Chapter 51 051 Little Flower, do you know this goddess's name...?
"Your Highness, please slow down! This is the mortal realm... Ah!"
boom!
Boom! Soil and gravel fell in a flurry, and the boy Yuan Ling, trapped at the bottom of the dark well, was startled awake by the two violent tremors.
His face was pale, his lips were bloodless, and his eyes were filled with ferocity. As he opened his eyes, the golden runes covering the bottom of the dry well lit up at the same time, densely packed, and projected onto the boy's face and body.
The veins on the back of the boy's hands and temples bulged, and he bit his lip tightly, as if he was enduring great pain. His peach blossom eyes became increasingly gloomy and dark. However, in this instant, he was able to detect two broken and incomplete places in the restriction that had suppressed him for a hundred years.
He paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, his expression crazed and wild. Suddenly, he flipped his hand, summoning a golden object. His eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he used all his magical power to break free of the restriction and burst out of the well!
His eyes, already accustomed to darkness, could no longer adapt to light. The sudden brightness made the boy close his eyes. As the earth and rocks fell, he could only hear cursing and swearing in his ears.
"Oh my god! I'm so scared, what the hell!"
The boy covered his eyes with his hands, and after his eyes adjusted, he opened them and saw a cute little ball of flesh through his fingers. The ball crawled to his feet and tugged at the hem of his robe.
"What do we have here? It's just a lowly lustful ghost with weak magical powers!"
The one who spoke first was a girl who looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in a purple-black palace gown. She carefully examined the boy for a few moments, then seemed relieved. She ran over and picked up the little boy, her eyebrows furrowed, and scolded, "Do you know who you almost offended?! You're lucky, I'm beautiful and kind-hearted, otherwise if the master found out, you would have been annihilated right after breaking the restriction!"
With skin as white as ice and a face as white as jade, the little dumpling looked only one or two years old, but the boy could tell at a glance that neither she nor the girl holding her were human, and they were surrounded by a sinister ghostly aura.
These two people are like him.
"Please wait a moment."
The boy called out softly to the two figures as they walked away.
The girl tried to pretend she hadn't heard, but the little dumpling in her arms reached out its chubby little hand and tugged at her sleeve.
"What else do you want?!" The girl rolled her eyes and turned away irritably.
The little boy, with his hair in two buns, turned around and nestled in the girl's arms. His dark eyes, big and watery, looked at the boy with a bright, star-like smile.
The boy bent down and reached out to pick a bright red flower from the roadside. When he saw the missing index finger of his right hand, he hesitated for a moment, then used his magic to repair it, making the hand that held the flower smooth, complete, fair, and slender again.
"This young lady unintentionally broke the restriction, which is a great favor to me. I offer this flower as a token of my gratitude. If one day I am ever required to serve her, I will do my utmost to help her."
Marked with the mark of youth, the little red flower, which had been somewhat wilted due to being separated from its roots, suddenly became vibrant and bright again, even gently swaying its petals and leaves.
The little boy was about to reach out to take it when the girl hugged him and pulled away.
"Who do you think you are, to presume to serve our young master?"
The little dumpling seemed unhappy with the girl's refusal to let her take the flowers. She angrily slapped the girl's arm twice with her two little hands, then turned her head and puffed out her cheeks.
The girl smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Young master, this lustful ghost is of lowly status and of unknown origin. How can we let his things defile your hands..."
The little dumpling continued to puff out its cheeks, turning itself into a bun in anger, its two short legs kicking wildly, as if trying to break free from the girl's embrace.
Helpless, the girl could only step forward and let the little dumpling take the flower offered by the boy. Then, seemingly not daring to linger any longer, she hurriedly left with the dumpling in her arms.
The little dumpling waved a small red flower, peeked half its head out from the girl's shoulder, looked at the boy and smiled, its beautiful eyes curving into crescents.
The boy watched the master and servant leave until they were no longer in sight, then lowered his eyes, touched the vajra he had tucked into his bosom, and walked alone on his own path.
...
The boy traveled to many places in search of the owner of the vajra.
He was filled with malice and resentment. After becoming a ghost, he was no longer as weak as he was in life. He was also suppressed in a dry well for nearly a hundred years, diligently cultivating every day. Therefore, even though he was the most despised lustful ghost, ordinary people did not dare to provoke him easily.
He wandered around for a year, and one day he passed by an abandoned village and found a dilapidated temple at the entrance of the village.
A cold wind was blowing, and dark clouds hung low, threatening rain. For some reason, he stood there for a long time, unwilling to leave.
The temple is now just ruins, without even a roof to shelter it from the wind and rain, let alone a plaque, so it is unknown which deity was once worshipped here.
But the boy trusted his intuition and walked toward the temple without hesitation, almost unable to suppress the ecstasy in his heart, as if the figure he had longed for day and night for a hundred years, the one that had kept him awake at night, would appear before him at any moment.
He firmly believed she was a goddess. How could she be so beautiful if she wasn't? How could she have saved him from his serious illness after they had done that kind of thing? How could she have vanished before his eyes and tried to erase his memory if she wasn't a goddess?
Since they are gods, there must be temples in the world.
He traversed the mortal world, searching through countless temples, yet he could find no statue resembling her. Since this temple now evoked such a strong feeling in him, perhaps… perhaps…
The boy rushed into the temple with eager eyes, but soon his heart was filled with desolation.
Although the statue on the altar was tilted and broken, it was still possible to tell from the remains that it was a painted clay sculpture of a male god.
It wasn't her.
A rumble of thunder boomed, and a drop of rain fell, striking the boy's expressionless face like a cold tear.
Over the past year, he had grown accustomed to the cycle of hope and despair. Just as he was about to turn away, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye and froze.
The rain intensified, turning into a downpour in an instant. The clay sculptures, weathered by wind and sun over the years, could not withstand such ravages. Like the last straw that broke the camel's back, the outer shell of the clay sculptures was washed away by the rain, revealing a piece of jade-white stone.
Although it was only a small piece the size of a copper coin and not very conspicuous in the blurry rain, the boy still managed to spot it.
Suspicious, he flipped the statue, which was almost as tall as him, over and carefully peeled it away little by little from the exposed stone. Gradually, he carved out another female statue from the clay male statue!
The boy's hands began to tremble slightly, and he peeled away the clay sculpture with increasing caution and gentleness until finally the clay glaze attached to the stone statue's head was peeled away, revealing the face that he had been obsessed with and could not forget. He almost cried with joy.
Those were the familiar eyebrows and features; his voice and appearance from the past were still vivid in his mind. Because it was encased in clay, the stone statue was very well preserved. The goddess's face was completely undamaged, carved with a bright and holy beauty, shining brilliantly.
The boy used the rainwater to wash the statue clean, then used his magic to repair the temple. He then placed the goddess's statue on the altar, took out the incense and candles he carried with him, and knelt down devoutly to offer prayers.
"I never imagined... that people would still be worshipping her these days."
An old woman's voice suddenly rang out from inside the hall.
The boy's eyes narrowed, and he immediately became wary. He turned to look at the old woman who was walking unsteadily into the temple.
The old woman had a kind expression and gentle eyes; she didn't seem like a bad person. She put away her old, faded oil-paper umbrella, took off her headscarf, and because she was somewhat hunched over, she had to tilt her head back slightly. Her cloudy old eyes looked at the statue on the altar, seemingly lost in memories.
"Do you recognize this goddess?" the boy asked.
The old woman was lost in thought for a moment before slowly turning to look at the young man. She sighed self-deprecatingly, "When people get old, they always know more than others. If you asked a young man, I'm afraid very few would know about this person."
The boy asked urgently, "Which deity is she? What is her divine title?"
The old woman wasn't in a hurry to answer the boy. She looked around and found a dry spot against the wall to sit down. She seemed tired from the journey and looked somewhat weary.
"I was young then, and I heard it from the adults. It's said that this goddess used her beauty to guide people, and because she was immoral..."
"You're talking nonsense!" The young man flashed in front of the old woman, grabbed her by the neck, and his eyes were filled with cold light.
"Ahem... You young man, why are you so impatient? I've already told you, and it's just something I heard. If you don't want to hear it, I won't say it."
After a moment of internal struggle, the boy finally let go.
"Go on, tell me everything you know about her."
The old woman, having narrowly escaped the clutches of the demon, gasped for breath before continuing in a hoarse voice, "They say she was a goddess who turned into a prostitute. Because of this reputation, her temples were completely destroyed. Women loathed and envied her, and men either despised her or pretended to despise her. Eventually, no one dared to worship her anymore. Over time, without any believers, no one remembered her. When I was a child, I could still see some of her temples, but now there are none left. I never expected to see anyone worshipping her here."
As the boy listened to the old woman's narration, for some reason, many unfamiliar images came to mind.
...
"It's all your fault, you lewd goddess! My husband spends every night in brothels; it's you who has aroused his lustful thoughts!"
"This kind of temple should have been smashed long ago; keeping it around is just a hindrance to the local people!"
"Yes, how could such a deity be worthy of receiving offerings from mortals?"
The goddess statue inside the temple was pushed over and half of it was broken, but this did not appease the people's anger. Two strong men carried the statue out of the temple, and the people around them swung sledgehammers, wanting to smash the statue into dust.
"Don't smash it! You're not allowed to smash it!" Upon seeing this, the boy rushed over and threw himself on top of the statue, shouting loudly.
"Where did this little beggar come from? Get out of our way and don't delay us from doing our business!"
"Is she really protecting the statue of the goddess of prostitution so much? Could she be some bastard child that crawled out of a prostitute's belly?"
"You brat, if you don't get out of the way, I'll smash you too!"
The boy clung tightly to the goddess statue, trying to snatch the tools from the people's hands, but was instead pinned down by the two men, who smashed his finger bones.
"She is not a goddess of prostitution! You're all spreading rumors!! You are not allowed to destroy her temple!"
The boy kicked and shoved, trying to bite the hand that was restraining him.
The man cried out in pain, furious, grabbed a hammer from his companion, and smashed it down hard on the boy's chest and abdomen!
...
The boy in his memory was clearly himself, but he didn't remember having such an experience, nor did he understand why he would protect the goddess's statue so much, even at the cost of his life.
My head was throbbing, and my finger bones and lower abdomen seemed to be aching as well.
The boy shook his head, trying to regain his senses, and asked the old woman, "What would happen if a god lost his followers?"
The old woman said slowly, "With no one to worship them, no one to remember them, this deity... well, he's dead, what else can happen?"
Even if the old woman didn't say it, the boy knew that today's gods need the incense offerings from believers to maintain their divine power; without incense offerings, they would perish and dissipate.
But if a person can become a ghost after death, why do gods completely disappear from this world after they die?
He didn't believe it, so he wanted to hear a different answer from the old woman.
Since he didn't hear what he wanted to hear, let's just treat it as a fart.
"Do you know the name of this goddess?" he asked the old woman as a final question.
"Her name...I think it's... Yu Meng."
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