Chapter 148 I swore that the Ghost Pill was mine, how could you bear to do this...?
Without Mo Bei's interference, the plague in Jiangzhou was quickly quelled.
The worshippers in the Temple of Joy, who had escaped death from the fire set by Mo Beifang, were all grateful to Yun Tianjiao and the others, especially to Gong Xin. The governor of Jiangzhou led several thousand people to kowtow to Gong Xin to apologize and promised to restore the destroyed temples of the God of Agriculture in various places as soon as possible.
Gong Xin, however, said, "There's no need to rush the construction of the temple. Right now is the busy spring season; everyone should focus on tilling the land and sowing seeds as quickly as possible." With that, he opened the earthenware jar in his hand and poured out hundreds of thousands of seeds, piling them up like a mountain in the courtyard of the prefectural government office.
He said to the prefect, "After the plague, many of the grain seeds in the hands of the people have been contaminated by the disease. Please distribute these clean seeds to each household and sow them well. Next year, there will surely be a bumper harvest."
The prefect repeatedly said he would remember the divine command, and the people behind him echoed him, shouting and bowing in worship once more.
Gong Xin said to everyone, "Actually, you don't need to thank me. Everything I did was in accordance with the will of the ancient god Yu Meng. If you want to thank someone, go and thank Yu Meng."
Desiring the God of Dreams?
When did this new Desire Dream God appear? I've never heard of him before.
However, since he was an ancient deity, there should be records of him in ancient books, right?
The prefect ordered the scribes in the government office to search through ancient books overnight, and they actually found records about the Goddess of Desire and Dreams. They learned that she was a female war goddess in the celestial realm before the custom of burning incense became prevalent. It was even rumored that because Desire and Dreams had the highest cultivation in the celestial realm, the then Celestial Venerable Yuan Si once intended to pass on the position of Celestial Venerable to her.
However, this deity later disappeared without a trace, and there are no related records.
While not recorded in official history, numerous unofficial accounts have circulated. After analysis and research by scholars, it has been deduced that the deity who severed the Heavenly Pillar in the famous opera "Slaying the Heavenly Pillar" is none other than the Desire Dream God. The opera states that long ago, the gods in heaven did not need the power of incense to enhance their cultivation; they could absorb the spiritual energy of creation from the Heavenly Pillar. Therefore, at that time, the gods ignored mortals, until the Heavenly Pillar was severed by the Desire Dream.
There are very few records about Yu Meng, so naturally no one knows why Yu Meng cut off the Heavenly Pillar back then.
Regardless of the circumstances, the fact that this Deity of Desire could guide the Deity of Gongxin to rescue people when they were in trouble in the mortal realm suggests that he must be a great deity.
So the common people in the Jiangzhou area, based on the fragments of information about desire and dreams in ancient books, re-erected her statues and tablets, and enshrined them in their homes as amulets, hoping that their hometown would no longer be troubled by plague and famine.
Yun Tianjiao and the others were naturally unaware of what happened afterward. They left Jiangzhou and decided to go to the former capital of Yun Chi Kingdom because they speculated that Mo Bei's reputation had been damaged and his number of worshippers had dropped significantly. They believed that he would definitely go to the place where his worshippers were most popular and make a comeback.
On the way to the ancient capital of Yunchi Kingdom, Yun Tianjiao finally had a moment to ask Gong Xin: "Divine Lord Gong Xin, why did you tell the Jiangzhou Prefect that Yu Meng instructed you to go and rescue people?"
Before Gong Xin could answer, Shen Qiongzhi interjected, "He didn't just say that to the Jiangzhou prefect. These past few days, as we've been treating and saving people, I've heard Divine Venerable Gong Xin and everyone he's saved say the same thing."
Yun Tianjiao was even more surprised, and Zhu Jing also turned around and looked at Gong Xin with curiosity.
Gong Xin sat on the vajra, gazing ahead with a worried expression. "I just feel that Mo Bei is used to distorting the truth. If he is determined to smear me, he will not let it go. Rather than attributing those merits to me, it would be better to assign them to someone else. That way, it won't be a waste."
Yun Tianjiao felt that Gong Xin was being overly pessimistic after being bitten once, and comforted him, saying, "Gong Xin, you are being too pessimistic. Now that Mo Bei's true colors have been exposed by Yu Li, it won't be easy to turn the situation around."
When Yu Li was mentioned, the five fell silent, and the atmosphere became somber.
To help them escape their predicament, Yu Li sacrificed her own divine essence, dying a truly tragic death. However, the most tragic thing is that all of them only learned her real name and understood the real her on the day she passed away.
Yu Li was originally An Li. If possible, I would love to get to know her again as An Li.
Finally, it was Gong Xin, who was usually taciturn, who broke the silence and said to Yun Tianjiao, "I never thought that of the seven gods who guarded the Heavenly Pillars back then, only you, me and Mo Bei are left now."
Yun Tianjiao smiled and said, "Actually, Yu Meng is already dead. Now that I am a ghost spirit, I am no longer the same person as Yu Meng."
Gong Xin smiled, a rare occurrence. "No, you are still you. No matter how many times your identity has changed, whether it's your body or your spirit, you are still the same Desire Dream God I know, and you have never changed."
...
Having learned their lesson from the main city of Jiangzhou, the group did not immediately enter the city after arriving at the former capital of Yunchi Kingdom, fearing that they might fall into Mo Bei's formation again.
They decided to first settle in the countryside some distance from the capital to scout out the surrounding area before entering the city the next day to search for Mo Bei.
After discussing it, the five decided to split into two teams to avoid a repeat of the situation in Jiangzhou where they were all trapped. Yun Tianjiao and Zhiwei formed one team, while the remaining three formed another. The two teams would investigate separately.
Yun Tianjiao and Zhiwei headed west. She noticed that Zhiwei seemed to have been indifferent ever since they left Jiangzhou, rarely speaking and trying to avoid her gaze.
When others were around, she didn't ask too many questions, but now that they were alone, she gently tugged at Zhiwei's sleeve and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhiwei maintained her composed expression, "Nothing, Your Highness."
Yun Tianjiao raised an eyebrow and feigned anger, saying, "Didn't I already say that I would never lie to me again?"
Zhiwei was taken aback, and finally turned to look at her with some helplessness, but her dark eyes still suppressed her anger.
"Your Highness doesn't know what's wrong with me?"
Yun Tianjiao feigned ignorance: "If I knew, I wouldn't have asked."
Zhiwei grabbed Yun Tianjiao's hand and squeezed it hard, making Yun Tianjiao feel pain. Before Yun Tianjiao could pull her hand back, Zhiwei pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly.
Yun Tianjiao felt like she was about to be strangled by Zhiwei. She reached out to push him away, but he pressed his lips to her forehead, a muffled sound coming from where they were touching.
"If Lord Yuli hadn't self-destructed his divine essence, and we were both trapped in the fire cage at that time, what would Your Highness have planned to do?"
Yun Tianjiao's eyelashes trembled slightly. He stopped struggling and said in a deliberately light tone, "What could I do? In that situation, I could only wait to die. Actually, thinking about it, dying with you isn't so bad—"
"fraud."
Zhiwei spoke those two words very softly, almost inaudibly, yet they still brought Yun Tianjiao's sophistry to an abrupt halt.
Zhiwei suddenly pushed her away slightly, grabbed her right wrist, raised her hand, and said fiercely, "You were already prepared to self-destruct your ghost pill, right? You used this hand, and you only made half of the incantation."
Yun Tianjiao blinked and looked at Zhiwei with an innocent expression.
Zhiwei's eyes grew increasingly dark, and he almost gritted his teeth as he said, "That ghost pill was given to you by me, it's mine. If I find out you've ever had that thought again, whichever hand you use to make the hand seal, I'll break the fingers of that hand. Got it?"
Yun Tianjiao seemed to be frightened. He stared at Zhiwei's fierce eyes and remained silent for a long time. Finally, he couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
"What, you think I wouldn't dare!" Zhiwei was even more annoyed.
Yun Tianjiao nodded honestly, "Yes, I don't think you dare."
Zhiwei: "..."
Yes, no matter how many lifetimes they have been reborn, he has always been obedient to her, cherishing her like a precious gem, and how could he bear to harm a single hair on her head?
Zhiwei struggled for a long time but couldn't utter another harsh word. In the end, she could only angrily pull the other person into her arms again and say in a childish tone, "That ghost pill is mine, how can you bear to destroy it?"
Yun Tianjiao felt the wetness on her cheek and her heart clenched slightly. She knew it was Zhiwei's tears. She couldn't smile anymore. She raised her hand and hugged Zhiwei back, saying, "I naturally couldn't bear to destroy the things you gave me, but in that situation, if I hadn't been one step ahead of you, you would have been the one to self-destruct your divine essence."
Zhiwei said, "Everything I have is yours. I am willing to give up anything for you, including my life."
“But you have died for me too many times.” Yun Tianjiao’s eyes were also filled with tears. She looked up at Zhiwei’s beautiful peach blossom eyes and said to him, “Even the deepest debt of gratitude should be repaid by now.”
"Is it just a favor?" Zhiwei murmured softly, "Does Your Highness think it's just a favor?"
Yun Tianjiao didn't speak, but her heart ached terribly. With Zhiwei's repeated questioning, the pain made her want to tear her heart out.
Zhiwei suddenly kissed him deeply, seemingly unsure how to express his love. Having narrowly escaped death, his lingering fear, helplessness, and grievances all transformed into the tender kiss between their lips.
"I love you."
After pursuing her for three lifetimes, Zhiwei finally mustered the courage to utter those three straightforward words.
"I love you, so I'm willing to do anything for you. I'm not doing this to repay a debt of gratitude; I know I've already repaid it. I just love you, I love you more than anything!"
Within the formation of the Temple of Joy, it was this very thought, stemming from the meaning of his life, that allowed him to barely resist Mo Bei's seduction.
He always felt as insignificant as an ant, unworthy of the high and mighty goddess, but he feared that if he encountered another desperate situation, he would never have the chance to utter those three shameful words again.
"I know, Zhiwei, I really know." Tears streamed down Yun Tianjiao's cheeks as she cupped Zhiwei's face in her hands, just as she had cupped the hopeless boy from years ago. "But Zhiwei, haven't you ever thought that I love you just as much?"
Zhiwei's entire body stiffened.
Yun Tianjiao, fearing that this fool might misunderstand or not hear clearly, repeated, "I love you, and I love you just as much, so how you treat me is how I will treat you. To save you, to let you live, Zhiwei, I am willing to give up my life for you. I don't want to see you die in front of me again, do you understand? Do you understand?!"
In the end, Yun Tianjiao almost shouted at her, but Zhiwei silenced him with a kiss.
Yun Tianjiao pushed Zhiwei away forcefully, insisting, "So you have to promise me, Zhiwei, never, ever again die for me, never die in front of me."
Zhiwei looked down at her, the turbulent waves in her eyes gradually calming down, turning into a gentle spring. "Okay, I agree."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
