After reading the contents, Lu Zhi, his expression odd, returned the white paper to the village chief and said to Shen Qi, "This white paper lists the tribute for each year. This year's tribute is me."
Lu Zhi sighed, a guess having been vaguely forming in his heart. Upon confirmation, he felt only peace.
"Mother and Child God," a chilling light seeped from the depths of Lu Zhi's dark eyes. He glanced at the wooden tablet beneath the incense burner on the shrine, picked it up to examine it, and his expression gradually turned grim.
Shen Qi's tone was calm, "During the chaos of world rules, many false gods were born. Qing Shen Village is a den of gods. Can you guess what price false gods must pay to be born?"
Lu Zhi lowered his gaze and placed the wooden tablet back on the shrine. "To achieve godhood through the bizarre requires trampling on countless lives. Gods are false gods, evil gods, birthed from mortal desires. They are evil."
The birth of the Mother and Child God was one such testament to evil.
The wooden tablet on the shrine detailed the origin of the Mother and Child God.
It was a cliché story: a mother and son, who had lost their family in war, were kind-hearted and had helped many. Instead of receiving kindness in return, their beauty attracted covetousness. "Lips tasted by thousands, arms embraced by countless."
The true reason for the Mother and Child God's birth was being forced by her beloved son into an incestuous act, destroying her maternal love and transforming it into boundless hatred. She devoured her son alive. Ultimately, she slaughtered everyone who had violated her, as well as those who had stood by indifferently, before committing suicide. Unaware of the truth, people fashioned her into a Mother and Child God.
"Truly ironic," Lu Zhi's lips twisted into a thin, cold smile. For the sake of maternal love, she endured humiliation, only to be dragged into a hellish abyss, her last shred of dignity trampled upon.
How ridiculous and sorrowful.
"Offering up one's beloved son, gnawing on flesh and blood, to protect a region's peace." As soon as Lu Zhi murmured these words, the white candles beside the incense burner swayed without wind. The flames were even more crimson than the scarlet moon hanging high above, as if fueled by blood, contorting into a shape filled with hatred and malice towards the world.
"Do you know the difference between a god and a spirit?" Shen Qi picked up a candle. The red flame illuminated his delicate face, yet inexplicably exuded a hint of chilling ghostliness. "Spirits are products born from malevolent thoughts, while gods are the cleanest chosen by the world."
Lu Zhi's pupils contracted.
Shen Qi chuckled softly. Deep within his silver-grey irises, a wisp of black flame seemed to be slowly rising. He murmured, "Therefore, you are the only clean god in this world."
Lu Zhi's thoughts were somewhat jumbled.
If he was the only clean god, then what about Shen Qi? How had he become a god? No, that was wrong. Shen Qi detested his godhood, because he considered his own birth to be 'unclean.'
"Don't you dislike me?" Shen Qi tilted his head slightly. The candle flame flickered, casting shadows on his face, making it appear bright and hazy. The faint, almost imperceptible unease in the depths of his eyes clearly conveyed it to Lu Zhi.
Shen Qi was, step by step, revealing a corner of his secret to him.
Lu Zhi reached out and took Shen Qi's hand, snatching the candle from him with his other hand and placing it back on the shrine. The flickering flame calmed. After a long silence, he slowly met Shen Qi's gaze, "I don't know what kind of... god I was in your eyes, in your heart, before I recovered my memories."
"Even without recovering my memories, I can tell you with certainty."
"There is no absolutely clean existence in this world. It's just that you haven't known what kind of person I was before becoming a god."
Lu Zhi held Shen Qi's hand and slowly walked out of the barrier. His body gradually returned to its adult form as he moved away from the Mother and Child God. He turned back with a shallow smile, "Shen Qi, when I haven't recovered my memories yet, get to know me more. The me who has recovered memories might not be as easy to see clearly as I am now."
Shen Qi turned and clasped Lu Zhi's hand tightly.
The surrounding scenery abruptly shifted and disintegrated.