But Yin Xiu didn't ask any more questions. He just stood there quietly thinking for the rest of the time until the elevator stopped.
The door slowly opened, revealing a bright and sacred area before them.
White gauze hung from the ceiling, the floor was clean and bright, without a speck of dirt. The place was empty and silent, without even any extra decorations. Looking from one end to the other, one could only see a statue that Yin Xiu was familiar with, carved into the wall.
It was the god of fortune that Yin Xiu saw in the portrait.
Xing Shen closed her eyes, quiet and peaceful, while thick gauze hung down on both sides, concealing something.
This floor has nothing superfluous and no guards; it doesn't seem like a place for humans to live, nor does it seem like a place for gods to reside.
Yin Xiu walked straight out of the elevator. The divine messenger behind him was not allowed to come here, so he pressed the button to go down.
After the divine messenger left, Yin Xiu slowly stepped forward and examined the area on either side of the statue of the God of Fortune. It looked like there were two seats there. Apart from the seats being blocked, there were two huge crystal balls placed on the platform in front of them.
"You said you were looking for me, so why were you hiding behind the gauze?" Yin Xiu felt the gazes coming from both sides and behind him, and calmly looked back.
"You are special." A gentle, soft, and ethereal female voice came from behind a piece of gauze on the left.
"So you're the High Priest?" Yin Xiu asked lazily, drooping his eyebrows. "Why don't you come out to see me?"
"No… I am not the High Priest, but the Goddess of Fortune." The voice answered Yin Xiu gently, "I can sense that you are not from this world. There is something strange about you. Perhaps you will bring disaster to our Twin Cities."
Yin Xiu remained expressionless. "You seem to know quite a lot. Are all gods so omniscient?"
The voice chuckled softly, "That's not the case. I am the God of Happiness. I can see happiness in a person. You have very little happiness, but you do have some. It's just that compared to ordinary people, you lack so much."
From behind the gauze on the other side came a deep voice, "I am the god of misfortune. I can see the misfortune in a person. You... are a very unfortunate person. Your life is filled with many disasters. You are a pitiful person."
Yin Xiu suddenly became interested in the two gods. It seemed that each god perceived things differently because of their different abilities. Understanding the gods would probably help him understand Li Mo better.
"Tell me, how unfortunate I am, and why I am happy. Let me see if the gods of this world have such power." Yin Xiu kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, remaining polite. This was a peaceful conversation, and there was no need to draw his sword.
A faint white light emanated from behind the gauze on the left, gently enveloping the crystal ball in front of her.
"You are twenty-one years old, but you have only spent two years of your life on happiness. This happiness seems to have only recently come to you. Now you have everything that a normal person should have. As the God of Happiness, I can't say much, because you have very little."
A faint black smoke emanated from behind the gauze on the other side, filling the crystal ball in front of her, and then a sound came out.
"You are twenty-one years old, but nineteen of your lives have been marked by misfortune. Your fifteenth year will be a watershed moment in your life. You should have ended all your suffering and ushered in a new life, but it seems that you encountered a calamity. You survived it, and the suffering ended with it."
"Such life experiences are something that ordinary people would never have. Your birth was unfortunate, your childhood was unfortunate, you were moving forward in the darkness while losing yourself in the darkness, your pockets were empty, you had nothing, but there was a mysterious influence that patched up the holes in your life. Without this, your life would have continued like this until you died."
The god of happiness on the left radiates light, "His happiness is this, the existence that stitches up and fills his life."
"But what is this? I can't see it, why is it pitch black?"
"This is his happiness, but I can't see it either. What is it? Darkness represents nothingness and non-existence, but he clearly has it."
The two gods were bewildered, as if this was the first time they had encountered something they could not understand.
Yin Xiu remained silent. "...Is it possible that it's too dark for you to see?"
The gods were speechless, unsure how to respond, for they could not understand what Yin Xiu was saying.
The God of Fortune spoke slowly, "You are a pitiful person. I don't know why you are here, but I rarely meet someone as unfortunate as you. I want to bestow upon you the blessing of happiness, dispel your misfortune, and make your future life happy and peaceful, so that you will never encounter any more suffering. Are you willing to believe in me?"
The evil spirit on the other side also spoke, "You are a pitiful person. The misfortunes in your life have created everything you have experienced. They have caused you pain, but they have also made you strong. Without them, you would not have such sharp claws. You should accept your misfortunes, regard them as your strength, and control them. You will be stronger than you are now. Are you willing to believe in me?"
The two gods did not argue; they simply recounted Yin Xiu's past in a calm manner and then gave him a choice, all in a peaceful way.
But Yin Xiu remained unmoved, saying, "I don't need God's favor. I have already taken control of both happiness and misfortune. I don't need you."
The two gods fell silent. "Then let me see how you react when you encounter misfortune, and how you control it."
As the God of Calamity spoke, black mist once again swirled within the enormous crystal ball. Then, the mist slowly drifted out of the crystal ball and lingered around Yin Xiu, posing no threat whatsoever.
After circling around Yin Xiu a few times, the black mist slowly condensed and shrank, eventually forming a small Yin Xiu who was almost identical to him and was also holding a knife.
Yin Xiu paused for a moment, staring at his tiny self with a bit of confusion, thinking... it actually looked quite cute...
But just as that thought crossed his mind, he saw Xiao Yinxiu open his eyes, glare fiercely at his surroundings, and say in a gloomy voice, "Kill! Kill! Kill you all!"
Yin Xiu: ...
Is this how you feel when facing misfortune?
It seems that it really is...
"Kill you all! Kill you all!" Little Yin Xiu shouted as he raised the knife in his hand, which was probably only as long as Yin Xiu's index finger, and stabbed it fiercely at Yin Xiu.
"ah--!"
A sharp scream of pain rang out from the small space. It wasn't Yin Xiu screaming, but rather the tiny tentacled creature attached to Yin Xiu's skin that screamed.
"Kill! Kill! Kill you all!" Little Yin Xiu repeated viciously, then raised his knife and stabbed at Yin Xiu.
The tiny tentacles shrieked as they emerged from Yin Xiu's clothes, glaring angrily at the source of the pain.
Then, the moment I saw Xiao Yinxiu, my eyes melted.
What is this? My tiny boyfriend!
I love it!