I am God - Chapter 205

Rolling Stone Town was an extremely isolated small town. Its social structure was simple, with the mayor and priests ruling this remote place. For decades, it seemed as if nothing had ever changed here.

A young man named Asai stood in front of the temple, looking up at the beautiful stained glass windows inside and the pure white, sacred statues.

His face showed an expression of longing.

He imagined himself wearing the priest’s robe, praying to God under the admiring gazes of everyone.

He raised both hands, and everyone followed him in chanting the Redlichia Covenant.

“God said…”

In his mind, he even imagined the statue coming to life, with the great Yinsai extending a hand towards him.

“Asai, welcome to my hall.”

Asai felt out of place in this small town. He believed he was special and unique, despite his mother often dismissing his ideas as mere dreams.

But if a person couldn’t even dream, how dark would their life be?

In this small town, the only place that made him feel like he belonged was this magnificent building before him.

The temple was the residence of the esteemed priests and the place where townspeople prayed to the spirits.

Asai’s beautiful dream wasn’t without reason. The town’s doctor had recently suggested that Asai might have the talent to become a priest.

“You might have the talent to become a priest,” the doctor had said. “Perhaps you could try going to the temple and asking the priest to perform an Ability awakening ritual for you.”

“Asai, who knows? You might become a big shot!”

Asai left the temple of Rolling Stone Town and walked towards a small alley where a group of children from the town were playing.

As soon as Asai walked by, the children immediately turned to look at him.

“Look! Isn’t this Asai who works for free?” It was clear that these children didn’t get along with Asai.

“Who is this?” A child walked up to Asai with an exaggerated expression.

“The big shot Asai?” Asai had been saying lately that he would become a big shot in the future, so the children had given him this nickname.

“Asai, Asai! How come you haven’t become a priest yet?”

Asai looked at these town kids with disdain. He was unwilling to associate with people whose futures he believed he could predict at a glance, destined to be forever mediocre.

Of course, these children had always ostracized Asai.

Because Asai had no father, and because of Asai’s somewhat cowardly mother.

While Asai typically avoided this route, today he deliberately chose to pass through here.

Because Asai wanted to show off to them.

Today, while running errands for the temple, he had received a promise from the priest that he could undergo an Ability awakening ritual after some time.

This was the fruit of his half-year of free labor at the temple, constantly flattering the priest.

He had no money; even if he sold himself, he couldn’t scrape together enough for an Ability awakening ritual.

Although he had heard that some people could awaken their talents without going through the ritual, Asai, who always claimed he was different, didn’t quite believe that he was that kind of legendary genius.

The only chance was to gain the favor of the priest in the temple, which was why he always went to the temple to do volunteer work.

“The doctor said I have a unique talent,” Asai boasted.

“And the priest also said that he would perform the ritual for me after some time. What does this mean?”

“I really have the talent to become a priest.”

For the first time in his life, Asai felt so excited about something. His mood was so elated that he couldn’t help but be a bit exaggerated in his demeanor.

“What kind of people can become priests? Those with the bloodline of the First King Redlichia.”

“The divine blood of Redlichia flows through my veins.”

“I am the one chosen by God.”

The children looked at Asai with a mix of envy, jealousy, and disbelief.

One of the children who had always been at odds with Asai even burst out cursing: “You’re just a bastard, how could you possibly have the blood of the King of Wisdom?”

Asai had heard such words before, but he knew that at this moment, the other must be both furious and terrified.

This was more satisfying than giving him a punch.

Asai proudly told all the children: “I will become a big shot in the future. I’m different from you.”

Then, he left without looking back.

The children watched Asai’s back as he walked away. The leader of the children was furious.

“That quack doctor must have made a mistake.”

“How could the priest give someone like him a ritual?”

Some children, however, became a bit worried and scared: “It’s better not to offend him. What if he really becomes a priest?”

The leader’s eyes turned red after hearing this: “Him?”

Asai’s home was on the edge of the town, a dilapidated mud house with a thatched roof covered with oilcloth.

It always leaked when it rained, so the ground inside the house was full of potholes, with many old pottery jars placed in the corners.

Those were for catching water on rainy days.

Asai saw his mother busy washing clothes outside the house: “I’m hungry. Is there anything to eat?”

His mother turned her head to look: “Didn’t the temple feed you today? The priest is too stingy.”

Asai didn’t say anything. He agreed that the priest was stingy.

His mother took out a few leftover paste cakes and placed them in front of Asai.

Asai immediately began to wolf them down.

Asai, who talked about becoming a big shot, couldn’t even eat a full meal in his daily life.

The Dark River region was rich in fish, but Asai’s family rarely tasted fish. Even the food paste and oil noodles were of the lowest quality.

Once, the priest of the temple had established a workshop in the town. The town’s food paste was even sold to other towns and cities. Asai’s mother had once been a female worker in the workshop.

But in recent years, due to poor management, it had gradually reduced staff. Cheaper and better-tasting products from other workshops had occupied the market here, and Asai’s mother had lost her job.

Currently, his mother was doing some temporary work at the mayor’s house. Sometimes she couldn’t even get money, just some food.

The life of the two was very tight, barely making ends meet.

“Eat less,” his mother cautioned. “When you’re full, you just go out to fight and cause trouble.”

Asai spoke between mouthfuls: “I haven’t been causing trouble lately. I’m doing something right.”

His mother grumbled, dissatisfied: “Working for free, and you call it doing something right.”

Asai immediately shared his good news with his mother: “The priest promised me today that he would perform the awakening ritual for me. If it’s successful, he’ll even take me as an apprentice.”

“I haven’t been busy for nothing these past six months. Hard work always pays off.”

“You only see the daily wages, but I see the future.”

“It’s because I’m diligent and uncomplaining that the priest is willing to take me as an apprentice. He knows that once I become an apprentice, I can help him accomplish more things and bring him greater benefits.”

“This is wisdom.”

Asai’s mother didn’t say anything, as if she hadn’t heard.

But she took out a small bag from the inner room and placed it in front of Asai.

“Buy some gifts and donate them to the temple tomorrow.”

“Although it’s nothing to the priest, it’s necessary.”

Asai didn’t take it, just looking at the money bag on the table.

“Isn’t this your treasure bag?”

“You said it was emergency money in case something unexpected happened. How can you bear to take it out?”

Asai’s mother was a person with very little sense of security, always keeping some money for unexpected situations.

This money, even when they were starving, his mother hadn’t been willing to use.

Usually, if Asai even glanced at this “treasure bag,” he would get a fierce glare from his mother.

But now his mother calmly said: “Didn’t you say you want to be a big shot? Aren’t you afraid of not having money in the future?”

Asai was silent for a while, then continued eating.

As he ate, he mumbled: “I will let you live a good life, the life of a big shot.”

“We’ll move away from this place together in the future, go to a big city.”

“To Anho City.”

“We won’t work for others anymore. In the future, others will work for us.”

Asai’s mother was a timid person, afraid of causing trouble, completely different from Asai.

“It’s better to keep a low profile,” she advised. “Don’t talk too much, don’t tell others about any good things, and don’t conflict with others.”

“Even if you become powerful in the future, try not to cause trouble.”

“There are always people more powerful than you in this world.”

His mother rambled on and on, seemingly endless.

She was always worried about this and that, afraid of this and that.

Even when bullied, she only dared to curse the offender secretly at home. Asai was used to it.

Asai barely registered his mother’s words, his mind already elsewhere.

He muttered, “Then I’ll just become more powerful than everyone else.”

His mother fell silent, struggling to comprehend Asai’s seemingly boundless confidence.

“You stubborn child, you’ll pay dearly for not listening in the future.”

At the Rolling Stone Town temple.

After donating money and finding ways to please the old priest for a while, Asai finally welcomed the day he had been eagerly anticipating. The old priest was going to perform the Ability ritual for him.

The robed priest fixed Asai with a stern gaze, his expression a mixture of severity and condescension.

“You’re here?”

“Have you bathed? Have you recited the covenant?”

Asai, who had deliberately changed into clean clothes, immediately answered cautiously, “I’ve bathed.”

“To express my devotion to God, I haven’t eaten for a day. I’ve been silently reciting the Redlichia Covenant since last night until now.”

The old priest nodded, “Then go inside and get ready!”

The temple’s few hired workers looked at Asai with envy, a gaze that made Asai feel great.

He walked towards the inner door, his excitement growing with each step.

His habit of fantasizing and daydreaming surfaced again.

He felt as if a holy light was shining upon him, and the ordinary door seemed to radiate a golden glow.

Asai strode forward confidently, his head held high.

He felt that as soon as he stepped through this door, his life would become completely different.

That illusory light shone on him, gradually coloring his world in magnificent hues. He even heard the songs of spirits, those beautiful creatures said to exist only in God’s realm, cheering for him.

On one side of the temple, in a room behind a mirror.

Several people watched Asai undergoing the awakening ritual, each of them on edge.

Because even Xiao, the Divine Contract High Priest of the Ghost Cult, had rushed to this insignificant small town at this moment, just to witness Asai’s Ability awakening.

The old priest muttered incantations, his consciousness beginning to resonate.

A special divine technique took effect on Asai.

It drew out the mythical blood hidden deep in Asai’s bloodline, the power concealed within.

Suddenly, an extremely powerful mental force exploded outward.

The feeling was like a dam opening its floodgates.

“Domain Neutralize.”

Xiao immediately released his own power, creating a mental domain to neutralize the erupting force.

If Xiao hadn’t been prepared, the moment the power burst forth would probably have dragged everyone in Rolling Stone Town into it.

Everyone would have suffered severe mental damage from this powerful mental force, and who knows how many would have been reduced to idiots.

Several disciples who didn’t understand the detailed background were also frightened, unable to believe that a child would possess such powerful strength.

“Sir, who exactly is this child?”

“His innate mental ability is so strong that we can no longer suppress it. I estimate that in a few days, he will break through the shackles we’ve set up and awaken naturally.”

Xiao simply said, “He is a person despised by God.”

Within Asai’s body, violent changes were occurring as the scattered mythical blood was drawn together, triggering transformations in his mind.

However, these powers didn’t converge into his brain and consciousness as usual to transform into powerful mental thought force.

Instead, they split and formed a tumor in Asai’s brain, draining all the power that originally belonged to Asai, attaching to his body but beyond his control.

Xiao’s face showed no particular surprise; he had anticipated this.

Or rather, this situation was exactly what they had arranged.

Xiao showed a knowing expression, then took out a pen.

He wrote vertically on the scroll in his hand: “Path of Wisdom Step Two experiment successful, target Asai successfully awakened Ability.”

“When the brain and body are fully developed and mature, wisdom, which is also the power of the Ability, will return, exactly as predicted and planned.”

On the other side, Asai woke up from the intense pain.

He felt as if a stone had been stuffed into his head, the pain making him cry out involuntarily.

“Ah!”

Asai reached out to press his head, but found something wasn’t quite right.

He waved a hand in front of his eyes, he could see it, but the perspective was completely different from usual.

“What’s happened to me?”

He tried again and realized that one of his eyes had gone blind.

Asai looked at the priest with a bewildered expression.

The priest told him that due to his congenital brain deformity, the awakening had not been successful.

He couldn’t become a priest, and in the future, he wouldn’t even qualify as an ordinary person.

“How can this be?”

“How could it fail? Can awakening even fail?”

Asai couldn’t accept this explanation at all. He had never imagined that he would fail; he seemed to think his success was predestined.

“There must be something wrong… How could this happen?”

“There must be a mistake.”

“Something must have gone wrong somewhere.”

Before stepping through this door, Asai thought he was stepping into the future, entering the hall of the divine realm.

He never imagined that this step would lead him into purgatory.

The temple priest’s face darkened, and he snorted coldly.

“Are you questioning me?”

“It’s not that I made a mistake, nor did anything go wrong.”

The priest looked at Asai with cold eyes: “The problem is with you. You don’t have the talent.”

The priest turned around and opened the door.

“Only those favored by God can become priests, can possess the power bestowed by God.”

“Some people… just don’t have that fate!”

Asai wanted to say something to the priest, but he clenched his fists and couldn’t utter a word.

At this moment, Asai’s mother came running from outside. She had heard the argument from outside the door and already knew what had happened.

She was a timid woman with no sense of security. She didn’t even have the courage to look up at the priest, and she was more afraid that her child would be harmed for offending the esteemed priest.

After all, these high and mighty figures could push them into the abyss and take away everything they had, even their lives, with just a small malicious intent.

She could only hug her child tightly, repeatedly saying.

“It’s okay… it’s okay…”

“Asai, let’s go home.”

“Let’s go home.”

As he walked down, Asai realized that one of his legs seemed out of control. When he tried to lift it, he felt he couldn’t exert any strength.

This made him limp as he walked.

He had not only lost an eye but also the ability to run.

Outside the temple, those bad children from the town had also heard the news and came rushing over, just in time to see Asai walking out of the temple.

Seeing Asai’s ugly gait, they burst into laughter.

The leader of the children laughed so hard he bent over, unable to contain himself.

“Asai!”

“Didn’t you say you were different from us? Hahaha… Indeed, you are different… very different!”

He laughed as if he was about to run out of breath, not hiding his malice towards Asai at all.

Other children also shouted together: “Different!”

“Different!”

Some even imitated Asai’s way of walking, exaggerating while also adding convulsive movements.

Asai glanced at them. Usually, he would have either rushed forward to fight with them or proudly held his head high, looking at them with disdainful eyes.

But this time, he didn’t say a word.

Instead, his usually timid and compliant mother suddenly burst out with a scream, yelling at those children.

“Get lost!”

“All of you, get lost!”

The children weren’t afraid, they just scattered with a commotion.

Asai tugged at his mother’s clothes and shook his head.

“Forget it.”

“Let’s go home!”

Asai limped as he helped his mother fetch water. His mother’s work had been quite heavy recently; it seemed she wanted to earn some extra money. She would bring home some unfinished work from the mayor’s house.

Mending clothes, starching and washing garments, and so on.

She suddenly stopped what she was doing and seriously talked to Asai about something.

“I’ve asked the mayor’s butler to find you a job.”

“The mayor’s warehouse needs someone to keep watch at night. You can go help with that!”

“Although the pay isn’t much, it’s not tiring either.”

This was the new job his mother had found for him. Asai didn’t say anything.

Since returning from the temple, Asai had become taciturn, no longer wearing his emotions on his sleeve or speaking his mind as he used to.

His mother thought Asai was unwilling to go, and given his personality, it was normal for him to look down on such work.

“Don’t think about so many things. You don’t have that fate!”

“Just live on well!”

His mother repeated, “Just live on well!”

This seemed to be her view of life, and her expectation for Asai.

To live on well.

That was enough.

Footsteps were heard from outside; the town’s doctor had arrived.

In Asai’s eyes, the doctor was a good person, someone worthy of trust.

He had a good reputation in the town, had treated Asai’s mother and him before, but had never charged them for medical care.

The doctor examined Asai’s body and finally said,

“Your eyes and legs are fine, but there’s a problem inside your head.”

“This is a challenge that current medical techniques can’t solve. After all, the skull is still too mysterious a part of the body.”

Asai recalled the priest’s words: “Your brain is congenitally deformed, born with an illness.”

Asai suddenly began to believe these words.

In this era, problems in the brain were unsolvable.

The doctor looked at the silent Asai and patted his shoulder.

“While it may cause some difficulties, your condition shouldn’t be life-threatening.”

“You can walk and see. Leading a normal life and finding work should be within your reach.”

This consolation hardly seemed like consolation at all.

The doctor also felt that what he said was too depressing: “Don’t lose heart. Even if priesthood is out of reach, there are countless ways to succeed in life.”

“There are many people in this world who, as ordinary individuals, have achieved things that even the most powerful priests couldn’t do.”

Asai said in a low voice, “Those are just stories.”

But the doctor said, “Then let me tell you a true event, a real story that belongs to ordinary people.”

So the doctor smilingly recounted a story widely circulated among doctors, about Lester, the Holy Hands.

The doctor narrated Lester’s ordinary background and his ideals.

“Lester learned the medical arts of witch doctors through his unwavering perseverance, compiled the first systematic medical book, and spread his knowledge throughout Yinsai.”

“When the plague came, it was he who stood up.”

“When people fell into despair, it was he who saved the entire city.”

“In the end, people erected a statue for him.”

“They called him the Holy Hands.”

The doctor took a long time to finish this story. Although Asai didn’t say a word, one could feel that he was listening carefully and attentively.

“You see?”

“Even without becoming a priest, one can still become an admired figure, a hero praised by thousands upon thousands of people.”

Asai thought for a moment before responding, “I’ve considered other paths. If I can’t become a prominent figure like a priest, perhaps a career in law enforcement could be fulfilling.”

“Finding and catching criminals, punishing those who are greedy and evil.”

“It’s both impressive and…”

He paused here.

Asai’s eyes showed a slight ripple: “Like a hero.”

After speaking, Asai looked at his leg: “But it’s a pity.”

“I guess no one would like a hero like this.”

But the doctor shook his head: “Heroes are not judged by appearance, but by their actions.”

“The more pain and hardship, the more it can forge an unyielding character, the more it can make people unleash powerful strength.”

“Aren’t all those stories in epics like this?”

“Stories where success is easily obtained are the most third-rate stories.”

The doctor patted Asai’s shoulder earnestly: “I think it’s not bad. A law enforcer who catches criminals needs a smart brain.”

“Asai, you’re so smart, maybe you really can do it.”

Asai smiled, but not brightly.

The doctor then turned his attention to Asai’s mother, examining her with a furrowed brow before letting out a deep sigh.

“Your condition hasn’t improved. You’re pushing yourself too hard.”

“You should rest properly. Don’t take on those heavy jobs anymore. Your body is too weak, don’t force yourself if you can’t handle it.”

“You must follow my advice. If you continue like this, you’ll really fall ill, and then it will be truly troublesome.”

His mother nodded: “Mm, I understand.”

She said this, but she had never actually followed through.

For a lower-class poor woman to survive alone with a child, one can imagine how difficult it is without even thinking. There was never such a thing as easy rest.

For many people, just living well already takes all their strength.

“Asai!”

The doctor turned his head towards Asai and called his name.

“You’ve grown up too. You should share some of your mother’s burdens.”

Asai said, “Alright.”

The doctor stood up, left a few packets of medicinal powder that some temples had started producing in recent years, and then left the home.

True to his compassionate nature, the doctor departed without any mention of payment.

Asai limped as he saw the doctor out, then bowed to his retreating figure.

Asai followed his mother’s wishes and went to work at the mayor’s warehouse.

This job involved guarding the warehouse at night, preventing thieves from stealing things or fires from breaking out, as the warehouse also stored many candles, lamp oil, and flammable materials.

Although the pay wasn’t much, it indeed wasn’t very tiring and was very suitable for him now.

His mother had indeed considered many things for him, although she never explicitly said so.

On this day, Asai packed up his things and prepared to go to work at the warehouse.

He stood at the doorway waiting for his mother to return home before he left.

While waiting, it started to rain lightly. Asai took out the jars and bottles from the house and placed them where the roof leaked to catch the water.

“Drip! Drip!”

The sound wasn’t particularly pleasant, noisy yet also giving a sense of quiet rhythm.

Very peculiar.

Asai, who was almost falling asleep sitting there, raised his head to look outside: “Why hasn’t she come back yet?”

Just as he finished voicing his concern, his mother returned in the rain, carrying a large box.

The box was covered with a raincoat, containing some discarded items from the mayor’s house.

Some old things, along with scraps of cloth and some leftover food.

His mother preciously covered the box with the raincoat that should have been shielding her from the rain. The mayor’s house often had unwanted items that his mother would salvage. Those worn-out clothes and leftover fabric scraps could be woven into gloves, dolls, hats, and such things, which could be used themselves or exchanged for some money.

His mother’s small, frail body hugged the large box, treasuring it immensely.

Asai went over to take it from her, but his mother held onto it tightly, not letting go.

She collapsed, sitting on the ground at the doorway. Asai brought a stool for his mother to sit on.

“Are you alright?”

His mother was soaked through, shivering from cold, and gasping for breath from exhaustion.

“I’m fine.”

“You should hurry to the warehouse for work.”

Then she smiled proudly and said, “Come back early tomorrow morning. There’ll be something good to eat.”

“The mayor’s house was clearing out unwanted things today. I’ve salvaged quite a few treasures.”

Asai nodded: “Then I’ll be off now!”

He walked out of the courtyard with an umbrella, looking back once.

“Don’t sit there. Change into dry clothes and warm up under the blanket.”

His mother immediately raised her hand, urging him to go quickly.

After working all night, Asai returned the next day to find his mother ill.

She was very sick, constantly shaking and trembling, even a blanket didn’t help.

He called the doctor to come and examine her. The doctor used medicine, but there was no sign of improvement.

Asai sat by the bedside, looking at his mother: “Why hasn’t she gotten better?”

The doctor shook his head: “When you get older, the body ages and becomes like this.”

“Her body is too weak. Medicine only plays a supporting role. To truly recover, it ultimately depends on one’s own constitution.”

Asai retorted, “But my mother isn’t old.”

The doctor said, “The body is like an object. Aging isn’t just about years, but also about daily maintenance.”

Lower-class commoners, after years of labor and eating the poorest food, look completely aged by forty.

This was common.

Asai pleaded with the doctor: “Please think of something!”

The doctor shook his head, left some medicine, and told Asai the daily dosage.

He also said this method was now up to luck, but this was all the doctor could do.

As he reached the door, he suddenly remembered something.

The doctor gave Asai a suggestion.

“Go and ask the priest at the temple!”

“I remember he has a revival ritual stone tablet that can temporarily restore a person’s vitality. This is also why that priest can still move freely despite being so old.”

“Using the power of this stone tablet once might be enough to help your mother pull through.”

Asai nodded, “I’ll go right away.”

Since the failure of the awakening ritual, Asai had never wanted to see or go to the temple again.

But this time, hearing the doctor’s words, he immediately went to the temple.

Asai’s arrival was not welcomed by the priest, but rather met with coldness.

Asai’s questioning and rebuke last time had caused the priest to feel annoyed and disgusted with him.

Moreover, the rare occurrence of a failed awakening ritual leading to disability happening under his hands made him feel somewhat embarrassed, a stain on his priestly career.

More importantly, Asai, who could no longer become a priest, was of no use to him anymore.

“You want to borrow the revival ritual stone tablet?”

The priest let out a cold laugh: “Sure.”

“But you need to pay.”

Asai immediately clutched his clothes: “Money?”

He remembered the treasure bag his mother had given him earlier, all the money they had donated to the church. After the failure, his mother never mentioned asking for it back.

Asai immediately said to use that money as a fee, along with the wages for his previous volunteer work here.

The priest instantly turned hostile: “Money given to God can be taken back? What a joke.”

“Besides, I never asked you to come volunteer. You shamelessly insisted on coming to work for God.”

“It was your honor to work here, how could you ask for money?”

Asai was furious to the extreme: “You can’t do this.”

“I’ve worked for you for so long, and my mother also worked for your workshop when she was young. We’ve all made contributions to you.”

“I don’t want anything.”

“Just save my mother.”

The priest snorted coldly: “Get out of here.”

Ritual stone tablets could be considered the lowest-grade tools, allowing even ordinary mental priests to use ritual power, even if they hadn’t signed a spirit realm contract.

But this so-called “lowest-grade” was only in the eyes of those powerful priests.

In the eyes of ordinary mental priests, each ritual stone tablet was like a workshop, representing countless amounts of money.

It also represented divine power.

How could it possibly be used by these commoners?

The priest had several temple workers beat Asai and then drive him out of the temple.

“Kid, don’t cause trouble.”

“Go home quietly, don’t make the great priest angry again.”

“Get lost, cripple.”

Asai got up in a sorry state, limping across the street.

He looked back deeply at the temple, then turned away.

Asai returned home with injuries.

He carefully tended to his mother, but her fever grew worse and worse, to the point where she started talking nonsense.

Asai called the doctor several more times, but to no avail.

The doctor examined his mother’s body again and shook his head at Asai outside the door.

“Say your final goodbyes.”

“Don’t leave any regrets.”

Asai sat by his mother’s side, like an immovable stone.

His mother saw Asai’s face, her eyes revealing a worried expression.

It was the worry of how her son would survive after she was gone.

“Asai.”

“Don’t be afraid.”

“If you’re scared, just cover your eyes.”

“When you can’t see anything, you won’t be afraid anymore.”

His mother reached out her hand, touched Asai’s face, then covered his eyes.

She had done this many times when he was little.

When his mother was afraid, during stormy nights with thunder and lightning, or when there were unknown figures trying to push open the door outside the house in the middle of the night.

She would hide under the covers, covering both her own and Asai’s eyes.

As if this way, nothing outside could harm her.

Asai never felt this way.

He always thought it was scarier when he couldn’t see anything. He only wanted to open his eyes wide to see everything in this world clearly, while his mother just wanted to hide like an ostrich.

But this time, he suddenly felt different.

The warmth of her hand penetrated through his eye sockets, deep into his heart.

He felt a sense of security, the security given by his small and frail mother, a feeling that had always been with him but he had never truly faced.

“Don’t be afraid…”

“Cover your eyes… and you won’t be afraid of anything.”

“Nothing can hurt us… hurt…”

Her hand fell.

The darkness disappeared, light penetrating through his vision to the bottom of his pupils.

It didn’t bring light, but despair.

Asai’s mother, this ordinary, plain, and timid woman.

Just like that, she passed away.

Asai looked at his mother, knowing that the entire world he once relied on had disappeared.

Those grand words he had spoken before, about letting his mother know the life of a big shot, about never letting her work for others again, but having others work for her – those promises.

They could never be fulfilled now.

Asai looked at the bright sunlight shining through the window onto his mother’s corpse. For the first time, he felt that light was so terrifying.

He slowly raised his two hands.

Covered his face, then shielded his eyes—

Nightfall.

Asai stood in front of the temple, holding a bucket in his arms.

He stared at the statue of God Yinsai. In the past, whenever he looked here, he felt it was radiating light, incredibly sacred.

He could see everything here as alive, he could even imagine scenes from the realm of God.

But now he could only see a cold temple, a dark house even with a hint of gloom, everything motionless.

He had lost his former ability to fantasize.

He would no longer have those grand dreams.

Asai’s demeanor became cold, the gloom on his face even identical to a certain person.

Asai had stolen over a dozen buckets of oil from the mayor’s warehouse. He understood everything about this temple, he knew where everyone lived and their habits.

Asai blocked the doors of the rooms, then lit the oil.

A great fire rose to the sky, followed by the sound of explosions.

The temple priest was just a low-level, shoddy priest. Apart from some simple illusions and possessing two ritual stone tablets, he wasn’t much stronger than ordinary people.

A first-level mental priest, just like that, perished in the great fire.

The entire Rolling Stone Town was alarmed, people from the town rushed towards the temple.

The secluded small town, unchanged for decades, had its peace thoroughly shattered by Asai’s actions.

“Fire! Fire!”

“Water!”

“How did such a big fire start in the temple?”

“A batch of silk fabrics arrived recently, seems they were just stored in the temple.”

Asai walked out of the town through the chaotic crowd. He looked back to admire his handiwork.

The flames reflected in his pupils.

“You greedy and ugly creature in the name of God.”

“You deserve to die!”

Asai didn’t feel there was anything wrong with his actions. He felt like a hero at this moment.

A hero who had eliminated a false believer of God, who had killed a vile and evil person.

He limped away, never looking back.

There was nothing worth reminiscing about. Asai decided to leave this small town and head to the place he had always wanted to go.

Anho City.

In the distance, someone else was watching Asai’s figure.

Xiao observed Asai’s stumbling steps and could sense the changes in his heart.

This extremely violent behavior, this reckless madness, according to reasoning, was not something the original Asai could have done.

Was it a change due to extremely suppressed emotions, or was part of another person’s personality emerging in Asai?

Xiao believed it was the latter.

He wrote down experimental observation records: “Desires and emotions begin to synchronize, the former personality of the reincarnator begins to surface in the new body.”

Behind Xiao, there was another figure.

It was the doctor from Rolling Stone Town.

The doctor bowed respectfully: “Divine Contract Lord.”

“Are you leaving?”

Xiao put away the scroll: “The experiment has entered the next stage. You can go back first.”

“But I estimate there will be places where you’ll be useful later.”

Amidst the fire and chaos, Xiao came to the tallest building in the town.

He removed a bead he had embedded there many years ago, and while holding the bead, he knelt down.

“O supreme God of Knowledge.”

“The first act has ended. Are you… satisfied?”

On the other side, atop the Sacred Mountain, the Little Person in the Bottle squeezed its entire body against the narrow bottle wall, its black and white distinct light eyes radiating indescribable pleasure.

“Hahaha!”

“How interesting… how very interesting.”

“Anhofus, someone like you… someone like you… do you know what despair is?”

“Do you know what pain is?”

The voice of the God of Knowledge entered Xiao’s ears: “My servant, you’ve done very well. I’m very pleased.”

“But it’s not enough… far from enough…”

A smile appeared on Xiao’s face: “God!”

“The story isn’t over yet.”