dark moon

Chapter 94 The Ending of the Lightless Moon (two chapters in one, one update today)
"Click, click", regular footsteps, in the empty corridor.

The long corridor has ancient wooden walls, covered with mottled traces of time. Copper oil lamps are embedded in the walls, glowing with a green luster under the dim light. The oil lamps are arranged one by one, Go back down the hallway, into the darkness at the end of your line of sight.

The wooden floor is as old as the walls. The paint has lost its luster due to the passage of time, but the surface is still spotless after being wiped. When you step on it lightly, the squeaking sound echoes in the windowless corridor. It accentuates the silence all around.

Xiure was walking along this corridor, always maintaining a uniform frequency, taking the same distance with every step, and maintaining a calm and calm attitude from beginning to end.

"Click, squeak."

The long corridor finally reached the end. Xiure pushed open the black wooden door at the end of the corridor without any pause. The moment the wooden door was opened, his eyes suddenly opened up.

Behind the door is an extremely spacious square hall, even enough to accommodate hundreds of people dancing inside.One side of the hall is not a wooden wall, but a whole floor-to-ceiling window, dozens of meters wide, allowing a panoramic view of the scenery outside the window.

Outside the window is the dark night, the endless night sky, and right in the middle of the night sky in front of the window, a huge dark red moon hangs high, dyeing everything in the hall with a faint scarlet.

"In this world, it must be only here that mortals can see the true face of Dark Moon. Of course, mortals have little chance to come." Looking up at Dark Moon in the sky, Xiuer seemed to be intoxicated by the scarlet moonlight. "No matter how many times you look at it, the originally lightless dark moon will always be so beautiful when it shines."

Of course, Xiure was not talking to himself. Apart from him, there was another person in the hall, at least, in the form of a human.

The huge hall is empty, with almost no furnishings. There is only an exquisite white tea table and two seats facing each other in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. On the tea table, there is thick black tea brewing in a transparent teapot. The dark red tea exudes a strong aroma of black tea, which can reach Shuer's nose even if he is standing far away from the door.

On one side of the tea table, there is a woman sitting. She is wearing a black dress that highlights her slim figure. Her delicate feet are exposed and are as white as ivory. Her long black hair flows down like a waterfall, dragging it until it is clean. On the ground, the hair is black and thick, as smooth as silk.

Her face couldn't be seen clearly, because she was looking up to the sky with her back to Xiu Er. She seemed so fascinated that she remained motionless, like an exquisite doll.

"Should I be honored to be able to witness such amazing beauty again?" Shuer poured a full cup of black tea for the lady in a very gentlemanly manner. He gave an ambiguous description, not sure whether it was referring to the sky or the existence in front of him, "But, I I remember that I was pestered by your representative until midnight, and finally managed to fall asleep, right? As a high-ranking god, are you so boring that you like to drag believers into your own kingdom in your dreams? Great Dark Moon Madam, Lady Luna?”

The woman did not answer, as if she had not heard his words at all, and kept staring at the dark moon in the sky.

"Well, anyway, thank you, Lord Dark Moon." After closing his eyes and tasting the black tea, Xiuer sighed softly after a long time, and said in a low voice, "The architectural style only exists in that world, and the hometown is unique. The fine black tea that has been processed by craftsmanship, including this familiar floor-to-ceiling window, I accepted this kind offer that wanted to give me the feeling of my hometown."

"Thank you." Ms. Dark Moon spoke for the first time, her voice as cold as the moonlight in the night sky.

"Oh? I thought you brought me in for the second time just to scold me. Why are you thanking me?" Shuer paused while holding the tea cup. "Thank me for forming an alliance with the Water Temple for Lisa? Or? Thank me for expanding the reputation of the Dark Moon Church without violating your teachings?"

"Thank you for taking good care of that child. Although I care about her, without your care, she might..." Shaking her head humanely, the cold goddess said softly, "There is also the matter of Anika, it should be Thank you, but you have to be careful about Anika. What she wants you to do is more difficult than you think. For thousands of years, even the gods have been unable to do something, but they want to leave it to a mortal. This time she has some problems. Too much."

"So you also know about this." Xiure's eyes narrowed. He had no intention of reporting this to the goddess now. "It seems that your information is better than I thought."

"God is omniscient." Luna sighed, "This is not just an empty talk."

"Oh, is that so?" Xiuer smiled gently, but his words were far from gentle, "Then let's discuss why the alien projection and the Great Rift have become more and more common in recent years. Things that happen frequently? Or discuss why the pantheon of gods was suddenly established, and what are you worried about?"

Luna did not answer Xiure's very pointed question. She just turned around, picked up the black tea that Xiul offered, and took a sip like he did.

Although she had turned around, she still couldn't see her face clearly, and there was only a blur in her vision.Mortals can never look directly at the glory of God, even those who are favored by gods are no exception.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I lost my composure." Xiure bowed slightly and said apologetically, "Actually, you don't need to thank me. I said it the last time we met. You gave me this life. It's natural for me to serve you. Even if It’s nothing to give you my life back, let alone this little thing. If you thanked me for this little thing, you wouldn’t have needed to save me in the first place, right?”

"You really should apologize." Luna stood up, walked slowly to the window, and looked up at the dark moon in the sky again. "It's not because you lost your temper, but because you never really believed in me."

"Huh?" Shuer raised his eyebrows at the goddess's back, "You mean..."

"You have never believed that when I rescued you, there were no additional requirements at all." Luna said slowly, "If you save you, you will be saved. There is no need or no need."

"No?" The smile on his face froze, Xiuer frowned, and his voice raised slightly, "You mean, when you saved me, you actually didn't ask for anything from me, and you didn't want me to do anything?"

"Yes, no." The goddess never turned around and responded affirmatively, "To be precise, I only have one request, which is to take good care of the child. But I no longer need to mention this request. You can't If you give up the bond with that child, you will let her grow up healthily and happily without my request, and arrange her future life. Therefore, I have no requirements for you anymore. You can do whatever you want. matter."

"Heh, heh, heh, this is really an interesting thing." Facing the gods, Xiuer finally couldn't maintain his usual calmness, his face was slightly gloomy, and he whispered, "Let us estimate your Let’s look at the current situation. Calculate how long you can last before falling asleep? Ten years? 20 years? In the past few years, your situation has been ups and downs. You can hide this from Lisa, but you can’t hide it from me. Haha, you have already reached the stage of falling asleep. On the edge, no, it’s not just about sleeping. After you fall into sleep, not many years later, when the last person who remembers your name disappears, your existence will be erased, and your true name will disappear from the pantheon of gods. .”

"But what did you do? That time four years ago, you consumed a lot of your most precious divine power to pull me out of the projection world. This was against the space barrier. This action was enough to accelerate your sleep."

"Faced with this situation, you want me to believe that there was no purpose in what you did four years ago and that you have no requirements for me? You tell me that I can do whatever I want? Do you really think that mortals can do that? Are you cheating at will?"

"Pouring anger at the gods is a very dangerous behavior. Are you sure you are ready to bear the price?" The goddess's voice was calm. Not only was she not frightened by Xiure's sudden outburst, but it was filled with a hint of warmth. meaning.

"Phew, I'm sorry, my world is material." The cold voice dissipated most of Shuer's sudden anger, and he sighed helplessly, "We are full of respect for the gods that only exist in legends, but Keep your distance." "So in your world, the way to show respect is to scold and threaten in person?" Luna kept staring at the red moon outside the window, "It's really a unique habit."

"Ahem, you know, customs and habits are always a little different. Occasionally, we use this method to express respect."

"Haha, you know, every time that child prays to me, he keeps saying how kind his brother is, how caring he is for her, and how reliable he is, but every time he expresses his inner feelings, he has to cover it up with nonsense." Na leisurely said, "Can I think that your sudden burst of anger is because you are worried about me, angry that I don't care about my existence, and your harsh words that go against your nature are just to cover up your worries?"

"Ahem, cough, cough, I'm not that free." Xiure blocked his sight with the tea cup without any trace, let out a string of dry coughs, and after deliberately drinking half a cup of black tea with slow movements, he returned to his original elegance and calmness. He said calmly, "To be honest, you are very good to me. It was you who protected my soul from being torn to pieces due to the repulsive force of the plane. And through Lisa's hand, you repaired my soul. Body and soul, these are a serious drain on your little remaining divine power. And in the past few years, you have used transactions to allow me to use you when I can't believe in you wholeheartedly. With my divine power, I became your priest. It can be said that you have done enough for me."

"I'm very grateful to you, but it doesn't mean that I believe everything you say, at least what you just said, I don't believe it at all. You paid a price to save me, but you don't need me to do anything? If it were you, Would you believe it?"

"I can." One sentence blocked all of Xiuer's subsequent words. Xiuer was speechless, and the cold goddess actually let out a low chuckle, "I'll give you a test, my priest. , you should still remember my core teachings and my characteristics, this is the basic knowledge for believers."

"Oh, wordless devotion, silent devotion, unknown love." Shuer sighed, "So I can't really believe in you, because I really don't believe in this kind of unreasonable devotion."

"You can't believe in me, are you sure? Do you think gods can just break the rules and let mortals borrow their divine power like a deal? This has never happened to Parvatiga, because there are some rules that even gods must abide by. "Luna sat down again and watched Xiure refill the tea cup for herself like a gentleman. Her cold voice was a little softer, "If you really feel that deep down in your heart you cannot accept my teachings. , I’d like you to answer a question.”

"When you rescued that child four years ago, were you sure you could defeat those people? Are you sure you wouldn't die? If you weren't sure, just pretend you didn't see it. Why did you rush to save people? Moreover, In the end, you were covered in scars, weak and dying, but the child was not hurt at all, why is that?"

Xiu Er blocked his sight with the teacup again, and kept his mouth shut without saying a word.

"If you had treated yourself immediately at that time, although the chance of survival was not [-]%, there was still a high possibility of survival. You can't deny this. However, although the child's narrative was messy and you didn't understand the situation at all, you You still reluctantly came to the conclusion that her life would be in danger if she continued to stay there. Then you used a special method to force the wound to stop bleeding. Yes, it was the same method you used a month ago, dragging the remains of her body for nearly a night. Two hundred kilometers, she was brought to the exit in time, so that her injuries worsened and there was no hope of recovery. Please explain to me, what requirements do you want her to meet?"

"Good tea." Shuer said with a straight face, as if he was immersed in the aroma of black tea, "This cup of black tea tastes really good."

"During the final separation process, when you held the child, your soul must have been impacted by the repulsive force, but you didn't know that the child, as a resident of this plane, would not be repulsed, so you were worried that she wouldn't be able to handle it on her own. , I just held her and kept moving forward, even my soul began to break and didn’t stop. What do you want to ask for at this time?"

"I've slept long enough." Shuer suddenly stood up and said seriously, "I think it's time for me to get up. Goodbye."

"Oh, okay, you really should go back." Luna sat dignifiedly on the chair, holding a steaming tea cup, "I came to you this time, in addition to thanking you, I mainly want to tell you , I don’t want to interfere with your behavior this afternoon.”

"I can guess." As if the person who was arguing with the gods just now was not him at all, Xiuer said nonchalantly, "She just wanted to get the heart of water so much that she came to you directly. She should have made an oath, right?" .”

"Yes." The goddess' hazy shadow nodded, "Wendy can be trusted. You can judge for yourself whether her followers are trustworthy. Anika is not trustworthy. She is not evil and never lies, but her mind is unpredictable. , you must be more careful when in contact with her."

"Can I see this as a spirit's concern for mortals?"

"No, the gods are just worried. If something happens to a mortal, no one will fulfill her request." No one could have imagined that Ms. Dark Moon, who had always been cold and cold, would occasionally be playful.

"Very good, I woke up." Convinced that the fight he was talking about would not gain any advantage, Shuer turned around and left without any hesitation. But just as he opened the door, he suddenly stopped and stood pressing the wooden door for a long time. Then he lowered his head and asked, "Are all your gods so cunning?"

"Huh?" Luna's blurry image tilted her head.

"You said you had no purpose in saving me and didn't need me to do anything. I almost believed it. But... although I don't know why I entered the projection world, I think I won't be the first one. There are tens of millions of people who have saved me. Over the years, there will always be a few unlucky guys who are projected into Parvatiga’s otherworldly projection like me.”

"You were involved only because at the moment when the projection space in your hometown was formed, you happened to step into the boundary of the projection space. The formation of the projection space failed a moment earlier, and the projection space took shape a moment later, and you couldn't enter." Luna nodded and said, "The conditions are very harsh, but you are indeed not the first."

"That's good." Shuer said with a wry smile, "So, have all these people been rescued? Will the gods not hesitate to expend their divine power to rescue them? Not to mention other gods, have you ever done this?"

This time Luna remained silent.

"You really don't have any demands on me. This time I finally believe it." Shuer sighed, "From my behavior towards Lisa, you have already calculated that I will take the initiative to do what you want. You don't need it at all." What are the requirements? Silent giving, haha, this is the other side of the doctrine."

"Good tea." Luna repeated Xiure's actions just now.

"The key is, even if I have thought about this, I will continue to do it, and I am willing to do it." Shuer opened the door and left a self-deprecating sentence at the end, "The gap between mortals and gods is indeed insurmountable, at least In vision.”

"Oh, actually you are wrong." Left alone in the empty hall, Luna tasted the black tea carefully like a human. After an unknown amount of time, she whispered to herself, "I admit that I actually feel bad for you. There is a request, but it is not at all what you are doing now. No, to be precise, what I ask of you is to do what you want to do according to your heart, not for me, but for... everyone . Silent love never has another side. You only see it from an individual point of view, so you can't feel it, but you ignore it. I never said that my love is only for individuals and races."

Standing up, following Luna's movements, the hall started from the far edge and was swallowed up by the void bit by bit. The tables, chairs, and teacups gradually disappeared into nothingness.Taking gentle steps, Luna walked to the floor-to-ceiling window that had not yet disappeared. This time she did not look up at her dark moon, but lowered her head and looked down.

Below the floor-to-ceiling windows is not the solid ground, but a deep void. In the void, a water-blue planet floats quietly, and countless planets representing the Kingdom of God are rotating silently around it.

Staring at the blue planet, Luna exuded a deep sense of tenderness.

(End of this chapter)