Child of God

 

Suddenly, all the tasks were revealed. Except for the bandits, the remaining five were all related to the statue.

“Thank you for telling me what I need to find,” Lu Mingze said happily, waving to the shadows in thanks, “but the clues are still not enough. Do you know where the items besides the Holy Sword and the Golden Armour are?”

The shadows: “……”

“You despicable humans!” a deep-voiced shadow shouted angrily, “Don’t be fooled by him! All humans who come here are here to kill us monsters. Haven’t you learned from past lessons? Kill them!”

Hearing this, Cao Qian clenched her fists, and Guan Ling pressed his palm against the octopus item on his bracelet, ready for battle at any moment.

Lu Mingze, however, stood in front of the two of them and asked before the first shadow could attack: “You call us despicable humans? Weren’t you humans yourselves? Are you the same as the Armours in the Lord’s Mansion?”

He was genuinely curious. Previously, everyone had guessed that the shadows were most likely still-living residents, but now they suddenly called them “despicable humans.” Had they guessed wrong?

The first shadow froze upon seeing Lu Mingze’s face and instinctively answered his question: “We were humans once.”

Then, one by one, the other approaching shadows froze as well. They were all stunned, unable to attack, under the indiscriminate influence of the “Unparalleled Beauty”.

Points kept flashing “-100” in Lu Mingze’s ears, but he didn’t care; after all, it would be hard to lose 15 million points completely.

He asked, “You were once humans, yet you call humans despicable. Do you consider yourselves despicable? What did you do to think this way?”

A shadow particularly enamoured with Lu Mingze’s face triggered “Beacon Fires to Amuse the Lords” and replied candidly: “Yes, we became like this because we once did wrong and were punished.”

It was the voice of a girl. She stepped out of the shadows so that Lu Mingze could see her face.

She looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, sweet-faced, but half of her face was rotten.

She wore a black robe, and under Lu Mingze’s gaze, she showed her arms, which were covered with black scales.

Lu Mingze was not afraid. He carefully observed the girl’s face and arms and asked puzzledly, “I heard from the statue that bandits become half-demons at night. Are you the same?”

The girl shook her head: “We aren’t half-demons. We are… just ordinary people cursed. We cannot walk in sunlight, cannot enter the church to pray, and cannot approach our former faith. This is our sin.”

As they were talking, the effect of “Unparalleled Beauty” wore off, and the shadows regained their wits, gaining a cool-down from aesthetic fatigue. One shadow ran up to grab the girl: “Why are you telling him this?”

The girl’s “Beacon Fires to Amuse the Lords” effect hadn’t worn off yet. Her scaly arms seemed to have infinite strength. She broke free from the person’s grip and said, “He’s so good-looking, I believe he is a good person!”

Lu Mingze accepted the compliment of being “good-looking” calmly and nodded: “I am indeed here to help you. Rebuilding the town requires your help, but first, you must tell me what really happened, what you did wrong, and how I can help you.”

The shadows said distrustfully: “If you are truly a good person, you would be unable to forgive our mistakes and would kill us like previous lords did; if you do not represent justice, then sooner or later, you will become like us and eventually be devoured by monsters.”

“Wait,” Lu Mingze raised his hand and said, “I think your thinking is wrong. Mistakes are divided into levels of severity, and punishments should match the severity. For example, the bandits outside the city committed crimes deserving death. But minor, correctable mistakes do not require complete extermination; labour reform suffices. Town reconstruction is urgent and needs many people to build together. Why don’t you consider this? Why assume you’ll be killed right away?”

The shadows were stunned by Lu Mingze’s words. At that moment, the girl took the opportunity to say: “Prince, can you truly forgive me?”

She looked up, gazing tenderly at the prince’s handsome face.

Lu Mingze said: “That depends on what mistake you committed. What is your name? Tell me exactly what happened.”

The girl said: “My name is Luluting, but you can call me Lulu. The mistake I made was… my friends and I took the Sea Blue Eye from the statue.”

Seeing that Lulu had confessed part of the truth, the shadows no longer intervened. They remained hidden in the darkness, observing Lu Mingze’s reaction.

Lulu’s voice was very quiet. She slowly said: “It was the statue of the Child of God, our town’s emblem, made of the most precious gold and gems, standing in the centre of the square. During the Harvest Festival, we would gather around the square, offering tributes, praying to the Child of God for favourable weather in the coming year.

“We didn’t know whether the Child of God could truly bless us, but we were always happy, with endless food and thick clothes. In spring we weren’t hungry; in winter we stayed warm. Especially during the autumn Harvest Festival, we held bonfire parties in the square, singing and dancing together. Those days were truly joyful.

“But soon, the old lord passed away, and his son inherited his domain. The new lord disliked us singing and dancing in front of his mansion, so he cancelled the bonfire parties. He preferred attending upper-class gatherings in other towns and, to maintain his image, raised taxes. He despised God and forbade us from praying to the statue.

“At first, we could still survive, as our harvest was good. But in the second year, drought struck, and the yield was low, yet taxes were not reduced. We didn’t have enough wheat, and the new lord would seize our possessions.

“We were starving but endured it, until one day a child brought back a piece of gold—the Golden Armour from the statue. He said it was a gift from the Child of God. That family ate well that year. The next hungry spring, someone else brought back gold, also claiming it was from the Child of God.

“The gold on the statue kept disappearing. At first, people only took small amounts. Later, the gold disappeared more, but we managed to survive.

“The statue had no gold left and became bare. The new lord was furious. He demanded the thief be turned over, but every household had taken it, and no one admitted anything. He sent soldiers to search every house and seized all our possessions and wheat.

“I was so hungry I fainted under the statue. When I awoke, the Sea Blue Eye had fallen beside me. I secretly picked it up and sold it cheaply to a noble. That winter, my family survived, but I committed theft, and that is my sin.”

Actually, halfway through, Lulu’s “Beacon Fires to Amuse the Lords” effect had worn off, but she did not stop. She continued telling the story until she finished confessing her sin, then looked at Lu Mingze.

Lu Mingze listened carefully and asked: “The Golden Armour, the Sea Blue Eye, and the boots were taken by you to sell. What about the Holy Sword and the Diamond Heart?”

Lulu said: “The Holy Sword disappeared on its own. We don’t know when it vanished; we only noticed that one day the chest of the statue was empty, and the Diamond Heart was gone. Then a voice from the sky said that the foolish humans of this town attempted to violate the God’s dignity, and the Child of God would punish them. That was the Day of Disaster.”

“How long has it been since the Day of Disaster? How many lawkeepers have come since then? Also, what ultimately happened to the new lord?” Lu Mingze asked.

“Twenty years have passed since the Day of Disaster. I haven’t grown since that day; time in the town stopped. I’m not sure about the lawkeepers or the new lord,” Lulu said, glancing back as if seeking someone.

A middle-aged man stepped out from the shadows. He said: “I am Kuke, the leader of the town’s surviving residents. Every year, a lawkeeper came with soldiers to take over this city, but in the end, they either died or fled. As for the new lord, no one knows where he went. On the Day of Disaster, he disappeared. Some say he escaped; others say he remained in the city.”

After hearing this, Lu Mingze sat cross-legged and pondered for a while: “Stealing is punishable, but the crimes aren’t worth death. Labour reform and helping rebuild the town suffices. Moreover, are you really thieves?”

“What do you mean?” Kuke said seriously, “We did not consume the Diamond Heart.”

“I know, I believe you,” Lu Mingze nodded repeatedly. “I mean, the valuable things might really have been gifts from the statue.”

He asked Lulutin: “How did you get the Sea Blue Eye back then?”

Lulu explained, “I knelt at the base of the statue, pressing my forehead against its pedestal, quietly begging it to continue blessing us, to keep us from starving, freezing, or dying of illness. After that, I fainted from hunger.”

Lu Mingze remembered that he, too, had sat at the statue’s pedestal, wishing he could use a mirror, when suddenly a bronze mirror fell down.

He said, “I think maybe the Child of God statue heard your prayers, but couldn’t change the lord’s decision. So it had no choice but to drop its valuable eye to help you survive?”

Lulu and the shadows froze in surprise.

Lu Mingze continued: “The first child who retrieved the Golden Armour fragment—what did he say at the time? Did he take it himself?”

Kuke shook his head: “No. He insisted it was a gift from the Child of God.”

“Then that makes sense. Maybe it also fell from the statue,” Lu Mingze said. “It heard your prayers and used its only wealth to help you. It was voluntary; you didn’t steal it.”

“Really?” Kuke said, delighted.

“But splitting the Diamond Heart… that’s a bit too much,” Lu Mingze said, recalling the statue’s empty heart, feeling a little sad. “So who took the Holy Sword and split the Diamond Heart?”

Kuke and the shadows all shook their heads: “It wasn’t us. How would we have known that a diamond was hidden under the stone statue? Even if there was a diamond, we wouldn’t have split it; we would have sold it to buy food.”

“That makes sense,” Lu Mingze nodded. “Splitting the Diamond Heart sounds very evil. Perhaps someone harboured wicked thoughts and harmed the Child of God statue, which then caused the divine punishment that affected you.”

“Then… you mean we are innocent?” Kuke said, excitedly.

“If what you’re saying is true, then yes, you are innocent,” Lu Mingze confirmed. “But if there’s any sin you’re hiding from me, then that’s another matter.”

 

Translator : DarNan