Your Preference (19)
“Let me fall in love with you”
“Your Excellency the Saintess…”
Inside the mysterious God Tower.
The vast books and various booklets of different mediums are dazzlingly arranged on the bookshelves. Xu Jiao, in the last second, was still sitting under the golden sky; in the next moment, she could step into the deep red room, only because the book she touched was different, determining whether she was reading records left behind by the Sun God Temple or another god temple.
The deep red of the Fate God Temple has a strange and magnificent color, easily associated with the color of blood, as if there is some wonderful ability within, and indeed, it is so. Some forbidden techniques recorded in the Fate God Temple always use blood as a medium and carrier to unfold.
The content of the Storm God Temple’s books is closer to nature. In fact, the recorded things are not many, mostly recounting the various extreme climates in the Miracle Continent’s history, including those on land, in forests, and in the Zake Mountains.
The content of the Wisdom God Temple is the most obscure and hard to understand, seemingly hiding some strange dark language within. Its most prominent feature is complexity, as if not showing off twice would not reflect their special and mysterious nature, however…
Extremely complex things, after Xu Jiao tries to solve them, she finds that the translated content is not anything useful.
It’s like spending a lot of money to see a running account.
Fortunately, there are two god temples that save her the most trouble—
The Judgment God Temple and the War God Temple.
The former cares more about the justice of Miracle Continent’s laws, recording all kinds of cases, as well as some rules of balance in heaven and earth. The latter praises war entirely, like a war history of Miracle Continent.
On this day, while Xu Jiao was in the God Tower as usual, searching for what she needed, she suddenly heard a somewhat childish and familiar call at the door.
She closed the booklet in her hand, imprinting the few sentences of god language in her mind. At the moment the book closed, the hallucination-like golden sunlight and palace around her disappeared, leaving only the dim light from the doorway as the sole shining point.
Xu Jiao turned her head and saw little Lilith standing by the door.
She flipped to the last page of the booklet in her hand, which had no more content, and placed it back on the bookshelf. Then, she lifted her hand again, and another sheepskin booklet flew towards her palm from the bookshelf, landing steadily on it.
The black-haired girl didn’t blink or turn her head as she held the sheepskin booklet, then stepped forward a few steps. The golden earrings at her ear jingled, producing a bit of happy, light sound.
Today, she wore a red dress.
However, the earrings she wore were from the Sun God Temple. As she walked out a couple of steps, a white pigeon, resting outside the tower, flapped its wings and flew to her shoulder. Simultaneously, as if instinctively sensing something unpleasant, it called out twice towards Lilith, not too friendly.
Little Lilith’s height seemed to have never changed. Since she merged her memory with the main body, even though some human instincts remained, there were always some unintentional, unnoticed details consistently reminding her…
She was no longer an ordinary human.
At this moment, the golden-haired girl raised her head and saw Xu Jiao changing out of the Sun God Temple’s clothes, freely matching the representative colors of each god temple together. She admired this seriously for two seconds and then praised:
“Your Excellency the Saintess, you are especially beautiful today, oh.”
Xu Jiao heard her praise, and a slight smile appeared in her eyes. She lifted her hand to help pick off the white feathers shaken off by the pigeon on her shoulder, then said: “Is it lunch time?”
Actually, she had no need to eat.
But seeing little Lilith seem very insistent and take joy in it, Xu Jiao did not want to deprive her of this bit of simple happiness, so even though the two of them never formally agreed on this matter, they would tacitly find each other at meal times.
However, it was usually Lilith who came to find her, and she would also put down her current activities to go over.
Because recently, the snake woman’s mating period had passed, Xu Jiao had no one-sided reason to go find the other party.
“Your Excellency the Saintess, have you still not found the content you want?”
Using a piece of cut white bread dipped in a bit of sweet milk, Lilith ate the food at her mouth, then picked up the knife and fork again to poke the roasted sausage on the plate, cutting the perfectly flavored sausage neatly into small pieces. Once she finished eating what was in her mouth, she took a moment to lift her eyes and ask the Saintess across the dining table.
Xu Jiao ate two bites of a meat steak, found it a bit greasy, then picked a green grape to eat. Hearing Lilith’s question, she recalled the content she had seen recently and responded softly after a moment:
“Mm.”
Lilith’s sea-blue eyes blinked, her long eyelashes fluttered. Because her memory was shared with the black snake, during the black snake’s mating period, Lilith could not come out, and that period’s memory was inexplicably sealed by the black snake, not shared with her. So, it was like she was alone, asleep for a time and then woke up.
When she woke up, those confused, infatuated times had passed, and the scene had changed from the cave outside the Zake Mountains forest to the Sun God Temple, where she had once stayed with the Saintess.
Little Lilith did not know how Her Excellency the Saintess had come in or how she restored her former transcendental status among the six god temples, nor did she see where the Popes of these god temples were.
It seemed as if Her Excellency the Saintess secretly used a very mysterious magic that could change the heavens and the earth, then rewound others’ memories to become like this now.
Or perhaps…
She actually used some special means to make the Popes obediently listen and not interfere with her actions.
Little Lilith saw nothing and did not know how Her Excellency the Saintess did it, but since she was able to appear again, she never once asked about this question.
It seems that as long as she can stay by Xu Jiao’s side, she is content.
Everything else is unimportant.
The same is true now.
The Saintess seems to be searching for something important in the God Tower. Lilith recalled the time before her memory was merged, when she followed the Saintess to the Sun God Temple, where the other party also stayed in the God Tower for many days, leaving only for necessary rest.
Little Lilith thought that if the Saintess were willing to tell her, she would be willing to lend a hand.
Xu Jiao heard her somewhat cautiously express this idea to help, blinked her eyes, and with some surprise, said: “Are you sure? What I mean is, she… will not oppose?”
After all, the black snake’s main body once had feelings for God.
So, after Xu Jiao learned of little Lilith’s relationship with the black snake, she basically did not consider having the little one help her with this matter, as it seemed inappropriate.
But now the girl actively proposed to help—
“Although in your view she and I are one, I still have a certain degree of freedom.” The child blinked at her, somewhat slyly, different from her usual obedient cuteness, which gave Xu Jiao a slight surprise, and then she laughed.
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She didn’t want to trouble the child, so she only replied: “It’s okay, the content inside the God Tower, I am almost finished reading.”
Little Lilith nodded, seeming to understand but not fully: “Okay, but if there is anything I can help with, you must remember to tell me.”
Xu Jiao gave her a slight smile: “Mm.”
After having lunch, the two did not part ways. Xu Jiao headed towards the God Tower, while Lilith, although not going inside with her, stayed outside with the pigeons to wait for her.
The pigeons hopped and jumped on the ground, searching for corn kernels thrown by the temple’s maidservants or looking for small insects in the grass. From time to time, they cast a threatening and vigilant gaze at Lilith.
Lilith knew that these were pigeons from the Wisdom God Temple, instinctively friendly to those with pure divine power, as they were raised by temple personnel who had divine power. Thus, these pigeons were very humane and had a certain ability to recognize divine power.
Moreover, they greatly disliked demonic energy and darkness.
The golden-haired girl sat obediently on the steps in front of the God Tower, squinting her eyes in the sunlight. The two pigeons cooed in the grass, and after a while, seeing no one around, the little pigeons exchanged a glance and suddenly flapped their wings, rushing toward the golden-haired little girl.
Their bodies emitted a soft green glow, yet it was neither healing nor friendly.
Facing the sunlight, the little girl appeared obedient and cute, evoking a sense of friendliness and a protective impulse in anyone who saw her, wishing to present her with the world’s best things.
Confronted with the pigeons’ aggressive charge, a faint panic appeared on the girl’s face. She leaned back, her fair hands supporting herself on the steps of the God Tower, her eyes wide open as she watched the two pigeons fly at her with spread wings.
In the next second!
The pigeons’ claws and beaks became sharp, and in the sunlight, they no longer resembled little birds symbolizing peace and tranquility but rather the most ferocious raptors of the plains, the dominant golden eagles of the sky.
The claws were sharp, and the bird’s beak had a hook.
As if wanting to snatch the little snake in front into the air and then fiercely tear it into two halves.
However.
Just as they rushed towards the girl’s face, casting shadows as they descended, the two pigeons suddenly stopped in midair, unable to move. It turned out that a silent darkness had somehow climbed onto them, like a spider web’s thin threads, completely binding the actions of the two little birds. Their wings, feathers, and entire body were stuck by ink-like darkness, and in an instant, the vitality of the two birds disappeared, as stiff as stone carvings.
The panic on the girl’s face vanished, and the corners of her lips curled. She once again held her face and sat back in her original position, gazing into the gem-red eyes of the two little birds that were close at hand. She sweetly asked:
“What happened to you?”
“Didn’t you just want to scratch my face?”
Inexplicably, the two pigeons began to tremble.
Their wings tried to flap twice, but only snow-white feathers fell, making them appear very embarrassed.
They opened their mouths, wanting to make a sound for rescue, but as soon as their beaks moved, the black demonic energy automatically entangled them, sealing them tightly and forbidding any sound from escaping.
The girl slowly lifted her hand, touching one of the bird’s wings, feeling the slightly warm temperature in her palm. She made a “mm” sound and asked: “You seem to really like Her Excellency the Saintess, right?”
The pigeon trembled in her hand.
Immediately after.
The girl pinched her fingertips, but “accidentally” pulled down several feathers.
The pigeon, in pain, began to struggle, causing feathers to start falling in clumps. Under the breeze, blood-stained snow-like feathers rustled down, creating a large area with a kind of soul-stirring beauty.
“Crack,” “crack.”
There was the sound of bones breaking.
The black demonic energy followed the entrance and drilled in through the pigeon’s beak. Quickly, the two birds, from their previous state of immobility and controlled despair, slowly stopped struggling and became quiet and obedient.
The somewhat oddly turned wings also returned to their normal appearance.
The little girl glanced at the two birds in front of her with eyes that were red with black, tilted her head, and softly said: “Go.”
The two pigeons then flapped their wings together, flying toward the distant sky. At first glance, it seemed like a sudden departure, but if observed closely, one could see that the two pigeons’ flying actions were very mechanical, almost exactly the same.
Lacking vitality.
The girl in front of the God Tower watched the two little pigeons fly away, raised her hand in a goodbye gesture, and then lightly and slowly hummed a song with a melodious tone. The tune of an unknown nursery rhyme circled around the god tower, drifting and transmitting a great distance, ethereal and pleasant.
Everyone who heard it could feel that the girl humming the song was in a very good mood.
Evening.
Xu Jiao walked out from inside the God Tower, just as the sunset was falling, sinking into the other end of the horizon. Heavy ink-black color came from a distant place, gradually swallowing the golden light in front, like a greedy, insatiable giant beast.
She didn’t hear the usual noise and looked towards the high eaves around, not seeing the familiar snow white.
Lilith stood up from the steps, as if she hadn’t been waiting there long, brimming with a bright smile, walked to Xu Jiao’s side, and quietly held onto the corner of her clothing.
If Her Excellency the Saintess were to ask about the whereabouts of those two little birds, little Lilith planned to say that those two birds flew away directly and couldn’t be found. However, she waited and found that the Saintess just glanced and did not mention the matter.
Xu Jiao reached out her hand to hold Lilith’s, then went towards her residence.
The little friend obediently followed her, walking forward a distance, blinking her eyes, and looking towards both sides. Not long after, Xu Jiao heard her softly ask:
“Huh? Why didn’t those two pigeons follow?”
A tiny bit of smile appeared in Xu Jiao’s eyes.
She said: “Mm?”
“They should have flown away, right?”
Lilith nodded thoughtfully, then asked: “Do you want me to help you find them? I’ve seen them follow you every day recently. If they get lost, you might feel a bit sad, right?”
Xu Jiao looked at her seriously asking this question, and a smile flashed by.
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This little friend…
Really is dark inside.
But she was willing to indulge this little one’s small schemes, not directly exposing it, and only said: “No need.”
Xu Jiao: “Every animal has its own choices and thoughts. They are free, and it doesn’t matter where they go. I won’t be sad or upset because of this.”
Little Lilith, not knowing what she thought of, lowered her eyes and asked again: “Then… no matter who leaves you, you won’t be sad?”
Xu Jiao sensed a bit of subtle meaning in these words.
She also didn’t know if this little friend actually wanted to know for herself or was asking for another reason as well.
Xu Jiao shook her head and stopped walking, her gaze falling to a lower place, just looking at the swirl of hair on top of the golden-haired little girl’s head. She quietly listened for a moment to the sound of the wind blowing between the halls, and unhurriedly opened her lips:
“No.”
She said: “I did not make an agreement with them, so they come and go freely, but… you said you’d always stay by my side. If you were to leave silently, I would be sad.”
After all, little Lilith is the heroine she had seriously taught.
If the little friend betrayed her.
Xu Jiao thought, she would still be somewhat sad and disappointed.
Hearing her words, Lilith suddenly raised her head, looking at Xu Jiao with bright eyes. Her sea-blue eyes were filled with surprise and other more complex emotions, but overall, she was happy.
The moon quietly climbed to the top of the hall, hanging there like a hook.
In the silver light, the golden-haired little girl seriously promised her: “I will always follow you, Your Excellency the Saintess, no matter where you go.”
Xu Jiao smiled, touched her hair, and responded: “Good.”
She paused for a moment, then gently added: “Wherever I go, I will take you, but on the road of death, you do not need to follow.”
Lilith opened her lips, her gaze becoming serious and persistent, as if she wanted to say something more, but suddenly she turned into a black demonic energy and went towards the distant candle-lit house.
Xu Jiao followed the trace and turned to look, seeing a black-haired woman leaning bonelessly against the door, looking in her direction.
It was that black snake.
The other did not transform into her snake form where the temple maidservants could see, maintaining a human appearance, but wearing a black hooded cloak, seeming not like the temple’s open and aboveboard clergy, instead like someone sneaking in who didn’t belong.
But her exposed face was too beautiful.
Pale, with a fragile beauty.
Not sure if she was injured.
Xu Jiao exchanged a glance with her, understood that little Lilith was taken back by her, pursed her lips, and walked to the hall’s door. Xu Jiao slowly said:
“Good evening.”
The snake woman looked at her, suddenly raising black demonic energy that completely wrapped the person in front of her. In the next moment, both were on the huge soft bed inside the hall, and the hall door moved, slowly making a closing sound.
The room was quiet, and the candle flames didn’t flicker, as if nothing had happened just now.
Xu Jiao supported herself on the bed with one hand, just about to get up when she felt a slight coolness at her ankle. Without looking back, she knew that the person below had surely transformed into a snake tail.
That tail silently wrapped upwards, soft and cold, yet containing terrifying strength.
The person below held her cheeks, with vertical pupils slightly enlarged. In the backlight of the bed, they flatteringly became rounder, showing a bit of an inexplicable silly cute feeling.
Not looking at her snake tail’s scales, just looking at her pupils’ round shape, actually made this person seem not like a snake, but rather… like a pet cat.
From the previous mating season, she learned some strange method, and now again, she drove her body to emit a sweet scent, controlling that smell to envelop the person above.
Meanwhile, she finally said the first words after meeting:
“Do you not ask where I went during this time?”
Since the incident on the windowsill that day, Lilith’s mating season had completely passed, but she did not stay in the temple, nor did she follow Xu Jiao every day like another consciousness on her body.
She left silently.
No one knew where she went.
Xu Jiao also never asked little Lilith this question.
Until today—
This black snake suddenly appeared again in front of her, as quietly as when she left.
Xu Jiao did not answer her question, seeming uninterested, only tilting her head, trying to avoid the sweet fragrance that could affect one’s mind, pulling one into a sea of desire to sink.
Meanwhile, her gaze turned elsewhere, and she softly said: “Your energy has become more evil.”
More instinctively disliked.
Previously, Xu Jiao thought Lilith was already the incarnation of evil, the spokesperson of demons, but she did not expect that after the black snake left for a period and returned, the energy on her body became even more terrifying.
As if by just slightly relaxing, one would be pulled into the abyss by this person, never to see daylight again.
Even the body and soul would perish in an instant.
That is an extremely dark, evil, and decaying energy.
But…
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This person’s complexion was very pale, pale as if transparent.
It is also unknown what exactly this black snake went to do.
Xu Jiao initially wanted to use divine power to probe, but as soon as this thought arose, she dismissed it. She didn’t intend to have any unclear relationship with this black snake; some things are not suitable to ask out loud.
The snake woman heard her words and slightly smiled, using absolute power to press her back into her embrace, biting her ear, with a cold breath tinged with a bit of a smile, she softly said:
“I went to that underground cave.”
“I absorbed all the demonic energy inside…”
Xu Jiao’s pupils suddenly contracted, and even the action of preparing to refuse paused for a moment.
The underground cave was related to her plan.
She couldn’t momentarily imagine how her god-killing plan could proceed without so much demonic energy.
The snake woman seemed to have already sensed her thoughts, and her snake tongue circled around her ear, asking softly: “Are you a bit desperate?”
Xu Jiao: “…”
Lilith leisurely raised her hand to touch her cheek, suddenly speaking of another matter:
“Last time I asked you if you wanted to try liking me—”
“At that time, you were just silent, and I didn’t know if you were refusing or hesitating.”
“But now I am not prepared to ask again, I have changed my mind.”
She slowly lifted Xu Jiao’s chin, bringing the other’s lips to her own, very lightly, yet making Xu Jiao feel as if her soul was stirred.
Inexplicably, she listened to the black snake continue to say: “You please me, make me fall in love with you—”
“I will return all this demonic energy to you, how about it?”