In Order To Ascend, I Became A Modern Wage Slave - Chapter 26: Xī Yù (6)

Chapter 26: Xī Yù (6)

 

The heavens are vast, with the great celestial court at the top. It is divided into four realms: Southeast, Northeast, Southwest, and Northwest, each governed by a lesser celestial court. These lesser courts are further subdivided into smaller celestial courts. This is the division of the heavens, all governed by one emperor, and each is independent of the others.

 

Xī Yù’s consciousness gradually returned. He was not unaware of what had just happened, but he was unable to think or speak at the time. Now, upon recollection, he could hardly believe it.

 

No matter how many times he thought about it, it still seemed unbelievable.

 

Xī Yù looked around at the place he was in now and confirmed, “Is this the Celestial Court?”

 

“Of course,” the goddess who had brought him here seemed to have anticipated his question. “Almost everyone who ascends asks this question a second time, some even ask a third or fourth time.”

 

Xī Yù asked, “Why didn’t I see any immortals during my journey here?”

 

They were walking on white clouds glowing with golden light, surrounded by buildings shrouded in mist. Every building seemed to have a curved roof and red walls with golden tops, towering high and majestic. But at the same time, the view gave a sense of oppressive heaviness.

 

The goddess answered, “The Celestial Court has always been like this. If it were like the human world, where people are only concerned with eating, drinking, and playing, that would be a disgrace.”

 

Xī Yù replied, “But surely there’s no one who leaves the palace?”

 

The goddess said, “There are prayers from all directions. You must go to the human world to spread faith. Without faith, your merits and powers will gradually fade, and eventually, you will disappear without a trace from the world.”

 

Xī Yù understood, “I must fulfill the wishes of my followers.”

 

However, the goddess shook her head. “No need. It’s too much effort, and human hearts are greedy. Once they get something, they want more. Once you give them something, they will always ask for more…”

 

“Have you ever heard of a little story? A person gives another a candy every day. One day, when they suddenly stop, the other person will hold a grudge. But if you slap him every day, one day, when you stop, he will thank you. And if you give him a candy again, he will cry tears of joy.”

 

Xī Yù was somewhat confused. This seemed to suggest that he needed people’s faith to survive, but at the same time, there was a certain disdain for it?

 

Since it was his first time here and he didn’t understand much, Xī Yù decided to ask more questions. “So, what should I do then?”

 

The goddess replied, “Destroy a country.”

 

Xī Yù froze, and the goddess clarified, “Destroy the Xī Yù Kingdom.”

 

It took a while before Xī Yù finally asked, “Why?”

 

The goddess said, “If you don’t destroy the kingdom, you will fall soon.”

 

Seeing Xī Yù’s hesitation, the goddess sighed, unsure if he was pretending or truly didn’t understand. They walked to an open space, and with a wave of her hand, the clouds before them parted, revealing the scene of the Xī Yù Kingdom.

 

One person was running through the streets, shouting, “True immortal! True immortal! The second prince has ascended! The second prince has ascended! We’re saved! We’re saved!”

 

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked and overjoyed. After a moment of silence, an earth-shattering cheer erupted, and everyone began running.

 

They stopped in front of the Xī Yù temple, scrambling to enter, bowing and kneeling once they found space.

 

Some didn’t notice the people kneeling on the ground and accidentally stepped on them…

 

The scene turned chaotic and disordered.

 

However, the next moment, Xī Yù’s hand began to glow, and an indescribable power filled his body.

 

Looking down, the goddess explained, “Their previous worship allowed you to ascend ahead of time, completing your merits. Since the statue of the god in the temple resembles your current age, if you hadn’t died unexpectedly, you would have ascended when you turned nineteen.”

 

“At that time, the Xī Yù Kingdom would likely have already been destroyed, and you would have appeared in a dream to the new ruler, urging them to worship you and protect their country. No one would blame you.”

 

“But now it’s different. If the country falls, they will blame you, accusing you of not being helpful, not doing enough. In that case, your downfall will be inevitable.”

 

“You could stretch it out for another four or five years, but the result won’t change. In fact, it will only get worse.”

 

“I shouldn’t have told you all this, but since I’ll fall soon, there’s no harm in making it clear to you. Don’t repeat the same mistake.”

 

The goddess had maintained a stern face, and Xī Yù had thought she would never smile. However, at that moment, the corners of her mouth curled into a faint smile.

 

Xī Yù asked, “Fall?”

 

Suddenly, Xī Yù felt that the goddess seemed oddly familiar.

 

The goddess continued, “This is the result of experiences learned from many predecessors.”

 

Xī Yù recalled. She was the goddess who had served the Emperor before, the one who had ensured that the country prospered with good weather and no disasters during the Emperor’s reign.

 

She really existed!

 

Xī Yù immediately asked, “Have you seen the Northern Supreme Lord?”

 

The goddess nodded, understanding that Xī Yù wanted to meet him. She then said, “He should have fallen by now. His method of receiving power is very special. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I do know his faith was very weak. Every time I saw him, he seemed so weak that he would be blown away by the wind.”

 

He had fallen.

 

The goddess told him to think carefully. He still had time but couldn’t procrastinate any longer.

 

Xī Yù’s palace was decorated almost exactly like a human residence, so there was no need for him to take time to adjust.

 

He immediately threw himself into his bed and fell into a deep sleep.

 

Soon, Xī Yù came to a decision.

 

After changing his face, Xī Yù’s first action upon returning to the human world was to buy three skewers of candied fruit, holding one in each hand while eating several at once.

 

The candy seller had never seen anyone eat like this and hurriedly said, “Hey, hey, you can’t eat like this even if you’re starving! Can you swallow it? Spit out two, hurry and spit out two!”

 

Xī Yù stubbornly told him what persistence meant, swallowing it all, then said, “It’s fine, I just have a bit of a toothache.”

 

The seller muttered, “Well, you young man, you’ve got a big mouth and you’re tough.”

 

Xī Yù walked down the street, and out of ten shops, six were temples of Xī Yù.

 

Moreover, these temples had one thing in common: there were no statues inside, but the merit boxes were overflowing!

 

He had intended to walk to the end of the street before asking, but to his surprise, there was one street after another…

 

Toy shops? Jewelry stores? Clothing shops?

 

Could statues be eaten?

 

As Xī Yù continued down the street, he grew increasingly confused and randomly stopped someone who had just left the temple, asking, “Why are there so many Xī Yù temples on this street?”

 

The person answered, “Because the Kingdom of Nu is about to invade!”

 

Time flows differently between the heavens and the human world, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed in the human world!

 

The Kingdom of Nu didn’t believe in gods or immortals. Upon hearing that Xī Yù had died, they immediately began preparing for an invasion. The border defenses of the Xī Yù Kingdom were severely weakened by a surprise attack, and before they could recover, another wave of attacks came, breaching the border!

 

They figured that perhaps they had offered too little, so Xī Yù, as an immortal, might have looked down upon them and ignored their prayers. So, they began repairing their temples, practically throwing half of their lives into the merit boxes, hoping Xī Yù would return to help them.

 

The reason there were no statues inside was because the old ones had been removed, and the emperor had ordered new ones to be built.

 

But building statues takes time, and the people couldn’t wait, so they began praying to the empty air, hoping that maybe Xī Yù could still hear them.

 

Xī Yù was sleeping soundly…

 

Inside the Heavenly Court, it was so quiet that even the sound of breathing felt like noise.

 

And he indeed had not received any merit or divine power since then.

 

Although it was possible that Xi Yi was playing tricks, why were there still so many people relentlessly continuing?

 

Xi Yu asked, “Haven’t you thought that the money might be more useful to the soldiers at the border than giving it to Xi Yu?”

 

The man replied, “Those useless people have been fighting for more than ten years, what’s the difference between giving to them and feeding dogs? As long as we can use this to summon Xi Yu, the immortal, it’s just a matter of waving a finger to solve the problem.”

 

Xi Yu felt he couldn’t understand, so he hypothesized, “What if Xi Yu never ascended and just died? You guys…”

 

Before he could finish, the man became agitated and spat, “You fake believer!”

 

The man wasn’t just cursing, he was also calling for others around him, pointing at Xi Yu and shouting, “The second prince’s ascension was witnessed by someone! How could we not know if he ascended?”

 

“Say the second prince didn’t ascend! What do you have in mind?”

 

“Taking two sticks of candied hawthorn and acting like you understand~~”

 

Xi Yu: “…”

 

Suddenly someone shouted, “Kill him! Maybe it’s because of people like him that the second prince got angry and didn’t want to help us!”

 

“Yes! Capture him and offer him to the second prince!”

 

Seeing the situation taking a turn for the worse, Xi Yu immediately ran, but everywhere he turned there were people, leaving him with no way to escape. So, he leaped into the air, jumped onto the roof, and ran away.

 

The believers below, who had been ready to make a move, looked at the distant figure: “…”

 

Someone exclaimed in shock, “Damn, he can fly?”

 

After a long pause, someone muttered, “Could he be the second prince…?”

 

Everyone exchanged glances.

 

One person said, “What did he just say?”

 

The other person replied, “He said… he said, what if the second prince never died?”

 

When does one say “what if”?

 

It’s when something has already happened, and “what if” is used to test the acceptance of others.

 

After this was said, everyone was silent.

 

After a long time, someone raised their hand and said, “Everyone, I’ve wanted to say this for years, do you think it’s possible that the second prince is not some immortal, but a disaster?”

 

After a long silence, everyone sucked in a cold breath.

 

In the palace, at Yunsheng Hall, Xi Yi was leisurely playing chess.

 

With his teacher, Shen Mochuan.

 

“Capture,” Xi Yi said as he moved his rook onto the opponent’s elephant, removing the elephant beneath it and tossing it aside casually, saying, “Checkmate.”

 

The next moment, his rook was devoured by another elephant on the opposing side.

 

Shen Mochuan said, “Xi Yi, you made a wrong move.”

 

Xi Yi smiled, “If it’s wrong, it’s wrong, but I suddenly found a better way to win.”

 

Xi Yi slowly said, “Even if you capture my king, you still can’t win.”

 

At this point, both players had only their most vulnerable pieces left on the board.

 

Xi Yi leisurely pointed a finger at one of the corner pieces, saying, “Did you notice when he entered?”

 

Xi Yi’s pawn had already infiltrated the opponent’s territory, occupying the position originally held by the elephant.

 

He then pointed to the elephant, saying, “Dare to capture?”

 

It couldn’t be captured, and if the elephant was moved, checkmate would occur.

 

Shen Mochuan looked at the board and shook his head, saying, “To decide the winner in this situation will take forever. It should be considered a draw.”

 

Xi Yi said, “What if I disagree? Looking at the board, I have the bigger chance of winning, right?”

 

Shen Mochuan shook his head repeatedly, “Caring too much about winning damages harmony, it damages harmony.”

 

“Harmony only appears when the weak gather together. For the strong, the goal is always the same,” Xi Yi emphasized, “To win!”

 

In the end, the game concluded when Shen Mochuan could no longer continue, and he voluntarily conceded defeat.

 

They had only played this one game from early morning until nearly noon. If they played another game, it would probably be evening by then. It was meant to be leisure, and spending too much time on this wasn’t good. Shen Mochuan hurriedly stood up and left.

 

Another reason was that the experience wasn’t pleasant.

 

In a chess game, it’s enjoyable when both sides are evenly matched, but when you encounter someone who is far superior, this person can easily win and even have the leisure to manipulate the game. Every step you take is part of their carefully calculated plan.

 

What does that mean?

 

Xi Yi glanced at the remaining pieces, replayed the game in his mind, and ended with the victory he had hoped for.

 

He placed the pieces into a nearby basket, then pinched them, placing them back one by one. With graceful steps, he confidently said, “Xi Yu, you’re hiding behind the third locust tree on my right from front to back. Do you think I didn’t see you?”

 

There was no response.

 

Xi Yi continued calmly, “I’ve already noticed you, what else can you hear? Instead of hiding and playing hide-and-seek with me, you might as well come out and ask me directly.”

 

When Xi Yu walked in front of him, Xi Yi had just placed the final piece back. He invited Xi Yu to sit across from him, then took the first move, looking up at Xi Yu. “Your turn.”

 

Xi Yu, confused, looked at him, “Did I say I wanted to play chess with you?”

 

Xi Yi stretched out his hand, moved the piece across the board, and said, “Looks like I misunderstood, Your Highness, you traveled a long way from the Heavenly Court to come here. Is there something important you need to discuss?”

 

Xi Yu first asked, “How did you know I was here? Where were you hiding?”

 

Xi Yi paused the game and smiled, “Your Highness, don’t you remember who raised you? I dare say there’s no one who knows you better than I do.”

 

His words were slow and full of affection. To others, it seemed like a heartfelt speech from a loving elder brother, but to Xi Yu, it made him want to vomit. He bluntly said, “Keep that fake smile to yourself, it makes me want to puke!”

 

Before his words had even finished, Xi Yi’s face immediately showed a hurt expression. He shook his head while speaking, “Your Highness, you weren’t like this before. You used to be so cute and small, always following me around calling…”

 

“Before was before, now is now!” Did Xi Yi not want to laugh when he said this?

 

Xi Yi paid no mind to the interruption and continued, “Before was before, now is now. So, is your elder brother not your elder brother anymore? Back then, you called me ‘elder brother’ hundreds of times a day. I don’t even know how long it’s been since I’ve heard you call me that…”

 

“Shut up, okay?” Unable to stop Xi Yi’s mouth, Xi Yu could only cover his ears.

 

Xi Yi took out one story after another from the past, narrating them vividly and movingly, as if peeling layer after layer of clothing from Xi Yu, humiliating him in front of everyone.

 

Finally, unable to tolerate it any longer, Xi Yu stood up and slapped Xi Yi across the face.

 

The world fell into sudden silence.