Death Knocks on Hell’s Door Chapter 72

Chapter 72 Knocking on the Door

Dust clung to the young man’s pristine white robes, but he showed no sign of anger. Stepping back, he stood calmly at the entrance and asked, “Would you care to join me for a meal?”

Yanluo showed no courtesy. “No.”

Then, with a soft scoff, he added, “Besides, would the Jade Emperor even partake in mortal meals?”

Jade Emperor.

Thanatos stiffened. He had just learned about this name from Granny Meng last night. It looked like he and Yanluo had an unclear past.

Thanatos looked at the Jade Emperor. The god before him had a face like jade, transcendent and untainted by the mundane. He carried the natural authority of someone who had ruled for eons. His eyes, cold and distant, held the chill of eternal winter.

He looked quite well-matched with Yanluo.

One warm jade, one cold jade.

It made sense that Yanluo had once favored such a god.

Thanatos clenched the edges of his black robe.

The Jade Emperor paused for a moment before responding, “Then let’s talk here.”

Yanluo frowned. He had no intention of discussing old matters in front of the little reaper.

He considered simply throwing the Jade Emperor out, but if he didn’t settle this now, the man would come knocking on his door again and again, which would be too disruptive to his pursuit of the little reaper.

Better to deal with the trouble sooner rather than later.

“Let’s talk outside.”

At those words, the Jade Emperor’s expression eased slightly.

Yanluo was about to step out when he suddenly turned back to Thanatos. “I don’t have my keys. Leave the door unlocked for me.”

He meant the key to 401.

Thanatos said nothing.

So eager to leave with the Jade Emperor that he didn’t even have time to grab his keys?

He failed to recognize that his current mindset was eerily similar to that of a lover watching their boyfriend go out with an ex.

The Jade Emperor glanced at Thanatos upon hearing Yanluo’s words. His eyes swept over the black-robed figure, whose face was completely hidden, before he coolly looked away.

Yanluo and the Jade Emperor walked out the door.

The mess in the living room was still unfinished.

Xie Bian picked up the broom from the floor, transforming it into a duster, and prepared to use a cleaning spell to restore the room to its original state.

Normally, a single spell would have done the job instantly, but King Yan insisted on personally cleaning alongside Thanatos. Seeing the two of them working together, one with a broom, the other with a dustpan, looking so happy, of course they couldn’t disturb this beautiful atmosphere.

Just as Xie Bian was about to activate the spell, Thanatos moved faster. His scythe appeared in his hand, and with a wave of divine power, he cleared all the balloons from the walls.

Black and White Impermanence: “……”

So the God of Death did know cleaning spells?

Then what had they been laboring all morning for?

But……

Xie Bian: “Your Highness, restoring the room is enough. No need for extra decoration.”

Fan Wujiu: “It’s fine to add some personal touch, but it shouldn’t look like the underworld.”

Just because they were from the underworld didn’t mean they wanted their living space to look like it.

Thanatos had turned all the balloons on the walls into skulls.

A string of skulls forming the words Happy Birthday hung in the living room. The sight was bizarre, eerie, and carried a certain dark humor.

Thanatos fell silent for a moment.

As he watched Yanluo walk out the door with the Jade Emperor, an inexplicable frustration welled up inside him.

The kind of frustration that made him want to summon his scythe and start hacking people down.

But there was no one here he could cut, and he couldn’t just lash out at innocent bystanders.

Thanatos could only channel his anger into labor, giving the living room a thorough cleaning.

Gods could alter their surroundings as they pleased. He had only intended to remove the balloons, but somehow, they had turned into skulls instead. That alone proved just how upset he was and how little control he had over his emotions at the moment.

Happiness came from Yanluo. Unhappiness also came from Yanluo.

His emotions were entirely tied to that man, and the moment the Jade Emperor appeared, the fluctuations hit their peak.

Thanatos was slow, but he wasn’t foolish.

His slowness stemmed from a lack of deep bonds. He had never even truly experienced friendship, let alone love.

He hadn’t understood his own emotional turmoil before. But now, as the feeling spiraled out of control, he was beginning to realize what it meant.

Sometimes, understanding one’s own feelings happened in an instant.

Like that night, when Yanluo had read the document Granny Meng sent.

Like now, as Thanatos stared blankly at the skulls on the wall.

He had come to the East and, somewhere along the way, had fallen for an Eastern god.

His name was Yanluo.

He liked Yanluo.

The realization left him feeling utterly lost and overwhelmed. He put his scythe away, turned, and silently headed upstairs to lock himself in his room to calm down.

In the living room, Fan Wujiu and Xie Bian watched as Thanatos left without a word. Then, they glanced at the wall of skulls, exchanged a look, and sighed.

“Should we get rid of them?” Fan Wujiu asked.

The decorations looked downright ghastly.

But since the God of Death had put them up, erasing them outright felt a little inappropriate. Considering how much King Yan doted on Thanatos, he would likely indulge him no matter what.

“Leave them,” Xie Bian decided. “The house belongs to King Yan. He can decide when he gets back.”

Yanluo Restaurant.

The Jade Emperor sat across from Yanluo, scanning the menu before ordering an entire table’s worth of dishes.

Immortals had long since transcended the need for food. He had no real interest in mortal cuisine. The excessive order was merely a way to prolong their conversation, to give them a reason to sit together a little longer.

Throughout the wait, Yanluo remained silent.

“Master,” the Jade Emperor finally broke the quiet.

Yanluo drawled lazily, “I can’t say I’ve taught a disciple like you. If you still have even a shred of respect for me, addressing me as King Yan will suffice.”

The Jade Emperor said, “A teacher for a day is a teacher for a lifetime.”

“How do I remember the original saying being ‘a teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime.’” Yanluo arched a brow. “What’s wrong? Don’t want to acknowledge me as your father?”

Jade Emperor: “……”

“I heard from Lady Bixia Yuanjun that you visited Mount Tai yesterday.” He paused. “But you never stepped into my temple.”

“So that’s why you suddenly showed up at my door.” Yanluo smiled faintly. “What, you expect me to walk in, kneel three times, kowtow nine times, and burn some incense in your honor?”

“……This disciple does not dare,” the Jade Emperor said. But despite his words, his gaze remained as calm as still water, devoid of fear or humility.

“The ties of master and disciple have long been severed. Why cling to the past?” Yanluo took a sip of tea. “I told you before that people who walk different paths cannot work together.”

“I was taught by you personally, inheriting your lineage. How can we be different? If anything, the Western god is the one who walks a different path. And yet, you chose to be with him.”

Lady Bixia Yuanjun had mentioned that Yanluo visited Mount Tai, accompanied by a Western god.

For tens of thousands of years, Yanluo had kept his distance from others. Even though he was not gentle with the Jade Emperor now, the Jade Emperor could still tell himself that he was once the only exception.

But now there was a second one.

The Jade Emperor wasn’t particularly jealous. But he couldn’t accept it.

He had spent his mortal life enduring hardship. He had ascended, worked tirelessly, cultivated to perfection, all to earn Yanluo’s recognition.

And just when he had reached the peak, touching the Great Dao, Yanluo unilaterally severed their master-disciple relationship and descended into the underworld, never to see him again.

The Jade Emperor, as the proud son of heaven, pursued perfection in everything. His life had been smooth, unmarred by failure, except for Yanluo’s actions, which he couldn’t understand. He had done nothing wrong, yet he was expelled from his master’s school. This was his only flaw in this life, almost becoming his inner demon and obsession.

And as long as it remained, his cultivation would never reach the next stage.

It was said that if one truly grasped the Great Dao’s ultimate form, they could comprehend the power of karma, defy the heaven, rewrite fate, and be on equal footing with the Heavenly Dao.

This was the realm Yanluo had attained tens of thousands of years ago, yet the Jade Emperor had yet to break through.

His entire existence had been dedicated to cultivating the Dao, pursuing the supreme realm of the Great Dao. He was a prodigy, born to tread the path of enlightenment. But he had been stuck at the final threshold for millennia, unable to make any progress for ten thousand years. This distance, so close yet forever unreachable, tormented him. He had repeatedly sought out Yanluo, not entirely out of missing their past master-disciple relationship, but primarily to rid himself of his inner demons.

But Yanluo never met with him. Each time, he left behind only a single phrase, “People who walk different paths cannot work together.”

The Jade Emperor couldn’t understand. Yanluo had been the one to guide him into the Dao, the one who had taught him everything he knew. How could their paths be different? He refused to believe it. This was merely an excuse. Yanluo simply feared that if he reached enlightenment, his power would one day surpass his former master’s.

“Zhang Bairen,” Yanluo said suddenly.

For a moment, the Jade Emperor didn’t recognize the name.

Yanluo laughed. “Look at you, Jade Emperor. You’ve become such a god that you’ve even forgotten your own mortal name.

“Who I choose to be with, who I enjoy spending my time with, has never been about whether they cultivate to become a god or a demon, whether they follow the Eastern Dao or the Western Dao. What matters to me is that, even when he was born a god, he retains his humanity.”

“Born a god……” The Jade Emperor’s expression darkened. “So, in the end, you still look down on my mortal origins? Even though my strength has long surpassed that of any innate god?”

His mind had latched onto entirely the wrong point.

Not that it mattered. He had long since stopped expecting anything else, so he didn’t feel disappointed either.

“If you despised my mortal origins, why did you bring me back from the human world in the first place?”

Yanluo’s expression remained indifferent. “If I could turn back time, I would have never enlightened you at all. I am no longer your master. I have no obligation to guide you. But for the sake of our past relationship, I will give you one last piece of advice.

“All paths lead to the Dao. If you seek it, you may walk any path. A master can show the door, but cultivation is a journey one must undertake alone. The path of heartlessness was your own choice. If the heaven has emotions, they too would wither. You believed the Heavenly Dao to be devoid of feeling, so you stripped yourself of emotion, thinking that aligning with the Heavenly Dao would lead you to enlightenment.

“This is indeed also a path. But if your goal is to stand equal to the heaven, then you have strayed from the path from the very beginning.

“If you lack the courage to defy the heaven, if all you do is submit to fate and obey the heavenly laws, how can you have the qualifications to be on equal footing with the heaven?”

The Jade Emperor paled.

……Had he been wrong from the start?

“Then why didn’t you stop me back then?”

“That year, there was a great drought in the human world. The crops yielded nothing, and I took you to see the starving people lying dead everywhere. I asked you if you wanted to let the Dragon King bring rain. How did you answer?”

The Jade Emperor was speechless. He had already forgotten which year and which month such a thing had happened.

Yanluo laughed softly. “Have you forgotten? I’ll answer for you. You said, ‘The will of the heaven forbids rain. Their fate is sealed.’ You were calm, so calm it was cold-blooded.”

The Jade Emperor remained silent. Even now, he didn’t see anything wrong with that answer. The heavenly laws upheld order, while the will of the heaven was absolute. As the ruler of the heavenly realm, he had always been the one to enforce punishment upon gods who dared to defy those laws.

But Yanluo’s words from earlier echoed in his mind: If you lack the courage to defy the heaven, if all you do is submit to fate and obey the heavenly laws, how can you have the qualifications to be on equal footing with the heaven?

For the first time in millennia, doubt crept in.

“It is true that the will of the heaven is difficult to defy. But as a god, even if you cannot save the world, you should at least have the heart to mourn its suffering.

“You have always stood above it all, viewing mortal pain as nothing more than the natural order of things. No compassion. No mercy. Your very nature has changed beyond salvation. How was I supposed to warn you?

“That’s all I have to say, there’s no need to meet again in the future.”

Yanluo didn’t even wait for the food to be served. He got up to leave. “Don’t forget to pay the bill.”

Even though he owned Yanluo Restaurant, he had no intention of offering a free meal.

He was already spending enough on feeding the little reaper.

The Jade Emperor sat frozen in place, staring at the table, lost in thought. He did not call out to stop him.

Their paths had diverged as early as tens of thousands of years ago.

Meanwhile, Thanatos sat on his bed, lost in his own tangled thoughts.

Why had they not come back yet after being out for so long?

Wasn’t Yanluo known for refusing to see the Jade Emperor? Why had he made an exception this time?

Could it be that, just as Thanatos had come to terms with his feelings, Yanluo was already rekindling his relationship with his former disciple?

The Jade Emperor was undeniably beautiful. It wouldn’t be surprising if Yanluo chose to reunite with him.

After all, if given a choice between a strikingly handsome man in white robes and a skeleton forever wrapped in black, who wouldn’t choose the former?

Thanatos lowered his gaze.

Should he give up? Should he bury his feelings deep within, complete his mission, and return to Greece, forever maintaining nothing more than a friendship with Yanluo?

He had never fought for anything before. He didn’t even know how.

Footsteps echoed from the living room.

Thanatos trembled.

Yanluo was back.

The moment Yanluo stepped into the apartment, his eyes landed on the words Happy Birthday spelled out in skulls across the wall, looking very much like a death warning.

Yanluo: “……”

So creative. It had to be the little reaper’s masterpiece.

He returned to Room 401 and knocked on Thanatos’ door. “Little Reaper, what’s with the skull decorations in the living room?”

Inside the room, Thanatos hugged his knees tightly, holding his breath.

……It was because of those skulls, born from a moment of lost control, that he had realized his feelings.

It was his deepest, most secret truth. There was no way he could tell Yanluo.

He couldn’t even face him.

Yanluo, hearing no response, murmured to himself, “Did he go out?”

Ever since Thanatos decided to see the beauty of the new world, he had been going out alone more often. Still, his outings were far less frequent than a normal person’s, but for him, it was considerable progress.

Yanluo knocked a few more times. Still no answer. He returned to his own room, thinking Thanatos wasn’t home.

Inside the locked room, Thanatos sat frozen, his heart pounding in his chest.

……Oh, right. He didn’t have a heart.

But it felt like it was about to jump out.

He was inexplicably nervous.

Only when he heard the sounds of Yanluo moving around in his room did Thanatos slowly calm down, burying his face back into his arms.

He stayed in that position for the entire afternoon. The golden sunlight outside gradually faded into the dark hues of night.

Yanluo had no idea the little reaper was in the next room, pretending to be a block of wood.

He hadn’t heard any sign of Thanatos coming back, so he assumed the little reaper had wandered outside for an entire afternoon. It was a great progress.

Just as Yanluo unlocked his phone, intending to message Thanatos and ask where he had gone—

Knock, knock, knock.

Three soft taps.

But it was indeed knocking sounds.

Yanluo paused, momentarily surprised.

……Was it the Black and White Impermanence? Did they need something?

It couldn’t be the little reaper. Thanatos had never knocked on his door before, although Yanluo had lost count of how many times he’d knocked on Thanatos’ door.

Yanluo stood up from his desk, walked to the door, and pulled it open.

Thanatos stood outside, wrapped tightly in his black robe, silent and still.

Yanluo was slightly surprised. “Little Reaper? Did something—”

His words lodged in his throat.

Two slender, pale hands stretched out from the black robe, slowly removing the black hood, revealing a head of dazzling silver hair.

From the shadows, the young god lifted his face.

The face that emerged from the shadows looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, with deep-set features, sharp and striking, exuding a distinctly European allure.

His skin was pale, almost sickly, but his earlobes were flushed red, as if they were about to drip blood. Silver eyes drooped slightly, long lashes quivering ever so faintly, concealing the unease beneath them. The bridge of his nose was straight and tall, his lips were bright red, and his jawline was delicately sculpted.

He was an ethereal vision, like a galaxy born in the dark night, shining brightly and dazzlingly.

A soft blush dyed Thanatos’ pale cheeks. He lowered his gaze, biting his lip.

He had spent the entire afternoon wavering, until he finally made up his mind to fight for what he wanted.

He felt that he wasn’t any less handsome than the Jade Emperor.

If you enjoy this novel, support the Translator ginevre on her ko-fi account :))