Episode 13

Once Su Jin and Jiang Li were engulfed by the sparkles, they couldn’t move an inch. They couldn’t even move their fingers. It was as if they had completely lost control over their bodies.

“The bells will still ring…” muttered Su Jin.

“That’s right, the bells will still ring. If that hunter had trouble fighting me, there’s no way he can get through Liu Yingying.” Su Jin was surprised. He didn’t expect Jiang Li to think so highly of Liu Yingying.

“Well, we’ll know in a while whether the bells will ring or not.” Despite being trapped here, this god seemed very confident in his own hunter.

But Su Jin had no confidence at all. An ordinary person had no way of controlling this sort of situation in the first place, so the only thing he could do was to create trouble for the god, and he even needed Jiang Li’s help to do that.

“Give me the longbow!” The god stretched his hand towards Su Jin. The longbow broke free from Su Jin’s grip and flew towards the god.

“NOW!” Jiang Li suddenly gave a mighty shout as green beams shot out from his body. He had managed to break through the god’s control over his body and was able to move on his own again.

Once he broke free, he held up his spear and swung it towards the longbow so as to destroy it. The consequences would be very severe if the god managed to get hold of the longbow.

“Jiang Li, don’t do it!” yelled Su Jin at the top of his voice.

Jiang Li heard Su Jin’s cry just before his spear was about to hit the longbow. For some reason, Jiang Li decided to trust in Su Jin and forcibly stopped the spear from moving forward. The spear that was headed for the longbow instantly came to a stop.

Pfft! Jiang Li vomited a mouthful of blood. Sending the spear out had taken a lot out of him, so having to stop it when it had reached maximum speed also took a toll on his body.

“If you don’t give me a good explanation for stopping me, I’m going to break you like I meant to break that longbow!” Jiang Li glared at Su Jin and started to regret listening to him. That was their best chance at destroying the longbow. There was no way he would get another chance at destroying it.

But Su Jin started smiling, because he saw that the longbow had stopped just outside the fence and did not actually fly into the hands of the god.

“When I first saw the damage in the wooden fence around this house, I thought that it was caused by those who were tricked into coming in here ten years ago. But now… I suppose that was done by Lin Yue and her family, right? Or it might’ve even been yourself,” said Su Jin calmly.

The god’s expression turned sinister and didn’t look as calm as before. But Su Jin continued, “Actually, for as long as we don’t walk through this gate on our own, there’s nothing you can do about us. The best you can do is to use those sparkles to paralyze us, right? In fact… you might not actually be able to paralyze us with those sparkles for very long either.”

“This wooden fence is actually like your jail cell, isn’t it? Your hunters are able to go in and out freely, and even their dogs can do that. Only you, the god, cannot. Is that right?”

The god was clearly incensed now. As the fury in his expression intensified, so did the smile on Su Jin’s face. Sparkles began to flow from the god’s body as he grew angrier and angrier.

The sparkles from his body gathered above his head to form a menacing looking face which roared furiously at Su Jin, “You foolish little lowlife! Angering me will do you no good!”

“That’s not necessarily true. It’s quite fun to watch a god get angry.” Su Jin massaged his shoulders for a bit because they had become numb from the pressure of the paralyzing sparkles earlier. Then he looked at the god and said, “The longbow obviously cannot cross the wooden fence and you have no way of getting it inside either. So, you’ve done everything in hope of tricking Jiang Li into actually destroying the long bow. Let me guess. As a god… you have the ability to send the longbow to wherever the hunter is, except the longbow has to be destroyed? Or wait. No. Only one longbow may exist at a time. So, if this one is destroyed, then you can create a new one for your hunter, since you’re a god. Is that correct?”¹

The god fell silent, and his menacing face continued to tremble angrily. Jiang Li, on the other hand, stared at Su Jin like he was a monster. He muttered to himself, “He’s just like that asshole. What on earth are their brains made from?”

“Lowly human, you are one of the most outstanding humans I have ever seen. I know what your aim is, and I can help you. But I need you to agree to become one of my devotees. How about that?” said the god calmly.

“You know what our aim is?” Jiang Li merely snorted disdainfully.

The god turned to look at Jiang Li and said, “I know where all of you come from. It’s Hell’s Handbook, isn’t it?”

Jiang Li was stunned, as if he were surprised that the god actually knew about the Handbook. His heart pounded wildly and his eyes flew open as he pointed at the god and said, “You… you’re an Elder God?”

“Oh? You actually know about the Elder Gods,” the god was also surprised that Jiang Li knew anything about this.

Jiang Li said, “I don’t know very much either, but during one of the challenges, I happened to come across some historical writings about the Handbook and the Elder Gods. None of the enemies we face in the challenges will know about the Handbook, except the Elder Gods. They are the only ones who know about the Handbook.”

“Heh heh… you’re right! So, become a devotee of mine and I will grant you strength,” the god said loudly to Su Jin.

Su Jin scratched his head and looked like all of this was such a chore. “It’s not a bad thing to have a religion, but I’m not sure about believing in you. I’m sure those ex-devotees of yours think the same way!”

“So, you’re hellbent on going against me?!” roared the god as more sparkles poured out of his shoulders to grab onto the wooden fence. But the moment the sparkles hit the wooden fence, they disappeared.

“We’ll take our leave now. Don’t be too sad. Ten years isn’t a lot to a god like you.” Then, Su Jin said to Jiang Li, “You might be confident in Liu Yingying’s abilities, but we’d better go over and take a look!” Su Jin walked up to the fence and picked up the longbow again.

“You’ll regret this! You’ll definitely regret this! You’ve turned down an elder god’s invitation!” shrieked the god. He continued, “As long as you agree to become one of mine, I’ll make you my ambassador! You won’t just be an ordinary devotee!”

Su Jin ignored the screams and shouts of the god and walked off with Jiang Li. Jiang Li took his hat off to Su Jin for doing that. That was a god, and an Elder God at that, an existence that actually knew about the existence of the Handbook. But then again, thought Jiang Li, Su Jin was just a newbie. There was no way a newbie would know how valuable an Elder God really was.

When they arrived at the foot of the mountain again, they saw that Lin Yue was dead. There was a hole that pierced right through her forehead, and they could still see some sparkles left behind.

“Where did your guy die?” asked Su Jin.

Jiang Li pondered for a moment and said, “Not too far from here. I had already warned him to stay within ten meters…”

“Stop talking about this stupid ten meters! I really pity that man! He didn’t deserve to die,” said Su Jin with a sigh. While he agreed that Jiang Li was powerful, Jiang Li could be a bit dumb sometimes.

They walked up the mountain and eventually found the hunter at the entrance to the temple. But the hunter was now hanging from the doorframe like a piece of meat waiting to be smoked.

Liu Yingying leaned against the entrance while Chu Yi looked like he had seen a ghost as he stayed far, far away from Liu Yingying. He came running over only when he saw that Su Jin was here.

“Bro! I’m so glad you’re alright!”

“Tell me, was Liu Yingying the one who managed to deal with this hunter?” Su Jin asked Chu Yi in a low voice.

Chu Yi immediately nodded, then glanced at the other side of the temple where Jiang Li and Liu Yingying were talking. His lips barely moved as he whispered to Su Jin, “Don’t cross that woman. She’s so vicious, and she doesn’t seem human.”

“Oh? Who’s so vicious that she doesn’t seem human?” asked Liu Yingying with a bright smile on her face as she approached them.

Su Jin watched as Chu Yi instantly froze before turning around robotically and saying with an awkward laugh, “No, no, I was telling Su Jin that he was silly for choosing against coming here to be protected by someone as amazing as you are. Instead, he went to look for a monster to fight, which makes him sound so vicious that he doesn’t seem human.”

Liu Yingying glared at Chu Yi, then smiled at Su Jin. “You’re a big reason why we’ve managed to get through this challenge, since you managed to delay the time the hunter took to attack the temple. I’m surprised that a newbie could actually get this far.”

“Well, it seems like you guys could have done well without me too. You’d probably be able to settle this challenge all by yourself,” said Su Jin with a self-deprecating laugh. If he had known that Liu Yingying was this powerful, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to take such a big risk. He could have just stayed here and let her protect him.

But Liu Yingying shook her head and said very solemnly to Su Jin, “No, your contribution was indeed substantial. Jiang Li has already told me what happened. If that hunter had that longbow with him, I don’t think I could have overcome him either.”

Su Jin laughed and was about to speak when the bells started ringing for the fourth time. The dark skies outside immediately began to brighten.

“It’s over,” said Liu Yingying quietly. She looked at Su Jin and Chu Yi and said, “You’ll be entering that area for the first time after this, so make your decisions carefully. These could affect your fate in the future.”

“That area?” Su Jin blinked in confusion.

“There’s no time to explain, I hope we get to work together again.” Liu Yingying stuck her hand out at Su Jin and he shook her hand.

Jiang Li glanced at Su Jin and said in his usual aloof voice, “You’ve done a pretty good job this time, but please, don’t become like that asshole.”

“Seriously though, who’s this asshole you guys keep mentioning?” asked Su Jin curiously.

“You’ll know when you see that asshole. But it’s not going to be that easy to meet that fellow, since there are more than just a few Handbook owners out there,” said Jiang Li.

Chu Yi turned to Su Jin and said, “Bro, I really have to thank you for everything you’ve done. Let’s have a meal together when we get back, okay?” He rattled off a string of numbers and said, “Call me when you get back! Miss Liu, what’s your number?”

“Exchanging numbers? Trust me, it’s meaningless.” Liu Yingying shook her head. Just then, a bright white light suddenly shone down and flooded the area.

Su Jin couldn’t help but squint from the brightness. By the time the bright light vanished, he realized that he was in a completely different place. There was nothing here, and it was dark except for a flickering flame in the distance.

“What place is this?” mumbled Su Jin to himself puzzledly, as he looked around him.