The Map

The map was vast and showed Lee a humungous stretch of land. He could see the coast on it. He could see deserts on it. He could see mountains on it. Rivers. Forests. All sorts of towns and villages that he had never heard before.

And as the God of Secrets touched it, the ink of the map moved and changed shape to his will. By pulling his fingers apart at certain areas, he made them bigger, before making them abruptly smaller once more at a whim. The expanded areas became infinitely more detailed when he zoomed in on them, with individual town roads marked on and all places of interest - inns and their prices; hot springs and their temperatures; shops and their special deals; stalls and their wares; and restaurants and all their renown dishes - appeared before Lee's eyes.

He was enchanted, almost smitten.

With this map, he would be able to visit all over the lands, always knowing exactly where to go, never getting lost, and he wouldn't even need to awkwardly interact with all the people around him to know what he'd like to see and any particular local knowledge of where to visit.

There was so much to see, so much to do, so much to learn and experience!

Life was too short. There was no way that Lee would be able to do and see everything. He wondered whether he would be able to negotiate a route through the entirety to the countryside on his way to the desert of the God of Reincarnation.

He would arrive there, eventually, and Lee honestly did not care about the armies of Heaven. If humanity was ever to suffer, then he would really be invested, but the quarrels of Heavenly Officials was not, in the slightest bit, his business.

Humanity would not begin suffering until a few hundred years had passed, certainly not after a few decades. All would be well if Lee took the scenic route towards the desert.

"Ah... As much as you are excited, upon seeing the grandeur of the journey that you will take. I suggest that you shut your mouth in case a fly finds it's way into there. You wouldn't want to choke now, would you?" the God of Secrets teased, his eyes bright and full of light.

Lee, suddenly made aware of himself, cringed slightly, his cheeks warming, and shut his mouth, before opening it again to quickly shovel in more food, before closing it, hoping that the burn of the chilli would make his embarrassment pass quicker, or at least function as an excuse to pass off what had just happened.

"Now that I have your full attention, here," the God of Secrets pointed on the map, his fingers indicating at a small red dot, showing them East of the desert, and looking at the key at the bottom, showing little bars and how many Li they represented, quite a fair bit away from it.

Lee's eyes widened as he knew that he would be able to explore quite a bit on his journey there, even if he wouldn't be able to visit the coast on the way there. There were mountains for him to climb after all, and he would be able to see a vision of white snow, stretching on for miles and miles.

The God of Secrets touched the map twice, once on the red dot, and then once more in the general area of the desert, and a line appeared on the map, also in bright red, stretching between where he had pressed.

It weaved and winded through some areas, while travelling completely straight in others.

Lee traced the line with his eyes. He would be initially taking a path travelling north west, travelling north of the mountains, before cutting through the northern most edge of them, into more flat, but rocky and dry areas, marked with sparse lakes scattered throughout it, before arriving into the desert proper.

The journey looked as if it would take years on foot, and the question of why Lee was chosen for this task, immediately came back to his mind once more.

"You will need to follow this path, and under no circumstances will you be able to deviate from it. It is the most efficient route, and if you do, you will risk the wrath of the more... impatient of the Gods, who do not take so kindly to being denied, so I sincerely suggest that you do not stray from your preordained path," the God of Secrets suggested, adding in a suspicious hum, after his words.

It forced Lee to compose himself and threw him back into the mindset of distrust.

He was being threatened with death here. He was threatened with the prospect of delivering the message far too late, potentially after the suffering of humanity began, with no more children being born, and the populations dwindling, until there were hardly any humans or animals left on the planet.

And once again, the question of why Lee was chosen, arose in his mind.

It was a gamble, to whether Lee would receive any sort of answer, a threat, or the response to a perceived slight.

Lee decided to take the chance anyway.

He was speaking to the God of Secrets, after all. Every thought that he had experienced throughout his entire life, by virtue of being what it was, acted as technically a secret. The God must know what he had been thinking this entire time.

It was a safe enough question to ask him.

"Why have I been chosen, and not a learned cultivator who would be able to finish the journey in a small fraction of the time?" Lee asked the God of Secrets.

The God in question looked up at Lee, and bore into his eyes, and Lee felt as if the God was breaking open his soul to have a look inside. He felt a lancing pain shoot through his head, and he clutched it with both hands, tears falling freely down his face.

As much as he wanted to, Lee could not look away from the God, his eyes locked on Lee's and Lee was helpless to even blink.

There was no escape from the pain that began to sink down into Lee's neck and spreading down further through his body. He could feel himself writhe, and shiver, but ultimately do nothing other than flop around uselessly.

He wanted to reach out to the God of Secrets and bow down to him, clutching at the hems of his clothing, begging for the pain to stop.

There was nothing like it.

Lee felt as if nails were being hammered into his skin, his blood, pieces of his flesh, and shards of his bone, pouring out of the holes made, almost being pulled outwards. The room spun all around Lee, and everything blurred.

He was left deaf and dumb to the world around him, everything covered shrouded by darkness, everything save for those burning gold eyes. The light from them was piercing, and bright, almost capable of causing blindness and the only thing that Lee could see. They became the centre of his world, his mind, and they quickly became this world.

Suddenly, there was nothing else to see but them. There was nothing else to think about, but them, and all else became small and insignificant in comparison.

There was truly nothing else on the planet worth seeing, believing in, and worshipping, save for those eyes, and the pain in Lee's body persisted, becoming greater and greater, more and more, travelling down his torso, and into his legs.

Everything felt too much, too sensitive and too painful.

Lee felt as if he were about to vomit up blood, only the weakness, brought on by the pain, enough of a deterrent, to prevent such a thing.

And suddenly, as quickly as it all began, the pain vanished completely, and Lee was left to fall onto the table, his limbs sapped of energy, and his mind exhausted.

The steady lull of chatter from the restaurant filtered through into Lee's ears. He smelled the spiciness of the chilli oil and his food, and he felt the wood that he was both sat on, and draped over. He opened his eyes, and through the tears, sat the privacy screen that trapped him with the God of Secrets.

"Please try to remember that we are individuals who have achieved great heights in our lifetimes, making us worthy of the Jade Emperor's attention, and thus heaven's attention. Very few of us are paragons of virtue and righteousness.

You have been chosen because you have. It is not your place to question the plans, nor the designs, of the Heavens.

I am the God of Secrets and I know everything that you hope to conceal from the world. I suggest that my orders are followed, lest your reputation be smeared further, and dare I say... you discover secrets, about yourself and others, that would only break your heart further."