The Path Towards Doom

Lee sat frozen in his seat.

The God of Secrets, sat in front of him in some poor village restaurant eating noodles, was tasking Lee, the man that some would argue to be the scum of the Earth for abandoning his family and future, to do his job for him.

Lee realised, clenching his fists under the table, that he was going to do the Heaven's dirty work for them.

He knew what the God of Secrets was talking about.

The Celestial Wars, the wars which were responsible for wiping out Heaven's armies, had taken a toll too great, and now there was a backlog of souls that needed to be reincarnated. The God of Secrets was going to send him to the God of Reincarnation to tell him to get a move on, and refill the ranks of heaven.

It was too easy and convenient that way. The God of Secrets would be able to neatly get rid of somebody who already knew too much about the world, and he would be able to send his message across without adding to the list of the useful dead people. It would be the karmic punishment that Lee deserved for breaking the laws of filial piety, and Lee would be reincarnated once more, without remembering any of the knowledge that he currently had.

But it wasn't so clear to Lee why the God was sending him, rather than some extremely powerful cultivator who would be able to travel the entire way quickly and easily by sword. The God of Secrets was also well in his rights to send a devout monk, blessed with the artifacts and protections of the Heavens, the journey would be legendary enough to write down and would become an instant best seller, famous and known throughout the lands until the end of time. Sending a powerful spiritual creature, instead of Lee, would be a better idea, since they would at least have the power to protect themselves if any danger arose.

Other than the economics of Lee's worth, there was no real reason to send him, and there were too many things that could go wrong.

Lee could see that the God, sat in front of him, was a cruel God, and he just couldn't see why he would be a fit for the role. He was an ordinary human being, mocked by cultivators as one of the mediocre people, and by those above him in station as one of the common people.

He could die if he ever ate the wrong plant, got bitten by a snake in his sleep, drank water from the wrong river, or even just by falling down a small hole and hitting his head on a rock, never mind any potential monsters.

Also, Lee was an idiot. He had seen a hut in the woods, and went to go investigate it, all because he couldn't reign in his curiosity. When the Fallen God of War had seen him, all he could do was run, and the only thing that had saved him was the fact that, once upon a time, his mother was less shit than she was now.

Lee at least had the decency to be self aware. He knew that the only reason that his normally insatiable curiosity was being depressed was because of the situation that he was currently in. There was a niggling part of his mind that would not focus on anything other than the swirling, looping patterns on the God's armour, the mechanics of the illusion that he seemed to wear and take off at will, and the place and hierarchy of the Gods, more specifically where this particular one fit into it all.

Questions raced through his mind at how the Celestial Wars began. Who fought in the wars? Who were the wars against? Why were they fought? Was there a demon kingdom? Was it a demon kingdom that they fought against?

And how did the God of Secrets ever fit into this town wearing the disguise that he had? He looked extremely suspicious in his entirely black clothing, with the expensive armour underneath doing nothing but adding on more fear and warry onto the fire. Did the God really think that was how he was supposed to dress to blend in with humans? And why did he need a servant to come down with him onto Earth to pose as a waiter for a bit, especially if he was going to put an act on in front of him?

It most certainly wasn't for Lee's benefit, so there must be something else important that they were here to do. But what the hell could involve one of them applying to work at the restaurant, taking the interview, then the test, then finally getting the job, unless they had simply ordered the family who owned the establishment to do their bidding.

If they had done so, then that would be extremely troubling, considering the manager was always under the threat of evisceration, considering it was his role to direct the waiters, with a single wrong move probably killing off his entire family, considering how fickle and petty the Gods could be.

Lee would not be surprised if this was how the Celestial Wars started.

Lee wanted to scoff at the God, but felt himself pinned into his seat, like a butterfly onto a decorative block, by his own fear.

He really had no proper choice. He had to accept the fate that was being thrust upon him. All he could really do was try and make the remainder of his life slightly more comfortable. Maybe he could try and bargain himself into a slightly better position.

"I accept. What do I need to do?" Lee managed to choke out, his throat dry, looking downwards into his food.

"Ah, excellent. I knew that you would see sense. Now, I suggest you eat your food, before it gets cold, while I explain," the God cheerfully replied, a beaming Cheshire cat smile on his face, as he didn't even move to touch his own meal.

Lee gave a quick prayer in thanks for his food, looking up directly at the God as he did so, before his eyes fell to his food, and he pulled apart the chopsticks that he was given to begin eating.

He felt slightly disappointed at the fact that the spicy noodles weren't nearly as spicy as he was expecting, and almost bland in comparison to what he had eaten before. Shen's sister's spicy noodles came to mind, particularly on one New Years celebration when she prepared a pork soup that Shen had managed to save a bowl of, and give Lee, on the next school morning.

The God of Secrets smiled and nodded at Lee, before producing a small jar from his sleeve, and placed it on the table, before pushing it over. Lee looked at it suspiciously, before uncorking it, and smelt the aromas of chillies emerge from it. He could taste the heat from the oil that he could see inside, and poured a little of it onto his noodles.

He swirled the mixture around, and took another bite, pleased when he felt the familiar, almost nostalgic, heat and the burn from the chilli pepper oil. He noted to himself that it was extremely concentrated, almost supernaturally he would assume if he didn't know that there multiple different types of chilli peppers.

"Think of that as a little token of my appreciation, a thank you as will of accepting this mission and path in life," the God of Secrets smiled at Lee once more.

"I will need you to travel to the deserts West of here. Within them, is the home of the God of Reincarnation. It will be your role to plead with him to escalate the rate of souls which pass through him to be reincarnated. He is able to choose which souls reincarnate first and which will reincarnate last, and to some, it almost seems that the soldiers, who had passed in the most recent Celestial War, are not undergoing the cycle of reincarnation and being reborn. It has caused quite the issue, up in heaven, you see.

I will provide you a map of course, of the journey that you will take, with all the lists of cheap food that you will be able to purchase with your rather meagre savings, of course. It wouldn't be well for you to die before you fulfill your role in this debacle, considering that the current God of War, currently wishes to remove your head from your body personally, for of course, hoarding the last missive he ever had of his dear departed brother.

Don't worry too much. He will not be able to find you, as long as you follow the route plotted out on the map."

The God of Secrets produced a scroll for Lee, and laid it out on the table, his eyes wickedly gleaming, eagerly unrolling it out for Lee to see the path that would lead him to his doom.