The Lost People of Teyvat

Chapter 240 Not a monster
"Inazuma's sky has cleared up... Tsk, tsk, that's a really good point, a double entendre. That little girl, Xiao Gong, was so moved that she was almost about to hold your hand with tears in her eyes and shout, 'I believe in you, General' or 'The Way of the Lord is magnificent, and the God of Ming is eternal'."

Chen Tianfeng picked up a branch, grinned, and threw it away - it had just rained and the branches were wet, not suitable for starting a fire.

He took out the dry firewood he had prepared from the Eye of God, lit a bonfire, found two stones of the right size and moved them to use as stools to sit on. He looked at the shadow who was staring at the stones he had moved with a frown on his face: "But why don't you look anxious at all?"

After leaving Naganohara, he and Ying successfully left Inazuma Castle. According to Chen Tianfeng's intention, they naturally identified the location and rushed to Narukami Taisha as quickly as possible, trying to throw Ying to Yae Shinko, while he and Ying searched for things related to soul resurrection in Inazuma.

But who would have thought that the God of Thunder suddenly wanted to walk to Narukami Taisha Shrine, and no one knew what went wrong.

Maybe it was because the Puppet General had crashed, which made her already dull brain even worse... Chen Tianfeng complained in his heart.

Shadow's palm rubbed across the stone, and the rough stone surface became smooth as if it had been cut by a knife. She sat down, standing tall like a warrior, and looked at Chen Tianfeng across the firelight: "Why should I be anxious?"

"Did I misunderstand? When you said 'Inazuma's sky has cleared up', did you really just mean that the sky has cleared up, with no other meaning?" Chen Tianfeng raised his eyebrows: "Or are you planning to break your promise after such a short while?"

"There is no misunderstanding, and you don't have to think about irritating me all the time."

Ying's expression was calm: "I naturally have my own reasons for doing this."

"What's the reason?" Chen Tianfeng became interested. "Inazuma is in chaos right now, and you suddenly 'disappeared'. Inazuma City is now in disarray. Maybe someone leaked the news, and the resistance forces on Haigi Island took the opportunity to launch a general attack, shouting things like 'The God is Dead'. By then, people would be in a panic, and it would not end well."

"For mortals, it is indeed not easy to end. But for me, the so-called 'Inazuma Chaos' you mentioned is a small trouble that I can end at any time." Ying said in a calm tone.

Inazuma is the wife of General Raiden. All the power of the Three Bugei comes from her grant. The fact that Umijima can exist to this day and even still worships their [Umi-Omikami] is also because of her tacit approval.

Therefore, no matter how chaotic Inazuma is, as long as she is still there, nothing will be a problem.

——The so-called restoration of order all depends on her one thought.

"What's more, I'm here to guard against Inazuma's biggest and real trouble." Ying looked at him, the meaning in his eyes was self-evident.

"...That's too much. So far, all the turmoil in Inazuma has nothing to do with me." Chen Tianfeng twitched his lips: "Besides, if you want to solve this big problem of mine as soon as possible, shouldn't you not waste time?"

What is the meaning of walking step by step to Mingjin Taisha? Do we have to walk step by step to Lingshan Da Leiyin Temple to show our sincerity, just like Tang Seng's journey to the West?
But the Great Leiyin Temple of Lingshan Mountain worships Tathagata, so there is nothing wrong with Tang Seng doing this. The Mingshen Grand Shrine of Yingxiang Mountain worships the Thunder God, so what kind of sincerity is this?
Or is this the unique path of self-examination for the Inazuma God?

"If we fly directly to Narukami Taisha, will you pack your bags and leave Inazuma right away?"

Ying's eyes moved down and stopped at the long sword and the Eye of God on Chen Tianfeng's waist: "I don't know what conditions the Rock God and the Wind God offered you to leave their kingdom, but I am sure that you must have left after achieving your goal. Therefore, you can't leave Inazuma before your trick is completed."

Therefore, it makes no difference to her and Inazuma whether they arrive at Narukami Taisha earlier or later.

As long as this monster stays away, Inazuma will be shrouded in the shadow of death.

Chen Tianfeng smiled, not caring about the vigilance and caution in Ying's words: "That makes some sense, but that's not all, right?"

"Yes." Ying nodded and said, "Finally, I want to walk around Inazuma and take a look myself."

Be it eternity or just a moment, only by seeing it with her own eyes can she be sure of what Inazuma's future path will be.

"Nice idea."

Chen Tianfeng was a little surprised. It seemed that Xiao Gong’s words still touched Ying.

Tsk, he was clearly saying the same thing... and had a similar meaning, but his brain seemed to be tied in a knot and he couldn't hear a single word.

"I didn't expect you to care about your people. I thought you were the kind of god who only cared about fulfilling your own obsessions and didn't care about the lives of your people at all."

"also?"

Ying raised his eyebrows slightly, as if a little surprised: "You, a monster, have ever had people?"

"Of course, I was also a god a long, long time ago." Chen Tianfeng added some firewood to the campfire. "I have my own people and my own kingdom. I don't know how many times better I am than you as a god."

"is it?"

Ying did not comment.

Chen Tianfeng clapped his hands, watching the newly added firewood quickly spread black under the licking of the flames, and began to burn himself. He nodded with satisfaction and turned his gaze to Ying: "I know you don't believe it. It just so happens that I have time now. Do you want to listen to my story?"

"can."

There's nothing wrong with it. I'm free anyway, so I might as well listen to this monster talk about his past. Maybe I can find out his weaknesses from it.

"The story is very simple, even a little cliché. I can't tell it well, so just listen to it as it is."

Chen Tianfeng stretched out his palm to warm the fire, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Thinking about it now, that was the most ordinary day in my life..."

One evening, the young man woke up from his dream, only to find that everything in the world had changed. The world was no longer beautiful, and those ordinary days were gone forever. He even turned into a big snake inexplicably. He fled in panic, but he didn't know where to flee.

In a daze, I encountered a small tribe that was driven out of their homes. There were only 300 people in the tribe, and young and strong fighters were even scarce. Everyone was injured, migrating in silence and sorrow.

The two met unexpectedly. The old men in the tribe knelt down and cried, begging the snake to let them go, or at least let the children go. They, the old guys, volunteered to become the snake's trophies and food.

The big snake was at a loss, and was awakened by the crying of children and the elderly. It left in a hurry, but for some reason it was worried about these poor people, so it followed them silently in secret.

Although it was said to be done in secret, the body of the big snake was not easy to hide. Fortunately, both parties knew it well and did not reveal it.

The big snake observed, and sometimes when he saw that the tribe lacked food, he learned to hunt. He would place fresh prey far away on the tribe's migration route, watching them pick it up with surprise, and also watching them kowtow in his direction.

They kept walking like this until one day, the tribe finally found a new home, reclaimed the land, and stopped wandering. When the snake was about to leave, it saw the tribal leader and several elders leading the way, offering the snake the latest food picked and hunted in the new home, begging the snake to stay.

They said they wanted to worship the big snake as the tribal god.

So, the tribe that lost their homes and longed for the protection of the gods made a contract with the giant snake that lost its homeland, agreeing to live in their strange new home without being bullied.

This was the first encounter between the people of the Holy Spirit and their God.

"Later, we became stronger and stronger, with more and more people and a larger territory. Finally, no one dared or could bully us. Then..."

Chen Tianfeng paused, the firelight flickered on his cheeks, and his expression could not be seen clearly: "Then the world ushered in an unreasonable doomsday, and I became like this."

He raised his head, his dark eyes met the eyes of the shadow, and said seriously: "You always call me a 'freak', a 'monster', but... no one is a monster from the beginning."

"I was once a god, with subjects, a kingdom, and things I couldn't let go of... but all of this became a bubble that was punctured in the end of the world."

He whispered, "I'm not a monster, really."

"..."

Ying stared at him blankly. She opened her mouth, but her throat felt dry. She didn't know what to say. She subconsciously looked away, not daring to look at him. She looked at the burning bonfire and was silent for a long time before she spoke with difficulty: "I... I'm sorry."

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

As Ying felt more and more guilty, he finally heard the young man's solemn voice: "I accept your apology."

"……Thanks."

Ying pursed her lips, raised her head and met Chen Tianfeng's eyes with a complicated expression: "...Tianfeng, your people...?"

"They left, all of them together. At the last moment, I tore open the world barrier and let them escape from that hopeless world together. Except for a high priest who was extremely stubborn. He refused to leave and insisted on staying with me."

Chen Tianfeng looked up at the night sky. When the weather was fine, the sky of Teyvat was always full of twinkling stars. He lowered his head and smiled, spreading his palms. A crack hung in his palms, and the world of death was looming: "As a price, I was tied to my world and became what it is now."

Ying's guilt deepened.

"Ying, do you remember the question I asked you?" Chen Tianfeng retracted his hand: "Who are your people to you?"

"Remember." Ying nodded.

“Isn’t it a little weird?”

Chen Tianfeng laughed, but soon stopped: "But when the end of the world comes, the gods of the Holy Spirit World will indeed have to face this problem. Unlike mortals, the gods who can more or less perceive and influence the operation of the world actually have completely different choices when facing the end of the world."

"Whether to not acknowledge his own people, devour them all, tear open the world barrier and escape alone; or to acknowledge only a few important people whom he recognizes as his own people, sacrifice the other unimportant people, and escape with the recognized people; or to regard all the people as his own people, sacrifice himself, and buy them hope of life."

Chen Tianfeng shook his head and said, "This is unreasonable. I am a god. I will not abandon anyone until my people commit unforgivable sins."

Ying was silent for a moment, his brows furrowed, "In your world, are there gods who choose the first or second approach?"

"Of course, not all gods are as stupid as me." Chen Tianfeng nodded.

"I don't think this is stupid." Ying shook his head, with anger between his brows: "Those gods actually abandoned their people like this, how shameless!"

"I think so."

Chen Tianfeng agreed very much.

So when he realized that these shameless gods wanted to escape, he unceremoniously thickened the world's barriers to prevent them from escaping, and then went to their doors and devoured them one by one.

This is something that cannot be told to outsiders.

(End of this chapter)