How come I was born a deity?

Chapter 30: Eyes in the Shadows

After seeing Wang Shande off, Chen Qi picked up the sachet on the table and asked, "What's this? Judging from your expression just now, it seemed like it was some kind of difficult task."

As he spoke, he brought the sachet close to his nose, wanting to smell its fragrance.

"Mmm...it smells so good, but it also has a strange, slightly pungent odor."

Shen Nianxu squinted, as if she had thought of something, "Take this. Tomorrow you'll understand why I think this is a difficult matter to deal with."

After hearing this, Chen Qi decisively put the sachet back on the table, saying, "Then forget it."

"Take it."

"No, I feel like you're trying to hurt me."

Shen Nianxu smiled sweetly, the beauty mark at the corner of her eye being the perfect finishing touch. "I'll let you hold it."

These five simple words sent a chill down Chen Qi's spine, and he obediently put the sachet into his pocket.

Just to be on the safe side, Shen Nianxu asked, "How's your star chart coming along?"

"Not bad," Chen Qi said, waving his right hand to reveal his incomplete star map. "I've drawn dozens of people."

Shen Nianxu glanced at Chen Qi's star chart and didn't know what to say for a moment.

This guy... his improvement is too fast!

If it were some other, simpler star chart, Chen Qi would have already entered the second-tier cultivator stage by now.

Of all things to do, this guy chose "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"...

"Never mind," Shen Nianxu rubbed her temples. "You can go home today. We can handle the task Uncle Wang entrusted to us tomorrow."

Chen Qi: "...I remember I'm the boss, so why are you the one notifying me of the end of the workday every day?"

Shen Nianxu replied, "Isn't it because you're not familiar with the work at our bookstore? Once you're familiar with it, I won't need to notify you anymore."

"Since I joined the company, has our bookstore actually done any meaningful work?" Chen Qi complained. "Also, some elementary school students came in today complaining that all the books in our bookstore are outdated. Can't we get some new stock?"

Shen Nianxu waved her hand impatiently, "Okay, okay, I'll go buy some new books in a few days."

Chen Qi always felt that she was a bit unreliable.

……

Back home, Chen Qi sat on the sofa, watching TV while continuing to focus his energy on the stars to draw his own star map.

Just then, Chen Qi's uncle returned home and sat down next to him, letting out a long sigh.

"What's wrong? Old Chen, why do you look so gloomy?" Chen Qi's address might sound disrespectful at first glance, but it was actually his father who made him call him that.

It is said that when his uncle and aunt were together, Chen's father even got into a fight with his uncle, and then the two became good brothers.

Because of this relationship, Chen's father has had Chen Qi call him "Old Chen" since he was a child, and everyone is used to it now.

"The work pressure has been too much lately, and this job is really boring," my uncle shook his head, skillfully took out his phone, and opened a short video app. "A colleague jumped into the river a couple of days ago, which made the atmosphere in the office very depressing."

Jump into the river?

Chen Qi hesitated for a second. Why did it sound so familiar?

"Wasn't the colleague who jumped into the river the one who said he'd seen a ghost a while ago?"

My uncle looked surprised and asked, "Huh? How did you know? He did keep saying he saw a ghost, but what era are we living in? There are no ghosts or gods anymore. We have to believe in science."

Do you believe in science...?

Chen Qi didn't speak, but instead took out the sachet that Uncle Wang had brought earlier that day from his pocket and asked, "Old Chen, do you remember this?"

The uncle glanced at the sachet in Chen Qi's hand. "Huh? It looks familiar. That guy had something similar before."

"Do you know where he came from?"

"How would I know?" The uncle looked away and continued scrolling through the short videos on his phone. "It seems like he went somewhere and the boss gave him a gift, but I don't know anything else."

Doesn't this mean they know nothing at all?

Seeing that he hadn't gotten any useful information out of him, Chen Qi put the sachet away and stuffed it into his pocket. At the same time, he suddenly added, "Old Chen, stop watching the beautiful women dance. You're going to put my aunt in a difficult position."

My uncle chuckled, double-tap the screen to like the video of the beautiful woman dancing, and said, "It's alright, your aunt isn't home. Let me watch for a bit. Oh... what do you think of this beautiful woman? She's from the same city. Want me to introduce you?"

Chen Qi, without looking to the side, said in a serious tone, "I feel like they're not as pretty as Auntie and Chen Ruopan."

Chen Qi's uncle looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you kidding me? When did your taste become so distorted?"

Chen Qi: "...I tried my best."

Uncle: "What?"

"Cough cough."

A third voice reached his uncle's ears. He turned his head and saw his aunt standing beside him, her face clearly darkening despite her continued smile.

"Come here, let's talk."

Uncle: "...I was just joking."

Aunt: "I'm not joking."

Uncle: "..."

……

As night fell, Chen Qi, who had been cultivating all day, glanced at his star chart.

Just right, I drew a hundred people.

In terms of progress alone, it's already quite good. However, at this pace, it seems quite difficult to become a second-tier cultivator before the newcomer assessment.

"Sigh, isn't there any way to accumulate a large number of stars in a short period of time?"

Chen Qi took out the sachet and the luminous pearl from his pocket, placed them on the bedside table, lay down, and closed his eyes.

"Forget it, I'll leave the rest to myself. I have work tomorrow, so I'll just get some rest today."

Lying in bed, Chen Qi's breathing gradually became steady and subtle.

Under the moonlight, the surface of the sachet looked as if it were coated with a very thin layer of velvety white edges.

An indescribable sense of oppression was exerted on Chen Qi, but Chen Qi was in a deep sleep and did not feel anything.

If Chen Qi were to wake up at this moment and open his eyes, he would see a faint, ethereal shadow standing beside his bed.

Just as the shadow was about to approach Chen Qi, suddenly, the luminous pearl on the bedside table emitted a faint light, as if a very shallow barrier was used to block the shadow from getting close to the sleeping Chen Qi.

The shadow also noticed the luminous pearl by the bedside, but the faint light emitted by the pearl not only protected Chen Qi but also protected itself. So even if the shadow wanted to harm the luminous pearl, it had no way to do so.

The two remained deadlocked, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, this stalemate would continue until dawn, when Chen Qi woke up.

but……

The unexpected still happened.

There are only two things that provide light to the room.

One is the moonlight outside the window, and the other is the luminous pearl placed on the bedside table.

The light from the two light sources did not change at all, but Chen Qi's shadow began to spread out little by little, like a blot of ink spreading.

A pair of scarlet eyes suddenly opened their gaze in his shadow.

Suddenly, the terrifying presence within the shadow materialized into a projected ferocious beast on the wall, and then, in the next second...

"Awoo."

A very soft tearing sound echoed in the room.

The barrier provided by the luminous pearl shattered instantly, and the figure standing beside Chen Qi's bed vanished without warning.

Only two severed lower legs remained standing on the ground, but in an instant, they vanished into thin air.

As for Chen Qi, the person involved, he simply turned over.