A dragon-like, enormous black serpent rushed out from behind the statue.
It was immensely large, with its head barely able to extend out from the wide doors of the temple, its eyes larger than a human’s head.
Simultaneously, two inconspicuous ghost children leaped onto the Holy Maiden’s body, holding her tightly to prevent her from moving.
The white-robed people around the Flower God’s temple were trapped by various weapons.
Everyone was stunned by the gigantic snake.
They had never seen the Flower God, and for a moment, they doubted whether this dragon-like serpent emerging from behind the statue was the Flower God.
In awe and fear, they stared at it, catching a glimpse of the scenes within its two enormous eyes.
“We found men and women of different ages, from newborn infants to the oldest in Furen County, fed them flowers from the Dark Swamp, and stuffed the flowers into various parts of their bodies.”
“We say it’s the manifestation of the Flower God. Sleeping in the Dark Swamp, He chose this place. Furen County will become a blessed land, blessed by the Flower God.”
“In the name of the Flower God, personally presided over by the lord, we selected the first batch of flower servants.”
...
The smiles vanished from everyone’s faces.
The sounds of breathing and hymns ceased.
The wailing cries of the humanoid sacrifices in front of the main hall were finally heard.
From their shattered and bloodied faces, a mournful sound echoed.
Three individuals with sacred flowers implanted in them were thrown by the serpent’s tail. Their veins bulged, writhing in agony, revealing the true image of flower attendants to all the people of Furen County.
Thunder roared.
Heavy rain poured down.
Rainwater washed away the blood on the humanoid sacrifices, flowing onto the knees of every kneeling believer in front of the main hall.
Blinding lightning tore through the sky.
In that moment, the innocence of the people of Furen County shattered.
Initially, a young couple stood up, rainwater flowing loudly on their faces, entering their eye sockets and flowing into their wide-open, screaming mouths.
Rainwater flooded into their mouths, making it unclear what they were screaming about—whether it was for their children or their parents.
It seemed inconsequential now.
On the day of the Flower God Festival, chaos erupted in front of the Flower God’s temple.
Heavy rain and thunder drowned out the tumultuous sounds, casting a quietude inside the temple, forged by the storm.
The black door of the temple’s third-floor grand hall had been securely locked.
Except for Ning Su, all the other players were locked outside the grand hall.
Ning Su didn’t want to hear the nagging and scolding of Ning Changfeng and Su Wangsheng anymore.
Ever since he came out of the Holy Maiden’s room on the ninth floor and they heard that he still planned to attend to his sacred flower, the incessant nagging hadn’t stopped.
“Haven’t you heard what Yenan Wang and Haobei Jing said? If the sacred flower grows outside the body, it must be immediately removed, or else the sacred flower will consume the host and they will die!”
He heard it.
But he was unwilling.
He still believed he could nurture his own god.
Ning Changfeng, as a father, couldn’t endure his son harming himself, not only by sacrificing his body to the peculiar sacred flower, but also gradually being consumed by it.
But the other didn’t know; Ning Su was raised by this flower.
He had consumed it, and it would consume him—it’s only fair.
Ning Su firmly believed that it was the Lingxiao flower that he knew. The four-petaled blood flower was evidence of its soul’s existence.
So, he must meet Him.
He must, at least, have a face-to-face encounter.
Consider it fulfilling a wish of over twenty years.
Vines grew long from his fingers, and on those vines, the four-petaled blood flower was undulating.
Ning Su’s face was reduced to skin, bones, and veins.
He felt certain he must look ugly and terrifying.
He wanted to reach out and touch it, but he couldn’t lift his hand.
“Hua... Hua Feng.”
Ning Su softly called out to another person in the grand hall.
Everyone gave up nurturing the sacred flower. They knew the answer and plucked the flowers from their fingertips.
No one understood Ning Su, finding his persistence strange.
Except for Hua Feng.
So, in this grand hall, only he and Hua Feng remained, the two of them continuing to nurture their sacred flower.
Ning Su remembered Hua Feng lying not far away.
But Ning Su couldn’t hear his voice; he couldn’t even hear his breath anymore.
Hua Feng was gone.
The only person who stubbornly persisted in nurturing the sacred flower with him had died.
In this dim hall, only he lay alone in loneliness.
Suddenly, Ning Su felt a bit uncomfortable.
In the silence and darkness, he heard the sound of tears dropping to the ground.
Not his.
With a shallow and almost nonexistent breath, Ning Su slowly turned his head and looked to the other side of the small, round window.
Around the small round window was the only place in the grand hall with light.
In the barely reachable dim light, Hua Feng’s body was half-hidden in the darkness and half-bathed in the faint glow.
The perfectly beautiful hand that had grown on his finger was gone.
That hand touched Hua Feng’s skull-like face, extending from a sleeve of a moonlight white robe.
The moonlight-white robe looked exceptionally good on him.
Hua Feng was right; his brother was the most handsome person in Furen County.
Even as tears fell from his eyes one by one, even as he was in a dark and dirty environment, it didn’t diminish his otherworldly elegance in the slightest.
Ning Su stared blankly.
Watching the most handsome youth in Furen County, tears fell one by one on Hua Feng’s skeletal face. He saw the man kneeling beside Hua Feng, holding him in his arms, crying uncontrollably.
Hua Feng succeeded.
Originally becoming a flower attendant for his younger brother, he was chopped into pieces and buried in the dark and rotten mud of the Dark Swamp.
Hua Feng became a flower attendant for his older brother, preserving his brother’s severed hand within him. With blood, body, soul, and life, he turned him into his god.
Ning Su’s heartbeat suddenly became unusually fast.
The once stiff and dead heart inexplicably began to beat wildly.
He felt something glide over his ankle, like the brushing of a sleeve when someone stands upright, yet he did not feel the texture of the fabric. The strange sensation made goosebumps rise on his ankle.
Ning Su’s fingers trembled.
The complete vines and four-petaled blood flowers that had grown on his fingers disappeared.
Ning Su remained motionless for a long time. After an unknown period, his long eyelashes lifted in a gentle tremor as he looked upward.
A figure with its back on the small round window stood there, gazing down at him.
Long hair gently floated behind him, draped in the darkest robe one could find in the mortal realm, with blood-red patterns faintly visible.
In the blurry halo, Ning Su clearly saw the curve of his chin, the height of his nose bridge, and those void yet profound eyes.
After becoming a zombie, the only liquid that solidified in his rigid body trickled down.
[Congratulations to player Ning Su for completing the main quest and meeting the true god.]
[Teleportation preparation in progress, about to exit the game.]
A hand, devoid of temperature, gently landed on the corner of Ning Su’s right eye.
He leaned down to wipe away the tear at the corner of his eye.
The emaciated body was carefully lifted from the damp and cold black stone floor.
As Ning Su got closer to that face, he stared at the other with wide-open eyes, focused and devoted.
Just like during every worship, lying in his palm, singing hymns to the Flower God while staring at him.
In the clear peach blossom eyes, a distinct face was reflected.
Ning Su’s hoarse voice emitted a very soft sound, “I finally see you.”
“Hmm,” he said in a low voice, “What do you want to do when you see me?”
Perhaps, at some point in time, he had also casually heard countless prayers among his followers.
They wanted to see him, they made vows to him. Those desires were trivial and not worth mentioning.
But this time was different.
“Is anything possible?”
Ning Su blinked his eyes, staring unwaveringly at the other. He felt the gu insect in his body crawl from his arm, mingling with the veins, reaching his heart. It stirred up chaos in his heart, causing intense tremors.
His heart pounded, and within it, there were things other than just his heart, something blood-red.
Ning Su said, “I want to take you away.”
His deep eyes fell on Ning Su’s face.
Outside the Flower God’s temple, the thunderstorm continued.
A wind rose in the distant wilderness, carrying a pungent floral scent, lifting the world’s richest sounds.
In front of the Flower God’s temple, chaos reigned. The cries of flower slaves, the wails of humanoid sacrifices, the roars of believers, and the questioning of ordinary people intertwined.
The Holy Maiden, dressed in magnificent sacrificial attire, stood silently in front of the temple, always looking up at the small circular window on the third floor.
A dragon-like, enormous black serpent rushed out from behind the statue.
It was immensely large, with its head barely able to extend out from the wide doors of the temple, its eyes larger than a human’s head.
Simultaneously, two inconspicuous ghost children leaped onto the Holy Maiden’s body, holding her tightly to prevent her from moving.
The white-robed people around the Flower God’s temple were trapped by various weapons.
Everyone was stunned by the gigantic snake.
They had never seen the Flower God, and for a moment, they doubted whether this dragon-like serpent emerging from behind the statue was the Flower God.
In awe and fear, they stared at it, catching a glimpse of the scenes within its two enormous eyes.
“We found men and women of different ages, from newborn infants to the oldest in Furen County, fed them flowers from the Dark Swamp, and stuffed the flowers into various parts of their bodies.”
“We say it’s the manifestation of the Flower God. Sleeping in the Dark Swamp, He chose this place. Furen County will become a blessed land, blessed by the Flower God.”
“In the name of the Flower God, personally presided over by the lord, we selected the first batch of flower servants.”
...
The smiles vanished from everyone’s faces.
The sounds of breathing and hymns ceased.
The wailing cries of the humanoid sacrifices in front of the main hall were finally heard.
From their shattered and bloodied faces, a mournful sound echoed.
Three individuals with sacred flowers implanted in them were thrown by the serpent’s tail. Their veins bulged, writhing in agony, revealing the true image of flower attendants to all the people of Furen County.
Thunder roared.
Heavy rain poured down.
Rainwater washed away the blood on the humanoid sacrifices, flowing onto the knees of every kneeling believer in front of the main hall.
Blinding lightning tore through the sky.
In that moment, the innocence of the people of Furen County shattered.
Initially, a young couple stood up, rainwater flowing loudly on their faces, entering their eye sockets and flowing into their wide-open, screaming mouths.
Rainwater flooded into their mouths, making it unclear what they were screaming about—whether it was for their children or their parents.
It seemed inconsequential now.
On the day of the Flower God Festival, chaos erupted in front of the Flower God’s temple.
Heavy rain and thunder drowned out the tumultuous sounds, casting a quietude inside the temple, forged by the storm.
The black door of the temple’s third-floor grand hall had been securely locked.
Except for Ning Su, all the other players were locked outside the grand hall.
Ning Su didn’t want to hear the nagging and scolding of Ning Changfeng and Su Wangsheng anymore.
Ever since he came out of the Holy Maiden’s room on the ninth floor and they heard that he still planned to attend to his sacred flower, the incessant nagging hadn’t stopped.
“Haven’t you heard what Yenan Wang and Haobei Jing said? If the sacred flower grows outside the body, it must be immediately removed, or else the sacred flower will consume the host and they will die!”
He heard it.
But he was unwilling.
He still believed he could nurture his own god.
Ning Changfeng, as a father, couldn’t endure his son harming himself, not only by sacrificing his body to the peculiar sacred flower, but also gradually being consumed by it.
But the other didn’t know; Ning Su was raised by this flower.
He had consumed it, and it would consume him—it’s only fair.
Ning Su firmly believed that it was the Lingxiao flower that he knew. The four-petaled blood flower was evidence of its soul’s existence.
So, he must meet Him.
He must, at least, have a face-to-face encounter.
Consider it fulfilling a wish of over twenty years.
Vines grew long from his fingers, and on those vines, the four-petaled blood flower was undulating.
Ning Su’s face was reduced to skin, bones, and veins.
He felt certain he must look ugly and terrifying.
He wanted to reach out and touch it, but he couldn’t lift his hand.
“Hua... Hua Feng.”
Ning Su softly called out to another person in the grand hall.
Everyone gave up nurturing the sacred flower. They knew the answer and plucked the flowers from their fingertips.
No one understood Ning Su, finding his persistence strange.
Except for Hua Feng.
So, in this grand hall, only he and Hua Feng remained, the two of them continuing to nurture their sacred flower.
Ning Su remembered Hua Feng lying not far away.
But Ning Su couldn’t hear his voice; he couldn’t even hear his breath anymore.
Hua Feng was gone.
The only person who stubbornly persisted in nurturing the sacred flower with him had died.
In this dim hall, only he lay alone in loneliness.
Suddenly, Ning Su felt a bit uncomfortable.
In the silence and darkness, he heard the sound of tears dropping to the ground.
Not his.
With a shallow and almost nonexistent breath, Ning Su slowly turned his head and looked to the other side of the small, round window.
Around the small round window was the only place in the grand hall with light.
In the barely reachable dim light, Hua Feng’s body was half-hidden in the darkness and half-bathed in the faint glow.
The perfectly beautiful hand that had grown on his finger was gone.
That hand touched Hua Feng’s skull-like face, extending from a sleeve of a moonlight white robe.
The moonlight-white robe looked exceptionally good on him.
Hua Feng was right; his brother was the most handsome person in Furen County.
Even as tears fell from his eyes one by one, even as he was in a dark and dirty environment, it didn’t diminish his otherworldly elegance in the slightest.
Ning Su stared blankly.
Watching the most handsome youth in Furen County, tears fell one by one on Hua Feng’s skeletal face. He saw the man kneeling beside Hua Feng, holding him in his arms, crying uncontrollably.
Hua Feng succeeded.
Originally becoming a flower attendant for his younger brother, he was chopped into pieces and buried in the dark and rotten mud of the Dark Swamp.
Hua Feng became a flower attendant for his older brother, preserving his brother’s severed hand within him. With blood, body, soul, and life, he turned him into his god.
Ning Su’s heartbeat suddenly became unusually fast.
The once stiff and dead heart inexplicably began to beat wildly.
He felt something glide over his ankle, like the brushing of a sleeve when someone stands upright, yet he did not feel the texture of the fabric. The strange sensation made goosebumps rise on his ankle.
Ning Su’s fingers trembled.
The complete vines and four-petaled blood flowers that had grown on his fingers disappeared.
Ning Su remained motionless for a long time. After an unknown period, his long eyelashes lifted in a gentle tremor as he looked upward.
A figure with its back on the small round window stood there, gazing down at him.
Long hair gently floated behind him, draped in the darkest robe one could find in the mortal realm, with blood-red patterns faintly visible.
In the blurry halo, Ning Su clearly saw the curve of his chin, the height of his nose bridge, and those void yet profound eyes.
After becoming a zombie, the only liquid that solidified in his rigid body trickled down.
[Congratulations to player Ning Su for completing the main quest and meeting the true god.]
[Teleportation preparation in progress, about to exit the game.]
A hand, devoid of temperature, gently landed on the corner of Ning Su’s right eye.
He leaned down to wipe away the tear at the corner of his eye.
The emaciated body was carefully lifted from the damp and cold black stone floor.
As Ning Su got closer to that face, he stared at the other with wide-open eyes, focused and devoted.
Just like during every worship, lying in his palm, singing hymns to the Flower God while staring at him.
In the clear peach blossom eyes, a distinct face was reflected.
Ning Su’s hoarse voice emitted a very soft sound, “I finally see you.”
“Hmm,” he said in a low voice, “What do you want to do when you see me?”
Perhaps, at some point in time, he had also casually heard countless prayers among his followers.
They wanted to see him, they made vows to him. Those desires were trivial and not worth mentioning.
But this time was different.
“Is anything possible?”
Ning Su blinked his eyes, staring unwaveringly at the other. He felt the gu insect in his body crawl from his arm, mingling with the veins, reaching his heart. It stirred up chaos in his heart, causing intense tremors.
His heart pounded, and within it, there were things other than just his heart, something blood-red.
Ning Su said, “I want to take you away.”
His deep eyes fell on Ning Su’s face.
Outside the Flower God’s temple, the thunderstorm continued.
A wind rose in the distant wilderness, carrying a pungent floral scent, lifting the world’s richest sounds.
In front of the Flower God’s temple, chaos reigned. The cries of flower slaves, the wails of humanoid sacrifices, the roars of believers, and the questioning of ordinary people intertwined.
The Holy Maiden, dressed in magnificent sacrificial attire, stood silently in front of the temple, always looking up at the small circular window on the third floor.
