"Sakura, Rin, don't you hate them?"
Xin Yu held the oil-paper umbrella, shielding them from the raindrops falling from the sky, and looked at the two beside him, asking.
Yae Rin had been frail since childhood. After these abrupt changes, the emotional fluctuations, coupled with the falling rain and the cooling weather, her body was already struggling to cope. She began to cough violently.
Furthermore, because the tendons in her hands and feet had been severed, although she had undergone some treatment, since she was chosen as a sacrifice and was meant to die anyway, the so-called treatment had merely ensured Yae Rin wouldn't bleed to death. As a result, her body temperature was now starting to rise.
"Rin!"
Yae Sakura looked at her sister's pale face and trembling body, immediately embracing her. The moment her hand touched Rin's body, Yae Sakura could feel how scorching hot her sister was.
"Lord God..."
Before Yae Sakura could even turn to plead with Xin Yu, he had already knelt down, placing one of his hands on Yae Rin's head.
"It's alright, I will heal you."
Xin Yu first used the power of the Void to invade Yae Rin, then a portion of Honkai energy also brought a certain degree of change to her body. Fortunately, this girl's body had good Honkai energy resistance and adaptability; otherwise, such a direct method of treatment couldn't have been used.
He strengthened the girl's body to a degree, enough to combat the illness developing within her. Then, Xin Yu withdrew all the power he had introduced into her body, ensuring no deeper, subsequent changes would occur.
Xin Yu released his grip on the oil-paper umbrella, letting it float silently in mid-air. He took off his own clothes, transforming them into a gray, hooded cloak. He draped the cloak over the girl, wrapping her up snugly.
The girl was then cradled in Xin Yu's arms.
Yae Sakura looked up, gazing at her younger sister sleeping soundly in the Lord God's embrace. Her sister's complexion had changed from its earlier pallor to a rosy hue, and there was even a relaxed smile on her face.
"Let these people stay here and get drenched. We'll go first."
Xin Yu extended his other, empty hand and gently patted Yae Sakura's head. Then, he took the bewildered girl's hand and walked towards the interior of the shrine.
The shrine priest and the villagers, still kneeling on the ground, respectfully watched Xin Yu's departing figure.
To instantly transform an ordinary tree into a large umbrella, to make that umbrella float in mid-air, to change his clothes into a warm cloak with a wave of his hand, and to banish illness...
How could this not be a god?!
The rain continued to fall, coalescing the various dust particles and moisture in the air into raindrops. This feat no longer seemed particularly difficult for the current Xin Yu.
Ever since he had thoroughly eradicated all spiritual will of that sea monster with the power of the Void, leaving not even a trace of residue, his perception of water seemed to have heightened considerably.
The Void encompasses all things, the Void contains everything, the Void assimilates everything—all will eventually return to the Void.
The power of the Void was indeed omnipotent in a certain sense, but the price for using this power was that one day, one would return to the embrace of the Void along with this power.
Xin Yu sat on the corridor of a courtyard inside the shrine, watching the rain fall from the sky, simply enjoying the sense of relaxation that came with the rain.
Or perhaps this was what memories referred to as "white noise"? It was a pity he didn't feel sleepy; otherwise, falling asleep at a time like this would also seem like a rather pleasant experience.
"Lord God."
A young woman's voice came from behind. Xin Yu turned his head and saw Yae Sakura approaching with a tray, upon which sat a teapot and cups.
"Sit down and have some with me."
"Yes."
Yae Sakura knelt to the side, poured tea for Xin Yu, and then respectfully passed the cup to him.
"You don't need to be so formal. I'm not any god, just an ordinary person who happens to possess power. True gods are not as weak as I am."
Somewhere, a certain deceased Vortex Demigod: ...
Yae Sakura nodded. "I understand, Lord God."
"Er..." Xin Yu fell silent for a moment, then scratched his hair with a hint of helplessness. He continued to watch the falling raindrops outside and asked, "Earlier, because your sister suddenly developed a high fever, you didn't give me an answer. Do you have one now?"
"...I hate them. But... I also hate myself."
"That sacrificial ritual a month ago, I participated in it too. At that time, although I felt sad for killing an innocent person, I wasn't in pain. But when I learned that my own sister was to be sacrificed, I felt intense pain, intense hatred. At the same time, I also loathed myself for feeling this way."
"I can accept the sacrifice of others, but I cannot accept the sacrifice of my own sister. Someone like me is too despicable."
Looking at Yae Sakura, her head currently bowed, the two pairs of ears not yet grown, Xin Yu gently tucked her fallen strands of hair behind her ear and then said, "This isn't despicable. It's a very normal thing; everyone would think this way. When strangers are sacrificed, we might feel sadness, but not pain, because we don't know that person well. We don't have many memories with that person. That person's death might cause us a brief moment of shock and sadness, but then we'll cast it out of our minds because there aren't enough memories to build a bridge between us and that person."
"But our relatives, our friends—we have more than enough memories with them. These memories converge into a torrent of emotion within our hearts. When enough emotions gather, they tip the scales in our hearts, causing us to act emotionally, making us unwilling to let our loved ones die."
"This is a kind of double standard, but humans are inherently creatures of double standards."
"Don't blame yourself for this. You are not guilty."
"Go and check the village when you wake up tomorrow morning."
Xin Yu drained the tea, which had already cooled, in one gulp, and then his entire figure abruptly vanished.
Yae Sakura looked at the spot where the god had disappeared, not feeling much surprise. After all, gods were always different from mortals. But what would happen in the village tomorrow morning?
Yae Sakura returned to the inner part of the shrine. Looking at her apprehensive father, she recounted what had just happened. For some reason, her father seemed to sigh in relief, then looked at her with a somewhat reverent gaze and said,
"Don't forget the god's instructions. Go to the village tomorrow and see."
The next morning, Yae Sakura woke up early. After dressing, she went to the village accompanied by her father.
The village was built against the mountain, and the shrine was at its highest point. As the two descended the long flight of stairs, they saw that most of the villagers were gathered in the square outside the village.
Someone noticed their arrival and immediately made way. Every villager stopped talking, looking at Yae Sakura with reverent gazes.
And when the surrounding crowd parted, Yae Sakura saw what had been in the center: an old couple, clutching a young girl and weeping bitterly.
And that young girl was the sacrificial offering who had died a month ago.
"Returned from the dead! A miracle! This is a miracle!"
Everyone, including Yae Sakura's father, knelt on the ground, kowtowing towards the young man who was approaching from outside the village.
The young man came before Yae Sakura. Seeing her dazed expression, he said with a joking smile,
"Miko, I told you. You are not guilty."
Yae Sakura stared blankly at Xin Yu before her. At this moment, his smile, his appearance, his figure—all were deeply seared into the miko's heart.
This is my god.