Before Xianyu could react, the electronic voice spoke again.
Matthias took the initiative to apologize.
"I'm sorry. I misspoke."
"How could I compare you to a god? What god would cut off their own flesh to feed an eagle, as you would? How could they deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as you?"
Xianyu: "..."
He listened with a blank expression as Matthias showered him with praise.
Xianyu had read many books, so naturally, he knew the story of cutting off one's flesh to feed an eagle.
It was a religious legend from a certain planet.
According to the legend, before the deity the believers worshipped had attained Buddhahood, he encountered an eagle chasing a dove.
Driven by its instinct to survive, the dove flew into his arms. Unable to bear its plight, he saved it.
The starving eagle refused to leave and said bluntly, "You saved the dove, but does that mean you must condemn me?"
Unwilling to harm another life for the sake of his own kindness, he asked the eagle what it needed. Upon learning that it needed meat, he immediately cut flesh from his own body.
As for the truth... it was, of course, a divine test. A god had used this encounter to test the character of the man who had yet to attain Buddhahood.
After reading the story, Xianyu had quickly put it out of his mind.
The reason was simple: he couldn't appreciate stories about that sort of self-sacrifice.
Cutting off his own flesh to feed someone else...
Xianyu knew he couldn't be as selfless as the protagonist.
Wasn't Matthias exaggerating a little too much by using that story to describe him?
The electronic voice delivered its extravagant, cloying words in a cold tone devoid of emotion or inflection.
Matthias sounded