Chapter 408: The Goddess and the Devoted Faithful
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
“Madman Gong, who could ever out-madness you?”
Xie Yu Zhou’s eyelids twitched violently.
In the dead of night, clutching an empty swaddle, rocking back and forth while singing a lullaby—no deranged concubine from the Cold Palace could rival this level of madness.
“Come, come, come, Chao Chao, let’s go…” Xie Yu Zhou held Lu Chao Chao’s hand in his left, and the leash of a dog in his right, leading her back to the rear courtyard.
“Don’t play with your father,” he solemnly advised. “General Rong is the saint of all sycophants; he’ll corrupt you.”
Lu Chao Chao nearly burst into laughter.
She hesitated for a moment before waving to Xie Yu Zhou. He leaned in and whispered, “I’ve seen you holding it in for so long. What big scheme are you brewing this time?”
“It’s nothing. Even if I told you, no one would believe me.”
“Last time I said I saw a god, my royal father told me I was godly myself—and then summoned a doctor specializing in brain ailments…” Xie Yu Zhou dared not spout nonsense anymore.
“I… I want to visit the Divine Realm.”
“But my parents would worry. Help me cover for my absence.”
Xie Yu Zhou immediately howled in protest, only to clamp his mouth shut after a mere two cries, his eyes darting around warily.
“I can’t go? I really can’t go?”
“I’ve read in storybooks that all the big shots have a lackey to boast on their behalf. If you don’t bring me, won’t you lose face?”
“Take me, please, take me with you…”
“I am your number one flunky.” Xie Yu Zhou clung to her leg.
Lu Chao Chao hesitated.
She had long wanted to ascend, but she had not yet fully matured, her power not restored to its peak. Her disciples firmly forbade her from venturing to the higher realm, making her waver.
But now, she was genuinely worried about Chong Yue and Gan Tang.
“I’ll just take a look and return quickly.”
“Let’s talk tomorrow. Tomorrow’s the fifteenth. Father and Mother will take Grandmother to pray for blessings. It’s the perfect chance to slip away.”
Xie Yu Zhou nodded instantly.
Without another word, he rushed back to his separate courtyard to pack his things.
Opportunities favor the prepared! He had to be ready at all times!
Showing off to Windchaser, he gloated, “Windchaser, you can’t beat me, can you? Ah, my title as the number one flunky—no one can take it!”
Windchaser rolled his eyes so hard they nearly turned over.
That night, Lu Chao Chao slept soundly under a brocade quilt.
But in her dreams, faint prayers echoed in her ears. She curled into her blanket, scrunching her little face…
The voices were unclear at first.
Yet before long, they became distinct.
Lu Chao Chao sat up, hugging her blanket, sleepily scratching her head, a strand of hair curling rebelliously at her temple.
“My faithful…” Lu Chao Chao had died young while saving the world, leaving her with few devotees in the mortal realm.
With a wave of her small hand, the image of her follower appeared in her mind.
An emaciated old woman knelt on a prayer mat, trembling hands lighting incense with great reverence.
She shook so much that she failed multiple times before finally lighting it.
Once lit, she solemnly placed it in the censer.
“Goddess… this devotee does not have much longer.” She was so thin she barely resembled a person.
Lu Chao Chao saw at a glance—her life force was nearly extinguished. She likely wouldn’t survive till dawn.
“I can feel my vitality slipping away. By sunrise, my soul will return to the underworld.”
“My life has been bitter.”
“When I was young, my parents wanted a son. They birthed seven daughters, drowned two, before finally having one.”
“My sisters were named ‘Summon-Boy,’ ‘Hope-for-Boy,’ ‘Welcome-Boy’… while my brother was named ‘Successor of the Clan.’”
“To afford his betrothal gifts, they married me off to an old cripple. He died when my child was just three years old.”
“I served my in-laws alone, yet they still beat and scolded me…”
“I was timid, but I endured, sending them to their graves. When my son sought marriage, I nearly lost my life arranging it for him.”
“Still, he remained dissatisfied—hating my poverty, cursing that he was born of my womb, suffering because of me.”
“But I have done all I could. If not for him, I would have remarried long ago.”
“I raised my brother, my husband, my in-laws, my son, my grandson…”
“I am weak, without backing, with nowhere to flee. Now, nearing death, I reflect on my life with great regret…”
“Was I a monstrous villain in my past life to suffer so in this one?”
“I regret not abandoning him when he was young.”
“Now, he torments me.”
“Now, I am dying. He likely won’t even shed a single tear for me…”
“Goddess, I have no other wish—only to see him shed a single tear for me.”
Such a humble prayer.
Lu Chao Chao sighed. Even in death, she did not wish for the goddess to harm her son—only for him to shed a single tear for her.
With a tender, childlike voice, Lu Chao Chao whispered gently in her ear, fearing the woman might be afraid.
The old woman was startled, her eyes filled with awe.
Yet she still knelt devoutly, thanking the goddess.
Lying in bed, she felt her breathing weaken.
She feared dying alone, with no one to see her off.
She tried to call out, but even her strength was fading.
Lu Chao Chao flicked her fingers, shattering a teacup on the table.
“You wretched hag! Do cups grow on trees? Even dying, you won’t let me have peace!” A sharp-faced man stormed in from outside.
“Still not dead yet?”
“I told you to sleep in the woodshed! If you die here, how will I use this room later?” He cursed, irritated that she still clung to life.
“Others are born to wealth, but I had the misfortune of being born from you!”
The old woman weakly raised her hand, whispering, “Come closer… I… I have something… to tell you.”
The man, impatient, walked up, unwilling to even bend down.
“Speak quickly. Don’t waste my drinking time!”
“Your… your father died early.” The old woman, drenched in cold sweat, barely held on.
“Afraid I’d reveal our fortune, unable to protect it as a widow…”
“He told me… to wait until you married… before telling you.”
“He saved… thousands of silver taels. And… and untold gold…” She forced each word from her lips.
The man went mad with urgency. “Mother! Mother! Hold on! Hold on!!”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?!” He panicked, drenched in cold sweat, terror in his eyes.
“Mother, don’t die! I’ll fetch a doctor for you!!”
Clutching her frail hand, tears poured down his face, pleading desperately.
“East… east… east…” Her eyes widened, yet she took her final breath.
As her soul left her body, she heard the man’s heart-wrenching wails.
“Where?! Where exactly?! Finish your sentence!!”
Lu Chao Chao stroked her chin. Cry, cry—who could outcry you? Your mother wanted tears. She’d likely have you crying till death.
Just as she was about to lie down, another prayer reached her ears.
“Ah, being a goddess isn’t easy.”
She tuned in to the next plea—a young man in his twenties.
Kneeling before a small stone statue, he solemnly prayed, “Goddess, this statue was found by a devotee. Today, I come with a request…”
“I am twenty now. Please, grant me my destined love. Bless me, Goddess…”
Lu Chao Chao pinched her fingers in calculation. Destined love?
His fated one was a physician.
And she lived only a few streets away.
Lu Chao Chao’s eyes twinkled. As the man finished his prayer and stepped out, she sent a burst of spiritual energy his way.
“Ah!!” His leg cracked audibly, and he turned pale with pain.
Watching his family rush him to a bone-setting clinic—the very one where the physician worked—Lu Chao Chao nodded in satisfaction.
Destined love—nothing could stand in its way.
She continued granting wishes.
A destitute man knelt in a ruined temple, wailing, “Goddess, making money is too hard. Please grant me a legal windfall! I want to slack off for a year!”
Lu Chao Chao nodded. “Granted.”
The man stepped outside—only to be struck by a runaway carriage.
A servant hastily offered him two hundred taels in apology.
Just as he was about to rejoice—
“Ahh! My waist! The pain!!”
He suddenly recalled her words: “Legal windfall, a year of rest.”
“Goddess, you’re too direct!” He wailed, realizing he’d be bedridden for a year.
Fate was absolute, but oh, the irony of its twists.