Chapter 11: Chapter Ten: Land God Zou Qing

“Peng!”

Another gray-white wisp rose from the ground, but this time it was not empty—it contained a three-foot-tall old man.

The old man leaned on a cane, spinning rapidly like a top whipped by a whip.

Like a drill bit, he had burrowed up from beneath the earth.

After emerging from the ground, he slowed his speed and finally came to a complete stop.

Once he steadied himself, the white-bearded old man, just like General Guan, prostrated himself fully before the Qingsong Daoist boy—more precisely, before the purple imperial token in the boy’s hand, “As If the Emperor Himself Were Present.”

His demeanor was as reverent as a son meeting his father.

The Qingsong Daoist boy flipped his right hand, and the tablet, as large as a plate and thick as a palm, vanished.

He sized up the old man, sneering repeatedly, “You’ve even changed your clothes—no wonder...”

General Guan looked up at the old man and saw his attire bore a striking resemblance to the former “Chancellor of Shahuang.”

He wore a leopard-skin skirt wrapped around his waist, exposing half his withered chest at an angle.

He was the Regional Commander of Great Shu; in the official records of Great Qin, Great Shu was called “West Shu,” while east of the Liusha River lay another Shu state, known as “East Shu.”

Both East Shu and West Shu were descendants of noble families from the ancient Shu region of Nan Zhan Zhonghua, who, under the Emperor’s orders, undertook a ten-thousand-li migration with chariots and commoners to expand territory in the west.

Logically, East Shu, lying east of the Liusha River, was closer to the Central Kingdom and should have been more civilized than their “West Shu” counterparts.

Yet how could a Grand Scholar of the Wenhui Academy have donned the garb of the desert barbarians, let his hair hang loose and his robe lap left-over-right, and embraced the ways of the desert barbarians?

This was more than merely changing clothes.

General Guan vaguely understood something.

Indeed, the Qingsong Daoist boy gave the old man no chance to defend himself—he didn’t even let him speak, but ordered directly: “Where have you hidden Sha Man Yu? Hand her over immediately.”

“Your Excellency, your wisdom is clear—this humble deity has never concealed Sha Man Yu,” said Land God Zou Qing, glancing at the scroll on General Guan’s waist, his wrinkled face earnest. “I personally drew her Shadow Spirit Map. The news of Sha Man Yu’s whereabouts in Shahuang was also gathered and relayed to the Spirit Official by me. I have always served Great Qin and never forgotten the Emperor’s grace!”

General Guan instinctively touched the scroll tucked in his belt; his lingering doubts about its origin were finally answered.

“Always serving Great Qin...” The Qingsong Daoist boy remained five feet tall, his baby-faced cheeks still round, yet as his cold gaze swept over the Land God, even General Guan beside him felt suffocating pressure and chilling solemnity.

“Zou Qing, before you sent the Shadow Spirit Map, you may have still held a sliver of loyalty—as a subject of Great Qin, serving the Emperor.”

“I suspect that at that time, you still wore the high crown and wide sash, clad in the scholar’s robe of Great Qin.”

Land God Zou Qing’s face twitched several times as he bowed his head even lower.

The Qingsong Daoist boy scanned the shrine built by Sha Man Yu and sneered: “Sha Man Yu worships the Heavenly Emperor, the Dao Ancestor, and the Western Buddha—but it is you who consumes the offerings and absorbs the incense of the desert barbarians.”

“Since you have partaken of the desert barbarians’ incense, you have naturally assumed the divine duty to protect them.”

“Yet you betrayed them.”

“That day, I observed the stars at night and sensed anomalies in Shahuang’s fate—I immediately dispatched a Spirit Official to demand information on Shahuang. You betrayed Sha Man Yu without hesitation.”

“After selling her, you soon suffered backlash from the incense, and even the desert barbarians’ dragon vein roared at you in fury.”

“At that moment, you realized you had forged an inseparable bond with ‘Shahuang.’”

“The divine path is a vassal of the human path.”

“Your suffering brings no harm to Shahuang—but if Shahuang’s fortune declines, you, who draw incense from it, will be severely wounded.”

“The more incense you consume, the tighter the bond—and the fiercer the backlash.”

“Even the wisp that summoned you just now carried an unmistakable scent of incense—proof of your greed. You ignored cause and origin, headless and foolish, swallowing everything offered without discrimination.”

He had never originally planned to come to Shahuang himself.

With the Land God secretly watching, even if General Guan Huchen had the Thousand-Mile Eye, sending any ordinary general would have been more than sufficient.

Yet Sha Man Yu had escaped.

Either General Guan Huchen was compromised, or the Land God had changed.

Only after arriving in Shahuang and personally observing its stellar patterns, feng shui, and dragon veins did the Qingsong Daoist boy suddenly understand.

He had previously mocked the barbarian sages as false sages, believing that heavenly favor resided in Zhonghua, and barbarians, lacking heavenly favor, could never grow into true sages even if born with innate potential.

But he had left unsaid one more phrase: Heaven aids those who help themselves.

Heavenly favor can be earned through effort.

Sha Man Yu and Shahuang now possessed a measure of heavenly favor.

Smooth progress, calamities turning to fortune—that was heavenly favor.

Even the Land God, officially appointed by Great Qin, had suddenly awakened to the “Heavenly Mechanism” at a critical moment—abandoning his noble Zhonghua scholar’s identity to secretly defect to the barbarians, trading his robes for barbarian attire. Was this not heavenly favor?

Had he not held the Emperor’s Edict, equivalent to the Emperor himself suppressing them, Sha Man Yu and Shahuang might have escaped this calamity entirely.

But could any heavenly favor surpass that of the Emperor of Zhonghua? Could it be greater, denser?

The Emperor of Zhonghua was half of Heaven itself—his will surpassed even Heaven’s will!

“Your Excellency, your wisdom is clear,” said the Land God, “Since arriving in the Western Sands, I have served for three hundred years, and in all those centuries, I have never eaten a full meal. The desert barbarians never offered incense to Land Gods, nor built any Land Temples.”

“I starved without food, thirsted without water, had no roof over my head, endured wind, sun, scorching heat, and bitter cold—forced to endure it all.”

“Sometimes, when wicked spirits appeared, they forcibly summoned me, forcing me to serve as their slave—chopping firewood, stoking fires, grinding grain, pulling carts—harder than when I was a tenant farmer in mortal life.”

“Sha Man Yu built this shrine not merely to worship the Dao Ancestor, the Heavenly Emperor, and the Buddha.”

“She could not write, but dictated a prayer, explicitly honoring Heaven and Earth, and offering tribute to the True Gods.”

“In other words, she opened her offerings to all True Gods of Heaven and Earth.”

“I did not steal offerings meant for the Dao Ancestor or the Heavenly Emperor.”

“I am already among the True Gods entitled to receive incense—my appetite is merely somewhat larger.”

Too long hungry, a slightly larger appetite—swallowing all the incense—this was reasonable.

But explaining a large appetite was only the beginning; the real issue was “betraying Great Qin and sheltering Sha Man Yu.”

The old Land God hesitated, then confessed honestly: “Your Excellency is truly a high adept of the Zhengyang Palace—you see through me at a glance.”

“When I was alive, I had heard the saying: ‘Incense is poisonous.’”

“But only after experiencing it myself did I understand both its sweetness and its poison.”

“I once held the highest office in East Shu, served for three years in the Legalist Academy of Great Qin’s Wenhui Academy, witnessed the splendor of the mortal world, enjoyed fine carriages, beautiful women, and rare delicacies.”

“Yet compared to incense, beauty became withered bones, fine carriages became torture devices, and delicacies turned to filth.”

“And the more delicious incense was, the more poisonous it became.”

“I have been a deity by imperial decree for three hundred years, yet I have consumed desert barbarian incense for only three years.”

“Three hundred years of cultivation could not offset the backlash caused by three years of incense.”

“I could not bear it. I could not resist.”

The old Land God sighed, his expression complex, then quickly swore loyalty: “But Your Excellency wrongly accuses me—I never deliberately concealed Sha Man Yu, because... because...”

The old Land God sighed with a complex expression, then quickly swore his loyalty: “But my lord truly misjudges this humble god—this god truly did not deliberately conceal Sha Man Yu, because, because...”

The Qingsong Daoist boy grew more curious, yet more impatient, and snapped: “The Emperor’s Edict is here—how dare you deceive me! Great Qin appointed you a deity—you are the Land God.”

“Even if this land is harsh and barren, can it be worse than endless reincarnation? Worse than the eighteen layers of hell?”

“The Emperor can erase your reincarnation and hellish punishments with a word—and he can condemn you to eternal ruin with a word.”

“If you have forgotten even this, I can help you recover your memory.”

He did not pull out the Emperor’s Edict again, but activated the authority of “Emperor’s Envoy.”

His spiritual sense entered the Land God’s body without obstruction, instantly seizing control of the core “Western Sands Xinmo No. 7” Land Talisman.

“Master Daoist, spare me! I—I, your humble servant, your slave—I am Great Qin’s slave! The Emperor’s grace can never be repaid!” The Land God screamed in agony, banging his head repeatedly.

“It seems my memory-restoration technique truly works,” the Qingsong Daoist boy smiled.

“It works—perfectly! Master Daoist, your divine power is immense, your magic profound—I remember everything now, I understand completely,” the Land God’s mouth tasted like he was chewing feces.

“I did not hide Sha Man Yu because there was no need. Those useless West Shu barbarians on Shahuang could never catch her—they only ended up being fooled by her.”

General Guan, who had been watching the scene like a spectator, flew into rage.

He rose to his feet and pointed at the old Land God: “You bastard! Who are you calling barbarians? Our Great Shu monarch is imperial kin—you East Shu people are the true barbarians!”

Land God Zou Qing glanced at him, then secretly stole a look at the Qingsong Daoist boy, and finally moved his lips several times but said nothing.

The Qingsong Daoist boy said nothing either.

East Shu and West Shu had always despised each other.

When the Emperor placed them on either bank of the Liusha River, he never expected them to be harmonious.

The royal Li family of West Shu and the royal Ba family of East Shu had been ancient enemies for millennia in ancient Shu, their blood feud thick and black—how could they ever be harmonious?

How dare they be harmonious?

“Earlier, I observed the stars and calculated: Sha Man Yu’s fate star flickered unsteadily, clearly showing her desire to leave Shahuang—but she never succeeded. She remains on this land,” said the Qingsong Daoist boy.

The old Land God blinked, then replied: “I don’t understand star-reading, but as for Sha Man Yu’s desire to leave Shahuang, I know it well.”

“It wasn’t a new thought. Ever since I began observing her and Shahuang, she never concealed her wish to leave the desert tribe and seek immortals and the Dao beyond.”

“Had I not secretly intervened with great effort, no matter how you divined or calculated, you would never have found her.”

The Qingsong Daoist boy asked curiously: “What great effort did you secretly make?”

The old Land God’s face broke into a smile of pride mixed with nine parts flattery: “Sha Man Yu yearned for the Dao, dreaming of becoming a great immortal who travels from the Northern Sea to the Western Heavens in a single day. When young and weak, she dared not leave home alone.”

“As she grew older, she still feared the mountain spirits and wild monsters outside, so she often used her silver tongue to persuade desert warriors to join her in seeking masters and becoming true immortals.”

On the Land God’s aged face appeared a smile of one part triumph and nine parts flattery: “Sha Man Yu yearned for the Immortal Dao, dreaming of becoming a great being who travels the Northern Sea by morning and the Azure Heavens by evening; as a child, weak and powerless, he dared not leave home alone.”

“I am weak, my powers insignificant—but pretending to be a ghost or demon, stirring up winds and dark smoke to frighten them, was very simple.”

“Every time Sha Man Yu tried to travel far, I scared her back within one or two days.”

“The more often this happened, the more terrified she became, and the warriors she persuaded lost all courage, ignoring her completely.”

Sha Man Yu tried several times to travel far away, but each time she was frightened back within a day or two by her servants.

As this happened repeatedly, she became increasingly terrified, and the Sha Man warriors she had persuaded lost all their spirit and no longer paid her any attention.

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte looked puzzled. “Are you trying to claim credit from me?”

“Your servant dares not,” the old Earth God bowed his head. “I am merely delighted to serve Your Honor, Great Qin, and the Emperor of Humanity.”

— Had you not meddled recklessly, the dragon vein beneath the dunes might never have formed. Yet you dare claim credit? Fool! You deserve to be devoured by the incense backlash—your ties to the Sand Barbarians run too deep. The earlier backlash was merely an appetizer; now see whether you die screaming or are flayed alive.

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte’s expression remained calm, but in his heart he had already marked the old Earth God as dead… no, as a dead spirit—he had died three hundred years ago.

“Why did you stop her from leaving to seek immortals and the Dao?” Xiang Huchen could not help asking.

He assumed the old Earth God had blocked Sha Man Yu for her own good, to spare her death in the wild mountains and desolate wastes.

Travel is hard; seeking immortals is harder. Encountering wolves, tigers, leopards, mountain spirits, and wild demons is all too easy.

Especially in the desolate dunes—there are no immortals here at all. You must trek thousands of li to Shu State… Even in Shu State, there are only human immortals. In over forty years of life, he had never met a true celestial. What nonsense for a mere Sand Barbarian to dream of such things!

Yet the old Earth God’s obstruction clearly had nothing to do with pitying her life.