Dressed as the last nine-tailed fox

Chapter 363 All Living Things Are Like Ants
"Use the power of faith to pull him down? The power of faith... faith..." Kaitian pondered these two words carefully, his fingers unconsciously stroking the rim of the teacup on the table, but his eyes were somewhat empty.

"Speaking of the power of faith, I have seen the seal-granting ceremony of pilgrims..." Hongmeng Ziqi frowned and recalled: "The lotus iron seal was burned red by the fire, and even the air around the iron seal was stained with a scorching breath. The pilgrims knelt in front of the Buddha statue one after another in an orderly manner, with their eyes full of anticipation for the seal-granting. The believer in the red cassock raised one hand in front of his chest and kept chanting Buddhist scriptures. He did not lower his head or even look at it before picking up the end of the iron seal. Without any unnecessary movements, he directly stamped the lotus iron seal on the pilgrim's forehead."

"'Sizzle, sizzle'. To this day, I still remember the sound of roasted human flesh and the smell of burning in the air." Hongmeng Ziqi took a deep breath. "After hearing my description, even if you were not there, I believe you can imagine the great pain the pilgrims had to endure. But when the lotus iron seal was branded on their foreheads, no pilgrim showed a look of pain on his face. The corners of each of their mouths were raised with a happy smile."

At this point, Hongmeng Ziqi couldn't help but sigh, as if he was feeling sorry for the suffering of the pilgrims, and also sighing for the uncertainty and difficulty of his own future. "For these pilgrims, faith can even make them ignore the pain they suffer physically, but they are only a part of the Three Realms. Most of the creatures in the Three Realms have faith, and some have been carrying faith since birth. For them, faith is more like inheritance, engraved in their bones and blood. If you want to change their faith, it's tantamount to peeling off their skin and pulling out their tendons. How can it be easy?"

Yi Changle fell silent upon hearing this. Hongmeng Ziqi and Kaitian were born gods and had never lived a day like an ordinary person. It was understandable that they did not understand what ordinary people wanted. But Yi Changle was different from them. She had memories of her previous life. She had lived a life without magic power and had to do everything by herself. No one present understood what ordinary people thought better than her. She was just an ordinary person.

"Do you know which tribe among the three realms and six tribes has the largest number of people?" Yi Changle asked Hongmeng Ziqi and Kaitian.

Kaitian didn't understand why Yi Changle suddenly asked such a question without any context, but he still replied: "It should be the human race." Kaitian's answer was not confident, and it was obvious that he was not sure about the answer.

"What about you?" Yi Changle continued to ask Hongmeng Purple Qi.

"Of course it's the human race." Compared to Kaitian, Hongmeng Ziqi's answer seemed very confident.

"You are right. The human race is the most numerous of the creatures in the Three Realms." Yi Changle paused, and continued, "But with so many humans, they have the least resources in the Three Realms. They can't go up to the sky or into the earth, and they don't even live long. A hundred years, which passes in the blink of an eye, is considered a long life for them. Very few of them can learn magic power, and even fewer can become immortals. They spend their lives seeking wealth, peace, health, children, longevity, and fame... All living things have desires, and humans seem to have more desires. Humans, who have no magic power, pray to gods and Buddhas only in the hope of getting a response and making their wishes come true. Gods and Buddhas have been their beliefs for millions of years."

"But only a handful of them can get a response. Is it because they are not pious enough when they pray to the gods? Of course not! The believers knocked on the three thousand steps, their foreheads and knees were bleeding, but they still didn't get a response. Even if they are pious enough, most of them will never get a response in their lifetime. Despite this..." Yi Changle lowered his eyes, hiding the mockery in his eyes, "For thousands of years, the number of believers praying to the gods has never decreased. What do you think is the reason for this?"

"Why..." This question stumped Kaitian. Since he hadn't received a response, he should have given up. Why did he insist on doing so? Kaitian didn't understand.

"Since their wishes while alive cannot be fulfilled, then they should be praying for what happens after death." Hongmeng Ziqi guessed, "Perhaps they are not praying for money or power, but for the chance to ascend to paradise after death? To be reborn into a good family in the next life?"

Kaitian's eyes lit up and he agreed, "What you said seems to make sense! Don't humans all pay attention to this?"

"Humans care about these things." Yi Changle nodded, "But humans are not the only ones who have desires..." Yi Changle brought the topic back to the point, "As I said before, as long as the creatures in the Three Realms are alive, they will always have something to ask for."

Yi Changle counted on his fingers, one by one: "Elves seek love, ghosts seek reincarnation, demons want to become humans, immortals want supreme magic power..." Yi Changle's eyes moved to the Hongmeng purple air, "Even she has something to ask for. In the past, she wanted the three realms to die, and now she wants Yun An to die, and you..."

Yi Changle looked at Kaitian, his tone suddenly became much gentler, his eyes full of nostalgia, "You and I want the same thing, we both want to turn into a snake and be resurrected."

“Yi Changle, you…” Upon hearing this, Kaitian’s expression instantly became much more complicated.

"Believe me, he will come back. He is never the one to blame." Yi Changle forced a comforting smile at Kaitian and stopped talking about it.

"All living beings have their own desires, and desires are usually not achievable in the short term, or even in a lifetime." Yi Changle raised his eyebrows, "But what can we do? If they can't be achieved, living beings will always have to find a place to place their desires."

"If you say so..." Hongmeng Ziqi somewhat understood what Yi Changle meant, "Isn't faith the place where living beings place their desires?"

"Yes."

"But in this way..." Hongmeng Ziqi's face darkened, "Won't things be even more difficult?"

"I have a different opinion from you. This is our turning point." Yi Changle explained: "Living beings have many beliefs in their lives, and their beliefs change as they grow older, especially for humans. When they have no money, they pray to the God of Wealth, when they are unmarried, they pray for a good marriage, when they are sick, they pray to Medicine Buddha... Most of these are examples of changing to another belief when one belief doesn't work."

"Nothing in the world can be eternal and unchanging. Since Yun An can replace Shen Yu and Kai Si as the founder of the Three Realms and accept the power of faith that originally belonged to Kai Si, we will always have a way to create a new sustenance for the creatures of the Three Realms, a new faith and..."

Yi Changle's words stopped abruptly here, but Kaitian could see her lip movements clearly. The three unspoken words were clearly "Ancestor of Creation".

……

At the hour of Xu, outside the red railings of the Observatory, the sound of bronze bells mingled with the fluttering of wine flags, the hawking of vendors on the street was endless, and there was an indescribable harmony immersed in the deep blue mist.

The entire capital city was bustling with activity. The lanterns hanging high on the eaves lit up the city like day.

Yi Changle and the other two stood on the eaves of the tower, with their feet on the Star Observation Tower, taking in the scenery of the capital. "Why are we here in the capital?" They stayed in the Star Observation Tower from day to night. When the lights of thousands of houses were lit, Hongmeng Ziqi felt the fireworks that belonged to the world.

"What are we waiting for?" Kaitian had already lain down, with one leg crossed, his hands resting on his head, his eyes squinting, and he felt as comfortable as if he were at home on the rooftop of the observatory.

"I can't tell you the exact reason why I came to the capital, but there is a voice in my mind that has been guiding me - the way to break the impasse is in the human world." Yi Changle murmured as he looked at the prosperous capital city below his feet.

The pleasure boats along the river pushed aside the sparkling waves, and the nobles in the boats threw ivory wine chips, startling the pairs of wild mandarin ducks in the shade of willows on the bank; on the balcony with wine flags slanting, the Huxuan dancers spun barefoot, with silver bells wrapped around their ankles splashing stars, and the copper coins thrown by the spectators hit the rims of the drums painted with gold edges like raindrops; the lights of thousands of homes were reflected on the bluestone slabs, and the sweet fragrance of steamed cakes filled the streets.

Such a beautiful scenery really fits the saying "the flowers are so numerous that they dazzle the eyes".

"Really?" Hongmeng Ziqi looked in the direction of Yi Changle's sight, and saw that under a light, bustling black dots were constantly changing their positions. But no matter how they changed, the black dots were still black dots. Thinking of this, Hongmeng Ziqi's face showed some disapproval, "All living things are like ants, how could ants..." The rest of Hongmeng Ziqi's words and her sigh dissipated in the wind.

"Even ants should not be looked down upon." Yi Changle raised his head, his face full of seriousness and solemnity, "You know that a thousand-mile dam can be breached by an ant hole, and water dripping wears away a stone. Even the ants you mentioned can exert tremendous energy. Every living being in the Three Realms should be respected!"

"I don't disrespect the human race." Hongmeng Ziqi explained in a gentle voice: "But we have to face Yun An. In his eyes, we are just like ants, let alone the human race."

"So, that's what you think." Yi Changle nodded thoughtfully, "But have you ever thought about it? It's precisely because Yun An doesn't take the human race seriously that starting with the human race is our best choice."

Yi Changle's words made Hongmeng Ziqi look confused, "What do you mean?"

"I met Yun An several times, and every time he acted as if he didn't care about anything or anyone, but I could always see the arrogance and conceit in his eyes. I think I was too insignificant in his eyes, and he was sure that I couldn't make any big noise, so when facing me, he never concealed his true self." When mentioning Yun An, Yi Changle was filled with hatred, "He was like this to me, not to mention the human race."

"This just gives us an opportunity - no matter how big a storm we stir up among the human race, Yun An won't care." There was a reassuring certainty in Yi Changle's voice.

“But…” Hongmeng Ziqi still had some hesitation on his face, “The power of the human race is indeed small. Even if a thousand-mile dam can be breached by an ant hole, we are facing Yun An. He will not take the ‘thousand-mile dam’ seriously.”

“Yi Changle, we are only in a small world.” Hongmeng Purple Qi dissuaded him, “And Yun An… he is the ruler of the entire Three Thousand Worlds. Even if we turn the world upside down, it will not affect him at all.”

"You're right." Yi Changle raised a bitter smile, "But is there anything better we can do right now?"

Hearing this, Hongmeng Ziqi lowered his head in silence, then sighed and said honestly: "No."

"Since there is no hope, no matter what method we use, we should try it when we see hope, even if the hope is slim." Yi Changle paused, and then said: "But no matter how slim it is, we should try it, right?"

"Everything you've suffered, everything I've suffered..." Yi Changle said while pointing at Kaitian, "And everything he's suffered, everything Kaisi has suffered... Don't we want justice for the harm we've suffered? When you wanted to destroy the three realms before, weren't you just holding your breath and wanting justice for yourself?"

"Of course we have to seek justice for ourselves!" Hongmeng Ziqi said hurriedly: "Yi Changle, I have never thought of giving up, but..." Hongmeng Ziqi lowered his head slightly, "Compared to Yun'an, the human race is too small. If you hold on to hope to do this, spend time and energy, but get nothing in the end, you will feel empty in your heart, and that feeling is not good."

Hongmeng Ziqi spoke his true feelings, "I have had such an experience before, and I know how painful it is, so I don't want you to waste your efforts, and I don't want you to feel disappointed."

“But if we give up out of fear of failure, what else can we do?”

"Besides, we are not doomed to fail." Yi Changle looked at the black spot under the observatory again. "Among the three realms, the human race has the least resources and the shortest lifespan. They need to experience the pain of birth, aging, sickness and death throughout their lives, so the human race has the most desires among the three realms."

"Where there is desire, there will be faith. The more you want, the more devout your faith will be. In the Three Realms, the human race is the smallest existence, but at the same time, the human race is the most numerous. The power of faith of one person may be a drop in the ocean, but what about the power of faith of thousands and millions of people added together?"

Hongmeng Ziqi's eyes lit up, "If their combined power of faith can be gathered into a bucket of water in the vast ocean under Yun'an, even if it's just a bucket of water, we can use this bucket of water to deal with Yun'an and save Shenyu."

"I think so too." Yi Changle smiled, "The human race, who is not taken seriously by Yun An, must be our best entry point."

"Have you figured out what we should do?" Kaitian, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up. "Yun'an attributed everything Kaisi did to himself. In the eyes of today's world, he is the great creator. How are we going to manipulate the power of faith?"

"Create a god." After saying this, Yi Changle stared at the Hongmeng purple energy.