Against the Gods

Chapter 2125 - Malice

Dian Sansi’s hands abruptly clenched his fists, the emotions he had just suppressed suddenly blazing through the roof of his skull like an explosion. However, a warm, gentle, profound qi enveloped his body and soul sea just in time to quell his rising anger gradually. “I do not wish to see him right now. Please deal with him for me.”

Dian Sansi looked up. “I...”

“Thinking thrice and maintaining self-awareness are just the beginning of one’s growth. To truly become an independent grown-up, one must learn to control one's emotions, behavior, and conduct. You must have control over both your emotions and your appearance. Hellfire may burn in your heart, but your expression must remain as calm as a mirror lake. Hatred may stew in your very marrow, but you still must speak and smile like nothing is amiss.” Dian Jiuzhi said calmly and collectedly, without any dark spots in his eyes. He was acting like an older brother, gently and patiently educating an immature sibling at the right time.

“I believe you can do it.”

Dian Sansi shook his head and quickly calmed himself down. He nodded firmly and said, “Don’t worry, Brother Jiuzhi. I won’t disappoint you.”

......

Yun Che’s arrival immediately attracted the gaze of many Boundless Kingdom of God experts.

This was the first time Yun Che saw the legendary number one Divine Regent of the Six Kingdoms of Gods. His eyes blazed like a torch, his beard resembled a lion’s mane, and his arms shimmered in the light like refined metal. No one doubted that they possessed the strength to rip open the sky. When his gaze landed on Yun Che, Yun Che felt like a mountain so tall its peak could not be seen was collapsing on top of him. Despite his mental preparation, his breathing still stalled for an instant, then another.

After casting Yun Che a measuring glance, Dian Rahu let out a bark of laughter containing none of the dignity the number one Divine Regent should possess whatsoever. Then, he personally walked over to Yun Che while declaring, “You’re the boy from Old Meng’s clan, right? I’ve been hearing your name so often my ears are growing calluses!”

His voice boomed like a great bell. Every word he spoke impacted the soul. As he walked, the entire world seemed to be shaking in response.

Yun Che swiftly performed a standard-compliant junior’s salute and spoke with one-third humility and two-thirds composure. “Junior Yun Che greets the Boundless Divine Regent. When I was wandering the world, your title was already as loud as thunder. After I returned to the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God, the Dreamweaver Divine Regent often mentioned you. Now that I finally get to meet you, I find myself excited and fearful beyond words.”

“Mm...”

Dian Rahu’s gaze roamed around and around Yun Che several times before he let out a peal of laughter. “Hahahaha! You call yourself ‘Yun Che’ and Old Meng ‘Dreamless Divine Regent’, huh? You are definitely as stubborn as he claims. That said, I believe I understand why he just can’t stop praising you to the heavens every time we speak. Forget your perfect divine essence, just this sack of flesh of yours is many times better than the spoiled brat your dad used to be!”

“Way back when I was carrying you in my arms, you weighed only four kgs or so and looked as wrinkly as a monkey. You have no idea how much face you’ve won for Old Meng by looking as good as you are today, hahahahahaha!” His laughter was deafening, but it contained not an ounce of superiority or seniority toward a junior. There was only sincere appreciation for the son of his best friend.

Yun Che gave him a small smile. “I do not deserve such praise, senior Divine Regent. You are the one whose power is as vast and intimidating as the rumors claim. Anyway... is the Boundless Divine Son available right now? This junior has had the good fortune to speak with him once, and I was quite fond of our conversation. That's why I came to pay him a visit as soon as I could.”

It was at this moment that Dian Sansi stepped out of the barrier and declared, “Your timing is unfortunate, Divine Son Yuan. Big Brother Jiu was basking in the divine aura of the Pure Land when suddenly, he sensed the possibility of enlightenment and hurried to capture it. I have been guarding him until now.”

“Oh?”

Dian Rahu’s eyebrows twitched in surprise. However, he suspected nothing and responded with pride, “How fortunate! Good. Very good!”

“I see.”

Yun Che said smilingly, “As expected of Brother Dian. Fortune comes to him as easily as breathing. I am most envious.”

He looked at Dian Sansi for a moment before asking, “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but are you Brother Sansi?”

Dian Sansi and Yun Che had never seen each other before, and yet Yun Che had somehow identified him accurately.

Hiding his astonishment, Dian Sansi responded, “I am Sansi, yes, but you absolutely mustn’t address me as ‘Brother Sansi’, Divine Son Yuan. You are too lofty for that. Just call me Sansi.”

Yun Che responded with a harmless, graceful smile. “The Divine Son of Dreamweaver is Meng Jianxi. I am just a lost son who recently returned home, and so do not deserve the title. You are one sexagenary year older than me, and your good reputation is like thunder piercing the ears. I find no problems addressing you as a brother whatsoever.”

“Hahahaha!”

Dian Rahu let out another peak of laughter. “Your skill in the art of conversation, inflexibility in regard to conventions, and dawdling way of speech resemble your dad, alright.”

Yun Che gave Dian Sansi a friendly nod before saluting Dian Rahu again. “It is a shame, but this enlightenment is, without a doubt, a good thing for Brother Dian. This junior shan’t take up any more of your time. I will catch up with Brother Dian at another time.”

“Yes, the essence of comradeship lies in persistence and endurance. There is no need to shackle oneself to one moment.”

Dian Rahu did not try to keep Yun Che around. “Sansi, will you please escort Divine Son Yuan out?”

Clearly, Dian Rahu was facilitating a friendship between Dian Sansi and Yun Che. It didn't matter whether Yun Che was the Dreamweaver Divine Son or prepared to embrace his identity as Meng Jianyuan. His perfect divine essence was an indisputable fact that wowed the entire world. Meng Kongchan’s guilt, regret, and fondness for Yun Che were clear as day to Dian Rahu as well.

If Meng Jianyuan (Yun Che) had not encountered a fatal accident when he was young, he would have been the next Dreamweaver Divine Regent for sure.

Inside the barrier, Yun Che’s departure caused Dian Jiuzhi to let out a long, long sigh of relief—even though he was the one betrayed, and Yun Che the betrayer.

Alone and isolated, Dian Jiuzhi allowed his pain and dejection to surface in full. His facial features kept spasming even though a long time had passed.

“When a tree is tall, phoenixes will come. When a flower smells nice, butterflies will arrive. You are the flower, but it would appear that I... am not the tree.”

“...”

“The phoenix once granted me its light and painted colors into my gray life... What is there to hate... What is there to resent...”

Drip...

There was a faint chill on the back of his hand. Through the blurriness of his eyes, he saw a wet mark slowly making its way toward the ground. It was pure and limpid, and yet the faint light it reflected pierced his eyes and stabbed his heart.

He closed his eyes and whispered to himself, “The great luck of a lifetime is finding someone you are willing to give up everything for... This is fine. If you are certain that he is the one in your life; if you, someone who has never crossed the line, are willing to do so for him...”

“Then I... will never become an obstacle in your path.”

“I will only help you... Caili.”

......

The escort was taking longer than Dian Sansi expected. More accurately, Yun Che just would not stop asking him about things everyone should already know about the Boundless Kingdom of God. He never told him to stop, either. So, Dian Sansi had no choice but to keep answering his questions and continue escorting him. Before they knew it, they had gone far, far away from the Boundless Kingdom of God’s area.

Suddenly, Yun Che changed his tune and asked, “You and Dian Jiuzhi saw what happened in front of Ling Xian’s divine abode, didn’t you?”

Dian Sansi’s footsteps came to an abrupt stop.

Looking at the faint smirk plastered on Yun Che’s face, Dian Sansi gradually came to a terrible realization. He felt his shock rapidly transforming into stone-cold chillness as he asked, “You... That was on purpose?”

“Of course.”

Yun Che’s smirk spread wider and wider with undisguised scorn. “We are in the Pure Land. Did you think I would have acted so recklessly if I hadn’t sensed Dian Jiuzhi’s approach?”

“You!!”

Dian Sansi had been doing his best to stay cool and calm before Yun Che this whole time, but now, cracks were forming in his expression and composure. He just wasn’t expecting Yun Che, the man who wasn’t the Dreamweaver Divine Son but might as well be better, to suddenly act like this. It was just so unexpected and bare!

While suppressing his anger by force, Dian Sansi let out a peal of cold laughter. “Should I take this as a taunt against Brother Jiuzhi and the Boundless Kingdom of God!?”

“Oh no no no, I am just a small junior of Dreamweaver. Who am I to taunt a vast and powerful kingdom like the Boundless Kingdom of God? I am simply...”

It sounded like he was backpedaling until his smile suddenly turned malicious. “Looking down on Dian Jiuzhi, that’s all.”

“After all, who would have thought that the so-called number one Divine Son of the Six Kingdoms of God... is really just a pitiful and pathetic coward?”

Bang!

Dian Sansi lost control of his aura, and the surrounding air currents abruptly roared with deep anger. There was even a faint but unmistakable wisp of killing intent mixed within them.

“Oh?”

Yun Che crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at Dian Sansi curiously. “Are you angry, Brother Sansi? Did I say something wrong?”

“Dian Jiuzhi was probably a thousand, no, ten thousand times angrier than you are now when he saw what happened before Ling Xian’s divine abode. Any normal person—any man with even a bit of spine or hot blood in him—would have roused in anger and challenged me with gritted teeth.”

“Unfortunately... Excuse me, what I mean to say is, as expected of the Boundless Divine Son. Despite being so angry that his skull should have shattered from sheer fury, and despite facing shame so deep it is a miracle his liver and gall are still intact, he still chose to withdraw his head back into his turtle shell, swallow all of that humiliation, and run away with you.”

“Do you know what’s better? A humiliated dog at least knows to bark a couple of times in defiance before running away. However, forget barking, the so-called number one Divine Son didn’t even dare to stir up the air around him as he ran away! Tsk tsk tsk tsk, hahahaha!”

Crack! Crack! CRACK!!

The sounds of teeth breaking and bone dislocating were mixed within Yun Che’s laughter. They came from Dian Sansi, of course. It took him nearly all of his willpower to push down the urge to punch Yun Che out of existence. His originally pale and handsome face had become so reddened that it looked like he was covered in blood.

“Hmm? What’s that noise?”

Yun Che remained calm and unruffled as he stared at Dian Sansi. “Are you angry? Are you going to take it out on me on behalf of your Brother Jiuzhi?”

“I heard that you are a third-level Divine Extinction Realm profound practitioner despite only being three-sexagenary-years old. On the other hand, I am just a Divine Master. It would probably take you no effort whatsoever to crush me in a fit of anger. Oh, I’m so scared...”

That was what he said, but his eyes were taunting, ridiculing, and not afraid in the slightest. The only reason that a beam of reason still shone through the haze of fury choking Dian Sansi’s mind was Dian Jiuzhi’s advice to him, and his own promise to Dian Jiuzhi.

His aura of anger disappeared, and Dian Sansi forced out the trace of a cold sneer. However, before he could mouth a retort, Yun Che suddenly put on a clearly exaggerated look of surprise:

“Oh... I get it now. You don’t dare. Your Brother Jiuzhi must have told you repeatedly to keep quiet about this and feign ignorance, no matter what. I can even imagine the reason he gave you. It must be about the bigger picture—the bond between the Kingdoms of God and the dignity of a Divine Son. He probably also told you that appropriate actions can be taken after you leave the Pure Land, didn’t he?”

The insults Dian Sansi was preparing died like someone had struck him in the throat. The redness that just receded from his face—and only barely—immediately swelled into a horrifying bluish purple.

Yun Che beamed at him. “Ooh, look at that complexion. I must have gotten it right then. What did I expect, really? No one comes up with excuses better than a useless person.”

“Yun... Che!”

The murderous glint in Dian Sansi’s eyes was almost tangible at this point. “You may be the Dreamweaver Divine Son, but even you will regret insulting Brother Jiuzhi and the Boundless Kingdom of God for life!”

Yun Che’s response to his guttural growl was, “The next best skill of a useless person is barking. They’re useless after all. What else can they do besides bark?”

“...”

Dian Sansi nearly crushed his teeth there and then. It took replaying Dian Jiuzhi’s words and especially his brother’s begging to finally push down the nigh uncontrollable flames of anger scorching his insides.

“Anyway, what were you talking about? Right, you want me to make me regret for life. That’s easy enough. You simply need to tell your Father word-for-word what happened today. I’m sure the Boundless Divine Regent’s anger could easily burn me to ash. Or...”

Yun Che frivolously raised a finger and tapped his own skull. “You can punch me in the head right now.”

“Although the price of attacking in the Pure Land is severe, and no one, not even a Divine Regent, can get away without severe punishment, you are a man, aren’t you? Nothing is greater to a man than his dignity and the hot blood coursing through his veins, right? What do you think, Brother Sansi?”

As he spoke, Yun Che actually took two steps closer to Dian Sansi and allowed the man’s anger—so hot and boiling that it was practically tangible—to wash over him unhindered. His smile remained easy, and he showed no fear whatsoever.

Dian Sansi clenched his hands tighter and tighter. Beads of blood were seeping through the gaps. “You... are agitating me on purpose!!”

“Correct.”

Yun Che admitted generously, “I want to see exactly how useless the two most outstanding talents of the Boundless Kingdom of God are with my own eyes, and what do you know? I'm not disappointed.”

“You are the same as that pitiful Boundless Divine Son. You are both spineless wimps through and through!!”

Accompanying those toxic words was the most malicious, mocking smile he could muster.

Yun Che let out a cold chuckle and turned around. He strode away while Dian Sansi’s murderous, devouring gaze was glued to his back. “To think that a useless piece of garbage like this dares to dream of my Caili. I would laugh if it weren’t so pathetic. Return to Dian Jiuzhi and tell him that a toad should remain in the filthy mud where it belongs. No matter how high it jumps, it will never be able to change its filthy and pathetic nature.”

Crack!! Several beads of blood leaked out of Dian Sansi’s teeth. Still, he restrained himself with all his might. He just stared through the red haze at Yun Che’s back until the monster was completely, utterly gone from his vision.

After Yun Che was sure he was out of Dian Sansi’s vision and perception, his disdainful expression faded and relaxed into perfect calm.

“Why did you... anger him like that? Weren’t you afraid that he would lose control and attack you without warning?” Li Suo asked with deep worry.

Yun Che replied, “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

The Devil Queen was most proficient in perceiving emotions and thoughts. Judging if a person’s anger was close to spiraling out of control was just the most basic and straightforward technique of them all.

Li Suo asked, “You are that certain that no one would dare to attack another in the Pure Land?”

“Oh no,” Yun Che shook his head, “that is one reason, but it isn't the most significant one. What I truly counted on was Dian Jiuzhi’s single-minded infatuation with Hua Caili.”

The rarest and most precious emotion in the world was infatuation. The easiest emotion to exploit was also infatuation. Therefore, the most despicable and unforgivable crime one could commit under the heavens... was exploiting infatuation.

These words were clearly etched in Chi Wuyao’s cognition.

Li Suo could not understand him. “What makes you so sure that Dian Jiuzhi’s infatuation for Hua Caili would push him to stomach even such lows?”

Yun Che did not try to act mysterious this time. He answered frankly, “Before, I had only heard of his infatuation with Caili. But during our meeting at the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God... everything about him shone with the proud radiance of the number one Divine Son, except when he was asking me how he could win the favor and affection of a beloved. It was during that moment that I saw the terrible, deep shame and self-abasement that are rooted in his very marrow.”

Despite his words, not a hint of ridicule existed in his eyes. On the contrary, it was shrouded by a hidden layer of gloom.

Yun Che’s explanation only puzzled Li Suo even more, but she did not press him about it. It was because she knew that her understanding of the love between a man and a woman was terribly shallow. In this regard, every line of the pitiful sketching that currently formed her canvas of knowledge came from Yun Che only.

Yun Che lifted a hand and clenched his fingers slightly. “Right now, Dian Sansi is more or less on the brink of explosion. The pressure is so fierce that it screams for release, and yet he must endure that shame and anger. It is not something one can dispel in a short time.”

“When the time comes, when I feel that the timing is right, one poke is all it takes to...”

“Pop it.”

Yun Che mimicked an eruption with his fingers while wearing a spine-chilling grin on his face.

Li Suo was silent for a long time before she said quietly, “Your current expression is a little scary.”

“Mm.”

Yun Che admitted without guile, “It’s looking more and more like your standard-compliant smile of a devil, isn’t it?”

“Perhaps,” Li Suo answered.

An instant later, she said lightly, “Still, you should tread carefully. Very carefully. This is the highest plane of existence of the Abyss. Any misstep will result in eternal tribulation.”

From the moment they set foot in the Pure Land, Li Suo had tirelessly warned and persuaded him to be careful over and over. Maybe it was because even her exceedingly faint soul of a Creation God sensed something concerning in this supposed land of purity.

“Mm. Don't worry.”

Once again, Yun Che offered her words of consolation and promise, “To me, the Pure Land is actually the safest place in the entire Abyss.”

Yun Che’s footsteps were slow. Was it on purpose, or was it because he was thinking about something that slowed his footsteps?

Out of nowhere, he asked Li Suo a question she could never answer, “Say, do you think that someone who exploits another’s sincerity... no matter the reason behind their exploitation... deserves forgiveness?”

As expected, he received no answer from Li Suo despite waiting for a long time. She was simply incapable of answering that question.

Clearer than ever before, she could feel a twitch in his soul as he said those words. It was just a twitch; insignificant and expelled from Yun Che’s soul almost the instant it appeared, and yet it pierced Li Suo’s soul and filled her with unfamiliar, never-before-felt pain.

It was such a pain that it nearly permeated her entire soul.

It felt like a kind of... soundless breaking that came from the bottom of the soul.

Yun Che’s pace did not change, nor did he say anything after the sudden question. This lasted until a certain moment where his spirit suddenly became taut as a wire. It did not relax one bit for several breaths straight.

Yun Che did not stop moving, but he consciously lightened his footsteps and even his external aura. He seemed to be deliberately reducing his presence. The Pure Land was pure and quiet, so his heartbeat sounded a lot louder than usual.

Ahead of him, a tall, massive, and formidable figure slowly walked toward him. He was almost three meters tall, and the pressure he carried within him was indescribable. Not even a ten-kilometer-tall giant of a mountain could hope to measure up to even one-ten-thousandth of his pressure. In fact, this pressure seemed greater than even the Boundless Divine Regent’s!

If the Boundless Divine Regent’s body was like refined steel, then the exposed parts of the man before his eyes resembled ancient bronze that had been tortured by the relentless march of time countless times over. He exuded a kind of extreme divine pressure that heralded from the ancient past and naturally superseded all things.

Yun Che angled his feet sideways and chose not to cross paths with the man. However, the man’s footsteps halted all of a sudden, and a terrible gaze struck Yun Che the next instant. Accompanying that gaze was a terrible pressure that nearly snapped his bones and crushed his soul in an instant.

Realizing that there was no avoiding this encounter, Yun Che turned toward the man and bowed respectfully in his direction. “Yun Che of Dreamweaver greets the Chief Priest.”

Considering his appearance and pressure, there was only one person this oppressive man could be. He was the chief of the Four High Priests and the man who truly answered to one man only and towered above all else, the Chief Priest.

He was also the only man in the Pure Land Hua Caili truly feared.

Yun Che’s voluntary offering of his identity failed to shake the man’s gaze in the slightest. Speaking of... his gaze was so scary that it felt like sharp blades piercing through every inch of his flesh, blood, and bone.

The Chief Priest opened his mouth, and his words struck his soul like a divine hammer. “Where did your power of Buddha come from?”

“...!” Yun Che’s brow twitched.