Tomb Raiding: The Gods Save Me

[Original protagonist, ship whoever you like, universally adored, OOC warning]

People worship gods and Buddhas, praying for their protection.

But in the hearts of the Nine Gates, there was once a living “deity” they worshiped: his name was Yan Li.

When the Zhang family found him in the snow, they thought he was simply an unusual orphan. But as they spent each day together, they gradually realized there was something different about him. His warm, gentle eyes held compassion and could soothe the deepest regrets; his faint smile was the only ray of sunshine in the frozen years of the Zhang Family’s Ancient Tower. Even Zhang Qiling, silent as a god, would only linger by his side. At eighteen, his Vermilion Bird bloodline fully awakened, and his companion divine falcon, Lingxiao, descended into the world. With his inheritance complete, he had to leave. The Zhang family could not keep a breeze destined to wander.

He went south and entered the world, becoming the “little deity” cherished by the Nine Gates.

The Buddha Lord used his power as a boat to ferry him to safety; the Second Master used his pure music as an oar to soothe his loneliness; the Fifth Master Dog made his sincere heart a harbor and gave him warmth... In return, Yan Li offered quiet “miracles,” secretly mending the regrets of old friends and saving insignificant lives amid the flames of war. Everyone said he was like a god saving the world, never knowing that every step he took was over thorns, and every time he “saved” someone, he burned away a piece of himself.

This dazzling light was eventually captured by darkness. In the Wang family’s inferno, his “devotees” pinned him to an examination table, tore out his bones and drained his blood, then broke the divine falcon’s wings. They craved a deity’s power, yet subjected him to the most blasphemous torture.

Years later, he returned to his old home like a wandering soul, carrying a shattered spirit and Lingxiao, reborn through fire.