Chapter 25

"How diligent."

Charon held his oar and teased:

"And you still say you two aren't lovers?"

Fu Li could only look at the Styx, as if flowers could grow out of this pitch-black water. Only the tips of his ears were bright red.

Charon chuckled lowly and said no more.

The opposite shore was already close at hand. An impatient, waiting figure was already there.

Apollo came to the Underworld with extreme frequency.

If he couldn't take Fu Li away completely, then he would come often.

Apollo never bothered to conceal his arrivals.

Hades didn't have a very good solution for this stubborn God of Light either, so he turned a blind eye and let Charon ferry the person over on schedule, striving to avoid incidents.

The moment Fu Li stepped onto the gray-black soil of the shore, he was fiercely pulled into a blazing embrace by a powerful force.

He didn't struggle. He let Apollo hold him tightly.

"You've lost weight again."

Apollo's muffled voice sounded in the crook of Fu Li's neck. Warm breath brushed past his skin.

"Is the food in the Underworld not to your taste?"

A string of questions cascaded down. The molten gold eyes were filled with undisguised agitation and heartache.

"I'm fine. Everything's great."

Fu Li had stopped eating ever since coming to the Underworld. Mainly, he wasn't hungry.

He hadn't looked deeply into this point either. He'd been a lily flower before. Nothing would surprise him anymore.

As for losing weight... that was entirely a misunderstanding.

Fu Li genuinely felt that after turning from a flower into a human, he had become heavier.

When he was a flower, the food had been too good. He really had put on weight from eating.

Fu Li was a little guilty.

Apollo nuzzled against the crook of his neck and murmured aggrievedly:

"Ever since you've been in the Underworld, your fields on the surface have all been taken care of by me."

Fu Li: !

That's right! His fields in Athens!

Apollo hooked his lips into a smile. His golden eyes watched Fu Li without blinking.

"How will you reward me? Let me say this upfront: I won't accept having done it for free."

Fu Li blushed involuntarily. "What I can give you right now is very little..."

Apollo chuckled softly.

He leaned close to Fu Li's ear. The scorching breath made Fu Li's temperature rapidly rise.

A tiny electric current darted across the shell of Fu Li's ear. Half his body went a little numb.

A gentle kiss.

Fu Li froze. His emerald eyes widened slightly, reflecting Apollo's cheek, so close at hand.

Immediately after, the tentative touch deepened, becoming a kiss in the truest sense.

He subconsciously parted his lips, wanting to make a sound, only to have Apollo seize the opening.

Mm!

He looked at Apollo in disbelief.

In his eyes, he could only find himself.

Time seemed to lose all meaning in this moment.

The murmuring sound of the Styx, the sound of Charon deliberately coughing in the distance, the spirits wandering on the shore—all turned into a blurry backdrop.

No one knew how long had passed. It was only when Fu Li let out a faint whimper from lack of oxygen that Apollo finally withdrew slightly. Yet his forehead still rested against Fu Li's. Their rapid breaths intertwined.

Apollo's thumb brushed across Fu Li's lips, kissed a deep, glossy red. His voice was so low and husky it was barely recognizable:

"This is the down payment I wanted."

Fu Li's cheeks were so red they could drip blood. He didn't dare meet Apollo's overly scorching gaze directly.

Apollo laughed lowly and said nothing more.

He pulled Fu Li tightly into his embrace once more. His chin rested atop Fu Li's soft, golden-red hair.

"Fu Li."

"...Mm?"

"Next time, you take the initiative."

Fu Li was already steaming enough to fry an egg.

Charon and a newly arrived spirit were wholly absorbed in watching the spectacle from the side.

"Tsk tsk tsk. What a sickeningly sweet display."

Charon felt he seemed to be glowing again.

Probably just an illusion.

Apollo was the God of Light, the big bright lamp.

"Fu Li, I sought out my Father God. He said the Three Fates have a way. Wait for me. I will definitely let you leave the Underworld! Wait until I find the ends of the great earth!"

Apollo couldn't wait to make his promise.

These past few days, he had been divining the location of the "ends of the great earth" every single day.

Although he still couldn't deduce the specific direction, he now had a general direction.

Since he could find it, that meant the Three Fates were not against meeting him.

There was one more ray of hope for Fu Li to leave the Underworld.

"Is it dangerous?"

Fu Li was more concerned about whether Apollo would fall into mortal peril. Existences related to fate were never easy to deal with.

"Don't worry." Apollo's gaze grew increasingly tender. He engraved Fu Li into his heart. "I can't bear to part from you."

"Fu Li, it's time to go!"

Charon saw that his ferry boat was about to depart and hurriedly called out.

Apollo released him accordingly. He said, "Go on."

He watched Fu Li leave.

Fu Li's life from then on was very regular.

Every day, without fail, he organized documents at fixed times. Occasionally, he went to re-record archives.

No one could say otherwise. The Underworld's processes, with his help, were much faster than before.

Hades also hadn't expected Fu Li to be this capable.

He put down the scroll in his hand. "There's something I need to trouble you with. A spirit with incomplete archives has come up at the place of judgment. If you have time, you can go take a look."

Fu Li stopped handling the papers in his hands upon hearing this.

The place of judgment! He still hadn't been there!

The place of judgment was located at the heart of the Underworld, leading to the Blissful Fields and various areas of punishment.

The stone architecture was solemn and awe-inspiring. Cerberus, the three-headed hound, lay crouched on the ground.

Fu Li approached the place of judgment. Cerberus sniffed him alertly, determined he was harmless, and lay back down again.

Fu Li breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped into the Hall of Judgment.

The space inside the hall was far more vast than it appeared from outside. The dome was so high its top couldn't be seen. Ghostly blue Underworld flames hung suspended in the air.

The judges continuously tried the spirits in the queue. Voices echoed in the empty, cavernous hall.

According to what the King of the Underworld had said, this problematic soul was currently being tried by Bacchus.

The moment he walked in, he discovered that this problematic soul was Hodar.

Hodar wore a coarse linen garment covered in dust and dark brown stains. His hair was disheveled. His face still carried the terror and unwillingness from before his death. His eyes were shifty. His body cowered and shrank.

Fu Li remembered Hodar well. After his love had been rejected, Hodar had harbored a grudge, colluded with the archon to frame him for stealing techniques, ultimately leading to his public exile.

In the end, Hodar died amidst the collateral destruction casually wrought by a god.

He hadn't expected to run into him in the Underworld.

Bacchus noticed Fu Li's arrival. He paused his questioning of Hodar and raised his head to look at Fu Li. His voice was steady without a ripple:

"Fu Li? Lord Hades informed us you would be coming. This spirit's records have significant discrepancies with his own account and residual images. I need more information to confirm his judgment."

Hearing the name "Fu Li," Hodar's entire body shuddered violently. He raised his head in disbelief.

When he clearly saw the young man standing not far away, his hollow eyes instantly filled with terror and fear, laced with twisted jealousy.

"Fu Li?! It's you?! How are you here?! You... you also died?!"

Hodar's voice was piercing from shock, exceptionally jarring in the solemn hall. Fu Li took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He was no longer that solitary traveler.

"Lord Bacchus, I do indeed know this spirit. His name is Hodar. In life, he was the son of the village chief of Yage, a small Greek city-state where I once stayed."

Bacchus nodded, signaling him to continue.

"Because I rejected him, he became ashamed and resentful, and sent me to trial, leading to my exile and wandering."

Fu Li lowered his eyes. No one could see the expression within them.

Hearing Fu Li so calmly state his identity, the terror on Hodar's face intensified. He shrieked:

"No! Fu Li, you're spouting nonsense! It was you! You brought me harm! You're a calamity star! You—"

"Silence!"

Bacchus's voice was not loud, but it directly overpowered Hodar's clamor.

"My lord, if I had to choose a word, Hodar's character can only be described as despicable."

Bacchus lowered his head. He gravely picked up the scroll in his hand and wrote down a line of addendum.

The judge did not immediately pronounce the verdict. Instead, he gave Fu Li a slight nod, signaling that he could step aside.

Fu Li withdrew a few steps as indicated. His gaze calmly watched Hodar.

Hodar also clearly realized the situation was dire.

"Lord Judge, you're not going to believe his one-sided story, are you?!"

He yelled nervously. He hadn't expected Fu Li to appear here, and even dare to bite him back!

Bacchus furrowed his brows and once more compared the fragments from Hodar's soul.

In the end, under Hodar's terrified gaze, he pronounced the verdict.

"Hodar, son of the village chief. In life, you committed multiple crimes including false accusation. For your own selfish desires, you framed the innocent. I sentence your soul to the edges of Tartarus, until your soul has made restitution."

In the Underworld, Tartarus was synonymous with hell. It was the very body of the netherworld.

The place where it stood, even if only the peripheral regions, was still a place synonymous with suffering.

The terror in Hodar's eyes nearly materialized into substance.

He wanted to beg for mercy, wanted to argue, wanted to lunge at Fu Li. An invisible force bound him, dragging him backward.

Bacchus nodded to Fu Li.

"This spirit had always lacked key testimony. I saw you within his soul, therefore I requested your presence."

"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave first. There's still much to do."

Fu Li bid the judge farewell.

He had thought he would feel stirred. But in truth, there was nothing at all.

"In a good mood?"

Hypnos, hugging a pile of scrolls, saw him return. His eyes lit up.

The great savior Fu Li was back!

"Mm. I'm back."

Fu Li discovered that the him of now looked forward to the future more than ever before.