Shen Yu looked up at the scholars and the Zhenbei Army busy in the distance, then withdrew his gaze to look at Pei Wanning. His tone was incredibly calm. “Miss Pei, how do you think the Divine Lady treats the living beings of this world?”
Pei Wanning was slightly startled and said subconsciously, “Her benevolence is as heavy as a mountain, of course. Without the Divine Lady, the north would have been destroyed long ago, Yecheng Academy would not exist in this world, and the people of the south would not even know if they could survive this winter...”
“Yes, the Divine Lady's benevolence to mortals is as heavy as a mountain.” Shen Yu lowered his voice so much that it was barely audible to anyone but the two of them. “She concerns Herself with every single hardship in the mortal realm.”
“But is this really a good thing?”
Pei Wanning's brow twitched. She wanted to argue, but Shen Yu's next words stopped her.
“Miss Pei, have you ever thought that if things continue like this, mortals will become dependent on the Divine Lady, like ivy clinging to a tree?”
“Furthermore...”
As he spoke, his gaze swept past the collapsed city walls toward the gray, distant horizon.
“If there is karma in this world, then what kind of price must the Divine Lady pay for doing so much for the human world?”
Pei Wanning's expression changed dramatically. Her fingers tightly gripped her sleeves as she eagerly took half a step forward. “What do you mean by that? Do you know something?”
Shen Yu shook his head. “I do not know anything. But I can feel that the Divine Lady has always been teaching us how to be self-reliant. She bestowed the Divine Seeds, the celestial books, the Body Tempering Technique, and the methods of entering the Dao... None of these things were meant to make us rely on Her forever. They were meant to ensure we can live well even after She leaves the mortal realm.”
He did not tell Pei Wanning the matter that worried him most, because it was merely his conjecture. Speaking it aloud would only cause panic among everyone.
Nüwa Mending the Heavens—what a heavy phrase.
If the peace and tranquility of the mortal realm required the sacrifice of the Divine Lady, then not just him, but probably every believer of the Divine Lady would rather not have this peace.
Pei Wanning did not notice Shen Yu's brief lapse of attention. She gazed at the scholars and the Zhenbei Army who were saving lives. “Second Young Master Shen, you are right. Mortals must eventually learn to walk on their own, otherwise how are they any different from marionettes?”
She fell silent for a moment. “But even so, you didn't need to risk your life by forging a divine decree! You and I have both witnessed the Divine Lady's wrath. Are you not afraid of death?”
Shen Yu smiled. His smile was as faint as thin ice on winter water, shattering at a touch.
“If the Divine Lady wishes to punish me, I am willing to accept it. I only hope that, for the sake of our camaraderie, Miss Pei will not speak of this—at least not before this great cataclysm of the mortal realm is over.”
Pei Wanning pursed her lips and remained silent.
Just then, several cries of alarm came from nearby. A scholar from Yecheng Academy had collapsed, having overexerted his essence and spirit.
Seeing this, Pei Wanning turned to walk over. She took two steps, paused, and looked back to leave a word. “Second Young Master Shen, I will keep your secret, but only on the condition that your desire to protect the common people and the Divine Lady is genuine. If I find out that even a single word of what you said today was a lie, I will not let you off.”
Shen Yu bowed with cupped hands toward her retreating figure.
Only after Pei Wanning had walked far away did Yun Shu slowly emerge from behind a section of broken wall, leading her white horse.
The invisibility effect of the Floating Cloud Hairpin was still active. She stood three paces behind Shen Yu, and no one noticed her.
The little fox leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Host, although Shen Yu did well this time, he actually had the audacity to forge your divine decree. If you don't step in to teach him a small lesson as a warning, it might encourage bad behavior.”
If such actions went unpunished, the people of this world would surely become less and less respectful of her host.
No way! Absolutely not! Her host should be revered forever!
Yun Shu looked at Shen Yu. The cuffs of his sleeves were frayed, showing how incredibly busy he had been these past few days.
“Tongzi,” she said in a leisurely tone. “Who told you that Shen Yu forged the divine decree?”
The little fox was stunned.
“As long as I do not deny it, then it is real.”
As Yun Shu spoke, her gaze drifted past Shen Yu toward the city that was being rebuilt brick by brick.
The soldiers of the Zhenbei Army and the scholars were busy saving lives, and the able-bodied youths in the city were not idling either.
Near the city gates, many people were transporting sand and mud, the wheels of their wooden handcarts creaking along the gravel road.
Their straw sandals were worn through with holes, exposing their toes, yet not a single person stopped to rest.
Everyone was moving. No one was kneeling on the ground waiting for a miracle.
“The people of this world have already stood up. Even without me, they can support the sky on their own.” There was a trace of gratification in Yun Shu's voice.
The little fox looked conflicted. “Host, are you not planning to step in and resolve the natural disasters sent by the Great God this time?”
“Tongzi, you should have more faith in them.”
Hearing this, the little fox also recalled the actions of the Yecheng Academy scholars and the Zhenbei Army just now. In the end, it nodded heavily at Yun Shu.
In the span of just a few sentences, the city wall that had collapsed from the earthquake had risen by about a cun.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the clouds, falling upon the soot-faced crowd and turning the sweat on their foreheads into a pale gold.
Seeing a white-haired old man also carrying stones, the little fox could not help but feel a pang of sympathy. But soon, it lowered its head and remained silent.
Yun Shu said, “You are invisible anyway, and no one can see you. If there is something you want to do, go do it.”
“Oh, right! I'm invisible!” The little fox's eyes instantly lit up, and it immediately trotted over to help the old man carry stones.
“How strange. Why did this stone suddenly get so light?” The old man scratched his head in confusion.
Yun Shu stood in place, watching the invisible little fox weave through the crowd, helping this person and that.
Previously, she had wondered why the system possessed human emotions and why its brain was not particularly sharp. Now, she had a rough idea of what was going on.
Since the little fox said it was a subsystem split from the Great God, its personality and human emotions were likely split from the Great God as well.
At this thought, she looked up at the common people busy rebuilding the city. “No wonder he could send down natural disasters to wipe out these living people without any psychological burden. He really is just an emotionless artificial intelligence.”
It was actually quite ironic. This omnipotent Great God feared these very people whom he could crush with a mere flick of his finger.
By now, what was there left for her not to understand? The foundation of the book world turning the unreal into reality, as well as the source of her power, was entirely derived from faith.
As an emotionless artificial intelligence, the Great God was destined to be unable to steal her believers in this world. Thus, he could only kill a portion of her believers in advance, so that the moment the world turned from unreal to reality, her strength would be greatly diminished.
Rate on N.U.
