This headache was peculiar. If she had to describe it, it felt exactly like the agony of being sent flying by a car crash—head slamming into the ground, skull shattering right then and there.
No need to wonder why Ye Zhibai knew that sensation; it came straight from her actual experience in her previous life.
The pain hit hard.
But the feeling didn’t last long.
As the headache gradually subsided, Ye Zhibai lay there puzzled, unsure what had happened. She was about to lower her hands from her throbbing head when…
Her eyes suddenly widened.
Because a grand scene unfolded in her mind, playing out like a movie.
Mists swirled in dreamlike haze.
It didn’t resemble any scene from this world at all—abstract, yet utterly real.
In a space that was neither opulently golden nor humbly plain, countless orbs of light coalesced. The sky echoed with majestic voices, booming and resonant.
All of them in that grating, electronic-synthesized tone!
“Since you are a deity, how could you fail to investigate and commit such a grave error? Thus, we strip you of your divine authority and cast you to the Mortal Realm for cultivation. Return to your godhood only when you have fully comprehended your mistake and made amends.”
What did that mean?
Had Guang Yu… committed some terrible offense back when she was a deity?
At the same time, a profound sense of unease seamlessly flooded Ye Zhibai’s heart.
It filled her with utter despair!
It was like… a child who had made a mistake—not a huge one, but enough to be abandoned by their parents and thrown out of the house.
No matter how desperately they explained themselves, voice hoarse from shouting, nothing could change their minds.
Ye Zhibai had no parents, so she couldn’t fully understand.
But now, her memories were sharing space with Guang Yu’s.
This was exactly how Guang Yu had felt back then.
Helpless, pitiful, and wronged.
She was right there in the moment.
It felt like ages had passed.
But when Ye Zhibai finally caught her breath, heart still pounding with lingering fear, only a few seconds had gone by.
“What… was that…?”
Her head felt heavy—not painful anymore, just dazed.
Guang Yu let out a soft sigh, the deep blue glow in her eyes fading completely.
Barefoot, she padded forward lightly and plopped down beside Ye Zhibai on the bed.
She propped her elbow on her own leg, chin resting in her palm—a posture straight out of a boss’s playbook.
Starlight flickered in Guang Yu’s eyes as she reminisced.
“No more questions now, right? What you saw… was my inner world. That scene in your head was the judgment from the gods right after I arranged for your soul to reincarnate into this body.”
“Judgment…?”
“Yeah. In Mortal Realm terms, think of it as me breaking some heavenly law. I didn’t follow the rules, so those stubborn old deities kicked me down here. Sigh… Honestly, it turned out pretty good. I half-expected them to just obliterate my soul on the spot.”
“……”
That harsh?!
But still…
“Why?”
Ye Zhibai suddenly felt deeply unsettled.
Guang Yu had been treated like this… A full-fledged deity, reduced to tapping on her own window as a cat.
Could the reason she ended up like this… be because of me?!
After all, Guang Yu had said the judgment came right after completing Ye Zhibai’s reincarnation.
No matter how she looked at it, the problem stemmed from her.
Guang Yu glanced sideways at Ye Zhibai’s expression and smiled helplessly.
“You humans… got some sense of responsibility, huh? Nah, don’t overthink it. The reason I got punished has… ahem! Has nothing to do with you! You’re just a little cookie crumb.”
Guang Yu pushed off the bed with both hands, bouncing back to the floor with impressive agility. Hands clasped behind her back, she turned and flashed a grin.
But… Ye Zhibai couldn’t shake the feeling that her smile looked utterly miserable.
She had felt that mood just now—it was truly despairing.
Imagine spending ten thousand years in one place, only for your own people to tell you to get lost one day, leaving you adrift in the vast, unknown world. Of course you’d feel lost and empty.
And earlier… she had almost let it slip.
Ye Zhibai looked up slightly. “Can you tell me the reason…?”
“Why do you have so many questions? I already said it has nothing to do with you. Ugh, so annoying. Should’ve never shared my emotions with you. Why’d I cut corners like that…?”
“The reason…”
“Not telling.”
“The reason…”
“……” The Scummy Fox had no idea humans could be this persistent.
Guang Yu awkwardly whistled—though no sound came out—and averted her gaze, refusing to budge.
But… Ye Zhibai’s little paw was inching toward Guang Yu’s ear again…?
Guang Yu leaped back two meters!
She clapped her hands over her ears at the same time.
“Stop!! Use your words, not your paws! Keep two meters away from me, now!”
“Then tell me… the reason.”
“Fine, fine, fine!! You’re driving this goddess nuts! I’ll tell you, okay?!”
The Scummy Fox finally caved.
In a fit of resignation, she sat cross-legged on the floor, hugging her big tail and pouting.
“Twenty years ago, the one who was supposed to drop this empty shell of a body into the Mortal Realm… was me.”
“That was… your job?”
“Ahaha… yeah.”
Guang Yu suddenly tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling.
What came next, she recited in a flat, emotionless drone.
“Even gods get careless sometimes… Uh… The Mother Goddess told me to place your body in the mortal world and said I had to make a soul for it…! I forgot! Mmph… But so what if there’s no soul? It’s been living just fine… probably…?”
Probably my foot! This soulless husk of mine got turned into a vegetable by a car crash before!
After a pause, Guang Yu sighed again. “The more I thought about it, the more dangerous it seemed… What if the Mother Goddess found out? Wouldn’t I get diced into a million pieces?! Then twenty years later… I ran into you, this unlucky… ahem, lucky star. So I figured I could quietly use your soul to patch things up, slip it past everyone unnoticed… and we’d all be golden!”
At that point, Guang Yu snapped, frantically scratching her hair with little hands in agitation. She jabbed a finger at Ye Zhibai and growled.
“Bottom line! Ye Zhibai! You damn human!! It’s all your fault! If you’d just let your soul settle into this body quietly, we’d both be fine! Why’d you have to go and leave?! And yelling like that at the end—what were you shouting for? ‘Scummy Light Orb, Scummy Light Orb!’ The Mother Goddess happened to check in! She heard something was up, caught me red-handed on the spot, and dragged all the past crap into it! Aren’t you annoying enough already?!”
“My fault?!”
Ye Zhibai pointed at herself, blinking her big eyes in a daze.
I’ve seen everything now.
Bro, I’m dying laughing!
Ye Zhibai couldn’t help but laugh through her tears.
Guang Yu got demoted… for this reason?!
In other words, by a twist of fate, Ye Zhibai had unwittingly reported this scummy deity at the very last moment of her life—and it stuck!
What a win!
But…
As she’d thought earlier, she didn’t truly resent Guang Yu. And she empathized deeply with her current state.
She really was like a rain-soaked kitten—stubborn on the surface, but fragile underneath.
The feeling of having no family around, lost in a vast and boundless world, was pure agony.
Two wanderers far from home (one a god), what need was there for prior acquaintance?
When Ye Zhibai looked over again, determination filled her once-icy eyes.
“Guang Yu… Right now, you’re my cat… ahem, I mean, you’ve come here to see me. That means… I can help you out, right?”
Only then did Guang Yu stop her tantrum.
With a haughty pout, she turned her head aside.
“Help me? Hell, whether I can return to godhood… as much as I hate admitting it… depends entirely on you.”
“Really…? What can I… do to help?”
“Of course.”
Ye Zhibai had been hoping that in this life, she could do something truly meaningful.
Maybe even help this scummy deity return to the Heavenly Realm!
But Guang Yu’s next words left her frozen in place.
“If you want to help me get back! Then go fall in love with some cute girls! The real deal—mutual, heartfelt love!”
“Huh…?”
Guang Yu figured she hadn’t been clear enough.
So the scummy deity tapped her limited knowledge reserve, flashed a confident grin, and gave Ye Zhibai a thumbs-up.
“See?! Find a cute girl you like… and plaster yourself to her!”
