# 150
**Chapter 150: Shiva’s Grudge**
“As for Chen Muye…” Yuan Gang’s knuckles tapped lightly on the table, “Honestly, I don’t know exactly what happened back then.
Roughly twelve years ago, after Chen Muye graduated from the recruit training camp, he and another prodigy were drafted into the Night Watch team in Shangjing City. Their Forbidden Ruins were so rare they complemented each other perfectly. Several special teams tried to recruit them, but the Commander-in-Chief overrode all objections and stuffed them into the Shangjing City squad.
Chen Muye’s Forbidden Ruins was #037—【Black Impermanence】. The other one, the current Shangjing City team captain Shao Pingge, held #038—【White Impermanence】. Because of their Ruins, outsiders nicknamed them the Black-and-White Impermanence of Shangjing City.”
“Black and White Impermanence?” Lin Qiye’s eyes flickered with doubt. “I’ve always wondered—who names these Forbidden Ruins? Are they related to the Black-and-White Impermanence of Great Xia mythology?”
“No idea. The origin of those two Ruins is ancient, and every related file is top-secret Night Watch material—way above my clearance.” Yuan Gang shook his head and went on.
“They trained in the Shangjing squad for two years. Then one day Chen Muye apparently received a special order, and the next day he vanished from Shangjing. I hadn’t joined the city’s Night Watch yet, but I heard that Shao Pingge and the others stormed headquarters demanding answers. The Commander-in-Chief only said it was classified and shut the door in their faces.
Back then everyone was running around frantic over the so-called world-ending calamity. Only much later did they free up time to track Chen Muye—only to discover he’d run off to Cangnan City and become a team captain!
Shao Pingge told me he came to Cangnan several times begging Chen Muye to return, but was refused every time. Eventually Shao gave up, went back to Shangjing, and step by step became its team captain.”
Lin Qiye frowned after hearing Yuan Gang’s account. The man clearly knew little; the crucial parts were missing, leaving the whole affair shrouded in mystery…
“The world-ending calamity you mentioned—what was it?” Lin Qiye asked.
“A relic. The most terrifying relic in history. Its name:【Shiva’s Grudge】.”
“Shiva? The destroyer among the three Chief Gods of Indian myth?”
“Exactly. The relic is an ancient sheepskin scroll carrying a world-annihilation-level God’s Ruins ranked #008. Write a name on the blank surface and the very concept it represents is erased.”
Lin Qiye blinked. “Like a Death Note?”
“Not even close. Death Note only kills the person whose name is written. 【Shiva’s Grudge】 doesn’t stop at people. Write the words ‘Great Xia’ on that parchment, for example…”
Lin Qiye’s eyes snapped wide. “Then—”
“It would wipe Great Xia from the conceptual level—erase the nation entirely!” Yuan Gang’s voice was low.
“How can a relic that ridiculous exist?” Lin Qiye hissed. The top-ten Forbidden Ruins could be this insane? This had blasted past the scope of “Forbidden Ruins” altogether.
“Only in theory,” Yuan Gang added. “Activating it demands colossal mental energy. Writing an ordinary person’s name—just killing someone Death-Note-style—would drain a River-realm expert dry. Annihilating a nation is even more impossible.”
“If so, the threat doesn’t sound that big. Why call it a world-ending calamity?”
Yuan Gang closed his eyes. “Humans can’t do it, but gods can… Pour divine power into the relic and, while wiping out a whole country may be out of reach, destroying a city becomes effortless.
Once 【Shiva’s Grudge】 appeared, several evil gods roaming the mist coveted it. A decade ago their fight for the scroll triggered a full-blown divine war.”
“A divine war?!” Lin Qiye stared.
“Five Human Apexes gathered at Great Xia’s border and clashed with Loki, Norse god of mischief, and Gaia, Greek mother of the earth. Heaven and earth shattered.”
“Then what happened?”
“Then? I don’t know.” Yuan Gang shrugged helplessly. “I’m only the deputy captain of Shangjing’s Night Watch, not some top-tier big-shot. How would I access something obviously classified? After that, headquarters never mentioned 【Shiva’s Grudge】 again.”
“…Fine.”
Lin Qiye sighed in frustration. Just as the story reached its climax it stopped dead, leaving him choking on suspense.
“I’ve told you both men’s stories and even threw in the 【Shiva’s Grudge】 tale. The two million should hit your card in a couple of days. I’ll take the relic and mail it to headquarters tomorrow.”
Yuan Gang pocketed the【Boiling Blood】and stood.
Lin Qiye checked the time, saluted, and left.
Yuan Gang remained in his chair, watching Lin Qiye’s back disappear, and exhaled a long, weary breath.
…
Meanwhile, in a certain instructor’s home.
Heavy tomes and theses lay scattered across the floor, burying the original dark-brown boards. Buried among them, Instructor Gu hunched over a book, now pondering, now frowning…
“Is the world’s reality… real? Or fake… No, that can’t be right…”
He set the book down, rubbed his aching lower back; blood-shot eyes betrayed how haggard he’d become.
“Forget it—sleep first.”
Checking the time, he muttered, climbed from the pile onto the bed, exhaled, and shut his eyes…
One second, two, three…
Half a minute later he jolted awake, sat bolt upright, and clawed at his hair.
“Aaaargh!! Is this world even real?
Is it?
Isn’t it?!
Aaaaargh!!”