Chapter 13: Friend or foe

Flashback

"He was the last and only person to see you after you are out of your prison! On top of that, only the Elders and the Jade Emperor are capable of removing one's godhood." Feng Xin exclaimed, her eyes were desperately trying to convince Lin He about her suspicions.

"No, Wei Yong won't do this to me." Lin He said with a forceful smile, trying to hide his doubts towards his best friend. "Why would he want to do it anyway? We never had any clashes with each other to the point of doing such a thing."

Feng Xin looked at Lin He solemnly for a while, hesitating about something before she finally spoke, "There's something I think you should know."

Lin He looked at her wide-eyed, anticipating what she was about to say. Inside, he was hoping that it wouldn't be what he was thinking. .

"I didn't tell you this when I snuck in to visit you during your confinement because I didn't want to cause more distress to you. But back then, the seals on the Blood Demon's containment… I saw Wei Yong tampering with it. I don't know what he was doing, but I thought he was checking them since the both of you were supposed to escort the Blood Demon to the new Celestial Prison in Hell."

Lin He's expression stiffened listening to Feng Xin's words.

"Also, Wei Yong didn't participate in the escorting, right? I've brought this up to the Elders after your imprisonment but I don't think they investigated it." She said, "And afterwards, he was elected as part of the Elders. If you piece these bits together, do you think..."

Lin He shook his head firmly.

Wei Yong wouldn't do such a thing to him. For what reasons would he want to do such a thing?

"I believe in him, Feng Xin. At least, for now." Lin He said quietly as he looked at the Wind Goddess.

He didn't want to jump to conclusions rapidly without any concrete evidence to say that Wei Yong was involved in this mess.

"I'll try to find out what's going on and who's doing this to me after I'm done with my current assignment."

Feng Xin let out a sigh, "Fine. I'll help you look into this as well. If only the Jade Emperor wasn't so hard to meet, I would have told him in the first place instead of those useless Elders. Ugh, to think that I treated Wei Yong as my friend!"

Lin He just let out a soft laughter at her attempt to ease the tension in the air. He winced when he felt his wound stung, reminding him that he was injured. Feng Xin was channelling some spiritual energy into him the whole time, which helped to ease his pain from the damage done by the wolf demons.

"Anyway, let me just treat your wounds first. They looked quite bad." Feng Xin said as she examined the deep wounds on his arms and chest. "Now that you've lost your godhood, you have to be extra careful or you'll only invite death to your doorsteps. Drill into your mind that you don't have the capabilities of a god anymore, okay?"

She suddenly paused when a gentle breeze blew by, dropping a piece of paper into her hands. Her expression darkened at the note and she quickly stuffed the paper into her sleeves.

"Emergency?" Lin He asked after seeing how a frown was etched on her face.

"Yes, I'm so sorry Lin He. I can't treat your wounds properly now but I can hear some chatters up North. There might be a village there. Head there slowly to ask for help, alright?" She quickly said and a small wind chime formed on her palm. "Ring this when you need help. I'll come over as soon as possible. I'm really sorry but a typhoon is going to hit a town soon and I really, really need to go. Ask help from the villagers, alright! Don't be stubborn. I'll be back to find you!"

With a quick turn of her body, she disappeared with the wind. The wind chime fell onto Lin He's hand with a gentle ring.

Lin He smiled sadly at the wind chime.

Losing his godhood and a possible betrayal from his best friend…

Was this the true punishment?

=

Present

"So, whoever removed your godhood is likely the same person who set the bounty on you." Xiao Long concluded after hearing what had happened. "I mean, why would they want to stir up the demons in the first place right?"

Lin He nodded his head quietly, agreeing with Xiao Long's conclusion. He didn't plan on telling them about it but he really needed some opinions about this matter.

Feng Xin's words have been lingering in his mind since he woke up. Even though he had said that he still believed in his best friend, he couldn't help but let that feeling of doubt and suspicion towards Wei Yong grow after hearing what Feng Xin said. It was because of the faulty seals Lin He placed that caused the accidental release of the Blood Demon, leading him to cause the aftermath subsequently. If the bounty, his mortal body and what happened 300 years ago were related, it meant that someone wanted him gone.

But for what reason do they have to erase a history that was his?

Xuan Yi crossed her arms. "So that was why the demons were obsessed with you. They could have taken your life for good knowing that you are not a god but a mere mortal now. On top of that, someone was spreading this information around to the demons."

Lin He nodded his head quietly again.

"Shifu, how many demons did you kill exactly to be this popular among the demons?" Xiao Long couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

Lin He tried to recall the exact numbers but he couldn't remember how many he took down. All he knew was how he spent his days slaying at least two demons per day when he was a god. This was all thanks to his divine powers that allowed him to transport from place to place swiftly, making demons slaying a breeze.

"Many." He croaked before letting out a cough. "About two per day?"

Xuan Yi and Xiao Long stared at him with huge eyes and jaws dropped. No wonder he was a hot target for the demons. His name would have spread far and wide for killing so many demons!

"Do you have any suspects behind all of this?" Xuan Yi asked as she handed a cup of water over to Lin He for him to soothe his dry throat.

Lin He took a small sip before letting out a sigh. "Wei Yong."

"Wei Yong?!" The Lan Sect duo exclaimed in unison, not believing what they had heard.

"But you are best friends with him, aren't you?" Xiao Long continued to ask as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Is there anything that could possibly… you know, cause a rift between the both of you."

Lin He thought about it silently for a while. Memories from a few hundred years ago could be difficult to recall, unless they left a pretty strong impression on him. He couldn't really remember them having any conflicts or unhappiness with one another. The only time he thought Wei Yong was a little upset was about this one incident.

"There's this thing, a small issue, that made Wei Yong upset for a while. But it didn't cause a rift between us." He said after a while with a small smile. "Up in the Heavens, there's a group of people called the Elders. You can say they are the wingmen of the Jade Emperor and have special powers. Wei Yong had always dreamt of being a part of them and sees the Jade Emperor as his role model."

"Once, the Jade Emperor offered a place for me to be part of the Elders during a meeting. But I turned down the offer because I didn't feel like it was a role for me. Wei Yong was upset for a few days because he didn't receive such a precious offer even after working hard for so many years, but it wasn't really a huge fight or anything."

Xiao Long looked at Lin He solemnly, "What if he wasn't okay with it?"

"What do you mean by that?" Lin He questioned quietly.

Xiao Long took a sip of water from Lin He's cup before clearing his throat. "Look, I believe being one of the Elders is a very prestigious position right?"

Lin He gave a nod again.

"If I've been working hard for years and I go unrecognized for my work, I would be unhappy. On top of that, my best pal gets the offer instead of me. I would be extremely unhappy and jealous even. Ah, this reminds me of when my-"

Xuan Yi poked him, signalling for him to stop talking after noticing how Lin He's expression had turned sombre.

His expression soon fell when he realised how Lin He's face darkened after hearing what he had said and he lowered his head. "Sorry, Shifu! I've gone overboard with my words."

"No, no. It's your opinion, there is no fault in that." Lin He quickly said as he squeezed his shoulders gently, reassuring him that he wasn't offended by him.

His eyes landed on the awfully quiet Xuan Yi in a corner. "Xuan Yi, do you have any thoughts about this?"

The lady had her arms crossed and her brows furrowed as she stared into space.

"But if that was the case, this Wei Yong has gotten his place as part of the Elders, hasn't he? Why would he still want Lin He dead after getting what he wanted?" She said after a while, her firm set of eyes met Lin He's.

That was true as well.

Lin He's mind was filled with confusion and a mixture of emotions was running through his heart.

Wei Yong, the man who has been his friend for over hundreds of years, possibly hated him to the point where he wanted to kill him? Why?

As of now, some of the things were pointing out Wei Yong as the possible culprit.

That year, because of the faulty seals that Lin He had set up, caused the release of a vile demon that changed his life forever. However, Feng Xin saw Wei Yong tampering with the seals before the escort.

Now, Lin He realised that he had lost his godhood and he's being hunted down by the demons. Only an Elder or the Jade Emperor have the ability to take away or give godhood, and Wei Yong was an Elder.

Could it really be what Xiao Long had said? Because he was offered a place to be an Elder? Wei Yong was upset back then, refusing to talk to him for days until Lin He assured him that he had rejected the offer. A place to be part of the Elders was once in a few thousand years kind of chance, a very rare opportunity for anyone. Lin He rejected it but even recommended Wei Yong instead so that his friend would get the chance instead.

Personally, Lin He had this thought about his friend - why was Wei Yong so obsessed with the idea of being an Elder?

"And Lin He, don't try to protect us from now on. We can take care of ourselves." Xuan Yi said, disrupting his spiraling thoughts.

Lin He stared at her blankly, "Oh… But your swordsmanship is quite so-so, you know?"

"You!" Xuan Yi stomped her feet at his remark, her face turning a shade of red before she huffed out of the room. Xiao Long was laughing uncontrollably at Lin He's sharp remark towards her.

"I'll protect Shifu! You better work on your skill sets to protect yourself!" Xiao Long shouted as he continued laughing.

Lin He shook his head with a smile.

At least he still had these two goofballs around with him.