Ch 198: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

Mu Xing was suddenly enlightened.

No wonder the original god had fallen.

No wonder he always felt that the people of Naya did not live as if they lacked the protection of gods.

Although the empire had split, Naya and the beastmen of Vista had established good trade relations. The beastmen claimed they loved Naya’s cuisine, but weren’t they in fact Naya’s biggest customers?

The Vista Empire gave the Naya Kingdom its greatest protection.

And although the Tianhai Empire was said to harbor ambitions of taking over the Kingdom of Nato, their attitude didn’t seem aggressive. Otherwise, it had already been a thousand years since the god’s fall, and yet the Kingdom of Nato still stood strong.

Even more so, when faith was that important to gods, no one had ever managed to make the people of Naya change their belief.

If these two gods had secretly been protecting their fallen brother’s believers, then everything made sense.

At this time, the God of Light suddenly said, “Since you have inherited our brother’s godhood, then your believers should begin worshiping you anew.”

Hearing this, Mu Xing remembered the affairs between the Kingdom of Nato and the Tianhai Empire.

He had thought the God of Light wanted to annex the God of Earth’s faith, but upon meeting them, he realized he had misunderstood.

So then, why did the Tianhai Empire act that way?

He told the God of Light about the prayers of Nato’s people.

The God of Light was stunned. “Annex the Kingdom of Nato? Why would they have such an idea?”

The Beast God sneered at the side. “You don’t even look at the mortal world once in a hundred years. How could you know what your believers are doing?”

The beautiful face of the God of Light stiffened.

Mu Xing looked over curiously.

Seeing this, the Beast God maliciously began exposing the God of Light’s flaws in front of Mu Xing.

The God of Light was extremely lazy.

He had built his divine realm into incredible beauty and spent his days resting upon his lofty throne. A single nap could mean decades passing in the mortal world.

The temples of Light on earth often could not reach him.

The trembling bishops did not know that their god was only asleep. Each time they received no response, they would reflect in terror, wondering if they had displeased their god somehow.

“Clearly he is very lazy and unwilling to handle most matters. Yet precisely because of that, his believers are the most fanatical. In the Tianhai Empire, whenever a miracle appears, dozens of his followers go mad,” the Beast God complained.

His golden eyes burned as he looked at Mu Xing, delighted to gossip. “Do you know what the God of Light loves to do most besides sleeping?”

The God of Light’s gaze went cold. “Shut your mouth!”

But how could the Beast God listen?

He chuckled. “You don’t know, do you? Whenever he’s bored, he transforms into a mortal body and goes down to the human world—to listen to the hymns written for him by his believers. Sometimes when he’s dissatisfied, he writes them himself. He praises himself, and has people spread it. Let me think—the most famous hymn in the Tianhai Empire, the ‘Ode to Light’? He wrote it himself.”

At last, the Beast God concluded, “Such thick skin.”

Mu Xing: “…”

The noble, elegant face of the God of Light was now so cold it could drop shards of ice.

Mu Xing thought that if the two fought, his divine realm would suffer.

He quickly tried to soothe them. “Actually, it’s not a big deal. Who said gods must be without desires? If such small things make you happy, what’s the harm?”

The fire of anger in the God of Light was extinguished by those words.

He glanced at Mu Xing, lips curling in a smile. “You’re right.”

He looked at the Beast God, speaking lazily. “It’s still better than certain people who yearn for epic heroism, and keep creating alternate bodies to deceive believers.”

Mu Xing: ?

His hand holding the wine cup trembled slightly. Godly gossip was too intense.

The God of Light reciprocated mercilessly, exposing the Beast God’s secrets.

It turned out, the Beast God loved hearing epic tales and always dreamed of being a hero.

But he was already a supreme god, with no chance to live that kind of life.

So he split off a fragment of himself, erased its memory, and sent it into the human world, arranging for it to live many different lives, each one legendary and grand.

The God of Light mocked, “The people of the Vista Empire would never guess that half of their historical heroes were actually the same person.”

“Oh.” He lightly covered his lips, eyes mocking. “The same god.”

The Beast God: “…”

He glared angrily at the God of Light.

The God of Light was not afraid, leisurely pouring himself another glass of wine.

Mu Xing glanced left and right, finally understanding.

Let them glare.

They wouldn’t actually fight.

These two were probably destined rivals. Though outwardly hostile, they were also the only ones who still shared those old, cherished memories.

With such ties, it wasn’t his place as an “outsider god” to mediate.

Sure enough, the two managed to keep things controlled, maintaining a relatively calm atmosphere.

They drank a round of wine at Mu Xing’s place, left behind a gift, and then each departed.

Mu Xing looked back to the mortal world.

Perhaps because the God of Light had issued some oracle, the Tianhai Empire’s army withdrew from the border.

Naya and Nato, along with several other duchies and tribes, reunited through their faith in the gods, reestablishing the once-prosperous Naya Empire of a thousand years ago.

The royal family of Nato all went to the Tianhai Empire. Loyal in their devotion to the God of Light, they spent a great fortune and received a good noble title. It seemed they intended to settle there permanently.

Everything should have been developing in a particularly good direction.

Mu Xing even felt that he had never been this smooth in any world before.

But he always sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

Endless streams of power of faith flowed from his followers onto him, and his divine power steadily increased.

He listened to their prayers, the divine power of the God of Earth and Nature nourishing the soil of Naya. From now on, this land would forever be fertile.

Then what was it that made him faintly uneasy?

Mu Xing thought of one person.

Inside the temple, the high priest heard a gentle call.

He lifted his head in excitement and saw a young man with black hair and black eyes appear before him.

This youth was exceedingly handsome and gentle, with serene black eyes that seemed to contain endless mystery and vitality.

Or’s body trembled, staring blankly at him. “You are… my god?”

He had once been fortunate enough to glimpse the true form of a god, and this youth resembled that statue by seven parts, only his temperament seemed much more mild and modest.

“It is I,” Mu Xing said. “That merchant named Barton, do you know where he is?”

Or didn’t understand why he suddenly asked about Barton. Still immersed in the shock of seeing his god, he blankly shook his head and stammered: “Barton, three months ago he fell ill and passed away.”

He remembered how the god had commanded that no virgin blood was needed for offerings, and he had angrily confronted Barton, accusing him of deceit.

Barton had looked aggrieved and apologized, saying he only read it in an old book and did not know whether it was true or false.

After that, Barton fell ill. At the time, Or was busy with matters for the god, and by the time he heard the news, Barton had already been buried.

Or asked uneasily: “My god, is there some problem with Barton?”

His mind couldn’t help but spiral into conspiracy: could it be that Barton deliberately misled me back then just to stop me from reviving the god?

Mu Xing shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

He had already investigated Barton long ago. Barton was indeed an ordinary merchant with a very clean background.

Mu Xing said: “I am very curious about this land of Naya. I want to walk around. Or, are you willing to be my guide?”

Or was so overjoyed he almost knelt again, but Mu Xing stopped him with divine power.

*

Not long after, the most prestigious Temple of Earth in Baling City gained a new priest.

High Priest Or personally confirmed that this newcomer, Priest Velad, was deeply favored by the god. His perception of the divine even surpassed Or’s own.

The whole Naya Empire boiled over.

Everyone knew how much the high priest had sacrificed for the god’s revival. Yet here was someone even more trusted by the god?

They were full of curiosity about this Velad. In no time, he was invited by all of Baling’s nobles, and even the emperor himself invited him to a banquet in the palace.

Waves of praise spread everywhere as Priest Velad appeared in these occasions.

They said this priest had pure black hair and eyes, a refined and otherworldly appearance, gentle manners, and was deeply devout to the god.

Some even believed that this young priest might one day succeed the high priest himself.

In just a few days, the name of Priest Velad spread throughout the Naya Empire.

Sure enough, before long, Velad began traveling with the high priest to inspect temples across the empire.

The people only became more certain of their suspicions.

As for the protagonist of these rumors, Or was excited beyond words each day.

Mu Xing, however, was basically enjoying a state-funded sightseeing trip: seeing the scenery, eating authentic foods, and petting big cats…

That’s right.

The only thing that annoyed Or was the presence of that detestable Amos, son of the Duke of Vista, who shamelessly tagged along.

Or strongly suspected Amos had discovered Velad’s true identity, because from the moment Amos laid eyes on him, he refused to leave his side. Or couldn’t chase him away—since that damned beastman would transform into his beast form and roll around acting spoiled before the god.

Shameless!

And the god actually liked it.

The god even asked for a comb, personally brushing that stupid lion’s fur.

Or: hateful that I cannot transform!

Mu Xing really did think Amos was beautiful—meaning his beast form.

The towering, fierce snow lion, its entire body pure white without a single blemish. Despite its imposing power, it would flop onto its back and show its belly at your feet.

Ah!

Petting cats was true bliss.

It was only Or’s looks of disapproval that made Mu Xing feel like some strange, guilty scoundrel, petting this big cat as though betraying something.

On one side, a devout and beautiful high priest. On the other, a handsome, adorable big cat.

Hiss—Mu Xing suddenly understood the former Earth God’s feelings toward his two younger brothers a little better.

Happy days of travel slipped by quickly.

One day, their group arrived at a city called Edgar.

It was a bustling little city of about thirty thousand people, with fervent faith and three temples to the Earth God.

The moment Mu Xing stepped into Edgar, he felt endless streams of faith surge into him.

That influx of faith, filling and nourishing his being, was intoxicating. He and Or stayed at the largest temple in the city.

That night.

Everyone fell into dreams.

Moonlight was veiled by clouds, as a black shadow crept toward the bed of the priest.

“What a beautiful face,” the figure in black muttered greedily, staring at the young priest and reaching out to touch him.

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