Chapter 68 Receiving Light
Knock, knock, knock. A series of knocks echoed through the room.
Thanatos rolled under the covers, turning over and pulling his pillow over his ears.
Knock, knock, knock. The knocking persisted.
He groaned and yanked the blanket over his head.
Knock, knock, knock—
Frustrated, Thanatos threw off the covers and sat up abruptly. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and glanced at the time.
October 15th, 12:00 AM.
His expression darkened.
Which ghost was knocking at this hour, disturbing his dreams?
Then again, it wasn’t a ghost knocking on the door, nor was he exactly a human either.
Sleep wasn’t a necessity for a God of Death, but being woken up mid-rest was still irritating. Right now, Thanatos was in a foul mood.
Did Yanluo really have something urgent to discuss? And why, of all times, did it have to be in the dead of night?
Thanatos groggily tried to think but could only recall a Chinese proverb that said, “If the King of Hell orders your death at midnight, you won’t live past dawn.”
But he was the God of Death. Yanluo had no power over his life, so that possibility didn’t apply.
Getting nowhere with his thoughts, Thanatos sluggishly got out of bed and shuffled to open the door.
Yanluo then saw the little reaper, wrapped from head to toe in black robes, standing at the doorway with an aura of pure gloom.
“What is it?” Thanatos’ voice was weak and laced with drowsy indifference.
Yanluo, on the other hand, looked as refined as ever. Dressed in white white robes, his long hair cascading down his back, holding a folding fan, he looked every bit like a nobleman from an ink painting.
If he wandered around like that in the middle of the night, most people would probably think they had seen a ghost.
Compared to Thanatos’ laziness, Yanluo was full of energy. “Want to go watch the sunrise at Mount Tai?”
“No.” Thanatos shut the door without hesitation.
He chose to go back to sleep.
Undeterred by the rejection, Yanluo remained outside, continuing his efforts to persuade him.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to see the beauty of the world? Mount Tai is one of the Five Great Mountains of China, a national 5A tourist scenic spot. Ever heard of ‘One must ascend to the very peak to see how small the other mountains are’? That’s about Mount Tai. Plus, if we go before dawn, there won’t be too many people around. You get to enjoy the view and avoid the crowds. Are you sure you want to pass up such a great opportunity?”
As the master of a massive commercial empire, Yanluo was well-versed in the art of persuasive marketing. And his selling point, “avoid the crowds,” hit Thanatos right where it mattered.
After deciding to explore the world, Thanatos had looked up popular tourist destinations in China. He knew he couldn’t just limit himself to wandering around the neighborhood. But it just so happened to be National Day holiday, a peak tourist season. Every scenic spot was flooded with crowds. Just seeing those pictures of endless seas of people triggered his anxiety, making him retreat from the idea entirely. He chose, instead, to stay home and remain a shut-in.
Yanluo, however, was determined to help him take that first step.
……
One minute later, Thanatos opened the door.
“How do we get there?”
Seeing him finally give in, Yanluo smiled. “Do you want to take a car or fly over?”
“How far is it?”
“Just over 200 kilometers.”
Thanatos drooped again, looking like he might fall asleep standing up. “Too lazy to fly.”
Flapping his wings took effort, and right now, he wanted nothing more than to sleep.
Yanluo couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, let me put it another way. Do you want a road trip or a cloud trip? A road trip means sitting in my car and I’ll drive you there, and a cloud trip means sitting on my cloud and I’ll carry you there. Either way, you can catch up on sleep along the way.”
Riding on a cloud was a novel concept for Thanatos. He was used to flying with his wings and had never experienced drifting through the sky like mist.
He had already sat in the passenger seat of Yanluo’s car before, so he decisively chose the cloud.
The distance from Qingzhou to Mount Tai was over 200 kilometers. By car, it would take three hours, but flight offered far more freedom. Yanluo could fully control the cloud’s speed. He could arrive in an instant or let them float leisurely in the sky for an entire day.
The cloud Yanluo summoned this time was noticeably larger than the one in the underworld. Soft, pure white, and billowy, it was big enough for Thanatos to lie down and sleep comfortably.
He had specially summoned such a large cloud in order to allow Thanatos to have a good rest.
Thanatos asked, “Why is this one white?”
He distinctly remembered that the last cloud Yanluo summoned was pitch black.
Yanluo: “Clouds are naturally white, but since it is nighttime, they blend into the darkness and appear as black clouds. The clouds I summon from the human world are all white. The underworld is inherently dark and gloomy, with no clouds of its own. To create the clouds, I took a fragment of the night’s darkness, and thus, there could only be black clouds.”
Thanatos understood now. A realm of darkness and gloom could not tolerate pure white. White clouds existed only in the heaven, never beneath the earth.
His gaze drifted to Yanluo’s ghostly white robes, and he lowered his eyes slightly.
That had once been the robe of a god.
Thanatos stepped onto the cloud, and Yanluo ascended, soaring into the sky. The once-white cloud darkened as it blended into the night.
The cloud was vast. Yanluo stood at one end while Thanatos sat at the other, with plenty of space left in between. Lighter than cotton, softer than the finest bed in the human world, it cradled him effortlessly. As the cold wind brushed against his face, Thanatos gazed down at the glittering cityscape below.
This was the human world he had visited countless times before.
And yet, it was the first time he truly looked at it.
It was breathtaking.
In order to allow Thanatos to better appreciate the scenery under the clouds, Yanluo deliberately slowed their pace. It would take them three hours to reach their destination.
For the first hour, Thanatos quietly observed, watching the scenery shift beneath them. But after a while, it all began to look the same. He withdrew his gaze. Perhaps it was the cloud’s softness, or perhaps he was simply still tired, but sleepiness crept over him once more. He rested his head against the cloud and drifted off.
Noticing this, Yanluo slowed their pace even further.
A small, selfish part of him wished this journey could last a little longer.
He had fallen for the little reaper.
But he still didn’t know how to make the little reaper fall for him.
For now, he simply wanted Thanatos to love this world, to love himself, to no longer be burdened with self-loathing.
As he slept, the little reaper was perfectly still and quiet. If one were to remove his black robe at this moment, they would find a peaceful face illuminated by the moonlight.
But Yanluo simply stood there, gazing quietly at that black robe.
He watched for a long time. And did nothing beyond that.
He was willing to wait.
“Little Reaper, we’re here.”
Upon reaching their destination, Yanluo gently roused Thanatos from his nap.
3 AM, at the foot of Mount Tai.
Thanatos stared blankly at the densely packed crowd lining the steps. “……This is what you call ‘won’t be too many people around’?”
Clearly, he had misunderstood the Chinese definition of “avoiding the crowds.”
Why were these people awake in the middle of the night, climbing a mountain just to see the sunrise?
Yanluo:“……We Chinese people enjoy exercise.”
Thanatos turned on his heel, ready to leave.
Yanluo swiftly grabbed his wrist and pulled out the universal golden sentence, “Since you’re already here, wouldn’t it be a waste to turn back now?”
Thanatos looked down at the hand holding his.
This time, it didn’t feel quite as scorching.
In fact…… he almost didn’t want him to let go.
Thanatos allowed himself to be pulled back without resistance.
When Yanluo let go, an inexplicable sense of loss crept over him.
But as his gaze fell on the endless staircase stretching before him, and the scattered groups of tourists trudging up, the feeling was quickly replaced by pain.
With a hint of complaint, he asked, “Why didn’t you just fly us to the top?”
Their mode of transportation had been a cloud. A cloud.
Why bother landing at the foot of the mountain only to climb it on foot?
Was Yanluo kidding him?
Yanluo replied, “The journey only has meaning if you take each step yourself.”
Thanatos wasn’t particularly moved by this brand of motivational wisdom. He just knew that climbing was exhausting.
Physically, he wasn’t strong. The God of Death didn’t need stamina. He had divine power, but not endurance. When reaping souls, he traveled across the country by flight, never on foot. And when he wasn’t working, he spent all his time in the underworld, where his legs had no use at all.
Which meant that hiking was an absolute nightmare.
But with so many people around, he couldn’t exactly spread his wings and soar to the summit. Otherwise, the breathtaking view of Mount Tai would instantly be replaced by him.
Thanatos grudgingly stepped onto the first stair.
Mount Tai wasn’t particularly tall, only about 1,500 meters above sea level, with just over 7,000 steps. If humans could conquer Everest, climbing Mount Tai was hardly a challenge.
For a god to struggle with it would be embarrassing.
But Thanatos was a complete homebody who never exercised. He had a pair of powerful, majestic bone wings but he couldn’t use them. Instead, he had to rely on legs he had almost never used to reach the summit.
After climbing just over 2,000 steps, he stopped.
He was tired and he needed rest.
Yanluo had already pulled ahead, but when he noticed Thanatos lagging behind, he turned back and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Thanatos was silent for a moment before muttering a single word, “Tired.”
He didn’t want to admit it. But he had to.
Yanluo was stunned.
Gods were far superior to mortals in physical endurance. Chinese gods, in particular, possessed equally powerful divine bodies and souls. A mere 7,000 steps was nothing to him, but he didn’t expect the little reaper to get tired.
Since the God of Death lacked real flesh and blood, he also lacked a strong, resilient body. His bones were sturdy, but his joints had stiffened with time. After climbing this many steps, he felt like he was about to fall apart.
Yanluo chuckled behind his fan. “Seriously, little reaper? Your body is this delicate?”
Thanatos: “……”
Fine, he was weak. But why add delicate?
Without a word, he turned around and started heading back down.
Yanluo clicked his tongue. Angry again?
He strode forward, grabbed Thanatos’ wrist, and pulled him back. “Hold my hand. I’ll help you up. Feel stronger now?”
Thanatos: “……”
No. His bones were still stiff.
But, somehow, he found himself allowing Yanluo to pull him along, step by step.
His legs actually didn’t feel as sore anymore.
Along the way, many tourists passed them by, all looking at them sideways.
After all, most hikers dressed lightly for the climb. But these two, one wrapped head to toe in an airtight black robe, the other draped in flowing white hanfu, looked ridiculously out of place. Yet, they still had made it this far, hand in hand.
Whenever Thanatos grew tired, Yanluo would cool him off with a wave of his fan.
Side by side, supporting each other as they ascended. It was a sight that could move the heaven.
Feeling the weight of so many curious stares, Thanatos grew uncomfortable and attempted to pull his hand away.
But Yanluo only tightened his grip and told him to keep up quickly.
So Thanatos didn’t insist.
After a moment, he asked, “Did you give me divine energy?”
Yanluo blinked in surprise. “What?”
So, that was a no.
Thanatos fell into thought.
He had assumed his limit was around 2,000 steps, yet he had far surpassed that. He had thought that Yanluo must have been transferring divine energy into him, making the journey feel easier.
But if he hadn’t, then why did he suddenly have the strength to keep going?
It almost felt as if…… holding hands truly had the power to infuse strength, filling him with the will to keep climbing.
But by the time they reached the 5,000th step, Thanatos really couldn’t go on. He slumped onto the stairs, breathing lightly.
No matter how much Yanluo pulled at him, he had no energy left to move.
If they rested any longer, they would miss the sunrise. Then all their effort would have been for nothing.
“You go ahead,” Thanatos murmured. “I can’t walk anymore.”
He felt a little guilty that he was holding him back.
This was what he got for never exercising. Even the elderly hikers they had passed earlier had climbed with ease.
But Yanluo didn’t scold him. Instead, he crouched in front of him, his voice warm.
“If I can’t watch the sunrise with you, what’s the point of watching it at all?”
He had lived for countless years. He had seen the sunrise more times than he could count.
But watching it alone was different from watching it with someone.
Thanatos needed to see a sunrise.
Yanluo needed Thanatos to watch this sunrise with him.
They needed each other. One without the other simply wouldn’t do.
Turning around, Yanluo said, “Get on. I’ll carry you.”
Thanatos was taken aback.
Yanluo chuckled. “If you don’t hurry up, neither of us will see the sunrise.”
Sunrises weren’t rare. They happened every day. They had lived tens of thousands of years and seen just as many dawns.
But this time, Thanatos didn’t want to miss it.
For some reason, this one felt precious, although he didn’t quite know why.
He hesitantly climbed onto Yanluo’s back.
Zero distance.
But it didn’t feel dangerous. It felt very reassuring.
Thanatos was incredibly light, almost weightless on Yanluo’s back. His frame was thin and a bit bony against him.
With all the incredible food in China, I’ll have to fatten him up a little, Yanluo thought to himself.
Step by step, he carried Thanatos up the final two thousand stairs.
And just as they reached the summit, the sun rose, not a second too soon, not a second too late. The warm and brilliant sunlight shone on them, bathing the two gods of the underworld.
Thanatos heard Yanluo’s voice. “Happy birthday.”
He didn’t call him little reaper this time. He gently and solemnly called the God of Death by his name.
“Thanatos, you were born in a place bathed in golden light. From now on, you should walk toward the light, too. The sun shines upon you now, and fortune will favor you as well.
“If you don’t mind Yanluo’s bad reputation, please allow me to also bless* you.”
[*眷顾 literally means “to care for and look after.” It often implies divine favor, protection, or special attention from someone in a position of power or authority. For example, it can refer to the care or blessings of a deity, a superior, or fate. The character 眷 also carries the meaning of ‘family member,’ so 眷顾 can further imply “to care for someone as if they were a family member” or “to protect and look after someone with the same devotion as one would for a family member.”]
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