The gods' gazes slowly shifted from the murderous Yin Xiu to Ye Tianxuan behind him.
After noticing this unremarkable human, the God of Longevity circled around him with a puzzled look. "Your lifespan... why is it so strange? You are a human."
Ye Tianxuan waved his hand with a smile, "This is a long story, so I won't go into it."
"On the contrary, I want to hear the reason why you suddenly disappeared from your respective cities. Do you know what happened to the cities after the gods disappeared?"
Faced with Ye Tianxuan's question, the gods fell silent.
"Of course we know what the city will become after the gods disappear."
"In fact, that's the result we wanted."
"Human beings are so insignificant, with such short lifespans that a large number of them die without us even noticing. To us, those who disappear are like grains of sand in the desert, not worth paying attention to."
Do you remember one of the flowers you once passed through, now rotting in the mud?
"Don't you remember? Because humans are to us what you see as flowers and plants. Each one is very similar and withers quickly. Even if a batch of flowers dies because they are not cared for by us, new ones will bloom soon."
The gods describe the suffering happening in all the cities in a very simple way, perhaps because their eyes are looking at a much wider world, the cycle of life, or the endless passage of time.
But the smile on Ye Tianxuan's face vanished without a trace.
"Flowers won't pray to me, nor will they ask for my help. Humans are different from flowers." Ye Tianxuan stared intently at the four gods. "Lin allowed you to come into contact with humans, chose humans as high priests and transformed into humans, not so that you would use human forms to despise human life."
"To the people in the city, you are like gods who can save the world. You can save them, yet you deliberately abandon them. Why?"
Faced with the stern questioning of this insignificant human, the four gods proudly raised their heads. "Humans will eventually die. We have only started this cycle ahead of time. The disappearance of believers in the four cities does not matter to us. What we truly wish for is death for... those high priests."
When the god mentioned this, Ye Tianxuan already understood.
The gods could not kill the high priests, but the high priests' deaths were linked to the gods. In short, the gods deliberately disappeared to create chaos in the four cities, to kill the high priests in the chaos, and to bring an end to their long lives.
Leaving aside other cities, even the High Priest of the City of Destiny, a power that is difficult to kill, gradually gave up on himself and awaited his own death under the endless exploitation of the city's people.
Without their presence, the gods had indeed succeeded in their plan; while the high priests of each city longed for the gods' return, they were gradually being pushed toward death by them.
The truth, however, was far more cruel to those high priests.
Unaware of the truth, they still longed for God's return, suffering just as much as the believers, hoping for a future.
Hearing God's answer, even Zhong Mu gritted his teeth, "When they were chosen as high priests, you gave them hope! Now you are the ones who bring them despair! You only care about your own deaths and don't consider the feelings of the high priests at all."
"Not just believers and high priests, but everyone in your eyes is someone who can be given and taken away at will. The true God is not such a selfish being. You are all false gods!"
Before they arrived here, every city they passed through was a place where countless believers prayed and pleaded, filled with hope for God. Even in such chaotic circumstances, everyone firmly believed that God would not abandon them, and they would not abandon God, never giving up their faith.
In some places, God's neglect has turned them into hell.
All cities are like toys to God, to be discarded at will, and so are all lives.
Thinking of all the high priests in the city, Zhong Mu was furious. He never imagined that everything was the work of the gods who were forcing the high priests to their deaths.
Facing the angry gazes, God remained calm. "That's because you don't understand. The only way for us to be free is to abandon them. Their hope was given by us, so why can't we bestow despair upon them?"
"In this silent place, we have lost our beloved god, leaving us only with long loneliness. If we want to disappear, we must sacrifice the high priests. Their lives are our lives. From the moment we were bound, they no longer belonged to themselves, but to us."
"Even if you are resentful, it will be of no use. This is the relationship between God and the High Priest: they must die before we can die."
Ye Tianxuan shook his head helplessly; it seemed that he could not communicate with the Four Gods.
God thought they were condemning them for causing the high priest's death and for their indifference.
Unaware that if they hadn't suddenly disappeared, but instead had spoken with and inquired with the high priests, the high priests' suffering wouldn't have reached this level.
The root cause of all this lies in the coldness of the gods and their disregard for the lives of the high priests.
Perhaps, as Lin said, they have been changed and are no longer the gentle and loving gods in the eyes of the high priest.
"Alright, I have nothing more to ask." Ye Tianxuan waved his hand, turned around and walked towards the cabin. "Thank you for your trouble, Great God of Slaughter. I don't participate in tiring work. This kind of thing should be left to the God of Slaughter."
Zhong Mu glanced at Yin Xiu, then at Li Mo, before turning his gaze to the four gods. Although he felt he couldn't be of much help in front of such powerful deities, he still asked in a low voice, "Brother Xiu, if there's anything I can do to help, remember to call me. I'll definitely come."
As he spoke, he grabbed Muhe, turned around, and ran to the door of the wooden house, placing Muhe in a safe place.
The battle between gods is something that ordinary people like them can't participate in. The origin of everything is Li Mo, who was born here, and most of the gods' killing intent is directed at Li Mo. This is a matter between the young couple, and those of them who are just along the way can't help much.
Facing the gods who were radiating hostility towards him, Li Mo smiled innocently, "Aren't we of the same race? Why do you hate me?"
He was really looking forward to seeing the gods here, thinking they would all be a bunch of dark figures crawling around. He was even prepared to become dark and join in the crawling. But when he arrived, he saw so many complete and beautiful human figures, and the incredibly loyal followers they already had.
Li Mo felt that although he was of the same race as them, the treatment he received was vastly different.
He tried for a long time but could not transform his true form into human form to accompany Yin Xiu. Being imprisoned in the seal, he could not possibly have any loyal and devoted followers.
The gods here possessed all of this so easily, yet they harbored such vile hostility towards him, a pitiful, dark creature.
Hei Qiqi didn't understand and was puzzled by his own kind.