On the Ark.

Page 165

“Okay.” Messiah nodded. “I’ll go inside when someone comes looking for me.”

Go inside... Are you really a god and not a cat?

Lin Ye was speechless at Messiah. If he hadn't actually witnessed some of Messiah's abilities, he would have found it hard to believe that the girl in front of him was a deity of Kalan and the most supreme totem of Sherag.

“The people here always try to cram all sorts of fancy things into my life as a sign of their respect for me.” Messiah leaned against the armrest, her hair and scarf billowing in the wind. “But most of them don’t understand that fancy things are mostly useless. Take this dress, for example; it’s not as practical as my scarf.”

Lin Ye then looked at Messiah's scarf. In fact, he had noticed it earlier. Messiah's scarf was probably the only flaw on her body, because it was really ugly. It was plain gray, without any pattern, and looked rather tacky. He wondered which believer with poor taste had given it to her.

Of course, what you think in your heart and what you say are definitely different: "Your scarf is very beautiful."

"Is it pretty?" Messiah's eyes narrowed into crescents. "I don't think so. I just think it's warm."

"Hmm... is keeping warm enough?"

“Yes,” Messiah nodded and said softly, “It’s enough to keep you warm.”

Lin Ye had a feeling that Messiah was implying something. Could it be that she had already realized that he was internally complaining about how ugly the scarf was? Hmm, let's move on to the next topic.

Chatting with God can be quite tiring.

"Judging from your tone earlier, it seemed you weren't too bothered by Chu Xue's departure," Lin Ye said. "Isn't she your saintess? Aren't you angry that your saintess has been gone for so long?"

“Angry? Why should I be angry? Besides, Enya is not my saintess, she is the saintess of Kalan,” Messiah said. “She belongs to Kalan, not me.”

“But you are the god of Kalan.”

"Yes, she is the saint of Kalan, and I am the god of Kalan. What does that have to do with anything?"

Lin Ye couldn't quite understand: "I always feel like you don't really care about your identity."

"This is not something to worry about in the first place."

"Then what do you care about?"

“I care… why do you always ask me this?” Messiah smiled at Lin Ye. “You should tell me what you care about first, what is the thing that matters most to you right now? Don’t lie, you should know, I am God.”

Is this a case of shooting oneself in the foot?

Lin Ye felt a pain in his testicles.

The thing that bothers Lin Ye the most right now... After thinking about it carefully, Lin Ye, who has obsessive-compulsive disorder, realized that there really is one.

“Well, you’d better get someone to fix the stairs,” Lin Ye said. “The stairs outside are really old, and I always feel like I could fall down them if I’m not careful. Even though you’re a god… cough cough, it would still be better to fix them, wouldn’t it? It’s going to hurt a lot if you fall down.”

Messiah opened his mouth slightly, and then his smile widened.

"Okay."

Chapter 248 I can appoint you as the Holy Man of Sherag (3K)

Lin Ye had imagined many scenarios for meeting the god, but he never expected it to be like this: the two of them sitting side by side, gazing at the snow-capped mountains and maple trees outside the hall, chatting comfortably. So the question is, why is his way of meeting the saint different from others?

He was initially a little nervous, but the tension eased as they talked. In Lin Ye's eyes, Messiah didn't seem like a god at all. Instead, she was more like a girl next door, albeit a very knowledgeable one.

"Are you asking about the Saintess? Well, how should I put it? I've never let anyone here run for Saintess." Messiah held a maple leaf in her hand, pinching the end of the leaf between her thumb and forefinger, slowly turning it. "I forget when it started, but they said I couldn't live here alone, and that someone should take care of me."

"And then the saintess came into being?"

“That was the prototype of the saintess. Because I felt that being taken care of without compensation was not a good thing, I gave some power to the girls who came to take care of me.” Messiah tilted his head. “Then, slowly, the girls who received my power were given the title of ‘saintess’ by the locals and regarded as my representatives.”

"Is that how it is..." Lin Ye was speechless. "I feel like the locals have over-interpreted it."

“Over-interpretation?” Messiah pondered for a moment, then nodded. “You used that word quite accurately.”

"So, is the method of selecting the Holy Maiden also passed down from you?"

Messiah turned to look at Lin Ye and smiled gently: "You want to speak up for those girls who died on the road, right?"

To think that he was seen through so quickly... Lin Ye suspected that Messiah had mind-reading abilities.

“You… I am a god, though I may not look like one, but I am still a god.” Messiah’s tone became much more serious. “Look at me.”

Even without Messiah's prompting, Lin Ye had been watching her the whole time. He saw Messiah slowly clench the maple leaf in her hand into a fist, then tighten it slightly. When she opened her hand again, the maple leaf was gone.

Lin Ye's heart tightened. Was this the Messiah warning him to mind his own business? Come to think of it, no deity could tolerate anyone questioning their methods of choosing followers. Even the seemingly harmless Messiah was using this maple leaf to warn Lin Ye that anyone who dared to question her would be crushed to dust, leaving no trace, just like this maple leaf…

"Do you understand?" Messiah asked him.

Lin Ye took a deep breath. For the sake of his own life, he nodded: "I understand, I..."

"Where did the leaf that disappeared in the right hand go? Ta-da! The answer is in the left hand." Messiah then showed her left hand to Lin Ye, where the missing maple leaf was lying peacefully in Messiah's left palm.

Lin Ye: "..."

Messiah said with some pride, "Impressive, isn't it? I didn't use any divine power. I practiced for a long time before I learned this. Want to learn? I can teach you."

Lin Ye: "..."

Lin Ye wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that most of the people he had met since coming to this world (including demons and gods) seemed a bit off, and the overall atmosphere of the world seemed to have gone astray, leaving him speechless.

"Haha, your expression is really interesting." Messiah laughed again. "It seems I've achieved my goal."

"……What?"

"Alright, let's get back to our previous topic." Messiah put down the maple leaf, turned to look at the vast snow-capped mountains, and said softly, "Actually, I've always known that every few years, or decades, when the old saintess dies, the people here send many young girls to their doom in order to elect a new saintess. They impose one harsh condition after another on them, causing many to die on the way, unable to come here to see me. I know all of this."

"Weren't those rules set by you?"

“I’m not that kind of god.” Messiah glanced at Lin Ye again. “Or rather, in your eyes, am I that kind of god?”

Sensing the danger, Lin Ye shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, no, no, I was just saying it casually."

“Heh… never mind, anyway, most people here probably think I set the conditions for the Saintess election, right? But it wasn’t me. As long as a girl comes to me, no matter how she got there, I’m willing to meet her and give her gifts,” Messiah said. “But that won’t work, or rather, it won’t work in the eyes of the locals. They set such harsh conditions for the Saintess election not for me, but for themselves.”

Lin Ye didn't quite understand: "Why do you say that?"

"To survive in a place where it is not suitable for survival, one always needs a bit of faith," Messiah suddenly concluded.

Lin Ye was taken aback.

“Karlan is not a suitable place to live. If it weren’t for me being here, it would probably be a place most prone to natural disasters,” Messiah said. “But even though I’m here and have helped them suppress the natural disasters, it doesn’t change the fact that the environment here is still terrible. So, to live here, one needs some kind of faith, or rather, culture?”

"Their faith is in you."

“Yes, their faith is in me, but that’s not enough,” Messiah said. “Frankly, I can help them do many things, make their lives better than they are now. But is that really the right thing to do? Actually, no. If I do that, some of them will think it’s charity, it’s kindness. And kindness is the most unreliable thing. I can give them all of that, and I can also take it all back one day.”

Lin Ye thought about it and felt that Messiah's words made sense, so he nodded: "What about the others?"

“There are also those who are carefree and believe that everything is a gift from heaven, and then enjoy it all without a second thought. But this kind of mentality obviously cannot survive in a place like Karan with its harsh natural environment,” Messiah said. “So both types of people need a sense of crisis. Only a sense of crisis can allow them to live well in Karan. Do you understand?”

"I think I understand a little better." Lin Ye nodded.

Messiah sighed: "You're so stupid."

Lin Ye: "..."

"The people of Kalan need my power, yet they cannot rely on it entirely," Messiah said. "In this sense of crisis, they have built their own culture. Although I am at the core of their culture, I am no longer truly involved. All I need to do is suppress the natural disasters and bestow the title of 'Saintess' upon the tested girls. Nothing else is required of me. I will not interfere with their culture, nor is it necessary. The election of the Saintess, while nominally related to me, is in fact also part of Kalan's culture."

With Messiah's explanation, Lin Ye finally understood. Simply put, the method of selecting the Holy Maiden was entirely devised by the Sherag people themselves, and had absolutely nothing to do with Messiah, the true god of Kalan; it was, in essence, wishful thinking. Although Messiah didn't explicitly state their reasons, Lin Ye could discern them.

This was to make their protection and power from the Messiah seem more "legitimate".

It wasn't a gift from the Messiah, but rather something they earned through their own hard work, passing rigorous tests, and ultimately gaining the Messiah's approval. This mindset is what allowed the Kalan people to survive on this land and continue to this day. Frankly, it's indeed an inspiring story, but Lin Ye still felt sorrow for the girls who perished in the icy plains. It felt as if their sacrifice was unnecessary.

"You seem to be having some trouble accepting this?" Messiah noticed Lin Ye's change in mood.

"It's alright," Lin Ye said. "It's just that I've seen a lot of corpses along the way, so it's a bit disheartening."

“That’s a good thing,” Messiah nodded. “If these people who sacrificed themselves couldn’t even get your sentiments, that would be a bad thing.”

Lin Ye felt that Messiah's words were strange, and then he suddenly realized something and asked, "You just said that you can suppress the natural disaster of Sherag?"

"You do not believe?"

"Believe."

"Then why did you ask?"

Lin Ye: "..."

Isn't this just trying to start a conversation? You, no, you god, how can you be so clueless?

“I have a feeling you’re talking badly about me,” Messiah said.

"No, absolutely not." Lin Ye shook his head repeatedly.

“Even if you did, you wouldn’t dare admit it, would you?” Messiah smiled. “By the way, have you ever thought about staying?”

Lin Ye was taken aback: "What? Leave it where?"

“Stay here. Enya said you shook the sacred bell, which means you've gained my approval,” Messiah said. “I've appointed so many saintesses, but I've never appointed a saint…”

"Can we call him the Holy Son?"

"The title of Holy Son is fine too. Just use whichever title you think sounds better."

Although somewhat puzzled as to why Messiah would suddenly say such a thing, Lin Ye shook his head: "Forget it, I'm not from here."

"Does this count as your answer? Then I understand."

"...So you've been here all along?"

"Yes."

"How many years has it been?"

"It's been so many years, how could I possibly remember such a thing clearly?"

"So, do you want to stay here any longer?"

"Yes."

"How long will you stay?"

Messiah raised his hand and pointed to the maple tree in front of the temple: "I will stay here until all the leaves of that tree have fallen."