Side Story 6

In the divine realm, it was common knowledge that the Heavenly Emperor, Haotian, and the God of the Eastern Sea, Yin Ze, didn’t get along. Recently, the drought that had shown signs of coming a hundred years ago finally descended upon the Nine Provinces, and the Heavenly Emperor’s attitude towards Yin Ze became even more subtle. Whenever Yin Ze appeared in the Upper Kunlun Palace, a deathly silence would fall, a truly special treatment. These two had been at odds for thousands of years, and with just a glance, they knew what the other was thinking. Despite this, for thousands of years, they had been unable to outmaneuver each other, as long as they could keep each other in check. Throughout the Nine Heavens, perhaps only Yin Ze dared to call the Heavenly Emperor “crafty and deceitful” to his face. Although Haotian was the Heavenly Emperor, he rarely got angry, and others called him a benevolent and saintly ruler. In Yin Ze’s eyes, that was merely a show of benevolence. Being smooth and without edges, he could easily roll away without falling. Now, he still refused to mention the drought, instead sending Goumang to talk to him.

Goumang was the wood god of spring, a descendant of Shaohao and a confidant of Fuxi, currently overseeing the divine Fusang tree and the land of the rising sun. 1  Therefore, although his status was lower than Yin Ze’s, he was still qualified to talk to Yin Ze face-to-face. It had to be said that the Heavenly Emperor’s use of people was becoming more and more cunning. But Yin Ze also knew that this idea was not thought up by the Heavenly Emperor himself, and the Bi Xu Divine Monarch had definitely stirred up a lot of trouble behind the scenes. Bi Xu was two hundred and thirty years older than him, and they were both born as celestial beings in the Water Domain. In the end, it was he who succeeded Gonggong, which had always been a thorn in Bi Xu’s side. This guy was a smiling tiger, always flattering and obsequious to those in higher positions, but when it came to launching hidden arrows, he never hesitated, and he was completely the opposite of Yin Ze. Thinking of Bi Xu’s sinister gaze, Yin Ze found Goumang much more pleasing to the eye.

“Divine Lord Yin Ze, you see, the sea is really about to dry up.” Whenever he walked with Yin Ze in the Water Domain, Goumang would suddenly blurt out something like this, and then regretfully add another sentence, “It’s all my fault.”

If it were anyone else, being constantly reminded of the drought, they would have been beating their chest and stamping their feet just like him. But Yin Ze didn’t buy it. He wouldn’t even ask why it became Goumang’s fault. This was not his Six Realms, what did it matter to him? He had heard that some people had already advised the Heavenly Emperor that even if all the water in the Six Realms dried up, as long as Divine Lord Yin Ze himself could still live, he would not consider sacrificing himself. To put it bluntly, those were the two words often used to describe him: selfish. Yin Ze quite agreed. Since they understood his temper, they should talk less. In recent years, he had been willing to descend to the mortal realm to cast spells to alleviate the drought, which was far more noble than his usual behavior, and others had better not have any ideas about his cultivation.

Seeing that the pity play was useless, Goumang laughed, “Mount Tai is something to look up to, and your conduct is exemplary. Although Goumang cannot reach such a level, he admires it from the heart. I heard before that if the Divine Lord doesn’t want to do something, even if you killed the Divine Lord, he wouldn’t do it. However, this drought is probably more serious than we thought.”

Goumang was always conservative in his speech. When he said “not serious,” it meant “serious”; when he said “a little serious,” it meant “very serious”; and when he said “somewhat serious,” it was probably already beyond redemption. Yin Ze frowned and asked, “How serious?”

“If it continues to worsen, there will be a great drought in the world, water sources will dry up, the four seas will run dry, and the cycle of heaven will end.” Seeing Yin Ze stunned, he waved his sleeve, “Of course, Goumang would never dare to offend or blame the Divine Lord. If the Water Domain were still under Gonggong’s control, the drought would probably have come even earlier. This is a natural disaster, and it’s indeed unavoidable. If it weren’t for Mother Houtu’s explanation, I would probably be in the dark.”

After listening to Goumang’s explanation of the cause of the drought, Yin Ze had a bad feeling, but he still said calmly, “Then how can we stop it?”

Goumang sighed and looked at the endless clouds and the flying immortals and dragons beneath his feet, as if he were overlooking the rolling red dust that carried the joys and sorrows of the world, “Divine Lord Yin Ze, we are both gods, high above, worshipped by all living beings, and we should not go against the way of heaven. Since we are not bound by the six realms of reincarnation, then the six realms of reincarnation should not be our destination.”

Upon hearing this, Yin Ze understood his meaning. He wanted to say that gods are immortal, so they would not enter the six realms of reincarnation. Their destination is heaven and earth. In other words, the Heavenly Emperor wanted him to become an offering to the world, turning into the source of all water and returning to heaven and earth. He said indifferently, “What if I don’t like this destination?”

Goumang was not surprised and smiled, “I knew the Divine Lord would answer like that. If it were me, I would definitely put the world first. Now that we are in a crisis, if we solve the water problem, we will probably have to return to the universe as the gods of wood and earth sooner or later. But the Divine Lord is different. You have always been like this, with no ties.”

Yin Ze didn’t care about the nonsense at the beginning. He only heard the last sentence.

It’s well said, no ties.

Perhaps he really had no ties.