Chapter 174: The Origin of the Godmother
The layout of the back village in Eternal Life Village vaguely resembles the character “申,” long and narrow, divided by two main roads, creating four distinct areas—one might say, hello to the Four Great Evil Gods!
The south path of the “申” character acts as the entrance, while the north leads to the sacrificial altar and deep into the mountains.
Bai Yu decided to first check out the sacrificial altar; no rush to start the killing spree yet. The altar would have the most people during the rituals, so taking out a few troublesome ghostly nuisances beforehand would be ideal. Once those tough cookies were gone, the remaining believers would be like ripe fruit ready for the picking.
“What’s our next destination?” Bai Yu pondered to herself.
“I think I get what you’re after. But before we follow the plan, I suddenly feel the urge to show you something,” Dragon Lady took charge of the body, unlike Zhao Mingyue who was more passive when Bai Yu was inside her.
While Bai Yu was glued to Zhao Mingyue, the latter was practically a limp noodle. But Dragon Lady not only could wrestle for control; she could even push Bai Yu aside.
With her eyes gleaming red, Dragon Lady leaped onto a nearby rooftop deftly, shattering tiles beneath her light feet, darting across rooftops, completely disregarding the patrolling villagers below, racing toward the sacrificial altar.
This was the confidence that Bai Yu had instilled in her. If Dragon Lady had come alone, she would’ve played it safe, checking the area thoroughly before making a move.
Going to the altar alone? No, that’d be a recipe for disaster!
“Don’t you want to know why Burning Heart and Thousand Eyes have been targeted?”
“As soon as we get in there, we’ll find out the truth.”
“My information’s limited, but it might be related to the First Generation Goddess,” Dragon Lady crouched on a mud house rooftop as a bent figure strolled below, hunched and limping while banging a brass gong every three steps.
The gong was old enough to be considered a relic, emitting a shrill sound. Each clang drew out a name, whispered like a haunting refrain.
“Xin’er… Xin’er…”
“The High Priestess, mother of the First Generation Goddess. Ever since I can remember, I’d see her banging that gong in the street daily, rain or shine, never missing her evening performance once the sun dipped below the horizon.”
Dragon Lady cautiously advanced, choosing to avoid confrontation with the High Priestess.
“My estimate? That old crone has lived over a hundred thirty years, dead for at least twenty now; she’s just a zombie driven by obsession. Best to steer clear.”
“Xin’er is the First Generation Goddess’s childhood name, told to me by my parents. They warned me to avoid her and said, ‘That old lady eats people!'”
“Whenever there are rituals, the High Priestess shows up, not involved—just standing there while another High Priestess takes charge.”
“Do you know why I mention her?”
“Because I suspect she’s the last Thousand Eyes Godmother!”
Dragon Lady dropped the bombshell, conversing with Bai Yu in thought. Suddenly, the High Priestess paused, turning to glance in Dragon Lady’s direction. Her skin resembled dried ink, like a piece of paper left out in the sun, veins bulging ominously.
After a long, penetrating look, the High Priestess continued her slow progress, banging her gong. Even the patrolling believers parted ways for her, and even a terrifying Red-clothed Evil Ghost stepped aside.
Once the old hag was out of sight, Dragon Lady exhaled, letting go of a piece of tile she’d crushed in her anxiety.
“The first to show up was Burning Heart, no doubt about it—she’s the big sister.”
“The one who summoned Burning Heart was the First Generation Goddess, Xin’er.”
“What occurred after that, I have no clue. All I know is that one year, two monks arrived in the village. Since their stay began, things steadily changed.”
“Especially six months later when the monks left, the First Generation Goddess locked herself in the Canglong Cave, and then, poof! Two new Godmothers appeared—not the second Thousand Eyes Godmother, but the A She Godmother and the Brahma Sound Godmother.”
“Afterward, people noticed the Goddess had all but vanished.”
“The Canglong Cave stank to high heavens, and everyone figured she was dead.”
“That night, the High Priestess went to plead with the gods to save her child.”
“Nobody knows what happened that night. All we know is the High Priestess entered the Canglong Cave alone, and the Goddess walked out alive.”
“That’s when Xin’er gained divine powers and, with villagers’ reverence, became the Goddess.”
“The Goddess’s powers aren’t anything grand; she just could tell the future.”
“When a butterfly would land on a windowsill, when flowers outside would bloom, whose wife would give birth to a daughter, which dude met his end while fetching herbs fell over a cliff, whose child was snatched by a bear… even when an old person kicked the bucket.”
As she spoke, Dragon Lady continued onward. Getting deeper into the village, she noticed the bizarre occurrences multiplying, prompting her to slow down.
So far, smooth sailing—her stealthy assassination skills were part of her bloodline. Not even the crafty ghosts here could touch her. Bai Yu was only exposed when Zhao Mingyue entered the attack range at the shrine.
A couple hundred households isn’t a massive number, and Dragon Lady moved with precision, leaping onto a wooden two-story building.
This was the home of the Clan Leader, and she wasn’t in a hurry to go down.
In front lay the sacrificial altar, a cleared space paved with stones. What was once four stone platforms was now just two, standing side by side.
“Looks like the village really has only those two useless ones left. Good news, right?”
“Thousand Eyes Godmother was bound to be shunned; she’s an oddball.”
“I heard all this gossip from my great-grandpa, thought it was mere hearsay.”
“I can sense there are only two remnants of the curse left. Seemed wise to share that—you’re sharper than I am. Your deductions back there in that little courtyard were spot on.”
“That gossip might just come in handy for you.”
Crouched on the rooftop of the two-story wooden building, Dragon Lady could spot the Canglong Cave from a distance. “Canglong Cave is essentially a sacrificial cave, common enough, at least ten of them, mostly for goddesses. I lived in one called Baicang Cave, while Mingyue’s was called AnYue Cave.”
“AnYue!?” Bai Yu almost let her guard slip. Thankfully, Dragon Lady acted quickly, flipping over to hide on the roof of another little mud house.
“Bai Yu!?”
Below, numerous patrols wandered about, not just wax corpses fused with the Red-clothed Evil Ghost, but also a variety of other ghostly entities.
Hastening to the Canglong Cave, efficient in and out, would save them a lot of hassle. She didn’t believe Bai Yu would make such a rookie mistake.
“You mean to say Zhao Mingyue lives in AnYue Cave?”
“Yes, why? Does the name mean something to you?” Dragon Lady only realized the gravity of her words after they escaped her lips.
The only reason Bai Yu would be so stricken was probably because of the evil god that had killed her sister!
“I just recognized a familiar name.”
The Dark God, also known as the Dark Moon God, descended to the earth like a moon dropping from the sky.
It was the evil god that her sister, Bai Sisi, had forced upon her beliefs in the monastery.
Compared to Burning Heart, this evil god could probably crush her with just a finger.
In terms of their power comparison from her past life, she wasn’t sure who would come out on top. Her plan was to survive the sc*m Game and see if she could resurrect Bai Sisi. If it’s possible, she would choose to give up hunting the Dark God.
That’s right, abandoning revenge—even if she hated him to the core.
Between her and the Dark God, it was likely a 60-40 split—her four, the Dark God six—or maybe even fifty-fifty. No guarantees for a win.
Killing the Dark God would definitely come with a price.
What about resurrecting Bai Sisi?
What would she do?
And if Sisi couldn’t be revived, then she would definitely choose to take down the Dark God.
“Is that so? I have no clue about the origins of these cave names, sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
Mingyue… AnYue… could there be a connection? Bai Yu had no idea yet, but her gut feeling screamed it wasn’t just a coincidence.
“Let me continue with the rest of the story.” As Dragon Lady seized the moment when nearby patrol monsters were distracted, she made her way along the village’s edge, arriving at a cave entrance.
The cave was cloaked in darkness, a mix of strange odors wafting from inside.
The entrance resembled a cell, a barred iron door.
Without hesitation, Dragon Lady yanked the door wide open with brute force.
“Since the incident, no Goddess has lived here ever again.”
Stepping into the cave, her night vision was decent enough to perceive the overall situation without a light.
“I have to say, it’s not much different from my cave—just a cozy little place, complete with bed, table, and chairs. But what’s this…?”
Dragon Lady reached the cave’s deepest part, where a n*ked corpse hung upside down.
The corpse appeared young, maybe about fifteen. Her feet were shackled to the cave’s ceiling, head dangling down, skin shriveled and lifeless like twigs, expression frozen in fear—even in d*ath, her hands clutched at her chest.
“She is the First Generation Goddess.”
“Did I not mention she gained prophetic powers from the gods?”
“Everyone in the village, young and old, respected her; her status was even higher than the Clan Leader’s.”
“Because she could prophesy small things, like whether you’d encounter danger outside, to major events like whether a wife would give birth to a boy or girl—everyone asked her.”
“And then one day, her prophecies failed.”
“At first, it didn’t mean much, but gradually her faults became the talk of the town, leading to beatings and blame. Giving birth to a daughter was her fault, someone dying outside was on her, if anything was lost in the village, it was her doing, and if a daughter got snatched, they pointed fingers at her.”
“And so she ended up locked away here.”
“She was only fourteen at the time, and the villagers hadn’t finished punishing her yet.”
Dragon Lady pointed at the sacrificial altar outside, “From here to the altar, not more than a hundred meters, all under the gods’ gaze.”
“One night, a man wearing a hemp headcloth came in, carrying a torch, and opened this door.”
“They say that night, the cries of the Goddess echoed throughout the village.”
“But it did nothing.”
“One man came in, then a second, a third—until all the men in the village had entered.”
“And suddenly, someone realized that all the men who went in started acting weird, muttering nonsense, running home and banging their heads against walls.”
“Over thirty men dropped dead. If this continued, there wouldn’t be any men left in the village.”
“The Clan Leader begged the gods for help.”
“The gods didn’t save anyone, but only replied with one line.”
“I won the bet.”
“From that day on, the fourth divine being appeared, known as the Thousand Eyes Godmother.”
