The dense crowd surrounding the Goddess Temple stared at the several hundred people who had suddenly appeared in the open space, along with the imperial procession, carriages, horses, and all the rest. Every one of them drew a sharp breath.
The wrath of a deity was truly terrifying.
Without even lifting a finger, hundreds of people a thousand miles away had been plucked from thin air and brought before them, as easily as reaching into a bag to retrieve an object.
Such absolute power was the clearest proof that, before a god, mortals were no more than dust.
The entire street fell deathly silent.
Only the wind blowing from the north stirred the smoke-purple hem of the Goddess’s dress, making her beauty indescribable.
[Xi Yue Shock Value +100]
[Shen Ying Shock Value +100]
[Shen Xiao Shock Value +100]
[…]
[Current Shock Value: 78,550,000]
Shen Yu and Shen Jue gradually came back to their senses. At a glance, they spotted two especially familiar faces among the marriage proposal envoys gathered before the Goddess Temple.
Their father—and their younger sister.
They instinctively wanted to plead for their father and sister, but the Goddess gave them no time to react.
They had not even thought of what to say.
The divine punishment had already arrived.
“Human emperor, I gave you a chance, yet you remained obstinate and treated the gods with contempt. For this crime, you deserve death.”
She slowly raised her right hand.
Almost at the same time, the imposing golden dharma image behind her moved as well.
Its enormous arm rose inch by inch. With its palm facing downward and its five fingers slightly spread, it resembled a golden sky descending upon the earth.
“Where the golden light shines, all evil shall be erased.”
The ethereal voice of an immortal drifted down from the heavens.
Radiant light blazed around the dharma image, illuminating the entire city until it glittered brilliantly. Yet the shadow it cast pressed down upon everyone until their knees went weak.
“Help… help! No, please!”
As the hand of the dharma image descended lower and lower, General Wang and the others burdened with sin were reduced to dust beneath its palm.
“Divine Lady, spare me…”
“I… I don’t want to die! Help me…”
The empty space echoed with their ghostly cries and desperate pleas.
The boy emperor no longer had the luxury of being shocked that the Sea Goddess was actually the Northern Goddess. His knees gave way, and he fell prostrate on the ground.
In a daze, he remembered the day they had encountered a gigantic fish at sea. The Goddess had rescued them, and the nine-tailed fox in her arms had warned them not to seek their own destruction.
At the time, he had thought they had merely disturbed the Sea Goddess by sailing through her waters. He had assumed that taking a detour would keep them safe.
Now, he understood.
That had clearly been a warning for him to retreat while he still could.
The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became.
His body trembled like a thin sheet of paper in the wind. He slammed his forehead against the blue bricks until it reddened, but he paid no attention to the pain. Lowering his head as far as he could, he pleaded in a trembling voice.
“Divine Lady, please show mercy! I beg you, show mercy!”
“I… I was forced into this!”
As he spoke, he cautiously lifted his eyelids and glanced up. He saw that the golden hand had halted in midair.
That brief pause was like a drowning man grasping a floating piece of wood. He hurriedly continued, speaking faster and faster, his voice breaking into sobs.
“Divine Lady, please see the truth! This was not my intention. The State Preceptor forced me to offend you…”
“Please see the truth, Divine Lady. Please spare me…”
As he spoke, he bowed and struck his head against the ground again and again. Before long, his forehead had turned purple and begun to bleed.
Marquis Ningyuan was also kneeling on the ground. Remembering that both of his sons had mentioned the Goddess’s compassion in their letters, he gritted his teeth and looked up at her.
“Divine Lady, His Majesty has been unable to act freely ever since he ascended the throne. He has always been under the State Preceptor’s control, with all authority over the court in the State Preceptor’s hands. His Majesty is nothing more than a puppet. Had the State Preceptor not forced him, he would never have dared to offend you!”
“I beg the Divine Lady to show mercy. For the sake of His Majesty’s helplessness, please spare his life!”
The Goddess lowered her eyes and looked upon the people prostrated across the ground. Her dark phoenix eyes remained calm and unreadable.
She was silent for a long time—so long that everyone thought the golden hand would descend the next moment and crush every remaining marriage envoy, including the boy emperor.
Then she spoke.
“Very well.”
“For today, I shall spare your lives.”
As soon as her words fell, the golden dharma image above the Goddess Temple scattered into countless specks of light, dissolving into the wind without a trace.
The boy emperor and the others had just begun to rejoice when they heard her continue.
“Yet though the death penalty may be spared, the living punishment cannot.”
The Goddess tilted her head slightly. Her indifferent gaze swept over the boy emperor lying on the ground, then passed over the envoys behind him.
With a gentle wave of her sleeve, a faint golden light spread outward like ripples, silently enveloping the boy emperor and the others in the open space.
“Then let the hardships of seven lifetimes in the cycle of reincarnation be your punishment.”
The Dreambell rang.
The boy emperor and the others were drawn into dreams, where they lived through various fates specially prepared for them.
Time flowed at an adjustable rate within the dreams.
The boy emperor and the others endured seven lifetimes of suffering there, while only a few minutes passed in reality.
“I… I’m back…”
The boy emperor touched his face and hands in wild delight, bursting into tears of joy.
He had no idea how he had survived those seven lifetimes. He had been a beggar, a refugee, and in every life he had died a miserable death.
Fortunately, he had endured his punishment and kept his life.
“Thank you for your great mercy, Divine Lady.”
He struck his head firmly against the ground three more times.
After that, Marquis Ningyuan, his daughter, and the others gradually awoke as well.
Most of them still looked dazed. The suffering they had experienced in their dreams had felt frighteningly real.
Shen Yu and Shen Jue could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
When the Goddess had unleashed divine punishment without hesitation, they had known that even if they pleaded for mercy, it would be useless.
The Goddess judged only cause and effect. She showed no favoritism.
Shen Yu and Shen Jue were not the only ones who had realized this. Pei Wanning and the others had also understood that, in the Goddess’s eyes, there was no room for wrongdoing. Anyone who made a mistake would find it difficult to escape death.
Even believers like them were no exception.
For a moment, everyone silently warned themselves that they would have to act with even greater caution in the future.
“From this day forth, conduct yourselves well.”
The Goddess’s cold, detached voice reached everyone’s ears.
They instantly came to their senses and hurriedly fell to their knees.
“The Divine Lady is merciful…”
The Goddess said nothing. She merely gathered a thread of golden light between her fingertips.
Then she flicked her finger.
The golden light shot into the heavens and transformed into a hundred-zhang scroll depicting mountains and rivers, suspended high in the air.
Within the painting, the fields lay barren, the wells had run dry, and gaunt, emaciated people huddled beneath the ruins. Ragged children curled up in their mothers’ arms, their hollow eyes staring blankly at the sky. An oppressive silence of death permeated the streets and alleys.
“That… that’s Wuling Prefecture in the south, isn’t it?”
Someone cried out in alarm.
“How could it have become so wretched?”
“How are the people supposed to survive like this…”
The believers exchanged whispers, their faces filled with compassion.
“State Preceptor Guo Rong has treated the gods with contempt and inflicted suffering upon the people. For these crimes, he deserves to be struck down by the heavens,” the Goddess declared. “I shall personally go to the south. Are you willing to accompany me?”
Everyone fell to their knees as one.
“We are willing to follow the Goddess south, slay the State Preceptor, and save the people of the realm!”
