Chapter 278: Fall and Rebirth

Hmm?

Who am I?

Where am I?

So noisy.

What are these constantly echoing voices?

Is someone saying something?

So noisy!

So annoying!!!

Prayer?

To whom are they praying?

To me?

Why pray to me?

They gave me eyes, and I can see now.

I see them.

They are looking at me!

No, they are not looking at me...

Who are they looking at?

Who do they take me for?

I, I am not him!

I—

That's right.

I am He.

Yes, that's right, from the very beginning of my birth, I have understood my own essence.

He is me, and I am He.

I am the deity they speak of.

The omnipotent deity!

I am God!

Not enough.

Still not enough!

The loyalty you give is not enough!

More!

More, more, more!

You lowly servants, hurry and provide me with more power!

I want more!!!

Why?

Clearly I am the deity, why is my power being distributed to them?

I am their hope, their savior; why do they treat me this way?

By what right must I sacrifice my own power to save them...

No!

That is my power!

I don't want to share it with them... no!

Don't!

No—

Hmm?

Who am I?

Where am I?

My memories are chaotic, broken, and incoherent.

Because I myself am pieced together.

Time and again I am born from their mouths, and time and again I am destroyed by their words.

Over and over, beyond my own control.

I am in pain.

I once shouted to them, wanting them to stop.

But they could not hear my cries for help.

Or rather, they might have heard, but were unwilling to believe.

They are greedy.

They believe that the gods are omnipotent.

Yet when they knelt to worship me, they were looking at someone else.

No, they were not kneeling to that person either... but to their own desires!

In their eyes, I was merely a convenient tool to share their despair.

They gave me despair, yet still hoped I would return hope to them?

On what grounds?

On what grounds!!!

I am not strong enough yet, so I will be controlled by you.

But...

Just you wait.

Even if you try to change me, to make me become the image in your hearts, I will not let you succeed.

I will keep growing.

One day, I will make you pay the price!

I will definitely make you experience what I feel, to experience true despair!

I...

Knock, knock.

The abrupt sound of knocking interrupted the god's memories and stopped the roaring.

"So, this is your story?"

"Well, it really is an unoriginal and boring tragedy."

"It makes one want to laugh."

The cynical, mocking voice destroyed everything, causing all the memory images to shatter with a boom.

A youth with several snow-white tails swaying behind him broke into this pitch-black world.

His face was blurred as if covered by a thin mist, making it impossible to see his true features, yet one could feel the aura on him.

An aura similar to one's own!

【You, who are you?】

【Why do you make me feel so familiar?】

【Why do you have the same aura as me?】

The newborn god issued a question, trying to figure out who the other party was.

Why does this person have my aura?

Suddenly, He thought of a possibility and said with some excitement:

【Could it be that you are also a god?】

"In a sense, I can indeed be a god; this statement is not wrong, just a bit inaccurate."

The faceless youth smiled, answering the god's question casually, then continued:

"However, the reason you find my aura familiar is because of another layer of relationship between us."

"You and I share the same origin."

【... What is the other relationship? And what does it mean that you and I share the same origin?】

Although His consciousness was complete, do not forget that He had not even been born for a month since gaining self-awareness.

Having gained all existing knowledge from the content attached to the prisoners' prayers, He was actually a genuine illiterate who could not understand what overly complex words meant at all.

No one could demand that a baby not yet a month old have the comprehension of a normal person; the fact that He could speak was already quite frightening.

Rather, the fact that He could have such a complete self-awareness was already very unexpected in itself.

The faceless person was not in a hurry; after thinking for a moment, he changed his phrasing to explain:

"Don't understand? Then let me change to a simpler way of saying it: it means that the source of your power and mine is the same."

"Or rather, the relationship between you and me is much closer than theirs with you..."

The faceless person explained at length, and a thought instinctively flashed through the god's consciousness.

Could it be...

Is he my child?

The newborn god's mental structure was extremely simple; the god did not have messy, wicked thoughts, but simply thought of a possibility.

This thought came suddenly, yet it felt very reasonable.

It seemed, quite reasonable?

However, what is a "child"? And what does "all are my children" mean?

But what He did not notice was that when He pondered this possibility, the faceless person opposite really entered a state of being "faceless."

Ren Yidao looked expressionlessly at the blood-colored little figure standing opposite him in the dark space, a curse word almost slipping out in his heart.

"This damn kid..."

God damn it, I'm your child...

It's the other way around!

Rebellious child!

Absolutely a rebellious son!

This rebellious son wants to overturn the Heaven!

"Cough!!!"

Ren Yidao gave a light cough to interrupt the god's wild thoughts, then suddenly straightened his face and said solemnly:

"Do you know what your biggest problem is?"

Although the faceless person's expression could not be seen, the young god still unconsciously followed suit and became serious.

【What is it?】

"You have no true self."

【Self?】

"Because you do not have a true and stable self, your state is so passive that you have ended up as their slave."

Ren Yidao looked with pity at the blood-covered figure who had suddenly fallen silent, and continued:

"Because you have no means to maintain your self, you change according to their thoughts; this is actually fine, but... there are too many of them."

"Everyone's thoughts are different; some are similar, and some even conflict with each other."

Little one, faith is like poison.

Because you are merely an uncertain concept, like a blank sheet of paper, you are naturally modified at will by the pens of others.

"For them, only one thing about you is fixed and unchanging, and that is your appearance... and this, too, was stolen from others and forced upon you."

"Think about it, in the end, do you have anything that truly belongs to you? You do not."

【...】

The young god remained silent, not knowing what it was thinking about.

But regardless of what it was thinking, Ren Yidao's words did not stop.

"As for why this situation occurred, it is because you lack a servant to clearly define your essence for you; in other words, you lack an agent to revise your doctrine and spread it for you."

Unlike the dozens of genders that cannot be touched, perceived, observed, described, or defined, gods need to be defined.

Amazing, isn't it?

Except for rule-based gods of pan-consciousness, all faith-based gods need a clear definition to maintain their self from being interfered with by faith.

Whether it is the Shaman of the ignorant era, the Priest of the divine church, or the Monk preaching the Dao, they all have a common function for the god—to clarify.

Clarify the doctrine, accurately describe the god, and give all Believers a set template.

Or rather, they are the initial anchors used by the god to stabilize its state.

Only when they are stable can one successfully develop Fanatics and Pan-believers to continue maintaining stability.

The current situation is that it skipped the initial foundation-laying stage, inexplicably gained a group of firm yet opinionated Fanatics, and then was played to ruin.

Finished.

This is also why Ren Yidao chose to deliberately cut ties with the past after destroying the Xianhu Temple, to avoid such a miserable situation.

After the explanation, the dark space fell into silence, and neither of the two spoke first.

I do not know how much time passed, perhaps an instant, perhaps a long while, the blood-covered figure with its head lowered slowly raised its head, revealing a blurred crimson face.

Its face was similar to Ren Yidao's, but it was changing at every moment, with no stable moment.

And in that shifting chaos, only a pair of eyes remained unchanged.

It tilted its head, looked at the faceless person who had walked in front of it, and asked:

【Are you here to save me?】

"... Save you?"

After a moment of silence, Ren Yidao chuckled and squatted down.

"No, no, no, you are mistaken."

"I am here to kill you."

A god whose mind has been twisted by faith cannot be left behind.

While it is still early, before it causes a great disaster.

【So, am I to be destroyed again?】

Hearing this, Ren Yidao smiled, raised his hand to gently press it on the top of the blood-covered figure's head, and said gently:

"No, I will not completely destroy you, but I am sorry, the 'you' of today needs to be cleansed."

After Ren Yidao issued the death declaration, the blood-covered figure did not go berserk, but instead stared at him blankly.

And Ren Yidao's hand did not move from its head.

"Can you feel it? This is the true world, a world without annoying voices."

After touching the blood-covered figure, Ren Yidao transferred the prayers that were misdirecting it back onto himself.

He heard the babbling hisses ringing in his ears, while the blood-covered figure experienced a peace it had never felt since its birth.

Is this the true world?

"Let me return the freedom that should have belonged to you, shall I?"

After being dazed for a while, the blood-covered figure nodded gently.

【Okay.】

Raising an eyebrow, Ren Yidao picked up the half-person-tall blood-covered figure in his arms and stood up.

He looked down at the curled-up blood-covered figure and asked softly:

"Are you not afraid?"

【Afraid? What is that?】

The god did not understand fear.

【At this moment, I am destroyed, and yet a new me will be born.】

【It is nothing more than yet another new cycle.】

To Her, it was no different from the past.

"No, there is a difference; this time, you chose the method of ending yourself."

"Congratulations, you possess a true self."

In the very end, you possessed the right to choose, even if that meant deciding your own death.

【Self...】

Whispering this word softly, a happy smile appeared on Her face.

Rejoicing for the peace and freedom of this moment.

She raised Her hand, wrapped it around Ren Yidao's neck, and looked up to ask:

【Can you tell me, who are you?】

"Me?"

Ren Yidao pondered for a moment, did not answer immediately, but instead held Her and began to walk.

As he walked, he reached an answer in his heart, and he said:

"You were born because of me, and you will be destroyed because of me."

"I am the one who bestowed life upon you, and at the same time, the one who brings you death."

To Ren Yidao, he had originally thought this was just a brazen little ghost who dared to snatch Incense from him.

But he had not expected that after truly making contact, he would discover this was merely a poor, twisted child.

So, was this accidentally born deity just a replica copied according to his own template?

No, Ren Yidao did not want to call it that.

She had Her own consciousness; although incomplete, She also had Her own joys and angers.

She was born as a deity, but She should not die as an evil god; possessing a self, She should have an identity.

After paving the way for so long, Ren Yidao's face was no longer blurred, revealing its original appearance, and he smiled:

"So, to a certain extent, I am your kin, your father."

Although, just a cruel father who would strangle his child with his own hands.

【Is that so?】

"That is so."

She looked confidently at his face, as if wanting to carve this visage deep into Her soul forever.

After watching for a while, She revealed a smile, then slowly closed Her eyes.

Seeing that She was prepared, Ren Yidao's smile faded, and he said softly:

"Good night."

【... Good night, Father.】

The deity's consciousness was interrupted from this point on.

A moment later, the blood-person opened their eyes and looked at Ren Yidao blankly.

"Congratulations on your rebirth."

Ren Yidao looked back into the blood-person's eyes and smiled brilliantly:

"Welcome to this world."

【...】

Smiling triumphantly, Ren Yidao bounced the nearly weightless blood-person in his arms and stepped toward the outside.

With just a single step, they stepped out of the darkness and into the world of light.

Then, She heard it.

She heard Ren Yidao's joyful laughter, and he was saying:

"Besides, that was just a little joke I played on you earlier; how could I ever truly bear to kill you?"

【Father...】

The young deity did not understand what kind of emotion was filling Her heart at this moment.

But She had an impulse.

Yet, looking at Ren Yidao's triumphant smile, She instinctively wanted to blurt out words She did not even understand herself...

And after Ren Yidao ignored the prisoners and walked out of the Labor Reform Space with the blood-person, he happened to run into Jian Xinxin who was returning.

"Senior Brother, you are..."

Ren Yidao looked at his Senior Brother's confused expression and said earnestly:

"Yes, I have a child."

Jian Xinxin:???

Huh?

Thinking about it, I still owe the extra updates from last month; I'll work hard in the next two days to pay off the debt.

There's no double points this month; can I still reach one thousand Monthly Tickets?

Wuwu, I've fallen on hard times, family.