A once-in-a-millennium flood (3/3)
Guifang Kingdom, Cliff Settlement City.
You failed.
Looking at the chaotic crowd, the old priest let out a long, quiet sigh.
Sitting on the rubble of the demolished ancestral temple, Chongming, or rather Xuan Ta, remained silent, disheartened.
"I've actually read the book you received too."
The "peaceful era of divine and human co-governance" described above is indeed something to yearn for.
"But you've forgotten the most important point: the Guifang Kingdom is not the Great Xia, and the Guifang Kingdom has no king capable of making Heavenly Deity yield."
Upon hearing this, Xuan immediately turned to look at the old priest, his eyes filled with uncontrollable rage.
"No, it's not that I failed, it's that they've gone mad!"
"If everything goes according to plan, the Gods of the Five Directions will check and balance each other, and we will gain more say."
"Even if we can't achieve a prosperous world where humans and gods coexist, at most I'll be the only scapegoat."
1
"But the Guirong Clan went mad, Tide-Swallowing Clan went mad too---"
"As for the Tufang Clan? He was a madman!"
"So I had You Chong release Qingfu, hoping that the Green Wood Clan could find that legendary Deceiver."
"Then, by borrowing the power of the Tufang Clan, the balance of power among the Gods of the Five Directions will be restored."
The old priest sighed again, realizing he had long anticipated Xuan's naiveté.
"You Chong? That's just Blood Demon—"
"If I'm not mistaken, even that Blood Demon is actually an envoy of the Guirong Clan, isn't he?"
Faced with the old priest's question, Xuan Ta was taken aback at first, then immediately denied it.
"No, although You Chong is an envoy of the Guirong Clan, he hates the Gods of the Five Directions even more!"
"As long as I can take revenge on the Gods of the Five Directions, You Chong is the best sword in my hand!"
Ultimately, the reason things have turned out this way is because we've all collectively gone mad!
Seeing that Xuan still hadn't grasped the truth, the old priest finally said in a low voice, feeling helpless.
"Boy, even I can see through your disguise Chongming." There are so many inconsistencies in your story, do you think the other priests wouldn't notice?
"No, the priests are those who have fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood—"
"You can think we're cruel, or you can think we're blindly loyal, but you absolutely cannot think of us as fools."
After a slight pause, the old priest, seeing the slightly surprised look in Xuan Pa's eyes, continued speaking.
"Governing a country is never a matter for one person alone."
"The smooth implementation of each of your policies and the timely response to each of your commands are all thanks to the help of us priests."
"Just like I said before, you're not the only one who's read that book, and you're not the only one who realizes that the Guifang Kingdom is abnormal now."
Even the Gods of the Five Directions are well aware of the undercurrents beneath the surface of the Guifang Kingdom.
"They just don't care."
The Gods of the Five Directions treated this as a game, and incidentally, as a way to select more obedient leaders.
"You think you've seen the future, but in reality, it's just history repeating itself countless times."
The old priest's words completely baffled Xuan.
"Am I just repeating history?"
Feeling that his entire worldview had been shaken, Xuan Pa's expression successfully made the old priest laugh.
"Don't underestimate yourself; you've already made history."
"Throughout the thousand-year history of the Guifang Kingdom, you are the first mortal to have driven Heavenly Deity to this point and forced him to resort to underhanded tactics."
"The Roaring Heaven Clan's silence is a fact, the Guirong Clan's personal intervention is a fact, the Tide-Swallowing Clan's rampage is a fact, and even the Green Wood Clan's eventual disappearance is a fact—"
The old priest never denied what Xuan Ta had done; in fact, he was proud of it.
But he also knew that this was the result of a combination of Heavenly Timing, location, and human factors, a miracle that was almost impossible to replicate.
"But I still failed!"
After a brief silence, Xuan Ta finally admitted his defeat.
"Everything started when Tide-Swallowing Clan went berserk; I lost control of the situation from the moment it began."
"Why?"
Why is the flood season so long this year?
Why are the weather phenomena so unusual this year? It's almost winter and there are still storms?
Why hasn't the water level in the upper reaches of the valley receded yet? In fact, it seems to be getting worse.
"Isn't Tide-Swallowing Clan the god responsible for maintaining the mountains and rivers? Why is he being affected by these unusual celestial phenomena this year?"
Looking up at the gradually darkening sky, Xuan Ta's face was filled with confusion and bewilderment.
If the weather and water levels had been normal this year, Xuan Ta and Guifang Kingdom wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
"Looks like the Blood Demon didn't tell you!"
As if he had expected it, the old priest slowly walked to Xuan's side.
Then, just like when they were children, he gently stroked the other person's head and said...
"It's a massive flood, a once-in-a-millennium flood."
Before becoming Gods of the Five Directions Tide-Swallowing Clan was the water god of the sea.
"Of course, you can also call him the Sea God."
"As a former sea god, Tide-Swallowing Clan was most sensitive to any unusual activity in the waterways."
"In inland regions like ours, the only thing capable of causing such a massive flood is a once-in-a-millennium event."
"Perhaps the Guirong Clan has realized this as well, which is why they are no longer willing to play this childish game with us."
Xuan never expected that his failure would stem from such an unexpected factor.
What Xuan didn't expect was that You Chong had learned in advance that the "Great Flood" was coming.
"What kind of flood was it that even so many water gods along the way couldn't dredge it?"
Hearing Xuan utter such naive words again, the old priest merely smiled faintly and lowered his head to ask a question.
Why did those water gods need to dredge the floodwaters?
Is it possible that this once-in-a-millennium flood was caused by the collective efforts of those water gods?
Startled, Xuan's eyes widened in shock; he had already realized the seriousness of the situation.
"You mean this is an apocalyptic flood unleashed by the water gods?"
The old priest shrugged slightly, gazing at the gloomy sky, and answered noncommittally.
"Then I don't know, after all, how can mortals presume to know the thoughts of gods?"
"All I know is that Tide-Swallowing Clan is just one of those water gods, and he is destined to use the great flood to cleanse the current Guifang Kingdom."
"The Guirong Clan's current actions are perhaps just like ours—they're simply trying to protect themselves."
"Of course, I'm only making inferences based on the current situation, and it may not necessarily be the whole truth."
"Just like the book you received--"
You must learn to distinguish and filter out the truly valid content, rather than accepting it wholesale.
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