Your Preference (16)
“Will you fall in love with those people you ‘created’?”
Little Lilith couldn’t wait for the black snake’s answer, as her stomach growled with hunger. While the black snake was still entangled in thought, she secretly transformed into demonic energy and slipped outside the cave. Her small face was blushing red, as if she had remembered something she shouldn’t think about. She turned her head to calm herself and then said to Xu Jiao:
“Honorable Saintess, I also know how to get to that underground cave. How about… I take you there?”
She and the black snake share the same memory, so the place that the black snake awkwardly refused to tell Xu Jiao was easily revealed by her.
Xu Jiao was quite surprised and raised her eyebrows, asking Lilith a question: “You… are you alright?”
The question was about the black snake’s shedding skin matter.
Lilith was first a bit stunned, then quickly said: “It’s okay! In about three, um, three to five days, I should be able to successfully shed my skin. However, I must return before that. If you are just planning to take a glance, there’s enough time, but if you intend to do something else, I might not be able to accompany you.”
At the moment when the old scales are shed, it is not a simple task. Among ordinary snakes, shedding skin happens because the snake’s body grows larger, and the old body cannot support it, so it needs to shed the skin for a bigger body. During the shedding process, if a snake fails, it will completely die.
Although Lilith is a being composed of demonic energy and is hard to kill, everything in the world has its own logic of growth. Every time her power becomes stronger, she reverts to snake form and undergoes transformation by shedding her skin. If the shedding fails, although she won’t die like other snakes, she will become a mass of demonic energy, losing all memories, until she becomes strong again in this world, day after day, year after year.
“Goo.”
A sound drew both people’s attention.
Xu Jiao’s eyes softened slightly, as she led the way into the distance, saying to the person still behind her: “Let’s go, aren’t you hungry? Let’s find something to eat first.”
Little Lilith quickly jogged to catch up with her. Because both of their existences are very special, Xu Jiao can sense everything happening around them, and Lilith, being composed of demonic energy, is very sensitive to the presence of other creatures. Thus, even in a forest full of dangers, it feels to them like being in a well-secured small town.
The prey, guided by the wind elements, were unknowingly brought near them. Lilith casually threw stones that could hit the prey. She assisted Xu Jiao in starting a fire in an open area, and as she watched the beautiful glow of the Sun God’s power in Xu Jiao’s hands, she suddenly recalled how last night this person, in a dream, had embraced her true form’s neck and leaned close. Her ears turned red subconsciously.
But she quickly drew back her thoughts, warning herself not to think of such things that would desecrate the Saintess. Her fingertips curled on her skirt, and the girl spoke softly:
“Honorable Saintess…”
Xu Jiao used a dry tree branch to poke the fire, responding to her good-naturedly: “Hm? What do you want to ask? Go ahead.”
If it were others with whom she had a good relationship in this world asking her questions, Xu Jiao might not necessarily answer. But little Lilith’s identity is special, being related to the protagonist and part of that black snake, so Xu Jiao pampers her to the utmost, not only in her actions but also in her heart.
For example.
In the previous two worlds, there was a little follower named Su Xi by her side, and later, a mother-in-law named Shi Weiya who treated her very well appeared. Xu Jiao’s attitude towards both of them was very good, but many things, she wouldn’t say to them.
Only the protagonist has the slight qualification to approach this Creator. However, those protagonists are too similar to the person she holds deep in her heart, so Xu Jiao instinctively develops a feeling of respect but keeps a distance, even not wanting to get involved.
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This blonde Lilith is the only exception.
She is both the protagonist and looks completely different from her beloved. Her personality is lively and simple, which means she completely enjoys all the favorable circumstances with Xu Jiao. Xu Jiao is willing to speak the truth to her and also willing to trust her.
The girl’s thick, beautiful hair is slightly curled, like waves of wheat or a golden ocean. Her sky-blue eyes are even clearer and purer than the sky at the peak of the Zake Mountains. She tilted her head and boldly glanced at Xu Jiao before asking her question:
“What kind of person do you… like?”
Xu Jiao fell silent, the branch in her hand poking at a stone in the fire, pushing one stone aside to reveal the red-hot core beneath.
Lilith saw that she didn’t want to speak, and her face immediately showed some panic, like a child who had accidentally done something wrong. She hastily tried to make amends: “Sorry, I was just a little curious. If you don’t want to say…”
Xu Jiao released her hand, allowing the rabbit on the simple wooden grill to slowly roast. After a while, she casually said: “There’s nothing bad to say.”
“Actually, I never talked about love with her, nor have we ever been together.”
“Because during those times I spent with her, I didn’t realize that I liked her. At that time, I was… very young and did not understand many things. Everything I now understand, she taught me.”
“I realized those things too late, too late…”
Xu Jiao never spoke to anyone about that person.
There was a time when she couldn’t express it, and later, when she could, it was no longer necessary. Time passed quickly, and in that old tube-shaped building, residents came and went. No one remembers the stories that once unfolded inside; they can only be pieced together from rumors—whose son once became a top scholar, whose family was poor and had a daughter who was a fool and couldn’t be raised properly, so they kept her locked in the room every day, and which household had someone die before…
More specific details, no one knows.
Those who know the stories are scattered in various corners of the world. The person who once left a profound impact on Xu Jiao, who taught her to see the colorful world, is no longer here.
And Xu Jiao’s perception of the world, those sharp pains, all came too late, too late.
Like a dull knife cutting meat, at first, it doesn’t feel very painful, but suddenly, at some moment, the sharpness hits, and looking down, the wound is already deep enough to see the bone.
She took a deep breath discreetly, lifted her eyes to glance at Lilith, and her lips lightly curved, as if she was smiling, or perhaps simply mocking something. After a while, the girl heard the other speak again:
“She has already died; she died to save me.”
“She was my teacher, the person who shaped my worldview, my spiritual support, my god… I imagined countless times that she was still alive, trying to make her reborn in a new world like a god, but all attempts failed, because I am not a god. I cannot create anything new, nor can I resurrect someone who has already perished.”
“But this truth, I only recently came to understand.”
Little Lilith listened, seemingly understanding yet not fully comprehending, but she faithfully recorded all this information to share with the black snake once she returned to its body.
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Xu Jiao did not continue speaking, turning her gaze to the rabbit on the grill, only to find that one side was somewhat charred. She stopped the conversation, took the meat off the grill, and after sharing it with the child and finishing the meal, followed the guide toward the cave filled with demonic energy.
Around the cave, there are many guards from various great temples.
Since the deaths of Henry and the others, the forces among the temples on the Miracle Continent have undergone a reshuffle, which can even be seen here. The most dangerous places are guarded by people from the Sun Temple, War Temple, and Fate Temple. Meanwhile, the clergy from the Wisdom Temple are leisurely sitting nearby, drinking tea and playing the king’s game.
Xu Jiao did not approach rashly.
She simply watched from a distance with little Lilith.
Within Xu Jiao’s sensing range, the cave seemed like a small black hole on this continent. No matter what elements or things approached, they were all absorbed, leaving nothing behind.
Just like…
a blank.
She furrowed her brow and, without a trace, returned to the original place with Lilith. While walking, she asked the child beside her: “Does she have any special memory about this cave?”
The child was very honest, spilling everything out like beans from a bamboo tube: “Legend has it that on the Miracle Continent, there is a cursed land, a place that God needed to personally seal. This was something she accidentally saw in a book while serving beside God back then.”
Cursed land.
Still need God to personally seal it?
Xu Jiao suddenly thought of a law again: in the world, all things mutually diminish and grow, generating and restraining each other. Even someone as powerful as Lilith needs to shed her skin to get through her weak periods. Could it be that God is completely without weaknesses?
Where was God born from?
Will They exist eternally? And in what form will They perish?
Xu Jiao’s intuition tells her that the Zake Mountains holds many stories.
Just at this moment—
Lilith, who was walking beside her, suddenly boldly reached over to hold her palm. Xu Jiao glanced sideways, and although the person beside her still looked the same, she inexplicably sensed that the other had changed inside.
Xu Jiao allowed her to hold her hand and asked:
“What, are you in pain again?”
She was teasing her with words from last night’s dream.
Hearing this teasing, the other side was silent for two seconds, then suddenly said: “You really are a fake. God is born with this world, knowing everything from birth, and no one can guide Them.”
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Xu Jiao laughed slightly: “Yes, so do you want to kill me?”
The person holding her hand looked up at her and, unexpectedly, changed the topic:
“Have you ever thought that maybe your attempt… succeeded?”
Xu Jiao didn’t react for a moment: “What?”
The blonde girl looked up at her, her eyes had already turned into the vertical pupils characteristic of her true form. From below, she looked up at her, and the two of them locked eyes for a moment. Xu Jiao heard this snake woman slowly say:
“In the beginning, even God thought the things They created were fake, but later, They created angels and humans… and later, They personally taught humans divine power, selected humans to serve Them, to accompany Them, and taught them many things.”
“Perhaps one day, They too will fall in love with one of them.”
“And you? Will you fall in love with those people you ‘created’?”