"Kill him!" Hong Bao clasped her hands over her mouth. "How cruel! Is there no other way?"

Yin Lin Lin 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 one would be much harder to accomplish and you only have time until tomorrow. Are you sure that would be such a good idea?"

"Killing someone seems wrong though." Hong Bao furrowed her brows. She wanted to help Shun Tao but this was too much. It would be wrong if he was killed but it would also be wrong to kill the crown prince. After all, even though he was such a grim person, that was still a living person! And at the moment when she killed him, he wouldn’t understand why she was doing it. She just couldn’t bring herself to do that kind of thing. She was a good person, after all!

"The other method isn’t that different. You’d still have to hurt that god’s reincarnation but at least, you won’t need to kill him. The difference lies in the weapon you use. Killing him to set his soul free doesn’t have any constraints. It doesn’t matter how you do it as long as he ends up dead. But if you only want to injure him to set the soul free, you need a special weapon."

Hong Bao hesitated. "Is there any way to get such a special weapon until tomorrow?"

Yin Lin Lin smiled brightly. "Of course there is!" Her smile dimmed and she evaded Hong Bao’s gaze. "Although … it won’t be that easy."

Hong Bao pursed her lips. She had thought everything was clear now that the Goddess of Love had offered to help her but problems kept turning 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 talentless god caused, then, of course, the God of War wouldn’t help. He’d certainly stand by 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? Most likely, his father and his uncle were even worse than the crown prince himself and had corrupted him when he was a child. It was only because of that that he had turned out the way he was now and was making trouble for her Shun Tao.

"So, if you don’t want to kill that god’s reincarnation and use the second method instead, then … you’d have to get that weapon secretly."

Hong Bao’s eyes widened. "You mean I should steal it?" That wasn’t anything good either, was it?

Yin Lin Lin 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 up and clenched her hands into fists. The Goddess of Love was right. She wanted to help Shun Tao regardless of what she had to do for that. And borrowing that weapon wasn’t as bad as killing someone. It was the best outcome for everyone. "Then how do I find that weapon in the God of War’s palace? I’ve never been there before."

"It’s easy, actually. You only have to find the study of the God of War. If you look out of the window next to its door, you’ll see a pathway to a small 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, then I’ll go right now!" Hong Bao turned around and wanted to storm out but Yin Lin Lin called her back.

"Hong Bao, wait a moment!"

"Is there something else?"

Yin Lin Lin 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. Just in case something goes wrong and we need to come up with another plan."

"Of course!" Hong Bao beamed and ran out. Thankfully, the Goddess of Love was helping her! Now, she could go and help Shun Tao. Tomorrow morning, all of this would already be over. He wouldn’t need to fear punishment anymore.

Inside the palace, Yin Lin Lin’s aide turned to her with a worried expression. "Your Highness, that dagger … Isn’t it …"

"It is." Yin Lin Lin got up and walked back to the inner chambers of her palace with a grin. "Ah, I’d really like to see how she’ll explain a dead god to the Heavenly Emperor. If she doesn’t lose her head for that, she really has to be favored by Heaven."

Her aide ran after her, biting her lower lip. "But what if that god is someone important? What if the Heavenly Emperor finds out that you’re behind this?"

Yin Lin Lin stopped walking and turned to her with a frown. "What nonsense are you talking? If this was really someone important, we would have heard of the trial long ago. Did any of the important gods stop appearing in public for the last few days? No. So it’s probably just some small god of an unimportant family."

Her aide lowered her head and nodded but she couldn’t help but clench her hands beneath her sleeves. Some small god from an unimportant family? Maybe. But didn’t they also have lives? Did they deserve to be killed like this? She herself was such a small god! Wouldn’t Yin Lin Lin mind at all if she was killed just like that? The girl sighed lightly. Why was she even wondering? If she happened to disappear, Yin Lin Lin might not even ask and would just continue as usual.

While her maid was unhappy with what she said, Yin Lin Lin’s mood got even better.

"Ah, just thinking of how happy she’ll be when she comes to tell me that she succeeded and how shocked she’ll be when the Heavenly Emperor calls her in because she killed a trueborn god …" She sighed. "Now that I think about it, maybe it would be even better if you’re right. If the person she killed was someone important, her end would certainly be even worse."

Maybe she wouldn’t have been as happy had she known that she had just sent somebody to kill the Son of Heaven.