The capital of the Yi Empire was the city of Cannes which was one of the continent's most prosperous cities. It was home to many gods and their worshippers. Anyone that wanted to migrate here needed permission from both the King of the Yi Empire and the War God. If you didn't have permission, then you'd have to live in hiding forever. Even if you had blessings from another god, you wouldn't be able to escape the eyes of the War God once you entered his domain.
The War God didn't usually remove foreign gods unless his follower's safety was under threat. Many gods under his authority didn't dare to act in a rash manner.
Despite the city of Cannes being full of gods, very few of the gods appeared before the public eye. It was even rarer for gods like Shang Ke to actively look out for the welfare of their worshippers. Gods usually only gave their blessings once they received enough sincere prayers and offerings. Many gods didn't share any emotional attachment to their followers. To them, it was more like a business transaction. If the gods were at a lower level, then it was already considered a blessing for them to respond with one tenth of their entire power.
When the War God saw how much Shang Ke bent over backwards for his clansmen, he felt wronged. In his mind, the Evil God was't this type of person who selflessly helped others. During a god's formation, their divinity was determined and it wouldn't change no matter how many years go by.
However, the current Evil God was different from the past one. What changed the most about him was his mask. The mask that used to only show evil now revealed his true feelings like his frankness, happiness, and hopefulness. This wasn't characteristic of an Evil God.
While Shang Ke searched for the mysterious culprit, the War God kept tabs on him. The War God was able to clearly tell whether he was sincere or just putting on a show.
Tima's condition worsened five days later. Shang Ke discovered that the person who was attempting to kill her was Kailan, a candidate from the Healing God's Lotus Clan.
Shang Ke had been uncertain about this since the Healing God was in charge of health, and since he had the power to eliminate diseases rather than inflict pain on others. This was why Shang Ke ruled him out in his initial screening of possible suspects. After he repeatedly analyzed the list and from multiple tips given by Saya, he finally narrowed it down to the Healing God.
Based on what Saya told him, the Healing God didn't directly eliminate his believers' illnesses. Instead, it was transferred to others. In order to completely eradicate a minor illness, it needed to be transferred to around a dozen people. It needed to be transferred to even more people to eradicate major illnesses. However, the plague couldn't be cured using this method.
The Healing God's worshippers didn't know that illnesses were eradicated by transferring it to others. It wasn't too long ago that several members of the Lotus Clan fell ill due to difficulties adjusting to the new climate. Kailan prayed for the health of her clan. However, she unintentionally implied that it would be better if Tima fell ill instead.
The Healing God granted her prayers and transferred the ailments to Tima, which led to her developing the sudden illness.
Shang Ke felt anger as he said to the War God, "When you sanctimonious gods play the villains, you all don't lose to me."
The War God asked with an indifferent tone, "What are you planning to do?"
"It's a tooth for a tooth, and an eye for an eye." Shang Ke said with a malevolent expression on his face.
The War God didn't appear to be perturbed by this. "I will not allow murder or curses on my territory."
Shang Ke glared at him. "How is what the Healing God did any different from a curse?"
"His main goal was to disperse the diseases." The War God reclined himself against his chair. He propped his chin on one hand and tilted his head to inspect Shang Ke. "The curse from an Evil God can only bring about disaster."
"The sword may be an instrument of slaughter. However, whether the cause is just or evil depends on the person using it." Shang Ke gestured at the sword hanging from Saya's waist and asked in a calm manner, "As the War God, isn't the sword you carry meant to protect people rather than killing them?"
The War God was unable to think of a response.
Shang Ke turned around and humbly bowed his head. The sinister expression on his face turned into a gentle but firm and resolute expression. "Saya, I'm no longer the same person I was a thousand years ago. My people have been hurt so I have the right to fight back for them."
After he finished that statement, he vanished from the War God's sight.
For a long time, the War God's line of sight remained where Shang Ke had once been before he had vanished from that chair.
Shang Ke made his way to the residence where the Lotus clansmen resided. He attempted to use divination to negotiate with the Healing God. However, the other had an uninterested attitude as if he felt that Shang Ke was below him in status.
Shang Ke felt that he might as well stop trying to convince him. Thus, he decided to cast a curse of blindness and nightmares on the Lotus clansmen. Blindness would cause them to lose their ability to see light, while nightmares would force them to suffer from scary dreams. With consideration of his current power, the curse would not last long, but he could continue to feed it.
The power of the Evil God's curse was worse than death. Even a minor curse would cause one to tremble.
Once the Lotus clansmen woke up from their nightmare, they found out that they were in a real life nightmare. Their world had turned dark due to blindness.
"You better pray for the Healing God's blessings, or you will forever be tormented from blindness and nightmares." Shang Ke's cruel voice rang out in the minds of the Lotus clansmen.
The Lotus clansmen felt panicked. They had no clue which god they offended. They had no idea that the Healing God had answered Kailan's prayers by transferring their illnesses to Tima. They had no idea that this was vengeance for the Yi Clan.
The Healing God held no special feelings towards his followers just like the other gods. It was a business agreement with no feelings involved. He wouldn't tell his followers that the Shu Clan's god had cursed them.
The Lotus Clan felt clueless about what was going on. The only thing they could do was fearfully beg for the blessings of their Healing God.
After two days had passed, the Healing God finally appeared in front of Shang Ke. His hair was long and he wore ceremonial robes while carrying a staff in his hand. He had a pure appearance, but his eyes held contempt towards all living things. He sized Shang Ke up and down, taking note of his animal hide skirt and overall repulsive appearance. His face showed an expression of disdain.
Shang Ke didn't care. He used his sinister and shameful mask to show that he felt no sympathy. He looked at him from the corner of his eyes'(﹁_﹁).'
The Healing God, '....'
"What have you decided?" The expression on Shang Ke's mask suddenly changed.
"If you want your worshipper to be healed, then you need to find someone else to transfer her illness to." The Healing God inspected him, "Who do you wish to transfer her illness to?"
The question obviously didn't leave him many options. The Healing God would never transfer the illness to his own followers. If Shang Ke chose some random people to transfer the illness to, then he would run the risk of offending another god. Even though the Healing God would prefer not to converse with mortals, that didn't stop him from revealing the culprit to other gods.
However, transferring the illness to other Shu clansmen would lead to the fear of whether their small population would make the illness stick around for too long. This would lead to collective panic.
Shang Ke briefly pondered before he softly said, "Then, you should transfer it to me."
The Healing God blankly looked at him, before he hesitantly made sure of what he heard, "You want me to transfer the illness to you?"
"That's correct." Shang Ke wrapped his arms around himself and floated midair. "Are you able to do that?"
The Healing God remained silent for a bit before he said, "If you want to suffer from the illness on behalf of your followers, then I need your permission to do so. If not, then I'm unable to do this to another god."
"That's alright. You have my permission." Shang Ke spread his arms out, as if indicating that the other god could do whatever he wished to him.
"You have to carefully think this through." The Healing God had never witnessed another god voluntarily offering to suffer for a mortal. "When you agree to let me perform this deed, then you have to be willing to drop all your defenses."
"I already know. You can begin." Shang Ke urged him.
The Healing God, '....' This was the first time he encountered a god that was willing to get abused.
He didn't respond, but he slowly lifted the staff in his hand. Since this other god had given him permission, he might as well do as he wished. This little god had dared to provoke him. He wouldn't miss this opportunity to make him pay for his recklessness.
The Healing God's eyes flashed with the intention of murder. As he was about to complete the deed, he was suddenly blasted with the formidable power of another god.
The Healing God's expression changed as he noticed that Lord War God had appeared nearby without making a sound. He hurriedly lowered his staff and respectfully bowed.
Saya answered with an indifferent tone, "I'm just passing through here. You can continue, Omiko."
The Healing God was speechless. 'If you were just passing by, then couldn't you have done so unnoticed? Aren't you clearly supporting this Little God when you stand behind him with that scary glare on your face?'
Shang Ke looked back at Saya, '(= °▽°=).' I didn't think that you'd* come to cheer me on, but thank you.
The War God responded back to him with a cold expression.
Shang Ke, '(╯ω╰).' 'I know you appear aloof on the outside, but you have a warm heart on the inside. I won't fight with you any longer.'
War God, '....'
The Healing God, '....' 'Why does it look like the War God is on good terms with this guy who's wearing a strange mask on his face?'
Shang Ke turned back to stare at the Healing God. His mask returned to its original sinister expression.
The Healing God once again raised his staff in order to perform his sorcery. However out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the familiar figure of Love God Neil. He was lazily standing next to Shang Ke with a smiley face.
The Healing God's staff trembled slightly. This little god shrouded in shadows was protected by two radiant gods? Isn't shadows and brightness like fire and water? Aren't they incompatible? How did it end up like this?
The Healing God felt puzzled when he looked at Shang Ke. No matter how much he looked at him, he couldn't see what was the big deal with this shameless guy. The Shu Clan was a small clan of only a couple hundred people. How was it backed by such powerful people?
The Healing God thought about it and decided not to make any moves against Shang Ke under the gazes of these powerful gods. He could only obediently transfer Tima's illnesses to Shang Ke.
However, he secretly added the illnesses of several ill people in the area along with Tima's illnesses.
As the illnesses combined with each other, Shang Ke's body briefly flashed with abnormal red lights.
"The task has been completed." The Healing God removed his staff
Both the War God and the Love God looked at Shang Ke. They noticed that he was motionless. His originally stable spirit kept flickering. It was there one moment but gone the next. It was as if it could vanish at any moment.
"Little Mask!" Neil hurried towards Shang Ke's side.
Saya also appeared next to him in a flash.
Shang Ke slowly lifted his head, '(┭┮Д ┭┮)'
This is seriously causing this Evil God pain!