His sadness was fleeting, merely an involuntary outpouring of grief stemming from his human instinct to respect life.
He wasn't a true god; he had always felt he was just a human, albeit one with a bit of chuunibyou. That was why he always liked it when people called him “Xun Shen.”
So “Xun Shen” never really had any special meaning; it only existed to satisfy Lu Xun’s odd chuunibyou streak.
“Oh wait, I think I’ve found a way to leave here.” Lu Xun was delighted. At that moment, his thought transformed into a tangible power, and a strange, deep, gray-white mist rose from beneath his feet, gradually swallowing him whole.
The gray mist obscured his vision. When he opened his eyes again, he was already sitting upon the divine throne at the head of the bronze long table.
“Isn’t this the gathering place?” Lu Xun looked around curiously and with surprise. “I actually came back here.”
“Wait, doesn’t that mean...” Lu Xun smiled as those red and purple stars reappeared in his mind.
He hadn't really held a proper meeting yet.
As soon as the thought occurred to him, he reflexively snapped his fingers.
Almost simultaneously, two clouds of deep gray mist appeared at two of the seats around the bronze long table.
The gray mist slowly dissipated, and Andrew’s vision returned. He stared at his surroundings in a daze, filled with terror.
Grinya’s initial reaction was similar to Andrew’s, but she had been here once before. She quickly realized what was happening and faced Lu Xun at the head of the table with piety and respect. She didn't dare look upon the true face of this great deity, so she kept her gaze lowered.
“Lord Xun Shen, Grinya greets you, cough cough.”
Lu Xun raised his arm, stopping her from continuing. “Your condition isn't good. Don't push yourself.”
Listening to the conversation between the two, Andrew suddenly understood.
He stood up excitedly, his eyes burning as he stared at Lu Xun. “Xun... Xun... Xun...”
He wanted to express his respect and loyalty to this god, but he was so excited that he couldn't even form a complete sentence.
Lu Xun pressed his hand down, feeling a bit helpless.
This was the first time he had met the young man Andrew in person. His appearance was exactly like the one on the card—sharp, thick hair, but with a fair and handsome face that possessed a certain youthful beauty.
He had thought Andrew would be a reliable and calm young man, but from his performance, he seemed even more overwhelmed than Grinya.
Was this his team?
A heavily injured fencer on the verge of mutation, and an immature teenage werewolf.
Could a team like this really shoulder the burden of exiling all the gods?
He sighed, rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache.
“Grinya, are you alright now?” he asked, looking at her.
“I won't hold you back, my Lord. Please rest assured,” Grinya said humbly and piously. However, she looked deathly weak; her face was pale and bloodless, and her skin was wrinkled and unsightly. She looked like a patient in the final stages of a terminal illness, yet she still insisted Lu Xun not worry because she didn't want to disappoint him.
“Why do you always force yourself? Do you think I would abandon you?” Lu Xun asked, not understanding.
Grinya lowered her head and remained silent.
“Don't always act like you have to be useful to me just to avoid being abandoned. You don't live for me. Your life belongs to you, so you should live for yourself, understand?” Lu Xun said.
He took out a bottle of emerald green potion. The liquid was clear and shimmering with light; it was a High-tier Health Potion.
The moment the thought was issued, the potion appeared out of thin air in Grinya's hand.
“Lord Xun Shen, this is?”
“A High-tier Health Potion. It can ease the symptoms of corruption on your body. My power is currently incomplete, so I cannot clear all the corruption at once. I'm sorry,” Lu Xun said.
Grinya was overwhelmed by the favor. A god was actually apologizing to her—what an incredible honor was this?
Even Andrew looked profoundly shocked.
“Lord Xun Shen, what about the God of Chaos?” Grinya asked cautiously.
“I’ve sealed it,” Lu Xun said.
He said it so effortlessly, as if he hadn't sealed a god but had merely locked a naughty kitten in a cage.
Grinya held her breath as tears of relief flowed from her eyes.
Andrew froze, his body stiff as a corpse, his expression one of utter horror.
What did he just hear? The legendary God of Chaos had been sealed?
Wait, wasn't the God of Chaos already sealed in the abyss? Why seal it again? Unless...
Andrew thought of a very terrible possibility, and his face instantly turned pale.
He had most likely just lived through a world-ending crisis that could have swept across the entire world, and at that time, he had been sound asleep, completely unaware of any apocalypse.
In other words, he had been just one step away from death. It sounded truly terrifying.
But unlike Andrew’s lingering fear, Grinya was softly sobbing. The crisis was finally over, and it should have been a happy ending, but she couldn't help her emotions or her tears.
She had sacrificed almost everything in this war. She had thought more than once about using her life to block a god.
She was only an eighteen-year-old girl who had just come into contact with the supernatural world a few weeks ago, yet the price she paid in this war was heavier than that of most people.
The burden of saving the world had once crushed her. She hadn't been without thoughts of giving up, but if even she gave up, who else would come to save this world?
She loved this world too, so she didn't want to see it destroyed.
She had buried her pain deep in her heart until everything finally ended. The sorrow, massive as a flood, immediately broke through her defenses. She was crying, but not just because of the excitement of finally surviving.
Andrew and Lu Xun both waited for her in silence. No one disturbed her, allowing her to vent the emotions she had suppressed for so long through her tears.
“Forgive me, Lord Xun Shen. I lost my composure,” she said, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, though new ones quickly replaced them.
“It's fine. I know this is an emotional moment, but this isn't just the end; it's a new beginning,” Lu Xun said.
Grinya and Andrew both looked toward him.
Lu Xun also looked at them seriously.
“The world has suffered under the gods for far too long. We need to create a new era—a brand new, godless era that will be forged by us.”
“But this is not something I can do alone. I need your help, and we need more and more people to join us. Together, we will overthrow the rule of the gods!”
“We can create an era where humans are the masters of their own destiny!”
Lu Xun spoke with passion and high spirits. His words were inspiring, as if that era where humans ruled themselves was already right before their eyes.
Grinya and Andrew’s breathing hitched.
Because even for them, Lu Xun’s speech felt a bit too arrogant and fantastical.
Gods had been the rulers of the world since ancient times. It was the consensus of the entire world that humans could never contend with gods. Humans had been oppressed for countless years, and they had long since grown accustomed to surviving only under the protection of deities; they had long ago lost the will to resist.
But there are always some people in this world who can sacrifice everything for an illusory and impractical ideal.
The reason Grinya and the others were chosen by Lu Xun was that they were fundamentally different from ordinary people.
“To the death, we follow Lord Xun Shen!”
They said in unison.
Rate on N.U.
