I'll Quit Being a God

Chapter 24: Under The Moonlight

Under the moonlight, the figure of the white wolf lost in the mountain.

Leaving the hustle and bustle of the river bay, Lu Heng planned to return to the quiet mountain and find a place to sleep and enjoy the pleasure of mortals - this was Lu Heng's original intention.

However, after walking a short distance towards the mountain, Lu Heng suddenly perceived a familiar aura, which made him stop.

Lu Heng was a little surprised.

At this time, why did this little girl not reunite with her relatives down by the river bay?

Lu Heng put aside his intention to enter the mountain and walked in that direction.

Not long after, Lu Heng came out of the forest.

What appeared in his view was a huge mountain rock that rose towards the sky. When standing here, he could overlook the scenes at the river bay. But on the river bay side, people were unable to see this place because of the dense trees below. It could be said to be a good place with an open view.

Now, the girl named Ai was sitting quietly with her hands on her knees, alone on the edge of a boulder, staring at the bustle of the river bay below.

This dark and silent forest and the distant noisy river bay was forming a stark contrast. Some kind of silent darkness in the little girl’s heart seemed to show more loneliness.

Lu Heng came out of the darkness and asked, "Why are you hiding out here alone? Why not go down to reunite with your family?"

The voice that suddenly rang out scared the little girl.

But when she turned to stand up and saw the huge white wolf behind her, the fear disappeared.

Xiao Ai stood there rashly and kneaded the corners of her skirt.

"Lord Mountain God, you ...... Why are you here?" In the girl's voice, there seemed to be some surprise.

Today, when facing Lu Heng, Xiao Ai was no longer afraid, but on the contrary, she was happy.

Lu Heng noticed this change in mood, he asked, "When you hide alone in the mountain, are you not afraid of being carried away by beasts? There are a lot of beasts in this mountain."

The little girl said, "With the Mountain God sign given by you, Lord Mountain God, the beasts in the mountain will not attack me."

Lu Heng laughed, "I forgot about that......"

Looking at the little girl, Lu Heng once again thought of the sacrifice at noon.

At that time Xiao Ai was pushed out by the villagers, wearing the ritual dress that did not match her age. She wrinkled her small face and arranged for the crowd to do things according to the steps of the ceremony. There was a kind of calm on her face, just like a small adult, but that was not cute.

On the contrary, now this little girl who was a bit rushed but in a cheerful mood, was more in line with Lu Heng's memory.

Lu Heng stood beside the girl, looking at the river bay with her and said, "At noon today, I saw that the sacrifice ceremony was conducted by you. Because of me, everyone in the village is very afraid of you now, right?"

Lu Heng's words made the little girl hesitate.

Lu Heng then spoke lightly, "Just say what you want to say, I don't like to hear false pretenses."

Xiao Ai nodded her head hastily and said, "I know, and I don't dare to hide anything. Ever since Lord Mountain God let me go back and said the words of care in front of the village chief, everyone in the village has rejected me a little."

"It's just that they are afraid in their hearts, so they don't even dare to show their rejection too obviously."

"But that was before, ever since Master Wuzhu made everyone understand the greatness and honor of Lord Mountain God, everyone in the village is no longer afraid of Lord Mountain God, nor of me. They all treat me very well and respect you, Lord Mountain God, that's why they let me conduct the ritual."

Xiao Ai's answer made Lu Heng turn his head and look at her quietly, and then asked, "Then why are you hiding here alone and not going out?"

The girl hesitated for a few seconds and said, "Because...... because everyone is in awe of me although they are not afraid of me anymore. If I am down there, everyone will be nervous and unable to be happy and lively."

"And ...... and ......"

The more the girl said, the smaller her voice became.

Lu Heng looked at her and asked, "And what?"

"And I ...... I already don't like it when it's lively," Xiao Ai lowered her head and said softly, "I like to stay alone, so I don't have to take care of everyone's mood. Only when I am alone, I do not need to take anything into account. This is actually very good...... I would rather be alone."

Xiao Ai's gentle narration made Lu Heng silent.

He looked at the girl in front of him and sighed in his heart.

After talking with Gong-Shu Jie, he knew the stories about Xiao Ai. This little girl lived without parents, just like a rootless duckweed in the village. Now she was given special treatment by Lu Heng, and even dared to stand up against the village adults when everyone thought Lu Heng was a demon.

After all these things happened, the little girl could no longer be integrated with the villagers.

Thinking of this, Lu Heng said, "Raise your head and look at me straight in my eyes. Then answer me a question."

Xiao Ai obediently raised her head, looked at the frighteningly huge white wolf in front of her and saw the deep eyes of the white wolf, and she heard a cold inquiry.

"If the chosen girl was not you, but someone else, would you be willing to do it all over again?"

The white wolf's eyes were deep and sharp, and the sharp sight was full of oppressive power and seemed to penetrate the girl’s heart.

Xiao Ai was in a trance and had a feeling of being completely seen through under this gaze. She felt that in front of the Lord Mountain God there was no hint of secrecy to speak of.

Also, she actually did not want to hide any secrets.

Facing the sharp gaze of the white wolf, the girl shook her head and said, "I do not want to start over."

Without waiting for Lu Heng to ask the reason, the girl smiled bitterly and explained, "If I was not chosen, I would never have known the nature of the villagers, and I would never have known that the one who pushed me into the fire was my last relative."

"That way, I might still have held unrealistic fantasies and expected that one day they would be good to me. Then someday in the future, I would have suffered more terribly."

"That's why I don't want to start over."

Xiao Ai took a deep breath and said, "Lord Mountain God is the best to me in this world, except for my parents. I vowed to serve you for the rest of my life."

The girl's words were sincere. Her eyes shone with a light, a kind of emotion that could even be described as devotion.

Lu Heng was shocked and silent.

In the dark forest, the slightly cold night wind brushed through the trees, stirring up the rustling of grass and leaves, and brought the voice of people under the river bay.

Bang Bang Bang - Bang Bang Bang -

The sound of wooden boards pounding echoed in the mountain, and at the river bay below the mountain, the aged old village chief was shouting.

"The hour is up! The hour has come! Everyone kneel down facing the Mountain God Temple! Bow down to the Mountain God!"

The playful villagers now all gathered in one place and faced the direction of the Mountain God Temple.

But the village chief called out anxiously.

"Where is Xiao Ai? Go get her back quickly!"

Hearing this voice, Xiao Ai hesitated for a few seconds and said, "Lord Mountain God, I ...... want to go back to......"

"No need," Lu Heng interrupted her in an indifferent tone and said, "They are just going to worship me anyway, it is the same if you are here."

With a move of Lu Heng's mind, and in the next second, the huge vortex clouds that covered the entire Cold Feather Mountain in the night sky slowly opened up.

Then the clouds slowly scattered a gap. The moonlight fell down along the gap and shone on the Cold Feather Mountain, exactly on the huge mountain rock where the girl and the wolf were.

The trees below the rock all swayed and lowered their branches. The rock that was originally blocked by the canopy of these trees now appeared clearly in the view of the villagers at the river bay as the blocking trees moved away.

When the villagers tilted their heads, they clearly saw the huge rock in the mountain and the huge white wolf on it. The cold moonlight fell on the white wolf's body, and every hair of the white wolf seemed to be emitting a silvery glow, divine and extraordinary.

All the villagers stared in awe.

And at the moment they saw the white wolf, they also saw the young girl beside him.

Compared with the huge size of the white wolf, the tiny girl was so small that she could be ignored, but at this time no one dared to ignore her. And everyone recognized who that little girl was.

That was clearly......

"Xiao Ai?"

The villagers were talking about her, but the old village chief scolded in a low voice, "Shut up! No discussion!"

Then the chief walked to the front of the crowd and took the lead in bowing towards the wolf and girl on the mountain rock.

"Lord Mountain God!"

Behind the old village chief, the villagers also all knelt down and heavily kowtowed.

"Lord Mountain God!"

The villagers' shouts echoed in the wind.

Xiao Ai on the mountain rock had a confused expression and became restless once again.

The cold moonlight formed a silver-white pillar that fell on her and Lu Heng. At this moment, they were the most attention-grabbing focus of the entire Cold Feather Mountain.

Lu Heng gave a low laugh and said, "Let them fear you a little more. After all, it is better to be feared than to be hated."

Feeling dazed and confused, Xiao Ai looked at Lu Heng, and she saw the Lord Mountain God smiling.

In a trance, this scene of the giant wolf smiling under the moon seemed to be engraved in the girl's memory forever.