He said it so confidently, with the stubbornness of a young man.
The Holy Maiden in front of him remained silent, her head bowed.
She wasn’t the most powerful person in the Shigen Kingdom, but she was undoubtedly the most sacred and revered by countless believers.
She wore layers of solemn black veils and black silk, with blood-red patterns pressed on them, making her look dignified and divine, unattainable.
Suddenly, Hua Feng remembered that she was just in her twenties.
She sat there in silence, wrapped in layers of black sacred maiden attire, enveloped by the darkness of the top floor, her thin lips forming a curve that seemed to be a mix of a smile and a cry.
After a moment of silence, Hua Feng asked, “Do you also love my brother very much?”
The Holy Maiden responded with a soft ‘yes’. “But in his heart, there’s only you. He repeatedly talked about his brother. After he realized how much I liked him, he fell silent for a day and started talking about his brother more frequently.”
“I told him my real name, and he took a long time to realize who I was.” The Holy Maiden chuckled. “It’s ridiculous that I almost severed ties with my family for him.”
“Who would look at you guys? Without parents, even our household servants can mock you.” The Holy Maiden sneered, then continued, “But no one has treated me like that before. I was unwilling; I was angry.”
“I still... really liked him, just like the first glance on the street, the first time my face turned red and my heart raced.”
“What’s even more ridiculous,” the Holy Maiden fell silent for a moment, then said in a hoarse voice, “is that the only time he seriously looked at me was when he died.”
***
Yenan Wang said, “The first time, we chose two hundred flower attendants, and in the end, only the Holy Maiden and Hua Yuan remained.”
Haobei Jing said, “At that time, there was no accurate method of cultivation. Many flower attendants died miserably every day, and the Flower God’s temple was filled with the bodies of flower attendants. They were the only ones left, extremely precious, but also extremely fragile, on the verge of death.”
“We exerted so much effort, caused such a big commotion; we couldn’t come away empty-handed.”
Ning Su raised his eyes and looked at them. “What did you do?”
Yenan Wang said, “We knew that the Holy Maiden had cultivated the sacred flower well because of her anger and pain. We wanted her to use her power to nourish the sacred flower. Boldly, we made the decision to ensure at least one survived.”
Ning Changfeng impatiently asked, “What did you do?”
“We, in front of the Holy Maiden, slowly chopped Hua Yuan into pieces.”
***
Boom!
That day, thunder rumbled, and it poured rain heavily.
The glaring lightning illuminated the Flower God’s temple constructed in the color of the Dark Swamp. Bright white lightning tore through the dark sky, flashed across the hall, illuminating the gruesome bodies inside, only to disappear into the sky.
Yenan Wang and Haobei Jing watched the barely alive Holy Maiden and Hua Yuan, anxious like ants on a hot pan.
The emperor outside stabilized the overall situation; the flower attendants inside were their responsibility. If all the flower attendants died in the end, they would gain nothing. After expending so much manpower and resources, they certainly wouldn’t have a good outcome.
Yenan Wang stood up numbly, with cloudy eyes, and said harshly, “Let’s do as I just said. At least there’s still hope.”
Haobei Jing, with drooping eyelids, sighed seemingly helplessly, “It’s the only option we have.”
The two weakened flower attendants, as feeble as two elderly people, were dragged to the small round window in the hall where the only light in the dark hall could reveal each other’s faces.
The two weakened flower attendants were each tied to a chair.
With such a commotion, both of them opened their eyes simultaneously. In the flash of lightning, they looked at each other, haggard and silent, for a long time.
As the Holy Maiden gazed at Hua Yuan in this manner, the cold light reflected off the machete pierced into her eyes.
Her eyes widened abruptly, just as a drop of blood reached her pupils. Her moist pupils trembled for a moment but couldn’t calm down again.
She blinked in confusion, and in the half-blood and semi-dark world, she saw the most beautiful face in Furen County, Hua Yuan’s face, with a bloodied gash.
“No, no, please...”
She shivered all over, and the blood vessels in her stiffened body, even the ones connected to her trachea, trembled.
Hua Yuan opened his split lips and uttered three words to her.
She was dazed, unable to hear what he said clearly anymore, and the split lips no longer showed the shape of words.
She only saw two shaky elderly people, their emaciated arms lifting machetes, with layers of wrinkles on their faces forming a crazed and ferocious expression.
One slash from him, one slash from her.
“No!”
“No!”
“No!!!”
“Please.” The usually arrogant young lady cried repeatedly, “Please.”
“I’ll be obedient.”
“I’ll be obedient. I don’t want to marry him anymore!”
“I’m begging you! I won’t throw tantrums anymore! I won’t like him anymore.”
That night, in the only illuminated area of the dark hall, the desperate cries of a young girl overwhelmed the pouring rain, eventually drowned out by the deafening roar of thunder in the darkness.
Two elderly and frail figures, weakened yet frenzied, hacked the most handsome young man in Furen County into countless pieces.
There wasn’t much blood, just the red liquid splattering over the three of them.
They didn’t know when the rain stopped, and the thunder ceased.
Yet, the two old people still heard the steady sound of dripping.
Without thunder, there was no lightning. In the dim, rainy night without moonlight, they couldn’t see anything clearly.
Only the sound of dripping, followed by rustling.
It seemed like something was growing wildly, at their feet, along with every corpse, along the black tiles of the entire Flower God’s temple, spreading.
It also seemed to be spreading along their veins.
It was the most terrifying moment of their lives.
***
Hua Feng wept bitterly. “Why didn’t you kill them? They deserved to die.”
The Holy Maiden sat with her head bowed on a black chair, her dark long hair merging with her black robe.
No one could see the domineering and arrogant side of this solemn and sacred Holy Maiden, nor could they imagine her pitiful plea on that rainy night.
The ninth floor of the Flower God’s temple became unusually quiet, a silence that didn’t resemble the normal world of mortals.
Not even the sound of breathing.
Hua Feng wanted to hear some sound, strained to listen, and finally heard something.
It was the rustling sound of the wind, the pattering of rain, the deafening thunder, and the distant, painful cries of the young girl.
So real that Hua Feng felt the dampness and the unique earthy smell of a heavy rain, mixed with a bitter taste.
Hua Feng looked up, peering out of the small round window similar to the one on the third floor of the hall.
It was really raining heavily, with lightning tearing through the black sky.
The sky was too dark, only the lightning tearing it apart could illuminate it.
“No.”
After a while, the Holy Maiden spoke in a hoarse voice.
She revealed that enigmatic smile that Hua Feng couldn’t comprehend, stood up from the black chair, and held Hua Feng’s hand again, staring at the finger that grew from her hand. “They were going to be granted immortality, living eternally.”
She bent down close to Hua Feng’s finger and said, “Now it’s time for me to devour it.”
Hua Feng’s eyes widened abruptly.
He said it so confidently, with the stubbornness of a young man.
The Holy Maiden in front of him remained silent, her head bowed.
She wasn’t the most powerful person in the Shigen Kingdom, but she was undoubtedly the most sacred and revered by countless believers.
She wore layers of solemn black veils and black silk, with blood-red patterns pressed on them, making her look dignified and divine, unattainable.
Suddenly, Hua Feng remembered that she was just in her twenties.
She sat there in silence, wrapped in layers of black sacred maiden attire, enveloped by the darkness of the top floor, her thin lips forming a curve that seemed to be a mix of a smile and a cry.
After a moment of silence, Hua Feng asked, “Do you also love my brother very much?”
The Holy Maiden responded with a soft ‘yes’. “But in his heart, there’s only you. He repeatedly talked about his brother. After he realized how much I liked him, he fell silent for a day and started talking about his brother more frequently.”
“I told him my real name, and he took a long time to realize who I was.” The Holy Maiden chuckled. “It’s ridiculous that I almost severed ties with my family for him.”
“Who would look at you guys? Without parents, even our household servants can mock you.” The Holy Maiden sneered, then continued, “But no one has treated me like that before. I was unwilling; I was angry.”
“I still... really liked him, just like the first glance on the street, the first time my face turned red and my heart raced.”
“What’s even more ridiculous,” the Holy Maiden fell silent for a moment, then said in a hoarse voice, “is that the only time he seriously looked at me was when he died.”
***
Yenan Wang said, “The first time, we chose two hundred flower attendants, and in the end, only the Holy Maiden and Hua Yuan remained.”
Haobei Jing said, “At that time, there was no accurate method of cultivation. Many flower attendants died miserably every day, and the Flower God’s temple was filled with the bodies of flower attendants. They were the only ones left, extremely precious, but also extremely fragile, on the verge of death.”
“We exerted so much effort, caused such a big commotion; we couldn’t come away empty-handed.”
Ning Su raised his eyes and looked at them. “What did you do?”
Yenan Wang said, “We knew that the Holy Maiden had cultivated the sacred flower well because of her anger and pain. We wanted her to use her power to nourish the sacred flower. Boldly, we made the decision to ensure at least one survived.”
Ning Changfeng impatiently asked, “What did you do?”
“We, in front of the Holy Maiden, slowly chopped Hua Yuan into pieces.”
***
Boom!
That day, thunder rumbled, and it poured rain heavily.
The glaring lightning illuminated the Flower God’s temple constructed in the color of the Dark Swamp. Bright white lightning tore through the dark sky, flashed across the hall, illuminating the gruesome bodies inside, only to disappear into the sky.
Yenan Wang and Haobei Jing watched the barely alive Holy Maiden and Hua Yuan, anxious like ants on a hot pan.
The emperor outside stabilized the overall situation; the flower attendants inside were their responsibility. If all the flower attendants died in the end, they would gain nothing. After expending so much manpower and resources, they certainly wouldn’t have a good outcome.
Yenan Wang stood up numbly, with cloudy eyes, and said harshly, “Let’s do as I just said. At least there’s still hope.”
Haobei Jing, with drooping eyelids, sighed seemingly helplessly, “It’s the only option we have.”
The two weakened flower attendants, as feeble as two elderly people, were dragged to the small round window in the hall where the only light in the dark hall could reveal each other’s faces.
The two weakened flower attendants were each tied to a chair.
With such a commotion, both of them opened their eyes simultaneously. In the flash of lightning, they looked at each other, haggard and silent, for a long time.
As the Holy Maiden gazed at Hua Yuan in this manner, the cold light reflected off the machete pierced into her eyes.
Her eyes widened abruptly, just as a drop of blood reached her pupils. Her moist pupils trembled for a moment but couldn’t calm down again.
She blinked in confusion, and in the half-blood and semi-dark world, she saw the most beautiful face in Furen County, Hua Yuan’s face, with a bloodied gash.
“No, no, please...”
She shivered all over, and the blood vessels in her stiffened body, even the ones connected to her trachea, trembled.
Hua Yuan opened his split lips and uttered three words to her.
She was dazed, unable to hear what he said clearly anymore, and the split lips no longer showed the shape of words.
She only saw two shaky elderly people, their emaciated arms lifting machetes, with layers of wrinkles on their faces forming a crazed and ferocious expression.
One slash from him, one slash from her.
“No!”
“No!”
“No!!!”
“Please.” The usually arrogant young lady cried repeatedly, “Please.”
“I’ll be obedient.”
“I’ll be obedient. I don’t want to marry him anymore!”
“I’m begging you! I won’t throw tantrums anymore! I won’t like him anymore.”
That night, in the only illuminated area of the dark hall, the desperate cries of a young girl overwhelmed the pouring rain, eventually drowned out by the deafening roar of thunder in the darkness.
Two elderly and frail figures, weakened yet frenzied, hacked the most handsome young man in Furen County into countless pieces.
There wasn’t much blood, just the red liquid splattering over the three of them.
They didn’t know when the rain stopped, and the thunder ceased.
Yet, the two old people still heard the steady sound of dripping.
Without thunder, there was no lightning. In the dim, rainy night without moonlight, they couldn’t see anything clearly.
Only the sound of dripping, followed by rustling.
It seemed like something was growing wildly, at their feet, along with every corpse, along the black tiles of the entire Flower God’s temple, spreading.
It also seemed to be spreading along their veins.
It was the most terrifying moment of their lives.
***
Hua Feng wept bitterly. “Why didn’t you kill them? They deserved to die.”
The Holy Maiden sat with her head bowed on a black chair, her dark long hair merging with her black robe.
No one could see the domineering and arrogant side of this solemn and sacred Holy Maiden, nor could they imagine her pitiful plea on that rainy night.
The ninth floor of the Flower God’s temple became unusually quiet, a silence that didn’t resemble the normal world of mortals.
Not even the sound of breathing.
Hua Feng wanted to hear some sound, strained to listen, and finally heard something.
It was the rustling sound of the wind, the pattering of rain, the deafening thunder, and the distant, painful cries of the young girl.
So real that Hua Feng felt the dampness and the unique earthy smell of a heavy rain, mixed with a bitter taste.
Hua Feng looked up, peering out of the small round window similar to the one on the third floor of the hall.
It was really raining heavily, with lightning tearing through the black sky.
The sky was too dark, only the lightning tearing it apart could illuminate it.
“No.”
After a while, the Holy Maiden spoke in a hoarse voice.
She revealed that enigmatic smile that Hua Feng couldn’t comprehend, stood up from the black chair, and held Hua Feng’s hand again, staring at the finger that grew from her hand. “They were going to be granted immortality, living eternally.”
She bent down close to Hua Feng’s finger and said, “Now it’s time for me to devour it.”
Hua Feng’s eyes widened abruptly.
