From learning the true identity of the panda-masked girl and discovering the whereabouts of his younger sister, to truly setting foot on the land of Jiang City, China, Chen Shu spent over two months.
During these months, he did many things.
Like completely concealing the truth behind the rainy night his parents died; like succeeding his father’s title and becoming the youngest First-class Duke in Suli’s history; like turning the young, frail King who had just ascended the throne into a puppet completely under his control; like secretly assassinating the clergy in the Church who harbored dissatisfaction toward him.
Apart from these, Chen Shu spent most of his time in the studio, admiring the sole painting he owned.
The studio within the castle, which was nearly a hundred square meters large, was surrounded by murky green walls intricately carved with complex patterns, a place servants were usually forbidden to enter.
Thick, dark red drapes covered each window tightly, and only the faint candlelight from the candelabra provided a bit of illumination.
However, one evening two months ago, the cleaning servants suddenly discovered that their master, having returned from a trip, briskly walked into the studio, his eyes flickering like flames, ablaze with excitement.
For the first time, the lavish and sparkling crystal chandelier came into effect; the white light it cast illuminated the entire dark and profound studio in an instant.
The servants were stunned by the sight inside the studio—on the walls all around, dozens of portraits of a young girl were hung, large and small.
All were painted by their master over the past three years.
Without exception, the girl in the portrait wore a retro, opulent gothic dress in dark colors, with layer upon layer of lacy black tulle supporting the skirt, and countless embroidered crimson roses bloomed upon the hem.
Behind the slender girl, each portrait featured a pair of huge, unfurled pure black wings. Moonlight scattered silver gleams on every feather, lending the girl a ghostly aura of the night, filled with a sense of shattered solitude.
Yet, each portrait depicted a girl with a different face.
Or rather, it seemed as if the painter himself did not know what the girl truly looked like. Mere imagination fueled his brushwork, and while every face was exquisitely beautiful, they all lacked soul.
That night, however, the servants saw the master stay in the studio the whole night until dawn.
And when the studio was opened afterward, they found that all the portraits on the walls had been torn and shredded. Boot prints remaining on the torn scraps of canvas and paper seemed to prove that someone had danced wildly on these chaotic fragments the night before.
In the vast studio, only a single painting remained on the central easel—the portrait painted overnight.
The dress of the girl in the portrait was the same as before, but this time, the face featured an Eastern look that had appeared for the first time, with eyes that held soulfulness.
——
Ever since learning about the existence of gods three years ago, and hearing of the tale of that Fallen God, Chen Shu felt for the first time that his erstwhile indifferent self had found a purpose in life.
Someone said that there is only one fate for a fallen god—to be imprisoned in the deepest reaches of the Netherworld to suffer punishment.
Erasing all traces of the past, transforming from a high and mighty deity into a creature of Hell, not even a human being.
But if one could cultivate into a Demon, it would be possible to go to the Human Realm, reincarnating through a human body compatible with one’s soul.
Chen Shu was convinced that the Fallen God must have long since come to the Human Realm, just residing within a human body, so he had since been searching for likely candidates.
Until two years ago at the Abis Boxing Competition, where he saw the girl wearing a panda mask who crushed all her opponents for seven consecutive nights.
A strong intuition told him that this panda was the one he was looking for. However, before he could get from Suli to the UK, the girl had vanished without a trace.
The hope that had just ignited was extinguished, until a text message two months ago made his numbed and silent heart burst to life with fevered beats.
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