While one human was having an extraterrestrial crisis on the other side, the fallen god had somewhat of a crisis of his own.
Two days without proper food or clothing or a place to stay really wrecked his mentality a bit. And last night's scrumptious meal really did not help. It only made him crave all the human delicacies all around him.
The cruel part was he did not have any human money. He tried to buy some of those tasty meat sticks with some of his heavenly pills, but that wonderful plan did not come to fruition. This left the desperate god even more desperate and lonely.
Hands on his cheeks, he watched the humans walk around the street, going into the familiar shop where he had had yesterday's dinner. His mouth watered at the occasional scent that wafted out of the shop every time a human opened the doors.
"Did you run away from your home?"
A voice called out.
He glanced back at the insect-selling lady with a sigh. "You mortals won't understand. This wasn't my choice to come here to this mortal plane. It was all a mistake. If only I hadn't lost my Book of Marriage, I wouldn't be here, desperately starving as I look at the humans dine with ease."
"You can still have some of my snacks." The lady kindly smiled at him.
He simply shook his head. "Forgive me, kind human. Even though it might be a delicacy, I still am put off by it. After yesterday's scrumptious meal, my palate would not accept anything lesser than that." He mumbled, licking his lips.
The lady sighed. "You can eat there if you have money."
"Yes, I don't have any, though. Who knew human money would be so useless? If I knew that, I would have prepared some in my bag." He shook his small pouch at her.
The middle-aged lady laughed. "If you want, you can work for me. I can't afford to pay you, but I can give you food."
Lian Hua stood up, patting his dirty robes. "As I said, mortal, I can't seem to stomach these delicacies you sell." He pointed at the scorpions and roasted bugs that were just staring at him right in the face.
She just waved a hand at him. "Not these. I can cook for you. But fair warning, I really can't pay you anything. But I can offer you food and lodging. After my son moved out, his room is free now. You can stay there. I bet that's better than living on the road. What say you, huh?"
Lian Hua blinked. "That seems like a nice offer." But did he really want to work? 'Do I even have a choice?'
His heavenly powers were draining in his fall, and without his Book of Marriage, he wouldn't be able to return back to his godlyhood.
To survive in the human world, he needed a place to stay and food to sustain his now-mortal body.
He gazed at the middle-aged lady who was roasting some worm-like bugs. 'Maybe I should accept her offer… but isn't it degrading for a great god like me to work roasting insects?!'
The lady looked at his hesitant gaze and sighed. "Okay, fine. During weekends, I'll buy you meat from that shop. Is that okay?"
Now that was a tempting offer.
Lian cleared his throat in order not to look desperate. "Okay, since you beg of me, I would gladly like to accept that. Thank you very much, mortal. May your future be riddled with lucky encounters and fortune. Are you married? If you are not married, I can help you with that too. That is my specialty." He said proudly.
The middle-aged lady blushed. "Oh, stop it. You young men really know how to charm an old lady. Come, I'll teach you how to roast these."
Lian Hua hesitantly walked behind the stove and gazed at how the woman was roasting it. The worms roasting in flames were very disgusting to look at. He took the ladle from her and tried to do just as she did.
But, God, it felt worse than seeing it.
Those things crackling disgustingly.
"Why do mortals even eat these things? Were they so famished that they had to resort to eating bugs?" he mumbled under his breath.
The middle-aged lady chuckled. "We went through famines and wars… food was scarce, so people started to eat anything they could. Insects provided a lot of protein during times when meat was scarce."
Lian was taken aback by this. His busy hands slowed down slightly. Famines were gods' doing… but wars were mortal doings.
He looked around at the mortals living carefree.
Both had equal parts in human development right now. The sufferings could have been avoided, though. But that was his personal thought.
Suddenly, his eyes caught someone familiar. It was that guy who wrecked his clothes. 'This guy really likes drinking wine and merry making.' He thought with a shake of his head when he noticed something weird.
The man hesitantly reached out to the guy in front of him and waved his hand on top of that guy's head. He kept making grabbing motions again and again.
'Huh… what is he doing?'
For a moment, he couldn't see much because the both's shade cloth hid things. But soon, he was able to.
His eyes widened into saucers.
'Oh heavens!' He rushed out and tried to grab the piece of the marriage book, but he couldn't touch it at all!
Another hand caught his. A hand that was desperately waving to catch the piece as well.
Their eyes met.
"It's you!" the mortal whispered in shock. "You can see that."
"I can. But how can you?"
They both froze.
The sound of the street suddenly felt distant, as if a thin layer of glass had separated them from the world.
Baiju's hand tightened instinctively in mid-air, but there was nothing to grab. The golden fragment flickered between them.
"You…" Baiju's voice came out low, uncertain. "You're seeing it too?"
Lian Hua did not answer immediately. His gaze was locked on the empty space where the fragment was flickering. His expression had shifted. "It's right here. Why can't I touch it?"
A hand suddenly grabbed his in a tight grip, so tight that he couldn't pull away.
"You can see it," the mortal said with resolution. Facing those black pupils that were trembling ever so slightly, Lian Hua froze.
"That is impossible," he muttered. "Mortals cannot perceive the marriage record."
Baiju's heart sank slightly. "So what is it?" he whispered. "Tell me. What am I seeing?"
Lian Hua finally looked at him properly. For the first time, there was hesitation in a god's eyes.
Before he could answer—
The air cracked softly.
The golden fragment between them pulsed once.
And shifted toward Baiju.
Both of them moved at the same time.
Their hands collided in the air.
The fragment froze and disappeared completely.
"Where did it go? It was right here! Hey! Did you take it!" He rushed towards the mortal in a hurry. "Give it back!"
"I don't have it." Baiju backed away, but his feet tripped on the crazy fellow's long, torn sleeve, and they both tumbled to the ground loudly with a grunt.
The guy landed flush on him.
Grunting, he glanced up at the man who was looking at him with pure anger in his eyes. "Give it back to me."
"I don't have it!" he said, trying to push him off, but the man was like a fucking bull. He wouldn't budge. "Get off!"
"I won't until you give it to me. Treacherous mortal, how dare you steal the Book of Marriage!"
"Book of what?" Baiju was completely overwhelmed by this new approach.
"Hey! Get off him, man!" Wang and his other friends came over and pulled the offending man away.
"Let go, you mortals! I need my book! Give me my book!"
"Fuck, this guy is crazy strong!" Wang grumbled under his breath as he and five others were holding him back.
Baiju sat there on the cold, dirty street, gazing up at the man who was crazily shouting at him. "Book of Marriage? That was a Book of Marriage? But it didn't look like a book…"
The crazy man paused, his handsome face scrunched up in fury. "The book shattered. What you're seeing is only one leaf." He pulled off his arms from his friends' grip and adjusted his torn clothes. "Now you stupid mortal, give it back before I send out heavenly punishment." He held his hand out.
Baiju blankly gazed at his hands. "It's still there." He pointed to above Wang's head.
"Where?" The man looked around crazily. "Where?"
"It's right there above his head. Can't you see it?" He looked at him questioningly.
But the man genuinely didn't seem to see the paper at all.
"Where is it, mortal? I need it." He once again aggressively came close.
Baiju stepped back as he peered up at his handsome face. "Why can't you see it now?"
The crazy man scratched his head confusedly. "Where?" He gazed at Wang.
Wang looked at them both even more confused. "What is going on? Bai, you know him?"
"Does he have it? Give it." He ran aggressively towards Wang.
Baiju grabbed the crazed man in a tight hug. "It's still over his head. He just doesn't know it exists. I think we… we need to talk."
"Good. Because you're coming with me." The crazed man grabbed him by his hand and started dragging him aggressively towards the corner.
Baiju was slammed against the wall unceremoniously. Peering up at the man, he just froze up. It was natural—seeing a handsome face that close, everyone would react like that. He turned his face away, trying to keep his rationality in check.
The man pinched his chin and made him face him again. "How can you still see it, mortal?"
"Can you stop calling me that? I have a name." Baiju pulled his hand away from his face, finally finding a bit of frustration breaking through.
The man gave him a condescending look. "So what is it?"
"It's Baiju. And I have no clue why I can see it too."
The man's well-shaped brows frowned ever so slightly. "Why can't I see it?"
Baiju just shrugged, still unsettled. "Can you back up a little, please? Personal space." He pushed at the man's chest, but the man didn't move an inch.
After a short pause, Baiju glanced back toward the floating fragment above Wang's head. "But… why does it react to me?"
The man's eyes sharpened slightly at that. "So you notice that too."
Baiju frowned. "It's kind of hard not to. It only shows properly when I'm near it, or when I try to touch it. What is it exactly?"
The man didn't answer immediately. His gaze stayed fixed on Baiju now, not the fragment. "You are not supposed to understand it."
"That's not an answer."
The man grunted and finally stepped back half a pace, as if recalculating something. "Just get it for me."
"What is that paper, by the way? You said something about the Book of Marriage?" Baiju pressed, not moving this time.
The man's expression darkened slightly. "You mortal don't need to know what it is. Just retrieve it."
"I tried touching it already. It doesn't work."
Both of them fell silent, but this time it wasn't empty silence—it felt like both were thinking in different directions, trying to force the same truth into place.
"I don't believe you," the man said at last. "Try it again."
Sighing, Baiju left the corner of the street and walked toward his friends, who were still watching with confused expressions. He stopped beside Wang and reached over his head again, touching the golden slip of paper. As before, his hand passed straight through it.
"See? It doesn't work." Baiju looked back at the man. "And before you say it—yes, I already tried it before too."
The man frowned deeper this time. "I can see it now. Only when you are near it… or when you interact with it."
His tone lowered slightly, more analytical now. "Step away."
Baiju stepped back.
The man's eyes narrowed. "Gone. I was right."
He looked at Baiju again. "So it is tied to you."
Baiju frowned. "That doesn't explain anything."
"It explains enough." The man glanced briefly at Wang, who was now staring at both of them like they were part of some street performance gone wrong.
"They are both crazy," Wang murmured to the group of friends, who all nodded in agreement and slowly took a step back.
Baiju sighed under his breath. "Can we not do this in front of my friends?"
"Then stop acting like you are not involved," the man snapped back immediately.
Baiju paused at that, then rubbed his face slightly. "Look… I don't even know what this thing is. And I definitely don't know why it reacts to me."
The man didn't respond for a moment. Instead, he looked at Baiju properly again, as if re-evaluating him.
Then he spoke more quietly. "You are not accidental in this."
Baiju frowned. "What does that even mean?"
But before the man could answer properly, the fragment above Wang's head flickered faintly again—like it was listening.
The man's expression sharpened instantly.
Baiju noticed it too.
And for the first time, neither of them spoke immediately.