Chapter 93 093 Who doesn't know that the God of Desire and Dreams loves peaches the most...?

The sounds of hammering and chiseling echoed daily over the land of Wanxi. Craftsmen worked tirelessly day and night, and in less than half a month, the divine temple of Qingyuan had begun to take shape.

Heavy rain fell from morning till night that day, and dark clouds covered the sky like a black curtain, enveloping the area within a hundred miles of the capital.

Construction had to be suspended due to excessive water accumulation at the site. The workers, who had taken a nap in the afternoon, couldn't fall asleep and chatted quietly.

"This damn weather is awful! My old arthritis has flared up!"

"What, haven't you had enough work yet? Thank goodness for this rain, otherwise we wouldn't even be able to get a full night's sleep."

"But if it keeps raining like this, I'm afraid the foundation piles will collapse, and then we'll have to redo it."

"That can't be right. These earth stakes were driven in by the divine power of the Azure Origin God Venerable."

"Hey, do you think that thing that was bleeding earlier might have come out again during the heavy rain?" Mentioning the strange events of the first day of construction, the craftsmen suddenly felt a chill down their spines. Some even quickly took out the ancestral tablets carefully wrapped in red cloth, lined them up in the tent, and respectfully burned incense and prayed until the incense smoke filled the air, only then did they feel a little more at ease.

"But have you heard? The one hanging on the west gate seems to have disappeared last night."

The speaker spoke cryptically, carefully avoiding mentioning Mugo's name, and even more so, daring not to directly utter the word "head."

"Huh? What happened to it? Did those refugees steal it?"

“That’s the strange thing!” At this moment, a craftsman who claimed to be a relative of the gatekeeper also came over and whispered to the crowd, “The guards on duty last night didn’t hear any noise at all, and no more refugees came to cause trouble. It was incredibly peaceful compared to the past few days, but that thing just disappeared without a trace!”

"Where is peace? I heard that an old woman died outside the west gate yesterday. It's said she was that man's grandmother! The two of them had been living together for a long time!"

"Huh? Could it be that the old woman turned into a ghost and stole the things?"

"Oh, please stop talking, it's getting more and more creepy..."

One of the younger stonemasons, who was already holding in his pee, was so frightened by the chatter of the crowd that he dared not go out alone.

The older men laughed at him for a while, then stood up and offered to go with him to relieve himself.

The rain was still pouring down, pattering like beans. Because the dark clouds had obscured the stars and moon, it was pitch black all around, and the craftsmen could only grope their way forward, one step at a time.

Suddenly, a rumbling thunder came from the horizon, and a bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky, as if tearing a huge hole in the heavens, making it as bright as day in an instant.

The little stonemason, having seen something, suddenly opened his eyes wide and screamed.

"What are you yelling about! You scared the hell out of us!" Everyone was already uneasy after being startled by the thunder, and this shout made them even more terrified.

“There…there’s something there…it’s huge, huge…” The little stonemason pointed towards the temple.

As everyone looked in that direction, the lightning subsided, and visibility was almost zero in the rain. Only the outline of the main temple building could be vaguely seen.

"It's just a temple, a temple of god-level status, of course it looks big..."

"It's not the temple! It's behind the temple, behind it!" The little stonemason was so frightened that he broke down and wet his pants in his panic.

Just then, another bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the heavens and the earth.

This time, everyone was facing the direction of the temple, so they all witnessed the horrifying scene the little stonemason had just seen—

Behind the main temple, which was only half-built and its imposing frame was still standing, a colossal stone statue had appeared out of nowhere. To be more precise, it couldn't really be called a statue, as it consisted of only a massive head, as large as a small mountain, protruding from behind the temple.

"That's...that's..."

Amidst flashes of lightning, the crowd mustered their courage and took a few steps forward, finally able to clearly see the facial features of the stone statue's head.

His eyes were lowered, his expression one of compassionate detachment, looking down with a hint of pity at the insignificant, mortal bodies on this land. A faint smile played on his lips, appearing somewhat eerie in the pale flash of lightning.

"It's Qingyuan Divine Lord! That's Qingyuan Divine Lord!" the craftsmen shouted.

...

After Mugo's head disappeared, the attention of the people in the capital was quickly drawn to another strange event.

It is said that at the site chosen for the temple in Wanxi, a huge stone head of the Azure Primordial God suddenly appeared out of thin air. Many pilgrims took this as a divine miracle and flocked out of the city to worship. After all, ordinary people rarely encounter miracles, and in these turbulent times, it's always good to pray to the gods.

Qingyuan himself had naturally heard about this matter, but faced with the endless stream of flourishing incense offerings, he was not happy at all, but instead furious.

Because he receives no incense offerings from the land of Wanxi. The head of the statue that belonged to him also has no connection to him whatsoever.

So Qingyuan came to the Wanxi Temple. He did not reveal his form, but stood on the top of the temple, looking at the stone head carved in his likeness.

There are no clues to be found, nor can the depth of the matter be discerned.

However, the incense offered by ordinary worshippers was clearly completely consumed.

Qingyuan's gaze darkened, and he suddenly raised his palm, striking the stone head from a distance.

He wanted to see what kind of monsters and demons dared to wear his coattails, use his name, and brazenly steal his offerings right under his nose!

However, to Qingyuan's surprise, when his divine power touched the stone statue's head, it was like mud flowing into the sea, giving rise to a feeling of insignificance and powerlessness, like an ant trying to shake a tree. He was shocked and could only gather more divine power into his palm, intending to shatter that hateful stone sculpture.

A powerful surge of spiritual energy stretched across the space between the stone head and the Wanxi Temple, distorting the entire area.

If time could be reversed, Qingyuan would definitely stop himself from making this foolish decision. Because the moment he injected his divine power, the stone statue suddenly generated a powerful suction force, greedily and rapidly drawing the divine power from his body back to it.

When Qingyuan realized it, he tried his best to break the connection, but he was like an iron nail firmly attracted by a magnet, unable to get rid of it no matter what.

He felt that if things continued like this, he would probably be drained dry by the stone head. He gritted his teeth and, risking the explosion of his divine energy, forcibly broke the connection. He then vomited a mouthful of blood and fainted.

At the same instant, the huge Qingyuan stone sculpture head began to slowly crack, with pieces of stone falling off the surface of its face.

The pilgrims who were prostrating and kneeling around heard the sound and looked up. They watched as the face of the Azure Origin God gradually became unrecognizable until it gradually revealed the face of another person.

The young man had handsome features and a smile on his lips. He seemed to be gazing at the Wanxi Temple in front of him, or perhaps looking towards the capital city and the imperial palace in the distance.

That was Mugo's face.

"What's going on? The head of the Azure Origin Divine Venerable... how, how come it's been replaced by someone else?!"

Most of the people did not know what Mugo looked like; they only noticed that Qingyuan's head had been replaced by someone else's, which made them feel uneasy.

"Help! Help!! Run! There's blood gushing from the ground!!"

Terrified screams rose and fell as the pilgrims discovered that blood was seeping from the ground beneath their feet.

The Wanxi Temple began to shake and make a deafening noise, and the earth stakes that Qingyuan had forcibly driven in with divine power emerged one by one.

As the hundreds of wooden stakes rose from the ground, the gushing blood increased, flowing and intertwining on the ground, quickly forming a lake of blood.

Those pilgrims who didn't have time to escape would be sucked into the blood lake once their feet were submerged in blood, as if they were being devoured by some kind of monster.

Soldiers stationed nearby heard the commotion and rushed over. While maintaining order and organizing the evacuation of the people, they also cut down trees and dragged bricks from the construction site to block the spread of the blood lake.

But it was no use. No matter what it was, it would be swallowed up immediately once it touched the edge of the blood lake.

Once the blood lake had grown large enough, bubbles suddenly began to rise from it, and then a "person" covered in blood crawled out of the lake.

They may no longer be considered human.

"Quickly...quickly inform the imperial city! This thing is beyond the power of ordinary people to stop; we may have to ask the gods to intervene!"

...

Overnight, news of the blood lake appearing at Wanxi Temple spread throughout the capital, and the creatures that crawled out of the blood lake were called "blood demons."

They emerge endlessly from the blood lake, devoid of emotion and intelligence, knowing only how to devour living beings, whether animal or human. Anyone targeted by them is almost guaranteed to die. If you're lucky, you might lose an arm or a leg and survive.

In the capital, everyone was in a state of fear, and every household frantically burned incense and made offerings to the gods. However, only the wealthy and powerful had enough incense to invite the true gods to set up protective barriers around their homes and prevent the blood demons from invading. As for the poor who couldn't even afford to eat, let alone offer incense, they could only resign themselves to their fate, keeping their doors and windows tightly shut and hiding in their rooms, afraid to make a sound.

Compared to the carnage of the mortal realm, the atmosphere in the celestial realm was much more festive and lively.

The celestial beings who came and went on the Heavenly Street walked hurriedly, but most of them had happy faces and rosy cheeks.

Yu Li, holding her peach blossom umbrella, heard two celestial beings behind her talking quietly.

"Wow, the incense offerings have been really strong lately! My divine power is increasing by leaps and bounds every day!"

"Who can argue with that? The wildfires in Yunchi Kingdom have been burning for three years, and the amount of incense offered by pilgrims combined doesn't even equal the amount offered in just these few days!"

"It seems we should thank this demon that suddenly appeared in the mortal realm. But then again, how long has it been since this demon has appeared? It must have been several hundred years, right?"

"Anyway, since I ascended, I haven't seen any demonic spirits born. I've heard that demonic spirits are very difficult to eliminate. Once they appear, they can turn endless streams of vengeful souls into bloodthirsty monsters that are indiscriminate and unable to distinguish between good and evil!"

"Yes, it is said that in order to destroy the Demon Fiend, one must use the divine essence of a God Venerable to counteract it."

"Tch, which deity would be willing to sacrifice themselves to perish together with the demon? In my opinion, this demon is probably impossible to eliminate."

"What does it matter? As long as this demon exists, the pilgrims in the mortal world will have to offer more incense in order to save their lives."

"That's true, haha... Ouch!"

The two celestial beings, who were laughing heartily, suddenly felt their legs go weak, as if a heavy force had struck their ankles, causing them to stumble and nearly kneel in pain. They looked in the direction of the force in a fit of rage, only to see the God of Yuli holding a peach blossom umbrella, and their expressions changed drastically.

"Lord Yu Li." The two men grinned and limped forward to greet Yu Li.

Yu Li maintained her usual indifferent and compassionate expression. She closed her peach blossom umbrella, nodded politely to the two of them, and said, "I apologize. My divine power has been unstable lately, and I accidentally released some spiritual energy. Did I inadvertently injure you two?"

The two celestial beings dared not cause trouble for the deity, and repeatedly said it was no problem, taking their leave with smiles on their faces.

Yu Li then opened the umbrella again and walked away unhurriedly.

Only after they were sure Yu Li was far away did they dare to secretly start cricketing.

"Tsk, in my opinion, Yu Li is probably not going to be able to keep his divine rank as a god."

What does that mean?

"Right now, the gods are vying to win over wealthy families, which is a good time to increase incense offerings. But I heard that this Yu Li Goddess is abandoning those noble families and instead setting up barriers for the poor to resist the invasion of blood demons. Just two days ago, I even saw her get injured while protecting a farm."

"What a woman's compassion! Doesn't she realize that if this continues, how will she maintain her divine power? She was originally in charge of reproduction, but now that demons are causing chaos, mortals have no interest in procreation. She is already weakened, yet she still likes to meddle in other people's business. She has truly been in a high position for so long that she doesn't know how difficult it is to acquire divine power!"

"If you ask me, a goddess shouldn't be in a position of power for a god! This Yu Li is not even as good as the Dream Goddess back then, at least she was number one in combat power!"

"Ever since Yu Meng's demise, the magical artifact of the Divine Lord Yu Li has become that peach blossom umbrella. Who doesn't know that the Heavenly Goddess Yu Meng loved peach blossoms the most? She's probably just imitating her..."

Yu Li finally returned to her residence in the Heavenly Court. Her body, which had been holding on, collapsed, and her face turned pale with weakness. Just as the celestial servants in the residence were about to greet her, Yu Li suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood and fainted on the spot.

At the same time, Yun Tianjiao, who was sleeping in Chang Le Palace, suddenly opened his eyes.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Thank you all for your continued support! This story will be available for purchase this Wednesday. Due to the large word count, it will be subject to a "VIP" section. If you want to continue reading, please read carefully before purchasing and do not subscribe to chapters you've already read. There will be a long chapter of nearly 10,000 words on the day it goes live, and I will continue to update daily afterwards. I hope you will continue to support me, and I will do my best to write this story well! Love you all!

By the way, let me give a shout-out to my next contemporary romance novel: "Four Domineering CEOs Line Up to Get Married to Me." If you're interested, you can check out my author page and add it to your favorites!

What's it like to be surrounded by a group of rich kids since elementary school?

Zhou Mo: I hate the rich, so I want to become a rich man and then use bundles of banknotes to slap those bastards across the face until they kneel down and call me daddy!

When Zhou Mo was six years old, her father won the lottery. Unable to bear the constant harassment from relatives and friends who came to borrow money, he spent all the money, bought a villa in an upscale neighborhood, and sent his beloved daughter to a nearby private elementary school. Thus, Zhou Mo's nightmare began. She felt that all her classmates had serious illnesses. They were an eyesore to her at school and lingered around her after school because her mother ran a small after-school care center.

At fifteen, Zhou Mo was admitted to the best high school in the city, but many things happened in the villa area—

The arrogant young master suffered a great misfortune when his family was destroyed and his parents died. He was adopted by the Zhou couple and became Zhou Mo's older brother in the legal sense.

The sons of a nouveau riche, known as the "Two Bullies," have been exposed for their mother's infidelity. The two brothers are not born to the same father, and one of them is the son of a security guard in the community.

The aloof boy who Zhou Mo thought was the most normal person was about to be transferred to Beijing with his parents for work. Before leaving, he blocked Zhou Mo on her way home from school and said he wanted to go to a hotel with her.

At the age of twenty-four, three years after graduating from university, Zhou Mo finally owned her own company in Beijing. She was riding high, but she never expected that her former patients with serious illnesses would all become powerful CEOs, appearing one after another for one thing—to propose to her.

The domineering CEO knelt before her, gripping her hand tightly and refusing to let go: "Whether it's true or not, we are husband and wife now. As long as I don't divorce you, you will always be my legal wife."

The domineering CEO pinned her against the bedroom door, his eyes bloodshot: "Am I your brother? Don't call me brother, I don't want to hear it, and I don't want to be your brother."

The domineering CEO punched the wall repeatedly in a self-destructive manner, his voice hoarse and trembling: "What's so great about my brother that you want him and not me?"

The domineering CEO, emboldened by alcohol, pinned her between the chairs, exuding a dangerous aura but with a wronged expression: "If you're going to have a fake marriage, why not with someone else, and not with me?"

Zhou Mo: "..."

What is a "tall, rich, and handsome" guy? Slaughtering him and selling his meat is illegal; you might as well raise a pig.

—From a woman who doesn't want to be Cinderella, but only wants to be a boss.

Reading Guide:

1. Four men, four tastes: contract marriage, pseudo-incest, brotherly rivalry, and a powerful figure in Beijing's elite circles. The ending will be divided into two parts or an "if" scenario depending on the popularity of each male lead.

2. The story spans a large timeline: it begins in 2014, the female lead's childhood is in 1997, and the female lead is in high school in 2006.

3. The female lead is not a virgin, but all the male leads are virgins. They only love the female lead from beginning to end. At the beginning, the female lead has a fake marriage with one of them (they only get a certificate and don't actually have a marriage).