Chapter 293: See You Again, Golden Monkey

Fishing village, early morning.

Accompanied by his mother's shout, the seventeen-year-old boy slowly sat up from bed, opening his weary and dull eyes; only after a long while did he snap out of his tangled thoughts, and he couldn't help but sigh self-mockingly:

"Being a god to this extent, I'm probably the only one throughout history..."

Other households' deities, whether proper gods or wild gods, who isn't mighty and awe-inspiring before their believers? In a normal household, the deity stays forever high above; mortals merely need to tremble while offering incense, and any extra word the deity says to the faithful is considered a great honor, a blessing cultivated over three lifetimes!

"What? You still dare to be dissatisfied? I think you're showing signs of disloyalty and unfilial behavior……"

In short, the relationship between deity and believers ought to be strictly hierarchical and orderly, which saves the deity trouble and, for believers, helps increase reverence, making them more devout.

But Lin Liu, on the other hand, hasn't had a single peaceful day since he started gathering followers! Due to lack of experience as a deity, Lin Liu didn't know he should vigorously craft an inviolable, glorious divine image; instead, he became overly approachable.

For believers who constantly seek the deity to confide their woes every few days, he only knows to blindly meet their demands—granting wishes by day and working overtime at night to send dreams, emphasizing a policy of 'answer every request……'

Originally, Lin Liu's dharma form was terrifying—his whole body emanated bloody-red hostility and killing intent, looking far from benevolent, so at first the believers were quite afraid of him, their speech and conduct restrained, not daring to chat too casually with him.

But now, seeing how approachable he is and lacking any airs, the believers gradually stopped fearing him, and their conversation topics gradually turned frivolous:

"Deity, I've been suffering insomnia lately—could there be an issue with my lifespan? Deity, my cat and dog keep urinating everywhere; is there any way to cure that?"

"Deity, my parents gave me a beating; is there any way to endure a beating without pain……"

The questions grew increasingly absurd, yet Lin Liu felt nothing wrong; believers dared to ask, and he dared to answer! He would answer whatever he could, and for what he couldn't, he would expend divine power to work out an answer before replying.

After doing this for a while, all kinds of trivial matters piled up, each demanding his personal attention; working 24/7 became routine, and being a deity felt no better than being a beast of burden……

But this brought gains!

Under Lin Liu's self-exploitation through overtime, the believers may lack much reverence, but their faith in him remains quite solid.

After all, a deity who constantly circles himself and shows various miracles has maximized presence and efficacy; to not believe him would be somewhat brainless……

Thus, Lin Liu, akin to a beast of burden, actually took to this gladly.

However, his duties were limited to answering the crowd's questions, not including wish-granting, killing, or the like.

If someone sought wealth, he would only provide a set of effective business plans, not hand out money directly.

If someone wanted to kill and harm others, he would only scold the believers and educate them to follow the teachings, becoming law-abiding citizens! If someone became even more extreme, he would not go easy, directly assigning the idle veterans among the first-generation believers to go over and give that person a sound beating:

"Rascal! Send the Blood God Son to them, one by one!"

Although Lin Liu didn't want to abuse the Blood God Son, for those who give face then reject it, he wouldn't be stingy, freely offering a round of brainwashing service, guaranteeing a change of heart and a fresh start……

Under such a balanced reward-and-punishment development policy, Lin Liu's endeavors were thriving; if he wanted to massively expand his following, it would be a breeze! Yet after weighing various factors, Lin Liu still abandoned the expansion policy: first, the external situation was unfavorable—after all, the court is powerful, and although the Western King Divine Sect's teachings temporarily remain 'strive to be law-abiding citizens,' exposing themselves too early to the court's gaze would surely hinder development.

Second, the internal composition is impure, and the populace's quality is low; a bunch of illiterate fishermen and farmers could never bear the banner of rebellion! For example, the quality of the Western King Rebellion Army that Lin Liu had seen in his past life……

One can only say, expecting such a worthless gang to achieve great things will inevitably end in defeat and death! Thus Lin Liu fully absorbed the lessons of Xi Wang, believing it necessary to raise the followers' quality—cultural knowledge, practical knowledge, moral and legal knowledge……none could be lacking.

In the future, a foundation of pure excellence and soaring quality will be truly important.

To that end, Lin Liu spared no divine power, sending dreams at midnight to all believers, gathering them together to hold big meetings and give big lessons, achieving the great goal of universal literacy without disrupting normal production and life.

One can only say, his performance as a deity is truly lacking prestige, like a foolish teacher who pays out of pocket to run a school……

【You treat the deity as a beast of burden—this is shocking to heaven and earth, moving ghosts and gods; throughout history you are unique, without precedent, and perhaps without successor!】

【But your efforts are meaningful; after fourteen years of steadfast struggle, you, only seventeen, have already spread your faith to dozens of villages big and small around you, and they are all your true fans.】

【And after reaching such a scale, you temporarily slowed the expansion of your territory, shifting the development focus from 'quantity' to 'quality,' wanting to give them a universal literacy campaign!】

【Small meetings daily, big meetings monthly; to collectively elevate the quality of these villagers who have eked out a living on this plot of land for generations, you exhausted your efforts, giving lessons day and night.】

【Although sending dreams actually equals sleeping and doesn't affect bodily rest, due to your excessive workload you still wake up feeling spiritless…… thus you are often scolded by your father as a lazy worm.】 【This is your price.】

【Of course, there is another price: your incense divine power never accumulates, being used like flowing water, taken from the believers and returned to them…… you do not produce incense power; you are merely a carrier of incense……】

【However, you don't care much about this, because beginnings are hard, and laying the foundation early is crucial; only with a positive incense foundation can you reliably power your future great undertaking.】

【Such a trifling amount of incense divine power—when you someday span states and commanderies, carving out your own domain, you'll have as much as you need; why pity it? Being penny-pinching, lacking vision, will only ruin the grand plan!】

【Yes, you harbor ambition in your heart; although you keep stressing that your doctrine is 'be law-abiding citizens,' the court is declining day by day, bandits run rampant, and national decline is evident—whether you want to seize the throne or not, thereafter the only path open will surely be rebellion.】

【All this concealing of talents and hiding one's traces is solely for a stunning debut……】

【……】

【Of course, all those grand strategies for governing the realm you mentioned have never been revealed; you always use that dharma form when sending dreams, keeping the existence of your true self hidden from outsiders.】

【The reasons are partly that you by nature dislike standing out, so you deliberately conceal your true self, and partly stem from the bloody lesson of your past life's Xi Wang!】

【Dao cultivators are inherently lopsided; the primordial spirit's dharma form wields infinite power, yet the physical body is no different from an ordinary person's—once the true self is exposed, it's easy to be slain by mortals, just as past-life Xi Wang was, struck by random arrows and a finishing blow, dying with eyes open even after achieving dharma form……】

【Your understanding of cultivation is limited; you can only cautiously feel your way across the river by following Xi Wang—if you don't understand, it's fine, just do the opposite of what he did!】

【"Xi Wang, you died well!"】

【You silently thank him for using himself as a negative example, a great kindness, and then sigh, saying: 'To thank Xi Wang, I decide that, once a suitable opportunity arises, I will send him again to the Western Heaven……'】

【In short, fearing exposure, you have always acted completely normal in daily life, so much so that even your parents haven't noticed your difference.】

【Daily casting nets to catch fish, diving for shells, making salted fish and shrimp paste—these fisherman skills you had already mastered in your past life you have honed to perfection, working with high efficiency and great effort…… your parents see this, yet although they still complain you're a sleepy lazybones, they don't scold you much……】

【And as your age increases day by day, your parents also begin arranging your marriage.】

【Just as in your past life, they selected the fisherman's daughter from the same village who grew up alongside you; you have not objected, even though your karmic burden in this life is far greater than before, but you have always kept your position proper.】

【You don't consider yourself superior to others, nor do you think they are unworthy of you; on the contrary, after decades of constant companionship in your past life, your feelings for your wife are very deep.】

【Especially the past-life venture of going to sea to seek immortality—you feel you have failed your wife, unable to share a bed and tomb with her, so you intend in this life to make up for everything; although you are no longer the clueless, foolish fisherman's boy of your past life, your feelings and intentions remain unchanged!】

【Thus, the wedding date was soon set, as natural as in your past life.】

【However, you didn't focus solely on the wedding; at this critical moment, you still had one major matter to attend to.】

【You silently picked the day, had yourself skip the day's sea‑fishing trip in advance, and then, amid your father's complaints, you saw him off alone rowing out to sea while you sat quietly by the shore, waiting for that pivotal moment that would affect your whole life……】

Lin Liu sat cross-legged by the seaside; the fishy sea breeze blew gently, stirring his hair and his thoughts, prompting him to sigh wistfully: "Another cycle of reincarnation……"

This is where the dream of my past life began, and also the turning point of my fate; it was here that my past self first encountered the monkey, and from that moment on I was destined never to resign myself to ordinariness.

It opened the door to a new world for my youthful self; thereafter I never forgot the talk of deities and monsters, until finally, in old age, I set out to sea by boat and embarked on that concluding journey……

In this life, it has come again.

How should I deal with it this time? Holding myriad thoughts, Lin Liu gazed toward the place where sea and sky meet:

A broken raft drifted ever closer to the shore under the sea wind's gusts.

On the raft, a faint, dreamlike golden light glimmered...

(End of chapter)