Fang Yuan got beaten up by Meow Boss.
Its meow-meow punches held nothing back, landing several heavy thumps right on her arm.
But at least it deliberately avoided her wounds.
“I was just kidding when I said last time was the last time I’d visit you. Why get so mad...”
Fang Yuan curled her lip, extending both hands to start a rapid thumping exchange with Meow Boss.
“Though this time really is the last time I’m coming to see you, seriously!”
“I just suddenly missed Grandma a bit, so I came to visit.”
“It’s a good thing you refused no matter how hard Grandma tried to persuade you to come home with her, or else I’d have to take care of you too.”
Otherwise, Meng Ying, who was hiding in the room, definitely would have killed you.
Meow Boss must have understood her words, raising its meow-meow paws to land two swift thumps right on Fang Yuan’s face.
Fang Yuan scooped up Meow Boss, filled its bowl with plenty of cat food, and placed the last bag of cat food from home inside its cat bed.
“Pace yourself when eating in the coming days! Don’t turn into a big truck!”
Meow Boss arrogantly licked its fur and turned its head away with a huff.
Fang Yuan glanced at the time.
“I’m off, Meow Boss. Who knows, maybe the next time we meet, I’ll be a god?”
She made her exit amid Meow Boss’s final meow-meow punch, quickly leaving the park.
The pitch-black cat stared intently at the newly added cat food in its bowl, then turned its head toward a photograph of Fang Zhaoye left in its bed by Fang Yuan.
Its emerald-green eyes blinked once before it slowly slunk into the cat bed and curled up beside the photograph.
“Meow.”
...
Fang Yuan returned to Hero Square, which remained the place with the heaviest foot traffic.
The scattered voices of people praying to gods reached her ears from all directions.
Her appearance attracted quite a few eyes.
“Isn’t that the Candidate of the God of War who’s trending number one?”
“Holy crap, it really is!”
“Whoa, a live one! Snap a picture, quick! We can ride this wave of traffic!”
The quiet whispers around her were relentless.
They were long accustomed to seeing people kneeling and kowtowing beneath the divine statues until their heads bled.
Yet toward this famous divine Candidate, they displayed a curiosity and enthusiasm that surpassed everything else.
Fang Yuan sat down on a flight of steps in Hero Square, tilting her head up to look at one of the divine statues.
Standing on the southwest side of the square, this divine statue was the most exquisite, the most uncanny, and possessed a strange sense of theatrical flair among the nine statues.
It wore three masks—one weeping, one laughing, and one serene.
These three masks gave off the feeling that no matter what angle you viewed it from, it was watching you.
Draped over the divine statue was a magician’s suit; the hem of the coat fluttered slightly, as if frozen in time after a silent glide, carrying a sense of kinetic stillness. Atop its head sat a classic, slightly tilted top hat.
The brim of this top hat was elegantly pinched by one raised hand, while its other hand was naturally held behind its back, appearing both relaxed and reserved.
It was precisely this posture of tipping the hat and holding a hand behind its back, combined with the downward slope of the three masks, that created a compelling sense of scrutiny.
Its posture resembled both taking a bow on stage and looking down upon all living beings at its feet.
As if all these mundane beings were nothing more than a play performing before its eyes.
The God of Deception.
She lingered by that divine statue for a very long time.
Once upon a time, what stood there was not a statue of a god.
Back when she was a vagrant, she had visited Hero Square.
What stood here were statues of heroes.
Statues of great figures who had made monumental contributions to the cause of humanity.
Their deeds were sung, their achievements listed, and their stories written down to be passed from generation to generation.
Heroes who explored the starry seas, the oceans, and the underground, or who innovated and advanced fields like history, music, medicine, literature, and architecture, earned the right to have a statue erected here.
They might have passed away, but their heroic deeds were never forgotten, etched deep into memory.
Fang Zhaoye.
A master navigator.
A great navigator who explored an uncharted sea.
Her statue should have stood right in the southwest, facing the direction of the sea she had explored.
But at this very moment, standing in the southwest was the statue of a god.
Fang Yuan did not know when this place had turned into divine statues.
Yet the name Hero Square had never changed, acting like an intensely satirical joke.
Back then, her grandmother held her hand for a walk, but stopped short just as they were about to reach Hero Square.
She seemed to despise this place, so with her hands behind her back, she led Fang Yuan around a corner and went to Central Park instead.
While her grandmother was feeding Meow Boss, Fang Yuan snuck over to Hero Square.
Only then did she discover that those statues of heroes had been replaced.
The people standing in Hero Square who once sang of heroic deeds had also turned to praising the greatness of gods.
“Five hundred years ago, the gods descended upon the world, shielding humanity from disasters, bestowing blessings upon us, and making great contributions to human endeavors!”
“We sing of the gods, we praise the gods, we believe in the gods!”
“They truly deserve the title of heroes, and their divine statues belong right here in Hero Square to receive the reverence of humanity for generations to come!”
Everything humans possessed had been earned by their own hands and abilities. What did it have to do with those high-and-mighty gods?
When her grandmother found her, she was secretly spitting on the statue of the God of Deception that had usurped the position of her grandmother’s statue.
She remembered vividly that her grandmother laughed back then, pulled her away, and bought her a stick of candied hawthorns.
From then on, Grandma didn’t seem to reject Hero Square quite as much.
She could walk into Hero Square with her back straight, as if her statue was still standing there.
...
The sunlight was a bit glaring. Fang Yuan blinked, her gaze landing on Jiang Qiehuo, who had rushed over out of breath.
She flashed a bright smile. “Hello there! I’m Fang Yuan—Fang as in square, Yuan with the wood radical.”
Choked up by her familiar self-introduction, Jiang Qiehuo stood with her mouth agape, momentarily unable to unleash the stream of insults she had prepared.
In the end, she swallowed it down and introduced herself in a strained voice. “My name is Jiang Qiehuo—Jiang as in ginger, Qie as in furthermore, Huo as in doubt.”
Fang Yuan let out a couple of "ohs." “Oh, Jiang Qiehuo. What are you looking for me for?”
Jiang Qiehuo: “?”
Jiang Qiehuo: “Didn’t you call me first?! You’re asking me why I’m looking for you?!”
Just as she was about to start cursing, Fang Yuan suddenly thrust out an index finger, wagging it in front of her face.
What was this? Was she planning to pick a fight with her right here?
What the hell? With so many people around, and right under the eyes of the gods—did she want to become famous or something?
Jiang Qiehuo took a cautious half-step back.
Fang Yuan wagged her finger with a series of tsks. “No making friends, no forming alliances, no dating, no handshakes, no hugs, and no giving money.”
Jiang Qiehuo: “?????”
She was so furious she felt like she could shove thumbs up her nostrils.
“You fucking...”
“Oh right, and no playing your mom, no playing your dad, no playing your grandma, and no playing your grandpa.”
Jiang Qiehuo felt like she was about to die of anger before she could even start cursing.
She put her hands on her hips and pointed at Fang Yuan, ready to unleash a torrent of abuse, but before her finger could even extend, a shiny pair of silver bracelets snapped around her wrists.
Jiang Qiehuo: “?”
With a solemn expression, Wang Wei locked her hands behind her back and gave Fang Yuan a deadpan salute. “Thank you for your cooperation, Fang Yuan.”
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