Everyone began to weep, to grieve, to beg the deities for mercy.
They finally understood how cruel true survival could be.
They finally understood how cruel a completely free environment of survival could be once they lost the deities' protection, guidance, instruction, and salvation.
Wenren Sheng had understood this long ago.
In truth, they should have known long ago. Their ancestors' memories had long been filled with cruelty.
In years of great famine, people ate one another.
When demons appeared, entire cities vanished.
Kings fell, officials died, clans perished, and heaven and earth went dark.
They had thought these were all ancient history, outdated tales from a bygone age.
They believed it was all in the past, that such things would never happen to them now. Yet reality told them: if it had happened in history, it could happen again now.
And reality would be even crueler than history.
"Why must we suffer such misery? I clearly haven't done anything wrong," someone wept.
"Yes, I've eaten vegetarian for my whole life—no, for ten lifetimes. I sweep the ground for fear of harming an ant, cherish moths fluttering around a lantern. Why must I suffer such retribution too?"
"Gods, please open your eyes and look..."
At that moment, the previous voice rang out again.
"Have you truly done nothing wrong?"
"Who was it that spent every day saying life was boring?"
Upon hearing that voice, most of the people from the Three Realms knelt down.
A small number stiffened their necks and said, "How dare you treat us like this? Aren't you afraid we'll cut off your incense offerings?"
"You'll never be able to be a deity again!"
"Haha, you have some backbone. But I've found a new source of incense offerings. Without you, the Three Realms can still keep turning."