LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

"How dare you, a mortal block me? Kneel and apologise!", the G.o.d spoke in a condescending tone standing in top of the water, making Xing"s anger flare up.

I didn"t go out of my way to block the water. It just happened. Who asked him to dig his hole nearer to the trap tunnel? And what is it with everyone today? Blaming me for everything? And what"s with the tone?

The moment a G.o.d appeared, the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor went to his stealth mode as he has a "kill on sight" order on his head by the G.o.ds. His time on this world has ended the moment Ming Ling died.

Others who were already kneeling went paler when they saw the wall of water in front of them ready to swallow them. They aren"t ready to die now.

Is this the Curse the Emperor talked about?

They all begged for mercy when Xing got irritated and shouted at them to shut up. She was sticky with all the blood and sweat on her. She removed the mask and really wanted to get out of her clothes and have a nice warm bath...

Too bad she is not allowed to even have a bath. Firstly those ugly old men and now this G.o.d..! But he was expected!

Xing let out a deep sigh and walked near the wall of water when the Emperor tried to stop her.

"Wait here", she said and walked near the big roaring wave of water and washed her mask first. She liked that mask for many reasons...

She could feel the anger of the G.o.d rising by the currents forming in that wall of water.

But Xing didn"t mind his anger and removed the bloodied armband and threw it on the ground and washed her hands and face with the water as cold as the heart of the G.o.d controlling it and only then she felt a bit relieved.

"What do you want? ", she asked taking a couple of steps back and when she looked above she saw the water forming an arch above her head as if it was going to engulf everything any moment.

"You insolent mortal..!", the G.o.d rumbled and a small bit of water formed to a whip like shape and it waved towards Xing, "Kneel!", the G.o.d got much angrier and Xing dodged the attack of the whip by skillfully jumping above it.

"You see... I have a problem with my knees! It won"t bend for authority..!", Xing smirked looking above at the G.o.d making him freeze for some time.

Even though she was the one standing on a lower plane, she looked like the boss. Her eyes that had a golden s.h.i.+ne to it exuded the arrogance she had and her clean face held no fear but expressed the power she has in this realm as mandated by the Heavenly Emperor himself.

As if he could hurt me!

Xing never feared the G.o.ds before, she just avoided them and after she knew the G.o.ds need her, she never felt the need to bow to them either. Also everyone she knows is protected by them so they won"t hurt them. She feared humans more as she knew they had no morals and they are the ones who could actually hurt those she loves.

Her entire body was hurting by the extra work she had done that day and her neck hurt a lot more by looking up at that G.o.d and she rubbed her neck with her hands.

Of course she could get to his level... She can treat thin air as hard floor anyway!

Xing stood on level with the G.o.d with him glaring at her and her red robes that had gone stiff at some areas due to dried blood was beautifully flared up in the wind that blew at that alt.i.tude.

She felt the G.o.d trying to make her kneel by forcing her and she could feel his power trying to make her knees weak and that made her extremely mad and she lost her bearing for a moment.

"Are you rebelling against the Heavenly Emperor?", she took a step forward breaking the hold he had on her and her eyes shone like gold, " I gave the bow of equals to your Emperor and you dared to ask me to kneel in front of you.., A mere G.o.d of river? ", she gritted her teeth and spoke to his face that was now pale with fright.

Her haughty gaze expressed the contempt she had for that G.o.d and with every domineering step she took, the tall wall of water receded back with the G.o.d standing on it.

Who is this mortal? He thought as he could not hold his own against the aura she bore. Why is her aura similar to that of a high tier G.o.d"s when she is a mortal?

"In trouble, Little one?", an usual gentle voice calmed Xing down and she looked at the owner of the voice and pouted, "He is bullying me, Fei Lian!"

Ah! So it is the aura of the G.o.d of Wind! Not that mortal"s.!

The G.o.d of river sighed in relief.

Just then another powerful presence was Felt with the appearance of the azure dragon.

"What is this? Why did you break the agreement? Why. .. ",Mazu appeared shouting at the river G.o.d and stopped herself when she realised that the mortal she hated is standing together with the man she loves.

Without thinking twice, Mazu made a sharp icicle out of her hand and threw it right at Xing when Fei Lian interfered and shattered that icicle.

"You...", Mazu choked as she saw the way Fei Lian protected Xing and her hateful eyes on her made Xing shudder.

Come on Fei Lian... You cannot protect another woman in front of the woman you love.... It"s the basics in courting a woman!That said, I thank you for saving me nonetheless! Xing thought.

"I was the one who blocked his path and I will deal with him. You can leave!", Fei Lian spoke in a tone that made even Xing shudder by the coldness his voice emitted.

Okay, you are even lying on my behalf! This is not good..! For me...! Xing pulled Fei Lian"s sleeves to stop him.

"Are you lying for her sake?", Mazu was clearly disappointed and her eyes s.h.i.+fted from endearing to enragement when she glared at Xing.

"Yes, what about it? Leave, I"m under the orders of the Heavenly Emperor", he was ruthless to chase her out and even zxing felt bad for that G.o.ddess.

"So, you will choose her!", she mumbled and left with heavy heart of hate towards that mortal who turned the gentle Fei Lian ruthless.

And the mortal who is protected like the apple of the eye, chided Fei Lian for treating a lady this bad and told him her speculation that she might do something against her out of jealousy to which he disagreed deeply.

"She won"t hurt you", he said with certainty and Xing just reluctantly agreed to his views.

"And what do you have against her?", Fei Lian asked the river G.o.d.

"Nothing.... She interrupted my river "s flow and made it stagnate here", the river G.o.d wasn"t as a.s.sertive anymore in front of the mighty G.o.d of Wind. He still felt s.h.i.+vers by the aura he felt a moment ago and the interaction between that mortal and this Wind G.o.d... Why is it so casual? Can anyone befriend the G.o.d of wind?

"You!", Xing pointed her finger at the G.o.d of river. Now that she had her back up, she dint have the need to waste energy by getting angry anymore! Fei Lian will take care of everything.

"Quingze River must flow through our southern province - ABOVE GROUND LEVEL and reach the Western sea. Why is it flowing here, like an underground river when the river had dried up above ground?", she questioned like a curious child than like the haughty brat from before.

" Is what she says true? Did you really partic.i.p.ate in the war between humans and sided with one? And you chose the side of Old Rong, the enemy of our Emperor? ", Asked Fei Lian as if he knew about it only just now.

The river G.o.d had an incredulous expression as he could not figure out what is going in anymore. Since when did the G.o.ds cater to the needs of a single human? And isn"t he taking a side now too? How is that he took the side of Old Rong again?

But Xing suddenly had an epiphany. This G.o.d had dug this hole for himself close to the tunnel the Zhong army built. So he must have known about it previously and still he didn"t outed it to the other side.

So, he must not have any interest towards the war but he wanted to prove some other point by drying up the river. Did he punish them for some reason?

" Tell us the reason you dried up the river that is the main source of water for our kingdom just at the time of war?", Xing asked in a serious tone.

Xing expected resistance from the G.o.d but but he told his grievances that it is all the fault of the humans as they forgot the celebrations and the festivals they had to honour him. And he was surprised how any of this is related to Old Rong.

Xing understood it all clearly now. This river G.o.d and the G.o.d of Rain didn"t really want to get to the uncooperative movement but they had the need to. It is the duty of G.o.ds to do their job but the least humans could do is appreciate them for their hard work. She knew no one cares for the festivals that they celebrated in olden days to appreciate the G.o.ds anymore as they had come to the beliefs that G.o.ds don"t exist and everything happens as it should. Even she who. Learly knew of the existence of G.o.ds never once have celebrated any of the festivals herself either.

And to get that appreciation they deserve, these G.o.ds stopped doing their duty to let the humans know how troubled they will be if the G.o.ds does not fulfil their promises.

So they aren"t taking side against the Heavenly Emperor but they were fighting for their own appreciation. It was that crafty Old Rong who made it believe that they had already chosen sides.

"You could have warned us before acting against us", Xing chided the G.o.d. There are priestesses in our kingdom for the G.o.ds to communicate with them, right?

" So I believe you when you said you are not colluding with Old Rong against the Heavenly Emperor but you did forgo on your duties to us humans and punished us without warning of the crime we committed... ", Xing looked at Fei Lian and he nodded at her to continue.

" So in exchange for our promise to celebrate the festivals honouring you and the G.o.d of rain in the future, I ask of you to let the river flow above ground in its usual course and also in the new course you have formed recently at all times.... However, we will not send you human sacrifices! "

Xing finished and looked at the G.o.d for answers and saw him in deep contemplation.