novelraw Chapter 161: Perhaps This Is a Test from the Deities
Chapter 161: Perhaps This Is a Test from the Deities
"That mural depicts the legend of the Deer Antler Immortal.
"The story goes that a king neglected his duties, causing his kingdom to suffer a terrible drought.
"Afterward, following the advice of a Priest, the king sought out the Deer Antler Immortal, who lived in seclusion deep within the mountains.
"Ultimately, with the Immortal’s aid, the kingdom was saved.
"This story reflects the great power of the Immortals in the White Elephant Myth, as well as humanity’s wisdom and courage."
"And this mural here tells the legend of the great flood.
"Humanity’s ancestor, Manu, was warned that a great flood was coming. By raising a fish, he was able to ride it to safety.
"Finally, after enduring great hardships and with the aid of the Deities, Manu and his descendants survived to carry on their line."
"I can recognize the stories on all these murals at a glance.
"Hmph. You peasants would be better off going home and figuring out what you’re going to eat for breakfast tomorrow."
The rich kid folded his arms across his chest,
his chin held high, looking at the group of children his age.
He looked at them as if they were a pack of lowly pigs and dogs.
The disdain in his eyes was practically written on his face,
plain for all to see.
As for the other children, some were afraid, while others were furious but dared not speak,
and some simply had their minds on other things.
They each went about their own business, no one paying any attention to the rich kid.
Before them stood three colossal statues of Deities, each over ten meters tall. The children naturally recognized them, for these were the three most revered principal Deities of the White Elephant Empire.
One of them was missing both arms, yet it still stood there, exuding a sublime and majestic aura.
"Why are the paintings of the Deities on the walls starting to melt?" a child suddenly asked.
Immediately after, the surrounding silence was utterly shattered by an ominous surge.
The walls seemed to come alive. Dark red trickled from the cracks, and it was no ordinary liquid.
It was blood, so thick it was almost solid, gurgling as it flowed,
like the breath of the Hell Abyss, carrying a suffocating stench and an indescribable terror.
This blood greedily crawled upwards, and wherever it passed,
the once colorful murals, which had shone with a sacred light, seemed to fall under the most vicious of Curses.
The colors rapidly faded. The creatures and scenery in the images, corroded by the blood,
melted away like ice under the scorching sun, vanishing without a trace.
The Deities in the murals, those once compassionate and radiant figures,
were now undergoing an unprecedented transformation.
Their faces gradually twisted as the blood soaked into them.
The former gentleness and wisdom in their eyes were replaced by madness and ferocity.
The corners of their mouths curled into a heart-stoppingly cold sneer, transforming them from lofty guardians into bloodthirsty Demons.
As for the divine beasts, their once-lithe bodies became contorted, and wisps of black energy seeped from between their scales and fur.
They were no longer symbols of protection and peace, but had become envoys of darkness and fear, their eyes glinting with a hunger for living flesh.
The atmosphere in the great hall plummeted to a freezing point. The frigid air felt as if it could pierce to the bone.
The children’s breathing grew ragged and shaky, their faces etched with fear and despair.
Their small bodies trembled violently in the cold wind. They huddled together but found no warmth.
The surrounding candlelight flickered more violently in the chilling draft, and amidst the dancing light and shadows,
it seemed as though countless shades were dancing, as if innumerable invisible eyes were peering from the darkness, waiting for their next prey.
"AHHH! Help... He—"
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream tore through the dead silence.
It was a child, whose instinctive fear made him cry out in despair after witnessing an unimaginable horror.
That sound, like a massive boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly triggered panic in everyone in the hall.
They screamed and shoved, trying to flee this cursed place.
In the midst of this chaos, an even more horrifying scene appeared.
One of the three principal Deities, Vishnu, a god who should have been revered by all,
now appeared before them in a twisted and terrifying form.
His arms were gone, leaving only empty sleeves swaying in the wind.
And in his mouth, he held a still-struggling child.
Those eyes, once full of wisdom and mercy, were now hollow, filled with nothing but a primitive hunger for food.
Vishnu chewed with wide jaws, the sound of mixed blood and shredded flesh echoing through the great hall.
Every crunch seemed to hammer on the hearts of everyone present, announcing the merciless cruelty of this catastrophe.
This was a stark contrast to the majestic, holy image of a living Deity that had descended in the Border City region of the White Elephant Empire.
All that was left was endless savagery and cruelty.
"This... this is clearly an Evil Spirit, not one of the principal Deities!"
"Open the door! Let us out! Papa, Mama, come save me! There’s an Evil Spirit in here! I’m so scared!"
"Why won’t this door open? It’s too heavy! Everyone, come help us push!"
In a mad rush, the children all crowded at the main entrance of the Divine Hall,
frantically trying to push open the incredibly heavy doors.
However, to them, the weight of the two doors was as overwhelming as Mount Tai crashing down on them.
"Everyone, don’t panic! This might be a test from the Deities.
"A test to see if we can remain calm and courageous when we encounter something terrifying.
"Otherwise, what right would we have to become a Divine Child or a Divine Servant?"
The rich kid still had his arms folded across his chest, standing there completely motionless.
Although he had panicked for a brief moment when the strange phenomena first appeared,
he quickly regained his composure and became calm and collected once more.
SWOOSH!
Vishnu moved with the force of a thunderbolt.
He swung his massive, fan-like hand, as if casting an invisible net,
and instantly snatched the rich kid, gripping him tightly in its grasp,
leaving him no room to struggle.
The rich kid’s eyes were filled with disbelief and utter terror.
Those eyes, which once shone with pride and confidence, now held only a bottomless abyss of despair.
He struggled desperately, but it was all in vain.
He could only watch helplessly as he was slowly lifted up by the Supreme God of the White Elephant Empire he had once revered.
Vishnu’s face looked particularly sinister and terrifying in the dim light.
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, forming an utterly cruel smile.
It was a look of naked contempt for life and greedy satisfaction.
As he opened his cavernous, blood-red mouth that seemed capable of devouring the world, the rich kid’s screams came to an abrupt end,
replaced by the horrifying, skin-crawling sound of a skull being torn apart.
It was as if the cruelest of nightmares was playing out in reality.
Blood gushed out like a fountain, staining the corners of Vishnu’s mouth and his robes.
It also splattered across the terrified faces of the children nearby.
He held the rich kid’s body upside down, as if showing off a trophy. The gushing blood,
like a rushing red river, was greedily sucked into Vishnu’s cavernous mouth.
Every swallow was accompanied by a GULP, GULP sound.
It was the tragic wail of a life being mercilessly stolen,
reverberating in every corner of the hall, sending a chill through everyone’s hearts.
It was worth noting that the large hand gripping the rich kid was bizarre in form.
Its skin was uneven and bumpy, clearly a malformed appendage that had newly grown after recently devouring a large number of children.
As another innocent life was extinguished, the arm was nourished,
gradually regaining some of its former completeness and strength,
and exuded a skin-crawling, morbid Life Force.
The screams, the thick stench of blood, and the deep, unspeakable terror
all intertwined, forming an extremely powerful negative energy
that shrouded the entire great hall in a dark cloud.
The candlelight flickered even more violently,
as if even it could feel the suffocating atmosphere of terror and was on the verge of being extinguished at any moment.
[Thanks to Boss [Qingnan] for the 588 Book Coin donation, and thanks to Boss [Dianbai Diyi Liangzai] for the 100 Book Coin donation! Thank you to both Gods for your gifts! May you encounter joyous events and be in high spirits every day!!!]