Chapter 135 The Goddess

As Vivian said, those who treat faith as sustenance are nearly impossible to communicate with—at least on matters of faith.

Gottaraug was probably the most steadfast believer and defender of tradition in this remnant society. He possessed a wealth of experience and ancient knowledge that others lacked, but he was accustomed to attributing anything difficult to explain to the guidance of the goddess. He told Hao Ren the ancient history recorded in the scrolls, but the truth behind that history was probably something Hao Ren would have to deduce himself.

According to Gottaraug, the end of the Sun Dynasty roughly coincided with the major event in the Dream Plane, so it must have been after the goddess's fall that this planet and a small area of surrounding space were ejected from the Dream Plane and stuck on the Wall of Reality.

The closing of the firmament was an emergency action taken by the Firstborn to cope with the natural disasters caused by the fading sunlight.

While the Firstborn was creating the surface crust, the original surface ecosystem must have suffered a catastrophic disaster. However, some force—perhaps the power of the Creation Goddess—protected the humans on this planet, allowing them to survive in a relatively safe place until the ecosystem became stable again.

After the Firstborn created the Sky Pillar Giant Tree and the canopy dome with its tentacles, the surviving humans built the last great city, "Dora Shirl," which they then abandoned without ever moving in.

Gottaraug said that the goddess ordered the humans to abandon the city, but Hao Ren estimated that the real reason was climate change.

The above is the more credible version of the historical truth after sorting through it.

The old man's energy was limited, and he could not withstand Hao Ren's questioning for too long, so after discussing a few issues, Hao Ren temporarily bid farewell to Gottaraug with the others. Gezer had arranged the highest-grade yurts for these "sacred guests" to rest in, but the honest tribal warrior still felt uneasy. He felt that using mortal dwellings to entertain the goddess was a great negligence, but this small nomadic tribe simply did not have the ability to build a temple for Vivian overnight that matched the ancient records. The "Goddess's Advent" was too shocking for these tribal people. In fact, even now, more than half of them were still in a daze, not daring to believe the news they heard today, as if they were dreaming. They worshipped and believed in the existence of the goddess, but her actual appearance still left most people bewildered. However, Vivian, as the person in question, didn't care about any of this. She happily accepted the accommodations and food arranged by Gezer, and then came outside the yurt with Hao Ren, where the two of them admired the unique landscape of this world as dusk gradually fell.

This was a sunset without sunlight.

This underground world without sun, moon, or stars still had day and night changes, and it was the clouds in the sky that caused these changes.

Now the light emanating from the clouds was gradually dimming, changing from bright white to a calming dark yellow. The luminous microorganisms inside the clouds uniformly followed strict clock activities, and there was obviously a mechanism for mutual induction and connection: When the sky darkened, the clouds "extinguished" wave after wave, as if turning off the lights. As the clouds extinguished, the black rocky dome behind the cloud blocks became even dimmer, and it was almost impossible to distinguish it with the naked eye from the ground.

"The microorganisms in these clouds must be the result of careful design by the Firstborn," Hao Ren said casually to Vivian as he watched the dusk descend. "I initially thought that the Firstborn on this planet had cleansed the entire ecosystem, but now it seems that it received the same order as Zorm to protect the descendants. But this raises even more inexplicable things—the twisted monsters on the surface crust can't be explained."

Vivian replied with a slightly absent-minded "Oh," looking preoccupied. Finally, she couldn't help but ask, "The goddess they speak of should be the Creation Goddess—so why would they mistake me for the goddess? Do you know any inside information?"

Hao Ren was silent for a few seconds. In fact, when Gezer called Vivian "Goddess" today, he had already thought that he would eventually have to explain things. On the way from Dora Shirl to the tribal settlement, in addition to observing the ecological structure of this world, he had spent most of his time thinking about the mysterious connection between Vivian and the Creation Goddess.

Vivian noticed Hao Ren's temporary silence. She sighed and leaned gently against a rock behind her: "You really do know something. Tell me, I've lived for over ten thousand years. What haven't I experienced?"

"Do you remember the world you saw when you first awakened?" Hao Ren suddenly asked an irrelevant question.

Vivian frowned: "First awakened? That's too long ago. I can't remember. But I guess it was probably the end of the Ice Age...the Little Ice Age. Paul's manuscript recorded it that way, so that should be my earliest memory."

"Actually...Raven 12345 and I have made some discoveries," Hao Ren looked into Vivian's eyes, "Regarding the connection between you and the Creation Goddess."

Many things could no longer be hidden, so Hao Ren simply told her everything, including the large amount of information entangled with Vivian and the inextricable links between her and the Creation Goddess, as well as her strange record of crossing the Wall of Reality forty-eight hours before the Creation Goddess's fall. These things made Vivian's eyes widen, and by the time Hao Ren had finished speaking, Vivian was completely stunned.

"I'm really related to that deity?" Vivian's voice sounded a little floaty. "I...I'm just a vampire?"

"Besides being able to turn into a little bat, what else about you is like a vampire?" Hao Ren glanced at her. "And even the ability to turn into a little bat can be imitated with magic. I even suspect that you just 'think' you're a vampire, so you have some of the characteristics of a vampire. Of course, there's no evidence for any of this."

Vivian opened her mouth, looking at her hands in disbelief. Those hands were pale and slender, and there was no blood color in the skin, as if carved from pure white jade, lacking vitality. This was a characteristic that a high-level vampire should have: cold, pale. But when she thought about it carefully, she really couldn't remember if her hands had been like this from the beginning.

"Then what should I be?" Vivian frowned. She never intended to doubt what Hao Ren said from the beginning. "The reincarnation of the Creation Goddess? A fragment? An avatar? Or some kind of...creation?"

"You're not the Creation Goddess, I can guarantee that," Hao Ren shook his head. "You don't have divinity, so you're not a reincarnation or a fragment. You're just connected to that fallen deity in some way. Don't think too much about it now, just stop all worries and anxieties here."

Vivian was silent for a long time. There was no obvious expression on her bloodless face, only her eyes flickered slightly in the increasingly dim light. After a long time, Hao Ren heard her ask lightly, "So, what exactly am I?"

"You're Vivian," Hao Ren had already thought about this answer. He turned his head, looked at Vivian very seriously, and then gently flicked the other party's forehead with his finger. "You're Vivian Anseista, the oldest vampire in the world, the poorest vampire, the best-cooking vampire. Your existence is clear and definite, so there's nothing worth doubting."

Vivian was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled brightly. The smile at that moment illuminated the entire grassland scenery: "I'm really useless, the oldest vampire is actually being comforted by you."

"What's wrong with being comforted by me?" Hao Ren raised an eyebrow. "I speak for the true god, I'm the Sun King of Aerym, the guardian of Aio, the new lord of Zorm, the governor of Tanagoth, and more importantly, I'm your landlord—I'm so awesome that it takes six lines to print my titles on a business card. Can't I even comfort a bat who needs someone to accompany her when she goes grocery shopping?"

Vivian looked at Hao Ren with her arms folded, smiling: "Keep making it up. You should be able to pull out a few more titles, right?"

Hao Ren continued to pretend to be righteous with a straight face: "I really can't make it up anymore!"

Vivian laughed happily, and the previous worries seemed to have become an illusion. Hao Ren was relieved to see this situation: "Look, I'm so awesome, I've accomplished so many great things, so even if the karma entangled with you is troublesome, I'll definitely be able to handle it. What are you still worried about?"

"I'm not worried," Vivian leaned against the rock, shaking her head with a smile. "But I haven't deteriorated to the point where I have to rely on others. I'll also try to study the secrets of myself, but when I encounter trouble...I'll be waiting for you to lend a hand."