Chapter 5 Love-Brained God 5: Slaying the Gods
Xue Qi had long forgotten what he was like when he was still human.
He became a supreme god, enjoying the adoration of all people. He lived on dew and did not eat human food.
As long as there are people who believe in him, he can live freely in this world.
So Xue Qi had long forgotten that humans need to eat and drink.
Fortunately, the person who stripped him of his clothes still had some humanity; otherwise, the unconscious Xue Qi would have long since become someone else's meal.
Xue Qi woke up naked. He was filled with shame and indignation at having no clothes to cover himself. He had lost his divine power and could not conjure clothes with it. He searched for a long time and finally found a set of clothes in a desolate grave that had been buried underground for who knows how long.
This isn't even the most desperate situation.
After waking up, Xue Qi kept looking for clothes, and the extensive activity caused him to expend a lot of energy.
After finally getting dressed, he relaxed completely, but at the same time, an indescribable hunger swept over him.
Xue Qi had not felt hungry for a very, very long time.
Gods do not feel hunger, but humans do.
Along with hunger came various negative effects. He felt dizzy, short of breath, and weak in his limbs when walking. When he went down the mountain, he lost his footing and tumbled down the mountain path.
Xue Qi looked utterly disheveled, the extreme hunger gnawing at his nerves, and the self-control he once took pride in completely collapsed in the face of hunger.
When he was still a god, Xue Qi had despised his followers countless times.
He felt that the believers were not respectable enough, that they were greedy, short-sighted, and brainless, willing to abandon everything for a little bit of food to survive.
Potential, soul, future...
All of humanity's most precious and beautiful things have become bargaining chips for them to trade.
Therefore, he despised those believers, thinking they were not respectable enough, that they could abandon so many precious things just to survive.
He never thought that hunger was a big deal. He believed that as long as they had perseverance and determination, they could resist temptation and defend their dignity.
But when he became the one suffering from hunger, he realized that hunger could truly destroy a person.
At first, he could bear it a little, but as time went on, he felt as if there was a fire burning in his stomach, and his stomach felt like it was being twisted into a pretzel by hand, with pain sweeping through his whole body.
I'm so hungry...
This thought lingered in Xue Qi's mind, making it impossible for him to think about anything else; he only felt hungry.
The desire to eat took over, and he desperately wanted to find something to fill his stomach.
However, as far as he could see, he couldn't find anything edible...
In a daze, Xue Qi recalled that Dragon God Cang Yu had suffered a heartbreak because his fiancée, Fairy Jinxia, had gotten together with Demon Lord Yuan Heng. He then went into seclusion to cultivate, unwilling to take on his responsibilities.
He remembered that Cang Yu felt it was because he cared too much about his believers and put their affairs first, which caused him to distance himself from Fairy Jinxia, thus allowing her to develop feelings for Yuan Heng.
He wanted to punish himself.
The Dragon God was unwilling to fulfill his duties, so it had been a long time since the rain fell on earth.
The lives of gods are long, and a hundred years is but a fleeting moment, so Xue Qi never thought that three years without rain was a big deal.
Human lives are so fragile. Just because they can't get enough to eat, they abandon their dignity and give up everything. In just three years, the dynasty that humans built is on the verge of collapse and could crumble at any moment.
It's just hunger, what's so unbearable about that?
When gods are high above, they never think about how hard it is to be a human. Even though they were once human, they have been gods for so long that they have long forgotten what it was like to be human.
Qi Wang stripped Xue Qi of his divine status and gave him a body stronger than that of mortals, so that he would not die easily.
This is not a blessing, but a punishment.
Not long after, Xue Qi became one of the humans he once despised the most.
What is dignity, what is dignity? When it comes to filling one's stomach, all these things are meaningless.
Xue Qi fought with wild dogs for food, and in order to protect the little bit of Guanyin clay that could fill his stomach, he fought fiercely with the beggars, his ferocious appearance no different from that of a wild beast.
It had only been half a month, but to Xue Qi it felt like a lifetime ago.
He haphazardly stuffed the withered yellow weeds he had just found into his mouth and swallowed them down with the saliva he had painstakingly produced.
At this moment, he was filthy and smelly, a far cry from his former incomparably handsome god-like appearance.
Xue Qi leaned against the wall, which was half collapsed, his face numb and expressionless.
They could still find some food, but the hardest thing was the lack of water.
The Dragon God failed in his duty and refused to send rain to the human world. Three years was enough time for many water sources to dry up.
He couldn't even remember how many places he had followed those refugees to. Whenever they heard of a place with water, they would rush there like locusts.
However, all they received was disappointment after disappointment.
More and more people died, and their corpses became food for the survivors.
In the face of famine, people are no longer human, but have become beasts.
Xue Qi began to resent those gods.
They should be protecting the people since they accept their faith, but their temples are built to be magnificent and splendid. The believers offer their utmost devotion, but the gods treat mortals as nothing.
"Isn't this exactly what you did before?"
Just as Xue Qi's heart was filled with overwhelming resentment and hatred for those gods, a familiar voice rang in his mind.
In a daze, Xue Qi suddenly remembered that when he was still a god, the things he did were no different from those of the god he cursed and resented.
Yes, what is he resenting now?
The gods, high above, do not understand the hardships of mortals, nor do they feel that they should repay the faith of mortals.
On what grounds?
They are nothing more than ants, easily crushed. Why bother focusing our attention on them?
Xue Qi broke down; he knelt on the ground and wept bitterly.
"I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, please forgive my sins..."
"I am willing to repent and reform. As long as you return my divinity to me, I will definitely fulfill my duties, I will definitely protect all living beings, and protect my people..."
When he was still a high and mighty god, he could not see the common people. Now that he has fallen to earth and truly experienced these hardships, he has finally learned to be afraid.
If he had the chance to become a god again, he would remember his mission, protect his followers, and prevent them from suffering.
However, he was met with only deathly silence.
The voice disappeared, and no matter how much he knelt down and begged for mercy, or how much he swore to the heavens and the earth, no one responded to him.
Xue Qi knelt on the ground and closed his eyes in anguish.
Does he still have a chance to make amends?
At this point, Xue Qi had long forgotten his love for Yan'er. He had no intention of reviving her and even hated her.
He was doing a good job as the local earth god. If it weren't for Yan'er's appearance, he would never have been bewitched by her and forgotten his duties.
It's all Yan'er's fault.
If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be in this situation now.
Qi Wang clearly sensed Xue Qi's thoughts.
What unwavering affection, what love that conquers all—these are nothing more than the emotions of high-ranking deities born out of boredom.
They did pay a price for what they called love, but those prices did not come from themselves; rather, they were the price they paid through external forces.
Jinxia's resurrection is the faith of the Dragon God's followers and the power of countless human souls.
The resurrection of Yan'er also consumes the life force of believers.
They simply did the work, the cost was paid by others, and they gained a reputation for being devoted lovers.
What gods? They're nothing but a bunch of incompetent demons who hold positions without doing any work.
Xue Qi or the Dragon God, they are all the same.
Since you don't want to be a god, then you might as well be a mortal.
After Qi Wang dealt with Xue Qi, he gained a large wave of faith.
Years of famine are the years when gods are most likely to perish, and also the years when gods are most likely to appear.
People in dire straits have the purest faith; they are willing to offer their purest beliefs if they can be pulled back from the brink of death.
Qi Wang's faith territory is constantly expanding, radiating outwards from Peach Blossom Village as its center.
As more and more people came to believe in Qi Wang, the power he could wield also grew increasingly immense.
As the power of the Dragon God Qi Wang grew stronger, more and more places in the Nan'an Kingdom received rainfall, and the drought situation in various places was greatly alleviated. The Nan'an Kingdom Dynasty, which was originally on the verge of collapse, regained its footing.
One day, an uninvited guest arrived in Peach Blossom Village.
The man, dressed in a black robe, quietly evaded the villagers' eyes and ears and arrived at Qi Wang's house.
He could sense the intense power of faith here. In the black-robed man's eyes, he clearly saw countless pure golden powers of faith converging from all directions and finally flowing into this seemingly ordinary house.
For hundreds of years, no one on earth has become a god.
Human beliefs are fixed, and the power of faith that deities receive is also constant.
Millions of years is a long enough time for gods and humans to establish unbreakable rules.
Within this power system, some people have even attempted to break the rules, wanting to become gods through human faith.
This is absolutely forbidden in the Heavenly Realm.
However, with the rules of heaven above, gods cannot directly intervene in human affairs, so they can only entrust human agents to nip any bad signs in the bud.
A note from the author:
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