Chapter 73: Peril in the Temple

“Your Highness…” Shaoguang’s words had barely left her lips before Nüluo interrupted her.

“Speak plainly. What’s the situation? Where is everyone? Why haven’t I seen a single soul here? Besides you, who else remains in Fengdu City?”

Shaoguang’s eyes dimmed at once. “Your Highness, you should go to the temple yourself.”

Fengdu City, Temple of the Earth Goddess

In the blink of an eye, Nüluo and her companions arrived at the temple. At the sight before her, Niaoniao gave a shriek, unable to contain her terror, but recalling Nüluo’s earlier warning, she immediately clamped her mouth shut. Yet the scene before them was too horrifying to bear.

Nüluo paid Niaoniao no mind; her gaze was transfixed with shock and disbelief. She could hardly trust her own eyes. Fengdu City, once a paradise on earth, had been transformed into a living hell. A city that had once boasted the height of civilization was now consigned to history.

All the buildings of Fengdu City radiated outward from the Earth Goddess’s Temple, forming a constellation around it, like stars encircling the moon.

But the temple, once the symbol of human achievement, had lost all semblance of its former glory. Now, countless undead crowded densely around it, encircling the temple in layers, as though intent on utterly destroying it, their shrieks piercing the air.

Through the throng, one could still make out the faint, flickering light of the temple’s sacred flame—so feeble now that it seemed a candle about to be snuffed by the storm.

If the Core Flame of the Earth were still blazing, the temple’s light might have never died. But should the temple’s light extinguish now, it would never ignite again. Once gone, the temple itself would fade into oblivion.

Nüluo felt as if she had been plunged back into the realm of nightmares—only this time, it was all too real.

The undead swarmed over the temple, their faces twisted with lingering resentment, each one a soul lost in the recent calamity. They clung to the land of the living, refusing to depart even as shadows, unwilling to leave the place where they had lived and died.

The faces of the dead were etched with unwillingness and hatred for the fate that had befallen them. If this continued, their obsessions would soon turn them into vengeful spirits.

Nüluo turned to Shaoguang, her voice low. “Why have I only seen you? Where are the others?”

“In Fengdu City, only I, the Goddess of the Four Seasons, and the Goddess of Time remain. The other deities have scattered to different places. Though Fengdu’s situation is the most dire, things are scarcely better elsewhere. The power of our lineage is too weak,” Shaoguang’s voice grew quieter as she spoke.

To protect the surviving mortals, they had raced ceaselessly across the human realm. They had hoped that once the Core Flame reignited, things would improve, but instead, the disaster had deepened.

As the power of ice and snow waned, countless souls of the dead refused to pass on, drifting ceaselessly through the skies. Meanwhile, those creatures who survived gained unimaginable strength from the calamity, and many demons once sealed away were awakening.

The human realm had become a world ruled by slaughter.

“Is there not a single survivor left in Fengdu? And why are all the undead gathered around the temple?” Nüluo was bewildered. Even if she’d failed in her duty, the undead should not have focused all their rage on the temple.

“Yes, Your Highness. All have become undead, and some have already turned into vengeful spirits. Their power now exceeds our ability to control. At first, everyone was safely sheltered inside the temple, but then, inexplicably, deaths began to occur within. In the end, none survived. Those who died did not pass to the Underworld but lingered, venting all their bitterness upon the temple itself. The Four Seasons and I, seeing the change in circumstances, moved the surviving people from the main temple to other sanctuaries in advance. Had we not, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”

“I see,” Nüluo understood at last why, upon her return to the temple, she had found no one. So this was what had happened.

“Your Highness, there’s something else—only the undead of Fengdu attack the temple. It’s as if some mysterious power lurks beneath, drawing and strengthening them.” Shaoguang’s worry for the Goddesses of Four Seasons and Time inside the temple grew.

Nüluo gazed at the undead, wondering what it was they sought. What could lie beneath the temple to attract them so? After so much time had passed, she could not recall anything that might interest the dead—unless it was a fragment of divinity?

Fengdu was the closest city to her first temple, the first she had ever established—her greatest labor, her first attempt. It was here she had slain countless demons with her own hands, transforming a wasteland into a paradise.

“To slay demons, beneath the temple…” Could there be secrets beneath the temple, even she did not know?

“Your Highness, what should we do now?”

Even as they spoke, the undead began to act. Some had already become vengeful spirits, wielding terrifying deathly power that far surpassed human limits. Now they ravaged the temple with abandon. Nüluo felt the light within the temple dim even further.

She had no wish to annihilate the undead completely. No matter what had happened, she had reached an accord with the King of the Underworld; she wished to give these souls a chance at rebirth. With her current strength, she could have destroyed them outright.

Niaoniao had long since retreated behind Nüluo, losing interest in Shaoguang’s tale, unwilling to concern herself with what she deemed trivial matters.

The King of the Underworld showed no surprise at the undead. From the moment he entered Fengdu, he had sensed death’s presence, but as the city was not yet under his dominion, he had no wish to intervene, choosing instead to stand aside.

The Lord of Punishment, who had once sworn to care deeply for mortal affairs, also kept silent. Now was not the time to act. The matter of the Core Flame had already yielded what he desired; he would intervene only when they were most desperate.

Nüluo understood both the King of the Underworld and Fuli’s intentions. Unless absolutely necessary, she would not seek their aid.

Nüluo and Shaoguang summoned protective barriers. The assault of the undead intensified, and if it continued, even the Goddesses of Four Seasons and Time within the temple might not withstand their ferocity.

The moment Shaoguang witnessed Nüluo’s barrier take shape, she was stunned and delighted. Her Highness now commanded not only the sixth level of ice and fire’s spiritual power, but perhaps even greater. The trials on Sunset Mountain and in the Underworld had not weakened her; instead, they had made her stronger. Inspired, Shaoguang glimpsed hope for the revival of the mortal realm.

Seeing that Fuli still did nothing, Shaoguang realized the divine order had not been rescinded—the gods still chose to remain aloof from mortal affairs. Even their presence here served only some secret purpose. Nüluo’s earlier worries were justified; Fuli was indeed the one to watch.

Enormous, crystalline snowflakes whirled toward the undead, interlaced with dazzling swords of flame. Nüluo carefully restrained her power, using only enough to bind the undead, not to destroy them.

Assailed, the undead began to retreat from the temple, howling in frustration as they turned their rage upon Nüluo and Shaoguang.

Around them, the undead gathered in a black, swirling mist, threatening to engulf them completely.

Encircled, Nüluo moved her hands in swift, deft gestures. Wherever her fingers pointed, the undead were flung into the air, left immobilized. In this way, she dispelled their attacks.

The prison of six-sided snowflakes and flaming swords formed an unbreakable cage, trapping all the undead within.

Cramped together, the undead turned on each other, tearing at their own kind, as though only through mutual destruction could they escape the cage’s overwhelming power.

Nüluo watched, her hand faltering. If this continued, these souls would lose all chance at rebirth. Possessed by evil obsessions, they would never enter the cycle of reincarnation; their only fate was to vanish forever from the world. Yet if she released them, they would attack her and the temple anew.

In the struggle, Nüluo glimpsed the hatred in their eyes—they blamed her for all that had happened, for every hardship they had suffered, as if she and the temple were the root of all evil.

Painful cries echoed above the temple as the undead’s slaughter reached its peak. Nüluo’s heart trembled. She wanted to lift the binding—perhaps, freed, they would stop fighting each other, perhaps cease their attacks.

But as she weakened her restraint, some of the more powerful undead tried to break free, lunging at her once more, their eyes burning with venomous hatred for Nüluo and Shaoguang. In their gaze, Nüluo saw herself transformed into the enemy, as she had seen in the vengeful spirits by the River of Three Crossings.

Matters had spiraled beyond her expectations. Once more she faced a cruel choice: to annihilate the undead, or grant them a final chance at redemption.

Just as she wavered on the brink of this decision, a force of overwhelming power split the air and crashed down upon the undead.