Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume #1)

111 Sometimes Being Smart Is More Important

The person the two guards had been gossiping about had just arrived in front of a splendid palace with Leng Jin Yu. He nodded at the Heavenly Guards in front of the door and motioned to the inside.
"Is everything alright?"
The two men nodded. "Yes. Nothing has happened."
"Mn, good. Continue then." Qiang Yan waved Leng Jin Yu with him and walked around the palace, finally arriving in front of a garden. He motioned at the pavilion overlooking it. "Let's go sit down."
Leng Jin Yu nodded and followed him over, taking a seat at the God of War's cue.
"So ... What was it you wanted to talk about? You made it sound quite mysterious."
Leng Jin Yu smiled noncommittally. "I doubt it'll be that surprising to the God of War."
"Meaning this has something to do with what we talked about before?" Qiang Yan looked at the palace next to them and sighed. "I've thought about it. The Fate's Scribe going to monitor the courtyard of the idle gods, pretending he was searching for someone to take into his palace but being so flustered at the same time ... Then you getting involved in this, even though you obviously aren't the type of person that would join the palace of the Fate's Scribe, and coming to my palace today of your own accord. This shouldn't be anything simple."
"It certainly isn't simple, although I can't say that I know everything. I'm just an idle ascended deity. The Fate's Scribe wouldn't mention details. So I only know that a problem came up in his palace.
"Right now, he considers it likely that this is the work of someone among his own people, maybe backed by the daughter of the previous God of War. So it wasn't convenient to have somebody in his own palace investigate the issue and he himself would be under surveillance if his assumption is right.
"Because of that, he approached Hong Bao to find somebody trustworthy among the idle gods. Someone that he could bring into his palace for the time being to have them investigate. Who could have known ... I would carelessly tell the God of War about this?" He looked at Qiang Yan who was still looking at the palace next to them. This man ... he didn't believe him, did he? Leng Jin Yu also turned to the palace. "This palace ... Who might be the one living there?"
Qiang Yan's lips curved up. This Leng Jin Yu wasn't bad, noticing at once that his story wasn't able to sway him. Really not bad. The only thing he lacked was a deeper understanding of how the Nine Heavens worked. "You've cultivated to ascension, haven't you?"
Leng Jin Yu nodded. "Yes. It's only been two months since then."
"Mn. How about comparing notes with me?"
Leng Jin Yu turned back to him and raised his brows. "I might only have been here for two months but I do know that the God of War is the strongest warrior of the Nine Heavens."
Qiang Yan chuckled. "Not necessarily. He often is but the God of War needs to be more than just somebody strong. Sometimes being smart will be more important."
Leng Jin Yu lowered his gaze. So had the God of War seen through everything already? It seemed he wasn't as good as he had thought he was. Ah, just two months here in the Nine Heavens and he already found out that the things he had prided himself in weren't anything to be proud of. There really were mountains beyond mountains and heavens beyond heavens.
In the human realm, he might have been an honored Grandmaster of one of the premier sects but here in the Nine Heavens, he was nothing. Just an ascended deity, a new idle god without a position. Even if he managed to get into one of the palaces, he would still end up as a common guard at first. He had to find a place for himself in this realm just like he had had to do in the human realm. It was time to get used to that thought.
Qiang Yan motioned to a clearing in the middle of the garden that was several times bigger than the pavilion. "How is it? Just a friendly spar. Nothing serious."
Leng Jin Yu finally nodded and got up, following the God of War over to the clearing. The two of them took out their swords and faced each other.
Leng Jin Yu pushed all other thoughts away. Whether he could explain the matter with the crown prince's fate to the God of War, whether he could find his own place in the Nine Heavens ... It wasn't important any longer. At this moment, there was only this fight.
He took a deep breath, observing the God of War who seemed to leisurely stand across him, as well as the clearing. There was nothing either of them could use to their advantage. Just four stone slabs below their feet, the paths leading in all four directions, and the flowers around them. This would depend on their skill with the sword alone.
Leng Jin Yu didn't move though. He didn't know anything about the way the God of War fought or how strong he was. Heading into this fight rashly wouldn't lead to anything but injury. He tried to gauge something from the God of War's posture and the way he carried himself but the man just seemed completely at ease, as if he wasn't prepared to fight at all. Looking more closely that wasn't true though. Very likely, he would dash for—
Qiang Yan pushed off from where he had stood, his sword closing in on Leng Jin Yu. The two weapons met with a clang, pushing Leng Jin Yu's feet back across the ground.
In terms of physical strength, he seemed to have lost. If he couldn't figure out a way to counter this, then he wouldn't be able to contend with the God of War for long.
Leng Jin Yu jumped back and turned, evading another strike and making sure he wouldn't be pushed back to the edge of the clearing. If he couldn't win with strength, then maybe being fast enough could off-set this disadvantage. Even if it couldn't, he had to try at least.