Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Along the entire way, curious spirits watched Fu Li.

They had never seen a flower that could "walk" while mounted on a flowerpot.

"You really do see everything after you die."

Fu Li often heard them say this.

Finding his way in the Underworld wasn't hard.

The spirits themselves acted as direction guides.

Fu Li used his agile roots to "brake."

The Styx had arrived.

Although the Styx was called a river, it was vast and boundless. The water was pitch black like ink. At a single glance, he couldn't see its end.

Fu Li looked around in all directions and finally found a crude wooden dock amidst a large cluster of red spider lilies.

Near the dock was a small boat. On the boat sat a man wearing black robes.

Was that Charon?

Fu Li drove his flowerpot slowly over.

"Another one here to cross the river?"

Charon lay on the boat. He heard the movement but didn't even change his posture.

He yawned and lazily opened his eyes. "Hm? How come it's a lily flower?"

"Mister Charon, I'd first like to make a deal with you. I wonder if you would be willing?"

Fu Li got straight to the point.

If Charon truly was someone who loved money, he wouldn't like wasting time. It was better to lay out what he wanted to say.

"A flower that can talk." Charon looked at Fu Li with keen interest. "What deal do you want to make?"

He rubbed his hands, hinting to Fu Li.

"You know the rules, right?"

Charon said with a beaming smile.

Fu Li was prepared. He used his own leaf to curl up a silver coin. The leaf stretched out deftly.

Charon raised an eyebrow, nimbly jumped off the boat, and came ashore.

Only then did Fu Li fully see Charon's appearance.

Unlike the old man in the legends, Charon's face was very young.

A head of curly black hair paired with a pair of violet eyes. The aura around him was gloomy.

There was also a mark on his face that, no matter how Fu Li looked at it, was shaped like a coin.

"Little flower, what's your name? You know my rules. Someone must have told you, right?"

"My name is Fu Li."

Fu Li watched the other accept the silver coin and knew the conversation could continue.

"Fu Li...? This name sounds like I've heard it somewhere before."

Charon furrowed his brows. He tried hard to recall when he had heard this name.

Not long after, he gave up.

Aside from money, he couldn't be bothered to remember anyone.

They were all just fleeting fellow travelers anyway.

No one would truly stay.

Charon waved his hand. "Fu Li, what deal do you want to discuss with me?"

"Let me say this upfront. For every deal, I need to receive the payment that belongs to me."

Charon wagged his finger, looking the very picture of a profiteer.

"That's only natural."

Fu Li nodded. Since he was negotiating a deal with Charon, he had long been mentally prepared.

"Straightforward enough."

Charon's attitude toward the little flower before him grew considerably more friendly.

"Tell me about it. Some deals I can do. Some I can't."

Charon casually conjured a chair with his divine power and lay back on it comfortably.

"I've partnered with people in the Underworld to grow quite a few crops for sale on the surface. But business is too brisk. It's too troublesome for one person to make the round trips alone. So we're asking for your help to do some transport as well."

Hearing this, Charon jumped straight up.

"The Underworld can grow things?"

Charon had an expression that said, "Are you joking?"

In his understanding, the Underworld was a godforsaken place, full of terrifying danger zones.

Farming here was no different from waiting for rocks to bloom.

Fu Li: "That's correct. I believe you've already met the one in charge of sales."

Charon immediately caught on. "Orpheus?"

Every time he saw him, he was laden with bags large and small. He'd thought it was clothing or something. So it was crops from the Underworld.

No wonder that kid Orpheus hid his things so tightly!

"That's correct."

"Alright. I agree to this business."

Charon agreed even faster than Fu Li had expected.

Even if Fu Li hadn't come to him, he would have sought Orpheus out anyway.

For no other reason than every time Charon ferried Orpheus, the scent of money on him made Charon's mouth water with greed.

This was far higher than his fixed stipend!

Three hundred sixty-five days a year, no days off, no rest, in exchange for one coin a day as the crossing fare.

Even Charon found that hard work.

"I'm willing to give you all of my earnings. I only ask that you keep me by your side."

Fu Li said earnestly.

In the Underworld, money had little use. Only Charon had this kind of hobby.

If he could cater to his interests, Fu Li wouldn't be stingy either.

As long as Fu Li could stay on Charon's ferry boat and speed up his maturation time, that was the return he wanted to get.

"You want to stay on the boat?"

Charon furrowed his brows. The ferry boat was extremely important in the Underworld.

It was the only way to bring spirits into the Underworld.

Having an extra lily flower whose background even he didn't know meant Charon had to weigh whether he could accept this money.

He didn't want to be called in by Hades for a disciplinary review.

"You want to stay on the ferry boat?"

Fu Li met Charon's eyes directly. "Yes, sir."

"...Why?"

Charon rubbed his temples. What was there about his shabby little boat to covet?

He sized up Fu Li.

"You want power?"

Charon asked uncertainly.

That was all he could think of.

Suddenly, he remembered.

He had heard the name Fu Li before.

Those spirits on his boat were always chatting about this name.

Charon cried out in disbelief, "Do you know Apollo?!"

Fu Li scratched himself with a petal. This scene seemed like he'd seen it somewhere before.

"Mm."

He nodded in admission.

A flower nodding was very bizarre, but Charon had no mind to care.

His head was filled with the thought: How is Apollo's deceased lover here with me?!

This was bad. If Apollo stormed the Underworld, his shabby little boat would capsize along with everything else.

But if he refused, his heart would ache over the money...

Why was there no way in this world to have it both ways?!

"I agree."

Love of money won out over Charon's reason.

If worse came to worst, he'd just hide behind Fu Li.

Fu Li was overjoyed.

He had thought Charon was going to refuse him!

Charon turned around and looked out at the boundless Styx. "Fu Li, listen carefully. Regarding the Styx, there are four absolute prohibitions that must not be broken."

"First, you absolutely must not fall into the Styx. Because the bottom of the Styx connects to the Chaos where the Creator God resides."

"Second, you absolutely must not respond to any calling. Some things will lure you to places you shouldn't go."

"Third, only ferry boats can safely travel upon the Styx. Normally, there's only one ferry boat, but I have a spare one, in case you need it."

"Fourth, and the most important one. The souls of the dead cannot leave the boundaries of the Underworld. Only the living can leave." Charon looked at Fu Li seriously. His face held unprecedented gravity.

"Have you remembered all of them?"

Fu Li nodded. "I've remembered them all."

Charon set his mind at ease. He reverted back to his cynical self.

"Ferrying is very boring. Prepare yourself mentally."

"Oh, right. Forgot to mention. For that thing you want, you'll have to wait for spirits to come board the boat. Only the souls of the newly dead still carry traces of life breath."

"Life breath?"

Fu Li didn't understand.

Charon patiently explained:

"So-called life breath is life."

"There is no concept of life in the Underworld, only eternity and death."

"The gods are eternal. The spirits are death."

"If you want to mature, you need vitality. This thing only exists on the surface. The spirits of the newly dead still carry remnants. That's what you need."

"So that's how it is..."

Fu Li was thoughtful.

"You don't need to deliberately take life breath. You just need to stay near them, and you'll obtain it."

Charon added quickly upon seeing Fu Li sink into contemplation.

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had anyone to talk to.

Having a little flower as company wasn't bad either.

Charon had spent far too long on the Styx.

*

Although Charon loved money, he was very meticulous.

He added a few "brakes" to Fu Li's mobility flowerpot to prevent sudden loss of control.

The ferryman's life was, just as Charon said, extremely dull.

Every day, spirits came. Spirits carrying intense obsessions were unwilling to cross the river. At such times, Charon would forcibly pull them onto the boat.

Because Orpheus made fixed round trips, he became a friend Fu Li could see often.

Every time he came over to the Styx side, he would measure Fu Li's height.

Fu Li's form had begun to shoot up. He felt himself growing more and more tired lately.

Charon said it was a good thing.

He was growing up.

As Fu Li and Charon grew more familiar with each other, Charon finally revealed his true nature as a chatterbox.

"Fu Li, let me tell you. Those spirits are always wailing that they still have things left undone. But I say, there's no need to finish them."

Charon talked on and on.

Fu Li didn't understand. "Why?"

"You're already underground. Might as well just go to sleep, haha~"

Charon laughed very happily.

Fu Li: ?

"Ah, don't you find that humorous?"

Charon looked at Fu Li's bewildered face and asked back.

Fu Li's leaves even curled up in awkwardness.

Not really.

Charon coughed a few times and changed the subject.

Underworld jokes were just like that.

He was already much easier to talk to than those workaholics.

Just as Charon was about to launch into the next joke.

A message transmission reached his palm.

He casually glanced at it. The smile on his face froze.

Who was sneaking across the Styx?

Daring to sneak across right under his nose. The other party had to be a deity.

The Underworld and the Divine Mountain had always minded their own business.

They didn't interfere with each other.

Was this permitted by Zeus, or was it done privately?

He glanced quickly at Fu Li.

In any case, he had to go check first.

This place might have to be temporarily left to Fu Li.

These days, they had driven the boat together, bringing spirits across the river. Fu Li was familiar with the process by now.

"Fu Li, there's something I'd like to ask of you."

Charon's tone was heavy. Fu Li asked uneasily, "What's wrong?"

"There's something I need to go deal with. The duty of ferrying spirits needs to be temporarily handed over to you."

Fu Li paused. At this point in time, could it be Apollo?

Charon guessed what he was thinking.

"It can't be Apollo. The reason the Underworld is a world of its own is because even the gods must abide by the rules here."

Charon negated Fu Li's guess. Seeing Fu Li's petals droop dejectedly, he added, "But, perhaps so."

"If it really is him, then it'd be good to bring him to find you."

Fu Li used his leaf to tug at Charon's hand. "Thank you."

"Why thank me? You've already paid the price."

Charon conjured a brand-new small boat and climbed aboard in one stride.

He gave Fu Li a lantern that glowed with a faint, ghostly light.

"This is an Underworld Lantern. I hope you never have to use it."

Charon seemed to be in a great hurry. After hastily giving his instructions, the boat constantly accelerated and soon faded from Fu Li's sight.

Fu Li knew he could only wait for Charon's news.

He turned his gaze to the surface of the Styx. His roots extended from the flowerpot, grasped the oars on both sides, and he slowly rowed toward the entrance.

The fog lifted. On the opposite shore waited a richly dressed spirit.

The spirit's face still held bewilderment, as if not understanding why he had appeared here.

Fu Li extended a relatively larger petal and unfurled it before the other.

The spirit's mouth fell open. "How is a little flower rowing a boat?"

"Please board."

Fu Li made his leaf take a "please" gesture. He made room to give the spirit space.

The spirit hesitated for a moment but still stepped onto the small boat.

The small boat sank a little deeper into the water but remained steady.

Fu Li maneuvered his roots to deftly control the oars.

The small boat sailed into the thick-fogged Styx.

The journey crossing the Styx was truly far too long.

The spirit, from his initial curiosity, soon became bored. "Isn't the ferryman supposed to be Charon? How come it's you, this lily flower?"

That Charon was the ferryman of the Underworld was common knowledge in Ancient Greece.

"My name is Agma. I'm a merchant from Corinth. Heh. Ever since coming to this place, I only remember these things. Any more and I can't recall."

The spirit was very talkative. He gazed at the lake surface around him. "These waters are so black. They look truly frightening."

"Please sit steadily. The water's surface is very dangerous."

Fu Li warned.

The spirits that came to the Styx initially had very few memories. They would gradually remember them during the journey across the Styx.

A small number of spirits would recall everything the moment they boarded the boat. They would scream and run away.

Clearly, this spirit belonged to the former category.

That was for the best.

Fu Li sighed quietly. The spirits who remembered were usually very dangerous.

"Little flower, do you have a name?"

Agma was full of enthusiasm.

"...Fu Li."

Fu Li answered simply. All his energy was focused on the oars.

"Fu Li? The pronunciation is so strange."

Agma muttered. Then, once again, he spoke cheerfully.

"You know Corinth, right? One of the wealthy city-states. I lived there. The Aegean Sea was the beacon for my trade fleet. Spices, pottery, and gemstones... even the archon loved my wine..."

"They all said, Agma, without you, life would be missing a puzzle piece."

His tone was full of pride.

Fu Li listened quietly.

As they traveled across the Styx, Agma's memories were reviving.

"The golden land. My homeland."

Agma sighed with such emotion.

His eyes grew increasingly hollow. The life breath on his body gradually dissipated.

Fu Li carefully collected it.

And inwardly remained on alert.

It was coming.

Agma was about to recall the specific details of his own death.

"A storm. A storm at sea. The sea waters were like a monster. I was at a loss on the merchant ship. The sailors tried desperately to salvage things... it was too late. It was truly too late. A giant wave struck. The ship capsized..."

"The ship capsized. I died."

Agma's voice completely disappeared.

He remembered.

The ship had capsized. He had died in the icy ocean, never to return to his homeland.

"...I want to go back."

Agma looked up again. His eyes were now filled with bloodshot veins.

"I don't want to go to the Underworld!"

His emotions suddenly grew violent. His illusory body became even more phantasmagoric.

"Please turn the boat around. I don't want to hurt you!"

Fu Li extended a few leaves, attempting to console Agma. "Death is the destination of all people, Mister Agma."

"Perhaps this place is a new beginning."

He thought of the people of the Blissful Fields. Their lives hadn't changed because they were in the Underworld.

"A new beginning?!"

Agma flung off Fu Li's petals and stared fixedly at him. "Start anew in this dead, dreary place?! My glory, my everything, my home—it's all on the surface!"

Ghostly blue flames emerged from his eye sockets.

"Tell me how to go back! Or I'll make you agree to let me go back!"

A cruel smile hooked onto Agma's face.

"Mister Agma, please calm down."

Fu Li tried calling out with words.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the gray, dark shore. They were about to arrive.

Agma also noticed. They were about to truly reach the Underworld!

"No, no, no, no..."

Agma repeated this word over and over. Terror and fear alternated on his face.

Without hesitation, he wanted to seize the oars from Fu Li's roots!

"I want to go back. Give me the oars. Don't stop me—!"

The words hadn't yet faded when Agma suddenly lunged at Fu Li.

Fu Li had been on guard. Several tough, resilient root tendrils lashed out like whips, quickly interweaving into a crude shield in front of him.

At the same time, he maneuvered other roots to abruptly swing the oars. The small boat rocked violently.

Agma crashed into the shield and sneered.

He climbed on top of it and forcefully pried apart the root tendrils. Fu Li cried out in pain and instinctively contracted them. Seeing an opening, Agma immediately reached out to forcibly snatch the oars.

This was bad!

He passed the oars to his longer roots, forcing the oars to hang suspended in mid-air, just out of Agma's reach. "You forced my hand!"

Agma recklessly grabbed Fu Li's leaf and yanked it fiercely!

Fu Li grunted. Red blood flowed out.

"...How can you bleed?"

Agma looked at Fu Li in disbelief.

"Shouldn't you belong to the Underworld, the same as me?"

He murmured.

"No. I want it too. I also want to live!"

Agma's reason completely vanished. He actually bent over Fu Li's wound and gnawed at it!

It hurts so much!

Fu Li screamed in his heart.

The petals Agma tore off became more and more numerous.

The wounds on Fu Li's body also increased.

He tried to fight back, but the loss of blood drained him of strength.

"Stop... Agma..."

"I want to go back... I absolutely must go back..."

Agma had already completely fallen into madness.

In his eyes, there was only the desire for life.

Just as Agma was about to tear off another of Fu Li's petals, the lantern Charon had given Fu Li emitted a piercing, ghostly blue light.

Agma's movements froze.

The crazed expression on his face solidified, turning into extreme terror.

The lantern grew brighter and brighter. Agma's body was gradually stretched out. At the same time, he increasingly resembled a pitch-black shadow.

Under Fu Li's watch, Agma became a silhouette inside the lantern.

Before Fu Li could even think, an even more unbearable pain inside his body nearly tore him apart!

He curled up his petals. All his roots retracted, clinging tightly to himself. His soft petals trembled uncontrollably. His leaves wilted down in agony.

It hurt so much. It was as if something inside his body had been thoroughly unleashed!

Very soon, Fu Li pulled away from the soil. He collapsed onto the boat. Looking at the dim Underworld sky, he thought once more of Apollo.

Was Apollo in as much pain as him right now?

Had his injuries healed?

The flower's body was being forcibly stretched and grown. Fu Li clenched his teeth. He was nearly blacking out from the pain.

Fu Li's vision grew blurry.

If only he could see Apollo when he woke up.

He closed his eyes.

Perhaps a few minutes passed, or perhaps a few dozen minutes.

Fu Li finally regained consciousness.

After waking, he immediately noticed something was off. He subconsciously raised his limbs, but what he saw was a pair of hands.

He widened his eyes in disbelief and looked down. His legs were back too!

Fu Li cautiously poked his head out and gazed at his own reflection on the surface of the Styx.

A blurry human silhouette was reflected in it.

He had matured!

He had done it!

He could go see Apollo!

Fu Li glanced at the lantern in the corner and only sighed.

He had successfully turned back into a human. Next, he needed to leave the Underworld and go find Apollo.

Of course, all of this had to wait until Charon returned.

Apollo, wait for me!

*

On the other side of the Styx, a standoff was underway.

Charon's small boat glided silently out of the thick fog. He saw a figure trying to fly across the Styx. The person who had come had a standard pair of wings on his feet.

"If I were you, I would choose to stop, Hermes."

"Without permission, to secretly cross the Styx—are you prepared to trigger a jurisdictional issue between the two realms?"

Charon said cheerfully.

The stowaway, Hermes, showed absolutely no embarrassment at being discovered. He replied with an equal smile:

"Is that Charon? What's up? Aren't you busy enough already?"

The other party's self-righteous attitude made Charon's mouth twitch.

Hermes was best at being thick-skinned.

No matter what you caught him doing, he would use his attitude to tell you he wasn't wrong.

"Isn't this because you came, my old friend? You should have said something in advance."

Charon threw the question back.

"If I'd said something in advance, would you have let me come?"

Adhering to the philosophy that shameless people are invincible, and shameless gods are invincible under heaven, Hermes continued his counterattack.

"Tell me then. Why do you want to sneak across? This isn't allowed between the Divine Mountain and the Underworld."

Charon keenly sensed that the other had come because of some matter.

"If there's no explicit rule against it, does it count as not allowed?"

Hermes took off the cloak and hat of his disguise. His originally cunning eyes held only exhaustion.

"I wanted to come looking for a spirit. Old pal Charon, do me a favor. Look at what I've been reduced to. The dark circles under my eyes haven't even faded."

Charon automatically ignored Hermes's witty quips. He seized on the main point.

"Looking for a spirit?"

"It's just, do you have a soul here in the Underworld by the name of Fu Li?"

Hermes scratched his head. "Apollo's about to go crazy."

Charon nodded. "Yes."

On a matter like this, there was no need for him to lie.

Hermes's mouth fell open. There really was.

A mortal had received the curse of the former King of Gods, yet his soul was still in the Underworld!

Apollo was saved!

Hermes couldn't help getting excited.

"Good brother, where is he? I'll confirm the news, then go back to tell Apollo. You have no idea that if that kid waits just a few more days, he's going to self-destruct."

"I think you won't need to go back."

Charon pointed at Hermes. There was a faint point of light on him. "Didn't you know there's light on you?"

Light was Apollo's messenger.

He had been surveilling Hermes all along.

Hermes paused briefly. He truly hadn't known.

Apollo had actually planted a spy on him.

"Did you say, he's here?"

Apollo slowly walked out.

His golden hair was disheveled. The originally proud golden eyes were bloodshot. He stared at Charon without blinking, as if grasping at a life-saving straw.

His voice was very soft, like he feared ruining a beautiful dream.

"Apollo, have you gone mad?!"

Hermes shrieked out of control.

This was the Underworld!

The Underworld and the surface world had entirely different operating principles.

This was the kingdom of the dead. It repelled all things that didn't conform.

In other words, the Underworld did not welcome vitality.

The Underworld gods couldn't truly leave the Underworld. Similarly, non-Underworld gods who came to the Underworld also paid a terrible price.

Hermes was able to barely come to the Underworld because he was the Messenger of the Gods, relying on this divine office.

But Apollo could not.

He was the God of Light, God of Art, God of Medicine.

He represented life.

He was innately subject to the most terrifying backlash of the Underworld!

Him coming here was like throwing a blazing sun into an icy sea.

Not only did he have to endure the low-temperature erosion of the icy sea, but his own divine power would also be drastically consumed due to environmental incompatibility, perhaps even damaging his very source!

"You know the price of coming here, right?"

Charon was calm, as if stating a fact.

"If Fu Li is here, seeing you like this would make him even more distressed. You shouldn't meet him in this form."

"I know..."

Apollo laughed lowly.

"So as long as he doesn't see it, it's fine..."

The light around Apollo blazed intensely. His condition improved at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"I'll go see him in the most perfect form... I like the way he looks at me."

"You've truly gone mad!"

Hermes was genuinely shaken.

Apollo himself had an attribute opposite to this place. To go see Fu Li in the most perfect state, he kept forcefully activating his power. And the rules of the Underworld absolutely forbade this from happening. The heavy pressure the rules imposed—Hermes didn't even dare to imagine it.

He keenly noticed that Apollo's body was trembling slightly, clearly defying the Underworld's rules.

"Crazy. Truly crazy. You leave right now!"

Hermes stepped forward, preparing to forcibly take Apollo away.

"Get lost, Hermes."

Apollo spoke very calmly, almost without emotional fluctuation.

But Hermes knew this was Apollo's most vicious warning.

Hermes's outstretched hand froze mid-air.

He had never seen such an expression on Apollo's face.

No. Perhaps he had to count the day Fu Li had died.

This was the second time.

Both times Apollo had lost control had been for one person.

"Apollo, you'll die here!" Hermes's voice was tight. "The Underworld's rules are corroding you. Can't you see it?! Every bit your light brightens, its suppression on you grows tenfold!"

"This is suicide!"

Apollo paid his words no heed whatsoever.

His gaze was locked onto Charon.

That focused, almost paranoid look—even Charon, who had seen countless wailing spirits, felt his heart creep with unease.

"Where is he?" Apollo asked again.

Apollo's voice was still very soft. Charon knew he had no patience left.

He was desperate to see Fu Li.

A complicated emotion flickered through Charon's violet eyes.

In the end, he sighed.

Too many such stories had happened, and too many such tragedies had begun.

Would the ending between a mortal and a god be different?

Even if Apollo met Fu Li, could he persuade Lord Hades?

Fu Li was now a person of the Underworld.

Would Lord Hades agree to release him?

But seeing the supplication in Apollo's eyes, Charon felt, what if?

Lord Hades wasn't a cold-hearted and unfeeling person either.

"He's on my ferry boat."

Charon finally spoke.

Let the chance be given to them. Perhaps fate would take pity on them.

Unwilling to separate them.

"Take me to see him!"

Apollo's voice carried an urgent tremor.

He stepped forward. The patch of earth beneath his feet that was illuminated by the divine light instantly became charred black and cracked. More deathly energy surged from the fissures and coiled around his ankles.

"Apollo!"

Hermes cried out in alarm.

He could clearly feel Apollo's divine power being consumed at a terrifying speed.

It was absolutely not as effortless as Apollo appeared.

"You won't last until you see him!"

Hermes tried to grab his arm but felt a burning, stabbing pain at his fingertips.

Apollo shook off Hermes.

He didn't even glance at the black energy around his ankles that was growing thicker and thicker.

Stubbornly, almost beseechingly, he looked at Charon.

"Lead the way."

"Follow me." Charon turned and walked toward his own small boat. "Remember, on the Styx, keep quiet. Too much vitality will draw unwanted trouble."

Apollo followed without hesitation and boarded Charon's small ferry boat.

The boat's hull violently dipped downward. It wasn't a matter of weight but that the vitality on Apollo, which clashed so utterly with the Underworld, made the Styx boil over.

Apollo had no mind to care about anything else. His entire being was focused solely on the imminent meeting with Fu Li.

Hermes listened with trepidation as the Styx emitted a tooth-achingly grating hissing sound. Boiling bubbles were vaporizing.

He was truly numb.

Charon furrowed his brows, said nothing, and picked up the oar.

Hermes gritted his teeth and jumped aboard as well.

He couldn't just watch Apollo come to harm here.

If Apollo passed out, someone would still need to carry him out.

Hermes felt his lifespan might genuinely be shortening.

The small boat glided soundlessly into the thick fog.

During the voyage was a deathly stillness.

Only the faint sound of the oar cutting through the black water, and the heavy breathing Apollo was suppressing with all his might.

Hermes watched Apollo intently, afraid he would faint at any moment.

As they entered deeper into the Underworld, he himself was now also feeling increasingly unwell.

Apollo would only be suffering even more than him.

He saw Apollo's spine held ramrod straight. The hand hanging at his side was spasming, his fingertips white from the force. Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.

Was it worth it?

For a mortal.

Hermes asked in his heart, even as he answered himself.

For Apollo, it was worth it.

The Underworld's rules were an intangible, crushing weight.

This was a continuous annihilation targeting the very concept of "life."

This place was no different from a cage filled with poisonous gas.

Every breath intensified Apollo's suffering.

But Apollo accepted it as if it were sweet.

He didn't want Fu Li to see him in a pitiful state.

Thinking that Fu Li would see him just as he was before, Apollo couldn't help curving his lips.

Ha, he would definitely be very surprised.

Then he would say to Fu Li, you fragile mortal, first take good care of yourself. Don't play the hero. In the end, I will come to find you.

Seeing that Apollo could still manage a smile, Hermes fell silent.

He gazed at the Underworld's sky. Even gods had devoted lovers...

Father God, if you had even half of Apollo's deep love, Hera wouldn't want to flay your skin every day.

Love is a plague. Hermes suddenly thought of those words.

Also the antidote. Apollo felt sweetness bloom at the thought of Fu Li.

"Madman... an utterly thorough madman..."

Hermes murmured in his heart.

He had made up his mind. Never provoke Fu Li from now on.

"Almost there."

Charon suddenly said in a low voice, his gaze cast ahead into the fog.

Apollo immediately took a deep breath.

The light around him was forcibly boosted to its most dazzling state. He squeezed out an expression onto his face that he himself believed was the most normal.

He couldn't let Fu Li worry.

He had to let Fu Li see that he was fine, that he was still that powerful God of Light.

The small boat broke through the final stretch of dense fog.

Ahead, another, even smaller ferry boat was slowly approaching.

At the bow, a figure was somewhat clumsily trying to row.

Fu Li had just recovered his body. His limbs weren't yet coordinated enough.

Apollo's pupils sharply contracted.

The sounds of the entire world seemed to instantly recede into the distance. Only the frantic pounding inside his own chest remained.

He opened his mouth, wanting to shout that name, yet found his throat so parched he couldn't make a single sound.

All the pain, all the consumption, all the persistence—in this moment, it all seemed to have meaning.

His Fu Li, truly was still here.

The small boats slowly drew near.

Fu Li seemed to sense something. He stopped his rowing and strained to see clearly.

The fog on the Styx was still too thick.

Then his gaze collided with Apollo's line of sight.

Time seemed to freeze in this instant.

Fu Li's emerald-green eyes abruptly widened. The oar in his hand dropped onto the boat deck with a "clatter."

Apollo's golden eyes gazed deeply at Fu Li. Within them surged far, far too many emotions that couldn't be put into words.

Facing Fu Li, he slowly raised a dazzling, unrestrained smile.

"Fu Li."

He finally found his voice again. "I've found you."

"...Apollo, are you alright?"

Countless thoughts turned over in Fu Li's heart. What finally came out was an entirely ordinary greeting.

His eyes were brimming with the glimmer of tears.

Apollo couldn't have come to the Underworld.

Charon had said so. The Underworld didn't welcome life breath.

"Whatever you have to say, go ashore first."

Charon interrupted the two's reunion. It was too dangerous on the Styx.

"Yes, yes, yes."

Hermes nodded repeatedly.

Both small boats came ashore.

Charon pulled Hermes off to a farther place.

Space and time were both left to Fu Li and Apollo.

Apollo directly pulled Fu Li tightly into his embrace. The temperature of Fu Li's body was very low, but it was proof that he truly existed.

He then, with even more force, crushed the person into his arms, as if he wanted to knead Fu Li into his very bones and blood, to use this to confirm that this wasn't a dream, but a reality recovered after loss.

They held each other tightly just like this, for who knows how long.

"Fu Li."

Apollo called out to Fu Li.

"Mm. I'm here."

Fu Li answered Apollo.

"Fu Li."

"I'm here."

"Thank goodness. You're here."

Apollo murmured.

"I'm here. I'm right here."

Fu Li said gently.

"Did it hurt?"

Apollo met his eyes.

Fu Li was startled. Although Apollo hadn't finished, he just knew what Apollo was referring to.

He shook his head. "It's already past."

"It's not past."

Apollo buried his face into the crook of Fu Li's neck.

"It's alright. I'm here."

Fu Li let him hold him. His palm gently stroked Apollo's slightly curled golden hair, over and over.

Very soon, he noticed something wrong.

"Apollo."

Fu Li withdrew slightly. Apollo reflexively wanted to pull him back, but Fu Li cupped Apollo's face with both hands, forcing him to meet his eyes.

His emerald-green eyes were filled with worry. They carefully scanned Apollo's face.

"Is the Underworld affecting you greatly? You don't look well at all."

Apollo tugged at the corner of his mouth and revealed a proud, haughty smile.

"What could possibly be wrong with me?"

"Don't lie to me." Fu Li's voice was very soft.

He reached out his fingers and gently wiped away the beads of sweat at Apollo's temple.

"I've been here longer than you. Don't push yourself, Apollo."

Apollo's Adam's apple bobbed once. His molten gold eyes stared fixedly at Fu Li. In the end, he admitted defeat.

"...A little."

"This place doesn't quite welcome me. But it doesn't matter. Seeing you makes it all better."

Fu Li's heart felt as if it had been tightly clenched.

He wrapped his arms around Apollo's waist, holding him more steadily.

"Idiot." Fu Li scolded him lowly, but his eyes grew even hotter. "Who asked you to come? Do you know how dangerous this place is for you!"

The kingdom of the dead. Not even gods could tread here lightly.

"Oh my, it seems we've come at a bad time and interrupted your reunion moment?"

The laughing voice of Hypnos, the God of Sleep, rang out.

Fu Li and Apollo turned their heads simultaneously and looked in the direction of the voice.

They saw Hypnos the God of Sleep and Thanatos the God of Death standing not far from them.

And between them stood a man with black, curly hair.

He watched in silence.

"Apollo, you have broken the rules."

Hades indifferently stated the fact.

"There's no need to be so cold, Lord Hades."

Hypnos patted his brother's shoulder. His gaze fell upon Fu Li, and the corners of his mouth lifted.

"Fu Li, you've regained your human form?"

"Thanatos, can you still recognize him? This person is the little flower from before."

Thanatos gave his brother a blank look as if looking at an imbecile.

He was the God of Death. He recognized people by their souls.

"Regained human form?" Apollo's voice was tight. "Fu Li, what exactly did you experience here?"

His gaze urgently swept over Fu Li's entire body, as if trying to see through his clothes to check if there were still unhealed injuries hidden within.

Fu Li paused at his question, then immediately understood. He'd forgotten to explain this matter.

He gently held Apollo's hand that rested on his shoulder. His fingertips soothingly rubbed the back of Apollo's hand, trying to ease his tension.

"After being struck by the curse, my consciousness sank into darkness."

"When I woke up, I had become a lily flower."

Fu Li looked at the two brothers, Hypnos and Thanatos. They nodded slightly at Fu Li. "They told me the way to turn back into a human. Everyone in the Underworld really helped me."

Charon had just finished whispering with Hermes with great difficulty. When he came over, he saw Hades. Half his spirit nearly fled his body in fright. "Lord Hades, what brings you here?"

Charon asked cautiously.

This master of the Underworld was simply too taciturn. So much so that they had actually overlooked his presence.

Fu Li recalled the first words Hades had spoken, and his heart tightened.

He had said Apollo had violated the rules.

Hades, who had been silent for a long time, leisurely spoke.

"Thanatos, was this why you told me to look at the garden earlier?"

Thanatos said:

"Yes, Lord Hades. Fu Li helped me, so I also had to help him. He wanted to see Apollo. I thought about it. The only one who could reach Apollo is you. So I hoped you could take a walk to the garden."

Hades nodded. So that was it.

Although he still hadn't gone, because work was too busy.

If he hadn't sensed a god forcing their way in, he wouldn't have even left his desk.

He had no intention of judging Apollo's love.

Hades only wished the other party would quickly resume work.

"I want to take Fu Li away."

Apollo didn't wait for Hades to speak. He proposed it first.

Hades shook his head. His ink-black eyes looked at Fu Li.

"He cannot leave."

From the very start, Hades had sensed it.

Fu Li's body emitted an aura identical to that of the Styx.

He was a person of the Underworld.

People of the Underworld could not leave the Underworld.

"Why?!"

Apollo immediately grew agitated. His emotions were on the verge of losing control.

Hades said in a deep voice:

"Fu Li's body carries the aura of the Styx."

The Styx had always been associated with that being.

"Apollo, go back now."

Hades's words were like pronouncing a death sentence.

Seeing that Apollo was about to lose control from the stimulation of Hades's words, Fu Li hurriedly took his hand.

He looked at Hades. "Respected King of the Underworld, do you know why I carry the scent of the Styx? I recall that beneath the Styx is—"

"Little flower, some things should not be spoken aloud."

Hypnos cut him off in time.

Hades also found this matter very difficult to handle.

"Apollo, if you want to know the truth, I imagine Zeus would be very willing to tell you."

Feeling only that Apollo was a troublesome matter, Hades packaged up Zeus's good son to send back.

Zeus, as the King of Gods, was there anything he hadn't taken part in?

Whenever something happened, there was definitely Zeus's shadow behind it.

This was Hades's method of argument.

"Father God...?"

Apollo thought of his unreliable Father God.

The blessing he had beseeched for Fu Li before, and Father God's reaction after Fu Li died.

Father God, could it be that he had truly concealed something?!

Apollo gritted his teeth unwillingly.

After so much difficulty meeting again, yet he couldn't take Fu Li away!