in a landslide, but they were not your biological parents."
As she spoke, Li Mei handed him the photograph and said, "If you don't believe me, we can go to the hospital for a DNA test."
Seeing that Li Mei's eyes did not look like she was lying, Lu Zhi hesitated and asked curiously, "Then my brother... what's his name?"
Li Mei: "Lu Chengxuan."
Lu Zhi: !!!
What the heck? Lu Chengxuan, the villainous boss who spanned the entire book?
Lu Zhi recalled a part of the book that was briefly mentioned: Lu Chengxuan had a younger brother who was snatched away at birth. When he was later found, he was already dead. From then on, Lu Chengxuan had no weaknesses.
Lu Zhi thought he had transmigrated into a mere passerby in the book, but he hadn't expected to be the biological younger brother of the great villain!
"Speaking of which, what's with all the blood on you?" Li Mei had wanted to ask for a while.
Lu Zhi snapped back from his shock. What he had intended to say as a white lie suddenly changed, "This morning, a group of people came to our village and threatened to kill the villagers if I didn't take them to the ruins."
Li Mei suddenly grabbed his shoulders excitedly, "Ruins? There are ruins near your village?"
Lu Zhi's eyes flickered slightly as he nodded, "Yes, it's the temple of our village's guardian deity."
"Where is it! Can you take me there?" Li Mei asked urgently.
Lu Zhi hesitated, his face solemn as he warned, "You'd better not go. I'm afraid you'll go mad like those people when you get close to the temple. The blood on me is from when they killed each other."
Lu Zhi was not lying, and he remembered this Li Mei was indeed Lu Chengxuan's subordinate. While searching for Lu Chengxuan's brother, she discovered the divine ruins here and ultimately did not make it out alive.
But telling her now was fine. Once the divine tomb of the divine ruins was opened, there were only two ways to close it: either everyone who entered died; or they successfully made a pact with the deity and walked out of the tomb alive.
And Lu Zhi was the sole survivor.
Although he didn't know which deity he had made a pact with, he was sure that the ruins here were no longer dangerous.
"You're saying those people are dead?" Li Mei was not scared but very excited, taking out her phone and speaking to someone on the other end.
Lu Zhi's eyes flickered. Li Mei's personality was such that she wouldn't shed a tear until she saw the coffin. She would definitely go to the ruins to check for herself. At that time, the traitor by Li Mei's side would leak the news for profit, and the location of the ruins would be exposed. Then those people would stop bothering the villagers of Qinghe Village.
After all, most of those who became divine envoys believed themselves to be superior and disdained to pay attention to ordinary mortals.
"I can tell you the location. The ruins are next to the waterfall upstream. You'll see it when you get there." Lu Zhi deliberately showed fear, pursed his lips, "I'll go home first to change my clothes, and then I'll go with you to the hospital for a DNA test."
Li Mei's mind was entirely on the ruins now. She vaguely nodded at him.
Lu Zhi walked into the village. The villagers crowded around him, their words a jumble of concern, curiosity, and worry.
Looking at the kind and honest faces before him, Lu Zhi said seriously and solemnly, "Those people disappeared suddenly after entering the temple. I'm afraid the guardian deity is angry. We'd best not approach the temple carelessly."
The villagers were a little scared seeing the blood on Lu Zhi. Coupled with their inherent reverence for the gods, they had always knelt to the ruins from across the river. Now, they dared not approach even more.
Soon, everyone dispersed.
"Little Lu." The village chief called out to Lu Zhi, his face somber. "Come with me."
He Yao also wanted to follow, but the village chief sent her away.
The village chief's house was opposite Lu Zhi's. After entering, the village chief went into a room, took out a box, and handed it to him, sighing. "I believe you understand what I mean by doing this."
Lu Zhi opened the box. Inside, wrapped in red cloth, was a jade token engraved with the character "Zhi."
The village chief patted Lu Zhi's shoulder and said in a deep tone, "Although I don't know what happened back then, they never treated you harshly. Please don't... hate them."
"I understand, Grandpa Village Chief. Thank you." Lu Zhi nodded and turned to go back home.
He was not the original owner. He couldn't empathize, nor could he respond on behalf of the original owner.
Let it be this way. Everything would start anew.
The village facilities were still quite backward. Lu Zhi usually bathed by drawing water from the well in his backyard. In winter, he would heat water with firewood. In summer, he would simply rinse himself with water.
Lu Zhi took off his blood-stained upper garment, and the splashing well water poured down his head, washing away the dried bloodstains on his chest, revealing a fair chest and firm muscle lines. Water droplets dotted his skin, reflecting the light of the broken tiles in the sun.
"Hoo..." Lu Zhi shook the excess water from his hair and picked up a bucket of water, preparing to enter the bathhouse built of bamboo sheds to wash properly. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Yi."
Lu Zhi reached for the position of his heart, where he had been pierced by the iron sword. A crystal-clear diamond, the size of a thumb, was now perfectly embedded in his body.
He touched it. He could feel its cool, hard touch. Could this be the divine imprint?
He remembered the book's description: the divine tomb, the resting place of deities, also known as the graveyard of gods. Once one entered the divine tomb, they offered themselves completely to the deity through a pact. If the deity permitted, they could receive special abilities granted by the deity.
But...
"Who is my deity?" Lu Zhi touched the divine imprint, his heart filled with complex emotions.
Regardless of which deity he had made a pact with, he had to have absolute faith in his deity. Not only was his life given again by the deity, but more importantly...
By making a pact with a deity, half of one's life was completely controlled by the deity.
Lu Zhi sighed. Since he was here, he would accept it. He would take it one step at a time.
He suddenly recalled the book's setting: a believer's most devout prayer could be heard by their deity at any time.
Lu Zhi's eyes flickered. He smiled faintly, placed his palm on the divine imprint, and whispered devoutly, "My deity who granted me a new life, please guide me for the rest of my days."
-
In the sea of mountains piled with bones.
The seductive Manjusaka flowers layered over the skeletons, and black and red moths frantically absorbed the remaining soul fragments from the corpses.
Within the crimson-gold eyes, ferocity and brutality had not completely dissipated. Suddenly, it sensed something, and with a pleased smile, it whispered with a hint of madness, "Being slain by the very mortals you consider lowly ants will make you even more furious, won't it?"
Its laughter was frenzied and deranged, like a madman who had lost all reason.