In the Kingdom of Changle, the royal heirs are offered as living sacrifices to summon a god. Yet for a thousand years, no god has ever answered the call.
After transmigrating, Song Liu is told that she is a fallen princess who is about to be sent to the altar.
The young girl is breathtakingly beautiful, but frail and sickly. The imperial physician declares that Song Liu will not live another year, so they might as well sacrifice her in exchange for peace throughout the kingdom.
Chancellor Li Cang is ordered to tutor the princess before the summoning, lest her foolishness offend the gods.
But no one knows that Li Cang is the very god whose memories and divinity were sealed away.
Not even Li Cang himself.
He was once an undefeated Confucian general. Later, he entered the imperial court to uphold its principles. Equally skilled in letters and arms, his calligraphy was unrivaled, as elegant and extraordinary as the man himself.
A nobleman like him ought to have captured the hearts of countless young women in the capital. Yet no one ever tried to arrange a match for him, because his disposition was abysmal: arrogant, cutting, and sharp-tongued. From court officials to innocent children, he had made them all cry.
If his talents were not so extraordinary that he could turn the tide of the world single-handedly, the emperor would have gotten rid of him long ago.
He was nearly twenty-eight, yet had no one close to him.
At their first lesson, the man behaved with perfect grace and said gently to Song Liu, "I dislike wasting time on fools. Princess, do as you please."
Then he paid her no further attention, simply writing a memorial to the throne.
Song Liu blinked. "Chancellor, in that case, you won't mind if I touch you, will you?"
Li Cang: "..."
The girl caught a trace of divine presence from Li Cang.
And by touching skin to skin, Song Liu could steal a god's vitality.
She was weak and powerless, with no way to avoid being sent to the altar. So she chose to kill the god, little by little.
On the Qixi Festival, the young ladies went out in groups. Song Liu alone stood in a red dress, all by herself beneath the dimming lights.
The noblewomen had soaked her from head to toe. Pale-faced, she came to Li Cang and grabbed his wrist. "Chancellor, will you come see the lanterns with me?"
Li Cang's eyelashes stirred. He had meant to ignore her, but before leaving, he took off his outer robe and wrapped it around the girl's drenched body.
A palace coup erupted without warning. Song Liu was shoved toward the altar, to be killed ahead of time. As the crowd denounced her, Li Cang cut a bloody path through them with his sword and stood beside Song Liu, his face grim. He looked coldly at the crowd and said, "My lessons are not over yet."
"Who dares defy me?"
Later, the day of the summoning finally arrived.
But Song Liu was gone.
Li Cang, who had let her escape, willingly submitted to the punishment of having his tendons severed. The tendons in both his hands were destroyed. From then on, he could never again write calligraphy that surpassed all others, nor wield a sword on the battlefield.
In the cold, dark prison, a girl in a red dress suddenly appeared.
Li Cang, shackled in chains, looked up, his pupils shrinking. "Why did you come back? Go, now."
Song Liu finally understood that the god would not kill her.
He was even willing to cast himself into the dust for her, cutting off his own life force.
Song Liu knelt beside him and kissed his cheek. "I've come to summon you."
In that instant, the god returned to his place.
The shackles on Li Cang's soul shattered.
The god whom the Kingdom of Changle had called upon for thousands of years finally awoke.
That day, everyone at last remembered that Cangye, the God of Changle, was no benevolent deity.
He was an evil god, a fierce destroyer of worlds.
**Also known as Summoning a God into One's Body**
Theme: Ideal love