The goddess of love listened to Hong Bao's story and nodded now and then. After Hong Bao arrived at how Shun Tao had resolved to confront the heavenly emperor, she even sighed. Sure enough, the goddess of love understands the worries of a woman's heart! She'll certainly help me.
"That really is a tragic tale", the goddess of love judged. "He needs help indeed if he wants to stay alive. Hong Bao, be honest, are you willing to do anything for him?"
"Of course! Shun Tao is the love of my life!"
The goddess of love nodded. "That's good then. There is indeed something that can be done."
"Tell me! I'll go do it at once!"
The goddess smiled. "Keep calm. The thing I can propose is indeed a solution, but … it's a little risky. Not only might you not succeed, you might even fail with preparing what is necessary already."
"At least I can try …" Hong Bao grew doubtful. The way the goddess of love talked, this seemed to be a really complicated thing. Maybe … I could ask someone for help? The goddess of love offered her advice without me having to ask. This must be heaven helping me! If it is something really hard, there will certainly be someone coming forward, right?
Hong Bao finally made up her mind and nodded solemnly. "I will try. However hard it is, I'll try for Shun Tao's sake!"
"Alright. Then let me tell you: The key lies with that god who reincarnated in the mortal world. He is the root of the problem."
"Mn!" Hong Bao nodded. Finally someone who understood the essence! Not like that Leng Jin Yu who was only biased. The goddess of love was way smarter than him. It definitely was the crown prince's fault!
"If it's like this, of course, this can only be solved through that god. You don't know much about the trials, don't you?"
"No, only a bit."
"Then let me tell you: There are many different kinds of trials and no god would attempt all of them in one mortal life. There might be some gods who take on more than one trial each lifetime but nobody ever took every trial. So, not passing in one lifetime is actually not as bad as that friend of yours made it out to be. That god would just have to be called back to the nine heavens, learn a bit more and then he could attempt another try."
"So we can just call him back?" That easy? Why didn't Shun Tao think of that? He is such an intelligent man! He should have known there was such an easy way out!
"Well, this might not seem like much to you, but it is still something done seldom. Most of the time even if there are some slight mishaps the gods will be able to pass at least one trial at the end of the mortal lifetime. So no trip there is ever truly wasted. But if that god is really as untalented as you said … it wouldn't make much sense for him to stay there. He definitely needs some more education.
The problem is rather that there is no easy way of calling him back. After all they did reincarnate as a mortal already. They can only return if their souls are set free."
"Then how do you do that?"
"Of course, you'd have to kill them."
"Kill them!" Hong Bao clasped her hands over her mouth. How cruel! "Is there no other way?"
The goddess of love sighed. "You're such a nice girl. Of course you would ask this. Well, it's not like there isn't any. It is just … the other possibility would be much harder for you to accomplish and you only have time until tomorrow. Are you sure that would be such a good idea?"
"Killing someone just seems wrong."
"The other method isn't that different though. You'd still have to hurt that person. The difference only lies in the weapon you use. Killing them to set their soul free doesn't have any constraints. It doesn't matter how you do it exactly as long as they end up dead. But if you only want to injure them to set the soul free you need a special weapon."
Hong Bao hesitated. She didn't want to kill someone even if it was for Shun Tao's sake. Even though that person was a god who had just reincarnated as a mortal for a limited time, it still felt wrong. In the moment she'd kill the person he wouldn't know it. And even though the crown prince was a tyrant who used his high position to bully others she just couldn't bring herself to kill him. She was a good person after all!
"Is there any possibility to get such a special weapon until tomorrow?"
The goddess of love smiled. "Of course there is!" Her smile dimmed a bit and she evaded Hong Bao's gaze. "Though … there is some problem with that, too."
Hong Bao pursed her lips. She had thought everything was clear now after she had gotten the goddess of love to help her, but now problems turned up everywhere!
"That weapon is in the god of war's palace."
Hong Bao waited for her to continue, but that was everything she said. "What is the problem with that? Can't we just get it from him?"
The goddess of love sighed. "You don't know who the god of war is, do you? He is the brother-in-law of the incumbent heavenly emperor. If the fate's scribe expects to be punished by the heavenly emperor for the problems that god caused, then of course the god of war wouldn't help. He'd certainly stand be his own family, wouldn't he?"
Hong Bao nodded. "True!" Ugh, that whole family consisted of despots! It wasn't just the crown prince. But she should have known. Where would a child pick up such bad habits if not from its family? His father and uncle were probably the main problem. Most likely they were even worse than the crown prince himself and had even corrupted him when he was a child.
"So, if you want to do it that way, you'd have to get that weapon yourself."
"You mean I should steal it?"
The goddess of love smiled wryly. "Stealing it sounds so bad. Wouldn't you just be … borrowing it for a bit? The time in the mortal realm flows differently. If you just take the weapon, descend and free that soul and then return the weapon nobody would even notice. I'm sure with how much you love the fate's scribe that wouldn't be a problem for you, would it?"
"Of course not!" Hong Bao straightened and clenched her hands into fists. "So, how do I find that weapon in the god of war's palace?"
"It's quite easy, actually. You only have to find the study of the god of war. If you look out of the window next to it, you'll see a pathway to a building in the courtyard. The weapon is in there. It is even nicely displayed at the back of that room, so you can't get it wrong. If you're uncertain, you just have to remember that the weapon is a dagger. There shouldn't be more than one. You really can't get it wrong."
"Alright, I'll go right now!" Hong Bao turned around and wanted to storm out, but the goddess of love called her back.
"Hong Bao, wait a moment!"
"Is there something else?"
The goddess smiled. "Nothing much. I just wanted to say that I'd appreciate it if you came by after you're done and tell me how it went."
"Of course!" Hong Bao reciprocated her smile and ran out. She wouldn't let Shun Tao suffer any punishment. She'd get that weapon and set that god's soul free and then she'll like to see how anyone would dare blame her Shun Tao!