Chapter 143: Justice

“Shally, you can tell me everything you’ve been hiding from me now.”

The moon was bright and the stars sparse, while the night air was cool as water. Nyx sat casually on Shally’s little bed, reaching out to knead the rag doll beside her pillow.

Lois had already moved into Ye Ran’s room, while Ye Ran was now sharing a bed with Meng Qi.

The minotaurs had prepared a lavish banquet for the Divine Envoys of the Bright Moon and the Starshine. While the two guests were enjoying themselves, Ye Ran brought Freya over to greet them, and the meaning behind it was obvious.

Knowing there was no way to hide anything from this remarkably capable woman, Shally sighed and began recounting every detail of Ye Ran’s rescue of Sinclair, all the way to the choice he had been forced to make when Gong Ziyue and Pandora brought pressure to bear on him.

“Nyx, I think you were just like me. The first time you saw him, you disliked him very much. You thought he was cold, stern, and filled with hostility—sometimes even utterly devoid of human feeling. That was why I insisted on taking away the girl who had grown up with him. I owe him a great deal.”

“But once you draw close to him, you discover that he is nothing like the person you imagined. You don’t know how much it pains me—the more I learn about him, the more sorrow I feel. If I had endured everything he has suffered, perhaps I would have lost my way long ago.”

“Now, I truly want to help him achieve his dream.”

She walked to the window. In the distance, she saw Ye Ran sitting at the entrance to the camp, polishing his gun, while Meng Qi spoke to him excitedly. Ye Ran occasionally answered him.

“You know that second-generation god is a great deal of trouble,” Nyx said.

Shally nodded. “I guessed her identity when I examined her seal. She really is a troublesome little girl.”

“But that is also why I asked you and Lord Jero to come here. I hope she can at least get past you.”

Nyx shook her head. “Even if we indulge him out of personal affection and allow him to build a temple, what good will it do? He still has countless challenges ahead of him.”

“I think he is already prepared for all of them.”

Nyx frowned and turned around. Only then did she notice the unusual sorrow in Shally’s eyes as she gazed at Ye Ran’s back.

“Shally, did that little elf stay because of you as well?”

Shally nodded. “I asked her to stay, and she had no objections. That little fool still doesn’t realize how important this elf is to him.”

A remarkably gentle smile touched her lips.

“Shally, after doing so much for him, is it really only because of what happened back then?”

Shally turned around and shook her head.

“There is one more thing—something I still dare not tell him. It is also the part of myself I still dare not face.”

……

“Brother Ye, I thought Lord Jero was a virtuous and respectable old man. But do you know what he said to me when the banquet ended?”

Meng Qi leaned mysteriously toward Ye Ran’s ear.

“He actually asked whether this place had any prostitutes he could hire. Hahahaha…”

Ye Ran could not help laughing. “He seems to be a rather interesting old man.”

“Indeed. Apart from that little flaw, there is nothing much wrong with him. And Lord Jero and Lady Nyx have hidden themselves very deeply.”

Meng Qi glanced up at the full moon hanging high in the sky.

“That’s enough for tonight. We can talk tomorrow. Brother Ye, it’s time to go back to sleep.”

“You go on ahead,” Ye Ran said. “I’m waiting for someone.”

“Oh, I understand.”

Meng Qi gave him a knowing smile and returned to his room.

Before long, faint footsteps sounded behind him, accompanied by a gentle breeze.

“You cherish that gun very much.”

Nyx came to his side and sat down after smoothing her robes. She was entirely different from the imposing figure she had been during the day; at that moment, she seemed thoughtful and refined.

Ye Ran said, “It is only when I hold this gun that I feel there is nothing in this world I cannot accomplish.”

Nyx smiled. “Blind faith in strength can easily lead you astray.”

Ye Ran glanced at her, then turned his head away. “Divine Envoy, if I have already lost my way, or if I have done something evil that makes you believe I show signs of going astray, I am willing to accept your doubts. But how can anyone be convinced by a baseless accusation, a mere rumor born from nothing?”

Nyx could not help smiling. “You certainly have a sharp tongue. Let us say I was being discourteous earlier. But I would very much like to know why you insist on building a temple for Freya. As far as I know, she descended into the mortal world only a year ago.”

“You really want to know?”

A surge of murderous fury suddenly rose within Ye Ran.

Nyx grew slightly wary, though she continued to smile. “I truly do.”

“Very well. I’ll tell you. I want to demand justice for her—the justice the Sea God Poseidon owes her.”

“Justice?”

Nyx had never imagined that would be his answer.

“You could never understand what it feels like to be an orphan. I do. Freya does too. That is why we have depended on each other until this day.”

“Nine months ago, Freya fell from the heavens. That is merely the pleasant way of putting it. I know that, in truth, someone threw her down from the sky. I am an orphan of the human race; she is an abandoned infant of the gods.”

What kind of god broke a leg while descending to the mortal world? At first, Ye Ran had found the matter amusing. Later, he felt only heartache.

“Whether it was coincidence or something else, Freya appeared when my life was at its darkest and gave me hope. She was incapable of doing anything properly, yet she always wanted to give me the very best. To help me enter the temple, she traveled thousands of miles to the Sixth Heaven Temple—the Sea God’s Palace—and suffered countless humiliations for my sake.”

“And on that very day, the Sea God Poseidon threw her into the Wraith Passage.”

Ye Ran’s fists clenched abruptly, and a chilling aura of killing intent spread around him.

Nyx drew in a sharp breath. She knew exactly what sort of place the Wraith Passage was.

Ye Ran said in a low voice, “Freya has always refused to tell me, but how could I not know? What I can never understand is what kind of background she had that her parents would abandon her in the mortal world, and what kind of identity she possessed that even the mighty Sea God would cast her into the Wraith Passage and use others to kill her. She was only nine years old. What could she possibly have done to incur the hatred of gods and men alike?”

“I refuse to accept it. I cannot swallow this grievance. If they will not allow me to enter their temple, then I will build my own. If they want Freya dead, I will never permit it. Neither the Sea God nor the God-Hunting Clan will ever take her life from me.”

“I am cold by nature, yet I still have a few friends. What about Freya? In this lonely world, she has nothing besides me. If I do not seek justice for her, then who will?”

“Who will?”

All the grief and fury in his heart burst forth. Only then did Nyx realize that Shally had not been mistaken in the slightest. This young man was neither as cold as he appeared nor as naïve as he seemed.

He knew everything.

“Divine Envoy, this is why I am building a temple. My resolve cannot be broken, and not even Heaven can stand in my way.”

Ye Ran left those words behind and rose to his feet.

But when he turned around, he saw Freya standing there. She was looking at him with a choked sob, tears streaming down her face.

I woke up at half past three this morning, so today’s update is a little early.