Chapter 48: Thanks for the invite, but I'm not topping up Q-coins

The Deity of Marriage Destiny said nothing.

It simply stared intently at Wu Wang with its grayish-white eyes completely devoid of pupils.

A moment later, that expression, calm as an ancient well, finally rippled slightly.

"You are truly unique. I cannot discern your origin, yet your immortality is a fact."

To be honest, it was indeed somewhat surprised right now.

This mad boy was not wrong; it was not a true deity, nor was it eternally immortal, but essentially nothing more than an entity of a higher tier.

Throughout its long years, it had never witnessed such a bizarre low-level existence possessing such intense traits of immortality and indestructibility.

It was not merely a matter of the physical body. Even when its soul had just been crushed and obliterated into dust, the opponent could instantly recover and return to his physical vessel.

"Well? Whose body smells better, mine or hers?"

Wu Wang grinned and spread his arms in an embracing gesture.

The madness in his gaze caused even the Deity of Marriage Destiny to feel a profound sense of incomprehension.

Miraculously, it failed to detect a single trace of fear or terror from the opponent; if anything, there was even a hint of excitement.

Why?

Should not the essence of such a low-level existence be cowardly servility and greedy desire?

"What you say makes sense. Since you are willing to bear My great power, I shall grant you this honor." The voice of the Deity of Marriage Destiny reverberated within the ancestral hall, deafening.

In the blink of an eye, the entity suspended in mid-air appeared right in front of Wu Wang, locking its gaze directly into his.

Wu Wang could clearly hear his own heartbeat, its tempo gradually accelerating.

Thump, thump, thump, thump—

The heart rates of both himself and Wu Xiaoyou—who was possessed by the Deity of Marriage Destiny—were quickening, drawing closer and closer together.

In the end, their heartbeats synchronized almost completely.

Thump—

Hum—

Accompanied by the final heartbeat, Wu Wang's mind was instantly flooded by a bizarre yet formidable external spiritual force. The intruder was stripping away his consciousness and sanity bit by bit, replacing them with the descending Deity of Marriage Destiny.

The hair and eye colors of Wu Xiaoyou, abandoned by the departing Deity of Marriage Destiny, instantly returned to normal as her limbs went limp, and she collapsed directly to the ground, unconscious.

"Such... such wondrous beauty... You are truly a gift from the heavens!" Wu Wang uttered through his lips, his voice carrying the divine, gender-neutral tones of the Deity of Marriage Destiny.

Yet the next second, his expression twisted into a snarl once more.

Wu Wang clenched his teeth tightly, his original voice returning to mock the entity: "I suddenly regret it, what should I do? Shall I just go die instead?"

Deity of Marriage Destiny: "?"

It had never expected that a mere low-level entity could resist its control and maintain lucidity.

The opponent's mental strength also seemed to possess peculiar qualities, entwined with an aura of bizarreness that it could not fathom.

Crucially, before it could even process what those words meant, a pitch-black stone came hurtling fiercely through the air. Wu Wang tilted his head and caught it squarely in his teeth.

[Memory-Washing Stone—In Use]

[Target Selected—Deity of Marriage Destiny]

He had been waiting precisely for the entity to detach from Wu Xiaoyou's body!

That way, regardless of any side effects the stone might bring, there was no need to worry about harming the Second Sister.

As for himself?

No side effect could possibly harm him.

If worst came to worst, he would just die.

Drip-drop—

Deep within his mind, Wu Wang struggled to the utmost against the erosion of the Deity of Marriage Destiny, while the Abyss God, for reasons unknown, did not immediately leap out to assist.

Instead, the moment the Memory-Washing Stone was activated, he suddenly felt his spiritual platform clear considerably.

It was like a single droplet of water falling upon the tranquil surface of a pristine spring deep within a massive mountain, sending ripples expanding and echoing in concentric circles. That faint yet melodious, soul-soothing drip-drop sound gradually drowned out the contest between the mortal and the deity.

[Please select the portion of memories belonging to the Deity of Marriage Destiny to erase.]

Numerous fragments suddenly materialized before Wu Wang's eyes.

Among them were memories of the entity bestowing so-called divine miracles across various locations—not only Marriage Village, but also a vast number of places that Wu Wang felt did not exist in reality.

There were massive tombs of zombies with mutilated limbs and ashen faces; merfolk living in the deep sea with fish heads yet human legs; and gloomy realms where wandering souls drifted, resembling the Ghost City of Fengdu.

All of them were part of the Deity of Marriage Destiny's grand design.

Across these myriad locations, the entity had been searching for a place suitable for divine descent.

Now, it had found one.

"Hehehe... I've found one too..."

With a cunning grin, Wu Wang selected every single memory regarding Marriage Village from the entity's mind.

According to the description of the Memory-Washing Stone, once these memories were eradicated, the fact that it had consumed the Saintess's resentment and the villagers' souls to achieve descent would also vanish.

At worst, its deployments in other locations might be affected as well.

Whoosh—

Resentment as extreme as a tidal wave surged from the Memory-Washing Stone, scouring Wu Wang's brain.

A wisp of bewildered emotion rippled through the Deity of Marriage Destiny's consciousness; it seemed to sense that something of vital importance was slipping away from it.

"Pardon me... do deities feel pain?" Wu Wang suddenly muttered nonsonically.

He pointed the muzzle of his gun directly at his own head.

Bang—

Freshly squeezed watermelon juice spattered across the ancestral hall.

The next second, his head and his consciousness were fully restored, but at the exact moment of the headshot, the Deity of Marriage Destiny residing within his mind suffered a colossal shock.

Now sharing the same vessel as Wu Wang, all sensory perceptions were naturally synchronized between them.

However, it was not some pervert who made a habit of committing suicide.

That extreme agony and the tearing sensation accompanying the death of the soul left it utterly unaccustomed, causing it to experience the rare emotion of pain.

Bang—

The moment his head reformed, Wu Wang pulled the trigger once more.

"Hahahahaha! Great Deity! I can feel your pain! Your wails!"

Bang—

"You are no deity at all!"

Bang—

"Humanity has created countless things; we have no need for a hypocritical false god like you!"

"..."

Destruction and rebirth alternated continuously within the dark barrel of Arkana, amidst the ceaseless striking and heating of the firing pin.

By the time the remaining twenty-odd bullets in the magazine were completely exhausted, mortal and deity had died repeatedly through the exact same number of cycles. Under the scouring of the extreme resentment, the mental invasion of the Deity of Marriage Destiny gradually faded into nothingness.

It was about to lose everything it had gained in Marriage Village.

Wu Wang's eyes, previously suffused with madness, slowly returned to normal. He rolled his neck and spat unceremoniously onto the offering table, sneering, "Deity? Ha, spit! Those Saintesses you looked down upon—how does it feel to be expelled by their lingering grievances?"

"I feel a slight sense of surprise, but that is the extent of it."

That familiar gender-neutral voice arrived with abrupt suddenness.

It was answering Wu Wang's question.

He whipped his head around violently.

To his utter astonishment, Wu Xiaoyou had risen from the ground once more, her hair and eyes turning grayish-white once again.

The Deity of Marriage Destiny was still here!

How could this be possible!

Everything it had on Marriage Village had been wiped away by the Memory-Washing Stone! According to the item's description, it should have been utterly incapable of descending into this realm!

"Heh, heh, heh~"

"Young man, if that vessel of Yin were absent, you might have succeeded. But now, that vessel has already become its anchor taking root in this world. Ordinary methods will no longer suffice."

"How about this, let us strike a bargain."

"Shall I help you seal this parasite?"

Before Wu Wang could figure out how to exorcise the Deity of Marriage Destiny, an even more bizarre voice came from behind him.

Wu Wang searched for the source once more.

If he hadn't looked, he wouldn't have been startled; looking nearly scared him out of his wits.

Walking out from the other end of the corridor was a creature dressed in a black suit and a red tie, leaning on a gold-plated gentleman's cane, and sporting a half-meter-tall top hat—

A penguin!

Its art style instantly clashed discordantly with everything around it, and it even appeared to be a macaroni penguin.

Forget Wu Wang; even the Deity of Marriage Destiny suffered a momentary mental crash, because it had failed to sense the approach of anything whatsoever.

Even with the penguin standing right before it.

It still could not perceive its existence.

"Well? Do we have a deal?"

The voice emerging from the gentleman penguin's beak lacked any sharp or raspy qualities; instead, it sounded like some Western male star with a deep bass voice who had just learned Mandarin—awkward yet carrying a hint of the uncanny.

Because Wu Wang simply could not fathom how the oral structure of a penguin could possibly produce human speech.

"Huh? A deal?"

"Thanks for the invitation, but I don't top up QQ coins."

Deity of Marriage Destiny: "?"

Gentleman Penguin: "?"