Your Preference (2)
“The gods favor me, but I want to favor you.”
As the system’s voice fell, a raincloud abruptly gathered in the sky. The cumulonimbus cloud was so vast that it covered the entirety of the village and the mountains, blocking out every bit of dazzling sunlight. It was so heavy that it seemed as if the whole world was about to collapse alongside it.
The people gathered in front of the pyre seemed to sense the divine wrath. Terrified, they knelt down, their faces showing fear and panic. They continuously bowed to the sky, chanting various prayers for divine forgiveness. These prayers reached Xu Jiao’s ears, making her feel as if the entire world had turned into a large prayer room filled with chaotic voices.
She closed her eyes.
The torch fell onto the high stack of firewood in front of her, and the heat from the ignited flames was unbearable for anyone. At that moment, the sky suddenly poured down a heavy rain, a torrential downpour in an instant.
The raindrops struck the flames, causing the fire to flare up even higher at first. But it didn’t take long for the fire on the stack of wood to extinguish, leaving only grayish-white smoke. Soon, even the smoke dispersed, and the only things left in the field of vision were the curtain of rain and those kneeling in the rain, covered in mud yet too afraid to leave.
The ropes on Xu Jiao’s body somehow loosened.
She slowly descended onto the stack of firewood. The tall wooden execution pillar behind her, used for her burning at the stake, was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning from the sky, instantly turning into gray-black charcoal, no longer existing.
Xu Jiao did not look at the people kneeling on the ground. She just walked step by step towards the direction of the voice that sounded like a gentle breeze she had heard earlier. Her long hair, like seaweed born in the dark night, swayed slightly at her waist. Her feet were bare, yet none of the world’s dust or mud could touch her snow-like, lustrous skin.
Every step seemed to tread on the mud, but in reality, she was walking on air. The raindrops couldn’t wet her hair or the hem of her clothes. In the entire world, she was the only one completely clean.
She walked towards the wind and rain.
The black strands of hair were wild, and her eyes, as deep as the night sky. Here, black was considered an ominous color, associated with death and the devil. Because she was so beautiful, everyone believed she was a witch, sent to the world only to seduce humans into corruption.
They did not know—
The God who created light and all things in the world was supposed to look like this.
Because light and darkness always accompany each other.
Lilith watched as she walked step by step towards her, forgetting to even breathe. She knelt there, the bamboo basket rolling to her feet, the freshly picked mushrooms inside tumbling into the muddy water, scattering here and there. She did not react, only staring blankly as Xu Jiao approached her.
She was stunned by Xu Jiao’s appearance and did not notice the surprise in Xu Jiao’s eyes as she looked at her.
This Lilith…
Why does she look like this?
The rain washed her face clean, revealing her true appearance. Although her clothes were gray and covered with years of hard-to-clean dirt, no one could pay attention to these details. All eyes were on her face—
Her natural light golden curls seemed kissed by the sun, her deep blue eyes like the vast sea on a clear day, capable of containing everything. Her nose was high and slightly upturned at the tip, with cheeks slightly flushed, making her look exquisite and cute.
This face.
It did not match at all with Xu Jiao’s idea of the heroine.
In her original setting, Lilith was supposed to have black hair and black eyes, just like Feng Qingyu, Shen Yelan, and Xia Jingzhe. After all, if Lilith’s appearance hadn’t been so inauspicious, she wouldn’t have been bullied by her stepmother, who took away the money of her short-lived father, inherited most of his property as a widow, and ensured that Lilith’s brothers and sisters lived so well.
Only she,
Like a little wretch, could only sleep in the kitchen at night and had countless chores waiting for her during the day. In such a large house, her stingy stepmother didn’t hire a single servant, placing all the work on her shoulders. The neighbors thought this was completely reasonable.
Because Lilith was considered an ominous sign, in this village that worshipped the Sun God, it was already exceptionally fortunate that this dark night witch was not thrown into the mountains to feed the demon wolves at birth.
In everyone’s eyes—
Lilith was someone doomed to die sooner or later.
You could tell just from her name. According to legend, Lilith was one of the maidservants who served God, but later she angered God and provoked his wrath. Thus, God decreed that from then on, every day, 100 of her children would die.
The heroine was named Lilith because her parents did not consider her their own child but Lilith’s. They hoped she would be cursed by God and become one of the hundred children who die every day.
But…
Now, Lilith had a face destined to be favored by the Sun God. Why was this?
Was it because Xu Jiao’s originally written plot had not yet progressed to this point, so the world within the book automatically generated the appearance the heroine should have based on this Western fantasy background?
Would the premise of the storyline she had set still exist?
Xu Jiao was momentarily unsure.
At that moment, the torrential rain suddenly stopped, the gray haze in the sky was dispelled, and a golden beam pierced through the clouds, falling right on the person half-kneeling in front of her.
The golden light enveloped her light golden hair, making her entire being seem like she was glowing, dazzling and brilliant. Around them, faint exclamations of surprise could be heard, as if no one recognized the person kneeling in front of Xu Jiao.
A gentle breeze blew, carrying distant sounds with it.
The rolling sound of wheels, the marching of guards, and in the sunlight overhead, there remained traces of sun magic. Xu Jiao slightly raised her head, looking at the bright sun in the sky, squinting her eyes.
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It seemed that the earlier rain had been dispersed by some high-ranking cleric.
But she did not care about those things.
She merely lowered her eyes, looking at the person kneeling before her. After a while, she parted her lips and softly said, “Tell me your name.”
The blonde girl stared at her blankly, unconsciously parting her lips, which looked like pink petals with raindrops on them. Her voice was as melodious as a nightingale’s song:
“Lilith.”
She said, “My name is Lilith, Lilith Art.”
She has a surname.
This indicates that she is a descendant of nobility.
It also confirms that she is indeed the heroine Xu Jiao had set up.
Keenly aware of the shift in the person before her’s emotions, Lilith’s shoulders trembled slightly. Whether out of instinctive fear or something else, she looked like she very much wanted to explain her name but didn’t know where to start.
Finally, she cautiously asked, “You are…?”
Xu Jiao opened her lips, just about to say her name. However, at the moment the words were about to leave her mouth, she vaguely felt that the words she was about to utter would stir all the elements in the world, bringing disaster upon this beautiful little girl before her.
Ordinary people without divine power cannot listen to divine names.
The syllables that were about to leave her throat were swallowed back.
Suddenly—
Exclamations burst out from the crowd behind her!
A strong power of light was coming in this direction.
Xu Jiao slightly turned her head, and in the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a golden light, like a golden meteor falling. The beauty of the scene could only be seen in this world filled with deities.
That golden light was falling towards her location, but in reality, it was a golden carriage. The person driving the carriage was wearing golden armor, shining brilliantly. A voice faintly came from above:
“The Sun God is above! The Holy Maiden has descended! We have come to welcome the Holy Maiden!”
The voice carried profound divine power, spreading instantly to every corner of the village. The villagers, who had previously been battered by wind and rain in front of the pyre, were now trembling in fear at the sound of “Holy Maiden.”
They…
They had just treated the Holy Maiden of the Sun Temple as a heretic and put her on the pyre…
The Sun God is above! It was ignorance that blinded them, their lack of knowledge that led them to be deceived by appearances. They must have been bewitched by demons to make such a foolish decision!
May the temple, for the sake of this realization, forgive these foolish subjects.
The residents who witnessed this pyre now only dared to bow their heads lower and lower, whispering prayers to the gods they believed in, and also praying for the mercy of the Creator God, the God of all gods, hoping that they would not be punished by the Sun Temple.
The golden carriage stopped beside Xu Jiao. Xu Jiao saw that the horse, made of gold, instantly turned into a statue, quietly standing there. The guards got down from the sides of the carriage door and formed two rows.
The carriage door was opened from the inside, and out came a white-bearded old man wearing a red robe.
This is…
The Cardinal of the Sun God Temple of this miraculous continent.
He had a kind, gentle smile on his face. He smiled at Xu Jiao, then turned his head to look at the location of the pyre from earlier. Although he appeared so benevolent, his voice was deep.
“The places touched by the divine light of the Sun God should not have darkness.”
“The sinful people should be judged by sunlight.”
He was indirectly punishing these foolish mortals on her behalf.
Xu Jiao’s gaze shifted slightly, just as she was about to stop him, she heard another voice in the wind, carrying a smile: “Andrew, you should leave everything to the judgment of fate.”
Suddenly.
There were countless faint red lines in the air, spreading out from everyone. Lilith had them, the people on the ground had them, even the Cardinal of the Sun Temple had them. These faint red lines rushed into the sky, intertwining with each other, as if something in the unseen was arranging their lives.
These are the lines of fate.
It is the power of the Goddess of Fate.
Andrew frowned and a golden light appeared in his hand. He casually wiped the air, erasing the line on his body, and then said, “Hey, Beyoncé, what are you stirring up again? This is the territory of the Sun God.” (LP: Yes, her name is Beyoncé)
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Suddenly, a figure appeared in mid-air. It was a slender figure wearing a hood. She said loudly, “The Goddess of Fate guided me here to welcome our Holy Maiden.”
As her voice fell, responses came from all directions:
“Beyoncé, you should step back. You heard wrong. That is not the mark of the Goddess of Fate. This is the Holy Maiden of our Storm Temple. Can’t you see the natural elements surging around her? The wind and rain obey her call, I can feel it.”
“The lines of fate are useless to her. She transcends this world and is destined to be the judge of fair order. This is the Holy Maiden of our Judgment Temple.”
“The God of Wisdom favors her. She should be the Holy Maiden of the Temple of Wisdom.”
……
The town of Stry had never been this lively.
The archbishops of the six great temples had all come and were arguing about this girl who had almost been burned to death, each wanting her to become their own Holy Maiden.
Xu Jiao heard the arguing voices coming from the sky, but her expression remained indifferent. From the moment she came into this book, she felt these voices were noisy. Even if no one spoke, the noisy thoughts in their hearts would still reach her.
Because…
These so-called Sun God, Wisdom God, and others were all incarnations of the Creator God when They were bored and came to the mortal world. They couldn’t speak Their own name, and even had a bit of a mischievous streak, so They only told people that They were a subordinate god of the Creator God.
Gradually, many temples appeared in the mortal world.
Sun God, Wisdom God, Fate God, Judgment God, War God, and Storm God…
Only the Creator God did not have a temple.
Because They cannot be seen by people, cannot be perceived by people, and cannot be worshipped by people. They are everything in this world; They created everything. The appearances in those temples are considered Their avatars.
Now, this body of Xu Jiao’s was created by the Creator God from one of Their ribs in the book. Because it was transformed from a divine bone, nothing in this world could harm her. Therefore, her wisdom, her beauty, and the voices she heard all inherited from the Creator God.
She is both an incarnation and the god Themself.
……
“Why not let her decide for herself? Whichever direction she walks towards, she will become the Holy Maiden of that temple, how about it?” The argument in mid-air seemed to have reached a vague conclusion.
The voices slightly subsided.
Xu Jiao raised her head and looked around, from the golden carriage of the Sun Temple to the scythe glittering with rubies from the Fate Temple, the white tornado surrounding the Storm Archbishop, the scales of judgment, the winged pegasus from the War Temple, and finally, the few white peace doves perched on the shoulders of the Wisdom Archbishop.
In the end, after politely nodding to everyone, she asked Lilith in front of her, “Where do you want to go?”
Lilith’s expression completely froze upon hearing this question.
She felt that everything she saw today had completely shattered her understanding of the past ten-plus years. First, she saw the Holy Maiden, then she saw people from various temples, and now… unbelievably…
She asked, “I… can I also enter a temple to study?”
In the center of the Miracle Continent, there was a huge temple composed of six temples of different sizes, surrounding a central tower. The tower had a total of six floors, each housing different sacred texts of the six great temples. The seventh floor was permanently sealed.
Some say that the seventh floor contains the path to heaven.
Some also say that the seventh floor is the dwelling place of the Creator God in the mortal world.
The theories are uncertain, and people are always keen to spread the glory of the gods, discussing it enthusiastically for hundreds of years, giving rise to various versions.
Lilith grew up listening to these stories, but she never thought that she would one day be favored by the temple.
She felt as if she were dreaming.
Until Xu Jiao spoke again, “Yes, it was your prayer that saved me. Now I want to repay your kindness. Would you like to enter the temple with me to study?”
Lilith’s cheeks turned red, and her blue eyes sparkled. It was clear she was very tempted by such an offer, but after hesitating for a while, with her chest rising and falling, she simply said to Xu Jiao:
“I… I just made a prayer.”
“You were saved because the gods showed you mercy and favor. I… I cannot accept your repayment.”
The surrounding archbishops looked at each other, not knowing what this Holy Maiden was doing, but they didn’t mind seeing a little tail by the Holy Maiden’s side. With the accumulated wealth of the various temples, an additional idle person was nothing, so for the moment, no one spoke.
Xu Jiao heard her response, saw the trepidation and unease in her eyes. After a moment, she gently half-squatted down and raised her hand to touch the fabric on Lilith’s shoulder with her fingertip, precisely on a stained spot.
Lilith uneasily backed away, as if afraid her filth would taint someone so clean and beautiful.
Until Xu Jiao uttered a word from her lips:
“Wind.”
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The syllable from her throat was strange, not belonging to any language of the Miracle Continent, but the people of the Storm Temple instantly widened their eyes. They could feel the pure wind elemental power.
The wind was dancing, cheering, because it had heard her summons.
In the next instant—
Lilith was so frightened by the wind rushing towards her that she closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, she found that all the stains and dirt on her body had disappeared. Her clothes were brand new, white, and spotless, cleaner than she had ever dared to hope for.
Even her fallen hair had become fluffy, soft, and curled.
Xu Jiao then said, “Heal.”
Her hand passed over an old scar on Lilith’s neck, her fingertips slightly cool, gently brushing over the pulse. Lilith only felt herself suddenly enveloped by a golden light, warm and comfortable, like a baby in a mother’s cradle. She couldn’t help but close her eyes, feeling the warmth flow from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.
Her whole body shuddered comfortably.
When she opened her eyes again, all the old scars on her body, the injuries from doing housework, the wounds inflicted by her step-siblings and stepmother, had all disappeared. Her skin was as smooth and radiant as milk.
It was also like a peeled egg.
Strands of soft gold hair fell by her cheeks, her gaze dreamy, looking at this beautiful person in front of her, loosely draped in a white robe, squatting down, her gaze level with hers. The emotions within were as deep as the night, yet deeply attracted her gaze, making it impossible for her to look away. She just stared blankly and impolitely at this person.
But the person in front of her didn’t seem to mind.
So, Lilith heard her slowly say:
“The gods favored me, but I want to favor you.”