Chapter 855: Losing Effect 2
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Hearing Liu Sanniang’s words, people began to check their bodies. They realized that they seemed to have aged a lot.
They had suddenly turned old and weak without them knowing.
People screamed in disbelief. “This is impossible. This is definitely not me. I’m only 22 years old…”
“I, I’m only 25 years old…”
When everyone realized that they had unknowingly aged for decades, their hearts broke down. They grabbed their hair, helpless and confused. Why was this happening?
The old man who was in charge of the ritual could not even stand up at this moment. His white hair and aura were weak, as if he would die at any moment. However, his turbid eyes were filled with unwillingness and confusion.
They were angry and in pain, not understanding why this was happening.
Someone looked at Liu Sanniang and asked, “Why, why did we become like this?”
Liu Sanniang held a wooden statue of a goddess and asked calmly, “Do you really not understand why?”
The wooden statue turned into black smoke in Liu Sanniang’s hand. People subconsciously wanted to avoid it. No one knew what it was, but they did not want to get stained by it.
Someone widened his eyes as if he had been struck by lightning. “No, that’s impossible. How can the goddess harm us… She gave us so many good things. She…”
When people were hungry, if they believed in her, they would have endless food. When people were sick, if they believed in her, they would be able to recover without needing to take medicine.
Hu Yu couldn’t stand it anymore and continued, “Yes, the goddess is kind and good and gives you everything you wanted. She just took a little of your life as the price.”
Everyone broke down. They treasured their life above everything else.
If they knew that this was the price, they would not have worshiped the goddess.
Hu Yu sneered. “It’s a fair trade, right?”
People lowered their heads in shame.
No, it was not fair at all!
Everyone shook their heads. “No, it’s not fair. If we knew that we had to pay the price of our lives to get food from her, we wouldn’t have done it. She’s not a goddess. She’s a liar.”
Their faith collapsed in an instant. They had only enjoyed a carefree life for a short period of time, but the people who were originally in their prime had already become old men.
Who would be willing to exchange decades for a few months of carefree life?
They were extremely regretful and hugged each other as they cried.
The young children did not seem to know what had happened. When they saw that their parents had aged in a matter of seconds, they were so frightened that they cried. The older ones had already died on the spot.
At this moment, they all smashed the wooden statues that they held dearly in their arms on the ground.
The woman whose child was about to be sacrificed just now suddenly had many wrinkles on her old face. She hugged the child tightly and looked at the broken statues on the ground, her eyes filled with hatred.
If this goddess was standing in front of them now, they would definitely kill her with their own hands.
“Let’s go and plow the land. I don’t know how long we can live like this.”
They could get through poverty and hunger, but the life was lost, they couldn’t get it back.
Because they put all their faith in the goddess, they didn’t save any food at home. At the thought of this, everyone was in despair.
After returning to the inn, Liu Sanniang said to Liu Yuanyuan, “Go to the government office with my token.”
These people needed help.
Fortunately, in the Xia Dynasty, under the suppression of the government, many people didn’t have the wooden statue. However, those who had it kept it very secretly because once the government found out, it would be destroyed.
Liu Yuanyuan went.
Liu Sanniang stayed behind and waited for the people from the government to come.
At dawn, some people were shocked to find that their relatives had become so old that they could not even recognize them.
There were more and more people cursing the goddess of the Western Wild. Some people were stubborn and still worshiped the statue. However, no matter how sincere they were, they didn’t get a grain of rice.
In less than two days, the soldiers came with food. Every family lined up to collect it
The townspeople cried gratefully, shouting that the real god was the emperor who loved his people, not some goddess.
Every family began to plow the land and feed the poultry, trying to pull their life back together.
People gradually understood that food was not obtained without effort. They were mortals. If they wanted to eat, they had to work. If they wanted to recover from illnesses, they had to take medicine.
Liu Sanniang gathered all the sins in her palm. Hu Yu and the others stood far away, afraid that they would be tainted. They all knew that this was a terrifying thing. Liu Sanniang chanted the scriptures softly, and the black beads flew in a certain direction and disappeared from everyone’s sight..