Chapter 417: The Man-Made Goddess
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
“Welcome, Goddess…”
“Welcome, Goddess…”
From the towering platform above to the vast crowd below, voices merged into a thunderous chorus, their chants growing in fervor.
Kneeling on the ground, their faces flushed with excitement, countless people reverently welcomed the supreme figure of their faith.
“Goddess, Goddess… May the Goddess ascend to divinity, forever protecting the people, becoming the highest deity of the Southern Kingdom!”
“The Goddess, the Goddess has emerged!”
The crowd erupted into a frenzy, their expressions flickering with a near-religious fervor.
Nan Feng Yu’s eyes gleamed with pride. She had meticulously orchestrated this moment for years, elevating her daughter to divine status. Who could stop them now?
The Divine Bone had fused, followers amassed—the rise of her daughter was inevitable.
Under the deafening cheers, Nan Zhi Yi stepped forward.
Draped in a flowing sky-blue gown resembling drifting clouds, her jade-white skin shimmered under the sun. Her eyes, brimming with starlight, carried an ethereal grace. The noble coldness between her brows exuded a divine majesty.
Her gaze remained lowered, exuding an aura of sacred solemnity.
Yet within those eyes was a trace of sorrow, a divine mercy that seemed to pity the mortal world.
The moment she appeared, the crowd’s cries surged like tidal waves.
“A god! The Goddess!”
“Please, Goddess, bestow blessings upon us! Protect the people of the Southern Kingdom!”
A feverish plea arose from the sea of worshipers.
An elderly woman, her hair as white as snow, knelt at the foot of the high platform, cradling an unconscious child in her frail arms.
“Goddess, please, save Yuan Yuan! Please save my granddaughter!”
“Goddess, we beg you!”
She kowtowed repeatedly, her forehead bleeding, while the surrounding crowd watched, moved to tears.
“Yuan Yuan suddenly fell unconscious three days ago and hasn’t woken since. Goddess, please save her—she’s just a child!” The old woman’s voice was hoarse with grief.
Her sorrowful cries stirred the crowd. Many began praying, yearning for a divine miracle.
Nan Feng Yu rose, raising her hand gently.
Instantly, the masses fell silent.
“A true god loves all beings. How could she turn away from suffering?”
“Yi’er, go help her,” Nan Feng Yu instructed her daughter.
Anticipation shone in every gaze. They longed to witness the Goddess perform a miracle.
Nan Zhi Yi clasped her hands into a seal. Her robes billowed despite the absence of wind, her dark hair dancing in the air. Hovering above the platform, she exuded the very image of divinity.
“I grant you my blessing.”
She raised a slender hand, pointing toward the sleeping child.
A radiant light shot forth from her fingertip. Ethereal, transparent lotus petals drifted through the air…
The onlookers surged forward, eager to let the divine petals fall upon them.
“This must be the Goddess’s sacred blessing!”
The light seeped into the child’s forehead.
Before the eyes of countless witnesses, the unconscious girl’s lashes fluttered, her tiny fingers twitching slightly.
“She moved! She moved!” The old woman gasped in elation, collapsing in gratitude.
“Thank you, Goddess! Thank you, Goddess! Yuan Yuan, my dear child, you’ve awakened! If something happened to you, how could I go on living?”
Tears streamed down her wrinkled cheeks as she clutched her granddaughter, overwhelmed with gratitude.
The masses, having witnessed a miracle, descended into a near-madness of devotion.
They chanted the Goddess’s name, their voices shaking the heavens.
Meanwhile, at the front of the sacrificial altar, the National Advisor stood solemnly, leading the Imperial Family in the Heavenly Offering Ritual.
Xu Shi Yun, the long-lost daughter of the late emperor, had yet to be officially recognized. As Madam Ning bore no title, her formal restoration to the Imperial Registry had been repeatedly delayed.
Though the world knew of her return, the royal court had yet to proclaim it to the realm.
Thus, Xu Shi Yun, Lu Chao Chao, and their companions were absent from the royal Heavenly Offering Ceremony.
As the National Advisor solemnly recited the ancient invocations, Xu Shi Yun lowered her gaze to Lu Chao Chao. The little girl sat seriously upon her stool, but her mouth glistened with grease.
Xu Shi Yun stiffened.
“Where did you get that drumstick?” she demanded.
Lu Chao Chao, head bowed, tried to block her mother’s line of sight.
Hearing her mother’s voice, she swiftly stuffed the last bite of chicken into her cheeks and discreetly kicked the bone under her stool.
When she finally lifted her head, her cheeks bulged like a little hamster.
Mouth firmly shut, she flashed her mother an innocent, toothless smile.
Xu Shi Yun’s eyelid twitched violently.
Her gaze drifted toward the offering table.
The moment she spotted it, her vision darkened.
The sacred table before the emperor was missing its chicken drumsticks and rear end!
When did she steal them!?
Lu Chao Chao, her cheeks stuffed to the brim, dared not speak. Instead, she covered her mouth, chewing as discreetly as possible.
Xu Shi Yun’s eyelids twitched even more.
The true Goddess was stealing chicken drumsticks.
Meanwhile, the fake Goddess was bestowing “divine miracles.”
Anyone who saw this scene would naturally revere Nan Zhi Yi as the divine one.
Xu Shi Yun sighed, exasperated. “Look at her. The imposter plays her role well.”
Yet deep in her eyes, doubt flickered. How was Nan Zhi Yi performing such miracles in public?
Had she not overheard Chao Chao’s thoughts, even she would have believed it!
After all, Nan Zhi Yi’s “divine foresight” had saved the Southern Kingdom from multiple disasters.
Sickly children, those afflicted by “evil spirits,” she had healed many.
Lu Chao Chao, still chewing, silently grumbled:
[Of course, she can foresee disasters—she’s reborn!]
[Everything she “predicts” already happened in her past life!]
[As for curing illnesses and banishing evil… That’s man-made divinity!]
[Like just now—why was that child unconscious? It was Nan Feng Yu who poisoned her!]
[If I do a quick calculation, these two have left a long trail of crimes! There’s a whole village where people started dying mysteriously—half the population was wiped out in just seven days. When people prayed for a miracle, Nan Zhi Yi “descended like a goddess” to save them from despair… But the truth?]
[She and her mother were the ones who poisoned them!]
[Now, those villagers are her most devout believers, spreading tales of her benevolence far and wide.]
Lu Chao Chao let out a long, silent sigh.
These two orchestrated their own poisonings, then swooped in as saviors.
No wonder their reputation in the Southern Kingdom was so untouchable.
Xu Shi Yun’s expression hardened. Did they think human lives were mere playthings?
As the ceremony concluded, the crowd parted respectfully.
Nan Zhi Yi turned to Lu Chao Chao, smirking with disdain.
[So what if you awakened the Southern Kingdom’s divine bloodline? Before a “Goddess Reincarnate,” you are nothing!]
“Imperial Grandfather,” Nan Zhi Yi called. “Princess Sunshine slaughtered the Su family. My grandmother has served you faithfully for years, yet in her old age, her family was wiped out. Shouldn’t you seek justice for her?”