The Emperor Reveals His Divinity

"Eh!"

The candlelight spilling from the side room made He Yuan pause in surprise. He had been hiding in this deserted house, abandoned for nearly a year, for several days, and had assumed no one would come here. He hadn't expected someone to spend the night in the ruins after all.

He climbed out of the well. Dressed in black, He Yuan seemed to blend into the darkness, making not the slightest sound. Huang Huai, busy sorting through his things in the side room more than ten zhang away, would never have noticed him. Even at close range, he would have been hard to detect, as ghostly as a wraith.

Through the broken window, He Yuan caught a glimpse of Huang Huai. A greedy, blood-red glint flashed in his eyes. The Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God within him shared his thoughts and stirred with anticipation. A ferocious apparition of the deity seemed to materialize above his head.

"Heh, heh. So it's this brat! He escaped me last time, but now he's delivered himself right to my door. Looks like he was destined to become Blood Food for the god I worship!"

As a cultivator, He Yuan had a good memory. The moment he saw Huang Huai, he recognized him.

Back on the main street, if Huang Huai hadn't ducked into the inn at the last moment, he would have fallen into He Yuan's hands then and there.

As he marveled that Huang Huai was fated to become Blood Food for his god, He Yuan strode forward, the Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God hovering above him, and pushed open the door.

After a long spell of work, Huang Huai had finally tidied up the side room. He stretched his limbs and looked at the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan beneath the candlelight. A sense of security welled up in him.

"I offer incense to the Second Lord every morning and evening. I've paid my respects, so I should get some rest."

Muttering softly, Huang Huai took out three sticks of God-Worshipping Incense and lit them at the candle. Then he bowed reverently before the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan.

At that moment, the door creaked open. Huang Huai had just placed the incense in its holder when he heard it. His heart lurched, and he sprang back almost on instinct. At the same time, he grabbed the two glass bottles he had placed conspicuously beside him. They were filled with liquid, with strips of easily ignited cloth stuffed into their necks. Standing by the altar, close to the candle, he turned to face the doorway.

He Yuan's eyes brimmed with greedy bloodlust. He glanced at Huang Huai, whose guard was fully up, then casually swept his gaze over the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan on the altar. Finally, his eyes settled on Huang Huai.

"You're pretty alert, brat! But don't blame me. You came right to me yourself. If I don't feed you to my god today, wouldn't that be a waste?"

Seeing Huang Huai standing before the statue, He Yuan sneered. "You don't really think that thing can protect you, do you? I don't even know what backwoods god you worship. Look at that statue—it can't even open its eyes. How's it supposed to protect anyone? I'll smash it for you later, and you can join it on the road to the afterlife!"

Huang Huai now got a good look at He Yuan. Seeing his blood-red eyes and the menacing deity above his head, Huang Huai knew he had run into one of those fiends who sacrificed the living to Gods and Devils.

His thoughts raced, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. He couldn't get his hands on a gun or other such weapon, but anyone with even a little common sense could make the Molotov cocktails he had prepared. He'd made several.

Compared to firearms, Huang Huai figured that at close range, hurling a few Molotov cocktails would cause chaos—and do more damage—than a gun. An ordinary High God caught off guard might not die, but would surely be left battered and singed.

Of course, if High Gods had powerful tricks he didn't know about, then he'd simply underestimated their strength. Either way, his goal was just to throw his enemy into disarray and buy himself a split second to escape.

He was about to light one of the Molotov cocktails and hurl it at He Yuan, then use the chaos to rush through the mysterious portal behind him, which was gradually solidifying.

The Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God worshipped by He Yuan was lunging at Huang Huai with its jaws agape. He Yuan had been watching eagerly, seeming to savor the fear and struggle of Huang Huai's impending death. Then, all at once, shock and disbelief washed over his face.

Noticing He Yuan's stunned expression, Huang Huai assumed he had seen the portal Huang Huai had summoned. That didn't surprise him. His life was on the line; he couldn't afford to worry about anything else. It would have been strange if He Yuan hadn't been astonished by the sudden appearance of the mysterious portal.

But soon, Huang Huai too was staring in shock and disbelief.

He Yuan's eyes widened. "Th-this can't be! It's impossible!"

A flood of divine light spread out. The Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God, which had been lunging at Huang Huai, writhed in agony beneath its radiance. Its gaping maw, which had been about to devour Huang Huai, let out a heart-rending howl instead. Its massive Divine Body shuddered violently in midair, and wisps of black smoke drifted from it.

At some point, the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan that had been enshrined on the altar disappeared. A figure emerged amid boundless divine light: a face as dark red as a jujube, phoenix eyes, silkworm-browed eyebrows, a silk headwrap, and a blade in one hand. Who else could it be but Holy Lord Emperor Guan, famed throughout the ages?

Huang Huai watched the Second Lord, wreathed in boundless divine light, appear before him and stand firm, like a towering mountain shielding him from the Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God. His heart surged with excitement.

Eyes wide, Huang Huai stared at the figure of Holy Lord Emperor Guan before him, scarcely able to believe his eyes. It felt like a dream. When he had offered incense earlier, he'd sensed that the statue had changed after arriving in A World, but he had never imagined anything so astonishing could happen.

The manifested figure of Lord Guan Er filled Huang Huai with confidence. With the Second Lord revealing his divinity, the fiend before him was merely a filthy evil god hiding in the dark. Could it really be a match for the Second Lord, whose divine might resounded through the ages?

Now that he had his confidence back, Huang Huai looked at He Yuan's disbelieving face with a touch of anticipation and mockery.

You fiend, weren't you sneering at the Second Lord and boasting that you'd smash his statue? Then let this fiend see just how formidable my Second Lord, famed throughout the ages, truly is!

He Yuan had been momentarily stunned by the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan, but now he had recovered. The divine light radiating from that figure had refined the Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God, whose thoughts were linked with his. Most of what it had gained from devouring nearly a hundred victims over the past few days had been wiped away. He Yuan's face twisted with boundless hatred, and he roared, "You're just some backwoods god who can't even open his eyes, and you dare ruin my plans? Today I'll scatter your True Spirit, destroy your Divine Body, and smash your statue!"

As he roared, He Yuan formed a hand seal and shouted, "Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God, lend me your power! Man and god as one!"

The Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God suddenly lunged at He Yuan. Its Divine Body, dimmed by Holy Lord Emperor Guan's radiance, merged with He Yuan's body. It was as if a divine image had enveloped him—the very form of the Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha. The two became one, and a powerful aura burst forth.

"Die!"

The Scarlet Body Ghost Face Yaksha God thrust its steel trident hard at Holy Lord Emperor Guan, who stood stroking his beard, blade in hand. Yet the awe-inspiring deity seemed not to notice He Yuan's attack, remaining still with his eyes lowered.