Slaying God: I, the insane and witty god

The dark red aura, like a venomous snake, seeped out through the crack, each strand exuding a nauseating, fishy smell.

Wu Hen stared intently at the cave entrance, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the lighter's roller, but he didn't light it.

He turned to look at the little girl in the tutu beside him, his eyes so sharp they seemed to pierce her.

"Explain yourself clearly," Wu Hen's voice was deep, even carrying a hint of barely perceptible ferocity.

What do you mean by 'never'?

Skuld shrank back, seemingly frightened by the sudden burst of murderous aura emanating from Wu Hen.

She clutched her skirt, her voice trembling, "It's... exactly what it says."

"Uncle Bragi's body contains only his own soul."

"There was never a sister named Eden."

Lin Qiye's figure swayed suddenly, as if he had been hit on the head with a club.

"Impossible." Lin Qiye's voice was terribly dry.

"If he was alone, then who has been talking to him for thousands of years?"

Who is responding to his letters? Who is comforting him in his dreams?

It was him.

Skuld lowered her head, not daring to look Lin Qiye in the eye. "All the letters were written by his left hand to his right."

"All the dialogues were questions he asked and answered in his mind."

“He missed Eden so much that he…split himself into a ‘her’.”

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Wu Hen felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

This isn't some tragic mythological love story at all; it's clearly a top-notch psychological thriller!

A god who has lived for thousands of years, in the long course of time,

Every day, she falls in love with the character she plays, even deceiving everyone else, until she eventually comes to believe it herself.

"Then the sounds we heard earlier..." Wu Hen felt his throat tighten.

"It was him too?"

“Mm.” Skuld nodded.

"That was him imitating Eden's sister's voice."

"His imitation was so perfect, even the fluctuations of divine power were exactly the same."

"Damn it." Wu Hen couldn't help but curse, crushing the cigarette in his hand into powder.

"That old madman."

Lin Qiye's face was pale. He suddenly raised his head and said, "I'm in the hospital."

"They clearly borrowed the power of 'youth,' so how could they possibly generate divine power if it was just a split personality?"

This is the biggest logical flaw.

A mentally ill person can fantasize about having a wife, but cannot imagine the power of real gold and silver.

Skuld sighed; her precocious demeanor was unsettling.

"Big brother, do you know what a 'heart' is?" She pointed to her chest.

"Back then, Sister Eden gave her divine heart to Uncle Bragi in order to save him."

"Divine power originates from the heart, from the body, not from the soul."

"As long as that heart is still beating, the power of 'youth' remains."

"So..." Lin Qiye's pupils trembled.

"What I've been borrowing has always been the power that instinctively overflows from that heart, not Eden's soul lending it to me?"

“Yes,” Skuld said matter-of-factly.

"Just like when you shine a flashlight, do you need to ask the battery for permission?"

Lin Qiye froze completely.

At that moment, he felt his worldview was collapsing.

He subconsciously closed his eyes and sank into the depths of his consciousness, where the panel of the Gods' Mental Hospital was located.

The medical record card that originally represented Braki clearly stated the name "[Braki (Eden)]".

The name in parentheses was once the evidence he firmly believed in.

But now, when he looks at it again, the name is undergoing a strange change.

The lettering on the panel was distorted and blurred, like melted ink.

The word "Eden" is fading away little by little, as if it's being frantically erased by an invisible eraser.

Instead, there was a line of scarlet notes that had never appeared before:

Severe Dissociative Identity Disorder (Revised)

At the same time, the "Two Gods in One" label that was originally gleaming with golden light,

It shattered in that instant, turning into grayish-white dust and disappearing without a trace.

Lin Qiye suddenly opened his eyes, his back already soaked in cold sweat.

This hospital's system... is actually alive?

The information it previously displayed was not absolute truth, but rather based on its "cognition" of things.

Because he believed Eden existed, because Bragi believed Eden existed, the system displayed Eden?

Once the truth was revealed, did the system immediately correct the data?

How much of the information he saw before was true?

Wu Hen keenly noticed the fear in Lin Qiye's eyes.

He stepped forward and lowered his voice: "Old Lin, what's wrong? Is there a problem with the control panel?"

Lin Qiye opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't say anything.

The fear of being fooled by an unknown force is more terrifying than facing a million gods.

Just then, the boulder blocking the cave entrance suddenly roared.

boom--

Gravel tumbled down, and dust filled the air.

A tall, slender figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

Verdandi.

Her robes were somewhat disheveled, and beads of sweat clung to her forehead.

But in her hands she was carefully holding a piece of crystal.

The crystal emitted a soft golden light, and there seemed to be a phantom shadow flowing inside, which was the purest and most extreme life force.

"Success."

Verdandi's voice was filled with extreme weariness, yet also carried a certain sacred solemnity. She raised the crystal in her hand.

He smiled at Bragi, who staggered out afterward.

“Bracky, look, this is Eden.”

"We separated her completely."

Bragi looked extremely disheveled at this moment.

His chest was wrapped in thick gauze, from which bright red blood seeped out. His face was as pale as paper, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

He fell to his knees with a thud, his hands trembling as he stretched out his arms.

It was as if I were holding the most precious and fragile item in the world, carefully accepting that piece of crystal.

“Eden…Eden…”

Bragi pressed his face against the crystal, tears streaming down his face, mingling with the dust, making him look both pathetic and ridiculous.

"I knew you were here... I knew you hadn't abandoned me..."

The crystal shimmered with a warm light in his arms, as if responding to his call.

This scene was deeply moving.

If you didn't know the truth, this would be the most heartwarming salvation in this damn apocalypse.

But at this moment, Wu Hen and Lin Qiye, who were standing not far away, felt a chill run down their spines.

"That's fucking Oscar-worthy acting."

Wu Hen, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, let out a cold laugh, his eyes filled with mockery.

"Trying to coax a broken rock as a wife, is this what they call the goddess of fate?"

Lin Qiye stared intently at the crystal.

That's fake.

It was some kind of high-purity crystallization of divine power, and perhaps it did indeed contain the essence of Eden's heart.

But it has no soul, no consciousness; it's just an expensive placebo.

After comforting Bragi, Verdandi turned around, the gentleness on her face vanishing instantly, replaced by indifference.

She walked up to the two of them, her gaze calmly sweeping over Lin Qiye's hand resting on the hilt of his knife.

"Want to make a move?" Verdandi's voice was very soft.

"Is this what you call salvation?"

Lin Qiye gritted his teeth, pointing at the man who was hugging the crystal and crying bitterly.

"Let him spend the rest of his life carrying a stone?"

"This is the best ending for him."

Verdandi remained expressionless.

“If we don’t do this, he will completely break down the moment he realizes the truth,”

"The shattering of the divine essence will trigger an explosion of divine power, leveling the entire area to the ground."

"That's the outcome you want?"

"So you lied to him?"

Wu Hen took a step forward, leaning slightly forward, and stared intently at the goddess with a roguish air.

"What if he finds out later? What if this broken stone can't talk or make him happy anymore?"

“It can talk.”

Verdandi glanced at Wu Hen indifferently.

“I have engraved three thousand of Eden’s most frequently said phrases into it, which can provide random feedback based on his emotions.”

"Enough for him to listen to for hundreds of years."

Wu Hen was stunned.

Who am I? Where am I? Is this some kind of mythological world or cyberpunk?

AI girlfriend?

"This is too..." Wu Hen hesitated for a long time before finally managing to utter only one word, "Absolutely amazing."

"That's fate."

Verdandi ignored Wu Hen and fixed her gaze on Lin Qiye, her eyes becoming meaningful.

"Dean Lin, please don't think we're cruel."

"In this world, sometimes lies are more merciful than the truth. After all..."

She paused, a faint smile curving her lips—a knowing, mocking smile.

How can you be sure you're not living a giant lie?

These words were like a needle, precisely piercing Lin Qiye's most sensitive nerve.

The scene of the panel being corrected just now flashed through his mind again.

Lin Qiye's fingers tightened suddenly, his knuckles turning white.

"What do you mean?"

"Means nothing."

Verdandy turned around, leaving the two with an inscrutable back view.

"Just a reminder that what your eyes see is not necessarily true, and even what your brain perceives may not be the truth."

"The so-called 'truth' is nothing more than the version that most people are willing to believe."

She waved and, with Bragi still immersed in joy, walked step by step into the depths of the mist.

"Let's go, Bragi. Take Eden home."

"Okay! Okay! Let's go home!"

Bragi hugged Crystal tightly, like a child who had received candy.

He staggered along behind, muttering to himself as he went.

“Eden, look, this is our hometown…the flowers are blooming…”

His incoherent, blissful whispers drifted on the wind, sending chills down one's spine.

Wu Hen stood there, watching the two figures, one tall and one short, disappear, and felt as if the air around him had become thick.

He turned his head and glanced at Lin Qiye beside him.

Lin Qiye stood there like a statue, his usually unwavering eyes now filled with bloodshot eyes and a look of confusion.

"Old Lin." Wu Hen patted his shoulder, the muscles beneath his hand stiff as iron.

"Don't listen to that woman's nonsense."

"We're from another time, and we even have a built-in system, so how could it be fake?"

Although he said that, Wu Hen was actually quite nervous inside.

Even gods can deceive themselves for thousands of years, so what are they, a bunch of mortals...?

Lin Qiye took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, his voice extremely hoarse.

"Wu Hen."

"exist."

"You said... what if one day I also go mad?" Lin Qiye turned his head, his eyes as deep and unfathomable as a pool.

"Will you tell me the truth, or will you give me a stone?"

Wu Hen's hand, which was holding a cigarette, froze in mid-air.

He looked into Lin Qiye's eyes, which seemed to hold an abyss, and remained silent for a long time.

Suddenly he grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, a smile that carried a hint of ruthless arrogance.

"Don't worry, if that day ever comes, I'll slap you twice to wake you up."

"That's what brothers are all about."

Lin Qiye's lips twitched slightly, but before the smile could fully unfold, it was interrupted by a sudden pang of heart palpitation.

That was a warning from the depths of the soul.

The two turned their heads at the same time, looking at the other side of the mist.

There, the once peaceful space is undergoing some kind of eerie distortion.

It's like an invisible, gaping mouth that's slowly opening.

And at the very center of that distortion, there was a figure all too familiar.

He stood silently on a pile of ruins, his back to them.

The man wore a red cloak, his back view desolate.

That's... another Lin Qiye?