Yu Di hurried along the tunnels, following the Goddess Qi in the walls. It looked like a faint white glow to his Qi-enforced eyes, but it made it obvious in the pitch dark tunnel. The only challenge was the rocks that he walked into.

  After a couple of feet, Yu Di resorted to holding onto the walls and moving extra slowly. His desire pushed him too fast and the shins of his pants were ripped up.

  It didn’t take long before he reached a central point of the tunnels that radiated the most Goddess Qi. There was a large circle of steel gray Qi with Miryana markings on it. The script was so old that Yu Di did not know what he was looking at. He could sense strong Qi on the other side of the wall, as if it were a large jug filled with it.

  Yu Di needed to get to the other side. Whatever the secret of the Goddess must be there. He pushed against the wall with each letter of the script. Even with different combinations, light and hard taps, the wall didn’t shift. It took a moment before he realized that the script was on the other side of the wall.

  It was time to get more creative.

  Yu Di reached into his storage ring and took out a hammer and chisel. The weakest spot must be the circle outline. No matter how he looked at it, the circle was definitely a door. If only he had the key.

  That reminded him of Arzu. She had a bunch of keys at her waist. Maybe she had one that could open the door. Yet somehow, Yu Di doubted she would help the Menace of Miryana that caused her city’s downfall.

  Yu Di tapped gently with the chisel on the circle. There was a lip of something, most likely part of the door. If he could get the chisel in deep enough, he could break the door down. However, no matter how hard Yu Di looked, there were no hinges. How did this door work?

  “I knew I’d find you here,” Arzu said.

  Yu Di turned in the darkness. He flared the Qi within his eyes, but saw nothing.

  “Arzu? Where are you?”

  “I’m nowhere and everywhere,” her voice sounded like it was next to Yu Di’s ears. “You should have taken my mercy and left with the Goddess. Instead, you left her at the mercy of sandworms.”

  “I put a barrier around her. There’s no way anything that small can get past it.” Yu Di lit a lantern from his storage ring. The tight tunnel didn’t have anywhere to hide. “Where are you?”

  A deep cackle echoed through the tunnels.

  “The Goddess might have lost her powers, but her priestesses haven’t,” Arzu said. “You are trespassing within the Goddess Tunnels and you think you can walk anywhere you want?”

  Yu Di took a careful look at the walls. Only now with the lantern light did he realize that every tunnel was etched with special Qi techniques. There were layers upon layers that did so many complicated things that Yu Di would take the rest of this life to figure out.

  Whoever made these tunnels was a master.

  “I apologize, Arzu,” Yu Di said. “But if—”

  “It’s the Flame of Sangmo to you, thief,” Arzu’s voice boomed into his ears. “The Goddess gave you mercy and you dare try to steal from her?”

  The tunnels lit up around Yu Di in the same steel gray Qi of the door. He doubted Arzu was planning on letting him through. The air became super-heated.

  “Wait, Flame of Sangmo, if you just let me get the secret, I can save everyone. That’s all I want.” Yu Di jogged away from the large circle toward the tunnel’s exit. His clothes steamed from his sweat and his shoes were melting. He bet that the heat inside the tunnels was greater than outside.

  It didn’t matter how fast he ran. The tunnel lit up no matter where he went. The heat confused Yu Di. He hit a few dead ends in the tunnels. The worst part was the guiding symbols Vimala had shown him were no longer there. He did not know which way to go.

  Somehow, Yu Di found a small, dark cavern not lit up by the Goddess Qi. When he got there, he took out his water and doused himself with it. Steam rose from his body like a gaseous cloud. He drank whatever was left over before collapsing onto the ground.

  Yu Di looked around, breath ragged, feet burning, and body on fire. He couldn’t see anything. The Goddess Qi probably blinded him and he didn’t dare use his own Qi to reinforce his vision. He could already feel his Qi roiling, loosening his grip on his organs.

  Yu Di had to get up. If he didn’t, he wasn’t getting up again. He really shouldn’t have let his addiction to cultivating push him down this road. Arzu was right. He could have walked out of the tunnel with Vimala. Maybe come back another day.

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  But that damned obsession! He’s so close to the secret he couldn’t get over twenty years ago. There’s no telling if he will last another month in his current condition, let alone have another chance to come back. Why won’t these women just let him through? Why won’t they give him the one thing that he can use to save the city and its people? Were they so stubborn that they would rather die as a city than let an outsider have the secret?

  Their Goddess couldn’t save them.

  Yu Di could. He could break the invading army, save all the starving children, and restore the former Goddess to her power. There was no doubt in his mind that if he were given the chance right then, he would save everyone.

  Arzu pointed a trident at Yu Di’s face. The tines came dangerously close to his nose. She stabbed the trident into the ground next to Yu Di’s head. He must have dropped it earlier.

  “I regretted letting you go,” Arzu said. “When I confirmed it was you on that doctor’s table, I thought about ending your life. It would have ended mine, but it would have been worth it.”

  “You should have let me do it,” Tursun said.

  Arzu placed a hand on the man’s arm. “It would have killed you too. We are bound by the Goddess’ oath.”

  Yu Di coughed. “What oath would that be?”

  “The Goddess never told you?” Arzu looked down at Yu Di. “All servants of the true Goddess of Miryana are forbidden to kill. Otherwise, she would have struck you down twenty years ago when you stepped foot on that mountain. That place is the most sacred of all the Goddess’ domains in Miryana. Not even the Emperor of the Celestial Jade Empire would dare step foot there. But she couldn’t.”

  Yu Di sat up, rubbing his chest. “Then that means you can’t kill me now.”

  Arzu smiled. She lifted the lantern closer to Yu Di’s face, showing off the age lines on her face.

  “Who said I have to kill you myself? How do you think that clueless doctor found out who you were? He wasn’t even in the city when you attacked the Goddess. Who do you think riled up the people of these tunnels to hunt you down?”

  Yu Di reached for his trident, but Tursun kicked his hand away. So instead, he leaned against the wall to stare idly straight ahead. He had heard them already. The same mob that chased them earlier.

  “Please, you don’t have to do this,” Yu Di said. “Give me a chance to save this city. I’m the only one who can.”

  “I’d rather let the city above burn to ash before I let you get anywhere near the Goddess’ secret.” Arzu spat on Yu Di. “Besides, if they do burn it to the ground, me and my people will inherit the land afterwards. No more abbot, or high priest, or anyone to tell us not to. I will be the next Goddess of Miryana and protect the city the way it should have been.”

  Yu Di could tell that this was the end. He had only one last trick up his sleeve that he could use, the last bit of Demigod Qi. There was no point in using it to destroy these destitute people or the tunnels they called home. Maybe he could use what little energy left to push back the invaders.

  Yu Di remembered what Ying Fusu had said. Only a Demigod’s power would be strong enough to punch a hole into the barrier. Then that’s what he’ll do. That’s about all he could do with the dregs of his former powers.

  Talk about steeping tea leaves one too many times. Was it even tea anymore?

  Yu Di pulled his Qi together in his core, ignoring his failing organs. He cycled it throughout his body and focused on his most widespread technique to attack the barrier. He had only one chance to take it down. The only regret he had was that he couldn’t see his daughter again.

  Goodbye, little Lin.

  Curse unlocked: 1% lifted.

  The tunnel lit up with the Goddess Qi, engulfing Yu Di and pushing his Qi back down. It dispersed his Qi and invaded his meridians.

  “I don’t think so,” Arzu said. “Whatever you plan on doing is futile while you are within my domain.”

  “No! I was going to save your city,” Yu Di said. “Let me—”

  A fist connected with his face. Tursun grunted as he shook his hand.

  Yu Di’s head swam. It took a moment before he regained his senses. The mob stood in the adjacent tunnel, with the doctor’s voice the loudest.

  “Kill him! We can’t let him live a moment longer,” the man said.

  “My people, you are right to want pain and death for this man that took everything from us,” Arzu said. “But the Goddess teaches we shouldn’t kill.”

  “Screw him and screw the Goddess,” the doctor yelled. “You have been more of a Goddess to us than the actual Goddess.”

  “We can’t blaspheme the Goddess,” Tursun yelled. He stepped up to the doctor.

  “Not to the one up above. I’d rather worship the Flame of Sangmo as the new Goddess. What do you all say?” The doctor turned toward the mob.

  The mob cheered.

  Yu Di saw Arzu glow with blue Qi when they cheered. What the hell was that? He had never seen that before. If he had had any Qi left, he would have tried to understand what was going on. Instead, he was going to die bleeding internally and tied down with the Goddess’ Qi.

  “Fine, I accept your pledge,” Arzu said. “Starting today, I will no longer be a Priestess of the Goddess of Miryana. I will be the Goddess of these Tunnels. Your Flame of Sangmo, to guide your way and protect you.”

  The mob cheered and took a knee. They all bowed deeply to the ground.

  Arzu stepped aside for the mob. “Come, my children. Sacrifice this Menace of Miryana that had cursed our very lives with his presence. Tear him limb from limb and harvest his blood for my ascension. Once I have drunk the Demigod’s blood, I will bring salvation to everyone, starting with those above us.”

  Yu Di tried to move and realized he could. Whatever Goddess Qi that held him down disappeared. Was this because Arzu had renounced her Goddess? Whatever the case was, he would need to reach into his storage ring and pull out another barrier. These mortals wouldn’t break through that.

  Except he couldn’t. Yu Di couldn’t move any of his limbs. Tursun’s punch must have been harder than he expected. It might have snapped his neck or worse, paralyzed him. He couldn’t reinforce his body with Qi as the last bit leaked out of him when Arzu invaded his body.

  This wasn’t the worst way for Yu Di to die, but being ripped apart was not high on his list. He missed his village and the rock he sat upon to cultivate. He even missed Old Wong.

  The doctor grabbed Yu Di by the hair and dragged him to the ground. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

  Yu Di wasn’t. He could bite his tongue and hope that kills him fast enough. The blood loss might be fast enough since he lost so much already, but more likely he’d choke and suffocate. He really didn’t want to do this, but the tugging at his arms and legs told him he was out of time. Better to go out on his own terms.

  A white light flooded the tunnels, blinding everyone.