The whole family is insanely eavesdropping on my thoughts Chapter 461
Chapter 461: No Longer Protecting the Mortal Realm
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
The day of departure for the Spirit Realm drew near.
Lu Chao Chao clung to her parents all day, unwilling to leave their side. But her parents were often preoccupied with unknown affairs, returning home only late at night.
The skies above the Mortal Realm were shrouded in an ominous darkness, and from time to time, crows circled overhead.
Though the various kingdoms tried to conceal the truth, the common folk had begun to notice the strange occurrences at sea.
A Barrier Gate loomed in the sky above the ocean, on the verge of opening. Even from a great distance, one could hear the wailing of spirits from within, along with an eerie sensation of being watched.
Beneath the Barrier Gate, a terrifying vortex churned, so menacing that even sea creatures dared not approach.
Lou Jin Tang led her forces to guard the boundary, yet small demons still managed to slip through.
Fishermen no longer dared to cast their nets into the sea, only standing at the shore and sighing in despair.
The people were gripped by fear.
Countless individuals turned to faith, praying for divine protection. The air was thick with the scent of incense.
Even those who struggled to find enough to eat offered their meager portions in sacrifice to the gods.
“Divine one, please save the Mortal Realm. We need you!”
“The evil spirits run rampant! We cannot survive like this!”
“Punish the wicked and restore peace to the world!” People knelt along the roads, pleading with utmost sincerity.
Some even prostrated for three days and three nights, but their prayers remained unanswered. The light of hope in their eyes slowly dimmed.
Official Ming stood by the street, fists clenched, as if struggling to suppress his emotions.
He gazed up at the sky with indifference, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
General Lou, clad in armor and gripping his long sword, spoke in a low voice, “You’ve sensed it, haven’t you?”
Official Ming remained silent.
“No divine presence. Have you realized it? There is no trace of the gods in the Mortal Realm!” Official Ming’s voice trembled, his eyes reddening with suppressed sorrow.
“Even in the years when we could not summon the gods, we could still feel their presence everywhere! But now, there is nothing! Do you understand what this means?” He shook violently as he spoke.
General Lou took a deep breath. “The gods have abandoned us!”
“They’ve forsaken us! They no longer hear our prayers!”
Official Ming forced a smile, one more painful than tears. Lowering his gaze, he looked at the countless people still offering incense, still praying in faith—unaware that they had already been abandoned.
“They will realize it soon enough.” As more and more evil spirits slipped through the boundary, the people would eventually sense the truth.
“The Barrier Gate has yet to open, and already chaos is brewing.”
General Lou’s voice was calm but resolute. “Though I am but mortal flesh, I still hold the will to protect this world. Even if I die on the battlefield, I do so without fear or regret!”
After a brief pause, Official Ming’s confusion faded, replaced by newfound determination.
“Yes! The Ming Family will stand and defend the Mortal Realm to the very end!”
Within three days, the disturbance had spread, and those most attuned to the shift were the palace priests.
They discovered, to their horror, that the Divine Lamp would no longer light.
The Divine Lamp was a symbol of the gods’ will, proof of their watchful gaze and protection over the Mortal Realm.
Yet now…
A young priest, clad in white robes, knelt before the shrine, attempting to light the Divine Lamp over and over again. Still, it refused to burn.
“Perhaps we are not devout enough? Maybe we need more incense, or greater sacrifices?” The young priest muttered, though the Southern Kingdom already offered the most fervent worship.
Just as he was about to summon the National Advisor, an uproar erupted from within the shrine.
Priests fell to their knees in terror, bowing frantically until their foreheads bled.
“Something has happened! Hurry! Summon His Majesty and the National Advisor at once! This is a disaster!”
Never had they seen the Great Priest so panicked.
“All the divine statues have shattered!”
“The flowers placed before the gods have withered to dust… The koi in the sacred pond have all died… And the divine paintings have lost their light, fading into mere shadows of what they once were!”
Tears streamed down the young priest’s face as he spoke. He dared not even imagine…
The sacred flowers carried divine essence.
Divine essence was granted by the gods.
Now, those very flowers had withered.
A shiver ran down his spine—it was as if everything tied to the gods was slowly vanishing from this world.
When the National Advisor arrived with the court officials, even the carved murals within the shrine had lost their colors.
A scene of complete desolation, stripped of all divine presence.
The National Advisor’s face turned pale, his hands trembling as he struggled to hold his Stone Mirror steady. How could this be? Not a single trace of the gods remained within the shrine.
It was as if the gods had truly abandoned them.
“National Advisor, what is happening? Why… why does the shrine look like this? This is a sacred place! No evil spirits would dare defile it!” The court officials believed that demons had broken through the Barrier Gate to wreak havoc.
The National Advisor remained silent, his expression heavy with unspoken truths.
Lu Chao Chao, however, had already formed her own conclusions.
The darkness suffocating the Mortal Realm grew heavier each day, as though the world’s filth and evil were all being drawn toward it.
The Celestial Realm was abandoning the Mortal Realm.
“There is trouble outside the palace!” A eunuch, drenched in sweat, rushed in, hesitating at the tension in the room but forced himself to speak.
“Your Majesty, chaos has broken out in the streets!”
“Many citizens are smashing their own divine statues in anger. The people’s faith is crumbling.”
“It all started when an old blind fortune-teller spread a rumor… He claimed the gods intended to sacrifice tens of thousands of mortal lives to restore peace to the Three Realms.”
“The people sense something is wrong. Their panic has led to unrest.”
Lu Chao Chao stepped outside to stand atop the palace walls.
The chaos had already begun to spread.
And yet, there still remained a fragile sliver of hope among the people. Perhaps they simply refused to believe it?
But unrest was growing. The nation’s stability teetered on the edge.
Lu Chao Chao hesitated only briefly before ordering someone to escort her outside the palace to meet the old blind man.
He was surrounded by furious citizens.
“Cease your lies! Stop spreading panic!”
“This must be the work of demons!”
“The gods are just and benevolent! They would never harm the innocent! If they did, they would be demons, not gods!”
Rotten vegetables and eggs rained upon the old man.
Yet the moment Lu Chao Chao arrived, he suddenly froze.
Turning to face her, his empty, blackened eye sockets—lacking any pupils—somehow seemed to see her clearly.
Blood gushed from his mouth.
A punishment for revealing divine secrets.
“Only by uniting as one… can the Mortal Realm survive this crisis.”
“Unity… unity…” His eyes widened in horror before his body collapsed, dissolving into a pool of blood.
The crowd recoiled in terror.
Lu Chao Chao frowned, touching the bloodstained ground.
A trace of divine power remained.
Yet it had dissipated in an instant, leaving nothing behind.
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
The Celestial Realm was now ruled by Han Chuan, who commanded absolute power.
But among the gods, there were still those who truly wished to protect the Mortal Realm.
They had sent a sliver of their divine souls to warn them.