Chapter 2: The Return of the Soul (02)

The ancestor made a dramatic entrance, smashing the plaque of his own family’s ancestral temple. Facing the trembling descendants, he took a step back and bowed slightly, saying, “Divine Maiden.”

The Divine Maiden, Lin Jiu, was talking to the system, “Now we’ve made contact with Liu Che.”

The system fell silent.

It glanced at Liu Che, who was kneeling on the ground, too afraid to raise his head. It thought, Is this really happening? Am I dreaming?

Yes, they had made contact with Liu Che, but wasn’t something a bit off about how they did it?

But then again, perhaps it was fine after all, since they did make contact with Liu Che.

The system grew more confused as it thought about it, its CPU almost overheating from all the actions.

Lin Jiu remained unfazed and calmly continued, “Next, we need to find a way to gain Liu Che’s emotional value.”

The system sighed, “Liu Che’s already kneeling. What more emotional value do you need? This wave of emotional value harvest is enough; your first task has been completed perfectly.”

Lin Jiu, dedicated to her job, firmly replied, “No, it’s not enough. If I’m going to do this, I’ll do it right. Giving up halfway is not my style.”

The system fell silent again, no longer speaking.

Well, since the emotional value was already secured, they might as well continue. It wasn’t like they were going to tear the sky apart… right?

——

The Divine Maiden remained silent. Liu Bang, too afraid to speak, was already in a state of frantic anxiety in his mind.

The descendants kneeling before him had none of the cleverness of their ancestors, and they were still frozen in place. What were they doing? They should be greeting the Divine Maiden!

Seconds ticked by, and Liu Bang felt the same burning, sweaty feeling of distress. Just as he was about to grit his teeth and say something, the Divine Maiden suddenly moved.

She passed by Liu Bang and walked calmly toward the temple’s outer courtyard.

Today was the winter solstice, the day the emperor performed the ancestral rites. The royal family knelt inside the Great Ancestral Temple, and the ministers knelt outside…

At that moment, the half of Liu’s empire gathered around the temple, and this mysterious so-called Divine Maiden was heading toward them!

No one knew what she intended to do, nor did anyone dare to stop her.

Wherever she passed, people made way for her. She didn’t look at anyone, as though these mortals weren’t worth a second glance.

Liu Che, still kneeling, retreated two steps. As she passed by, his fingers, which had been pressed to the ground, slightly curled.

The ancient customs of the Western Han still held, and the architecture of this period was defined by its “height” and “grandeur.”

The Liu family’s ancestral temple fully embraced these two features, with a structure so tall it could be stacked into a nine-story building, connected by steep stairs to the ground.

The royal family stood above, the ministers below.

The height difference between the two was like the distance between heaven and earth, a simple, brutal, and cruel division between people.

But now, the Liu family royals, once high in the clouds, silently descended. The ministers realized that something major had happened above.

Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, only the Liu family had ruled. The Liu family royals had always been above the clouds.

Now that they were stepping down from the clouds, it could only mean that someone of even higher status had appeared.

Who could it be? The current Han Dynasty—who else could have such authority?

Liu Che stood on the high platform, behind the position of the goddess and Emperor Gao.

He had been silent until now because he knew that at this moment, there was no room for him to speak.

He did not kneel down with the others, not because of his identity as the Emperor of Han, but because both the goddess and Emperor Gao needed someone to speak for them.

He took a deep breath, feeling the pain from the wound on his forehead, and calmly spoke.

There were ninety-nine steps leading up to the platform in the Taidi, each group of nine steps had an inner servant standing in black and red clothes.

As Liu Che finished speaking, the inner servant closest to him began to loudly repeat his words, followed by the second and third, all the way to the ninth.

The emperor’s words were thus transmitted from heaven to earth in the most primitive and authoritative manner.

The royal relatives and officials kneeling below were like a group of ants, listening quietly and reverently.

Liu Che took another deep breath. He had already said everything that needed to be said—the history of the ancestral rites, with the goddess and Emperor Gao descending to the world. Now, there was only one final and most important sentence left.

He said, “The goddess is above, Emperor Gao is above, may the Han dynasty’s fortune be long and prosperous.”

The nine inner servants standing on the steps repeated his words in turn.

“The goddess is above…”

“Emperor Gao is above…”

“May the Han dynasty’s fortune…”

The voice echoed like thunder, passing through the heavens and earth.

There was no other sound, and the extreme solemnity and authority gave an illusion of silence.

When the last inner servant finished speaking, the silence expanded to an unbearable extent.

But it remained silent, with not a sound in the air.

After three breaths, the small figures of the people below suddenly fell prostrate on the ground, loudly repeating the emperor’s blessing:

“The goddess is above, Emperor Gao is above, may the Han dynasty’s fortune be long and prosperous!”

Through the nine layers of soil, the thousands of mortals loudly blessed the heavens, their clothing rising and falling, their voices reaching the sky.

It was hard for those who had never experienced such a scene to imagine the shock it brought; the gathering effect between people was powerful.

If a hundred people stood together, there would be an unstoppable momentum, and now there were thousands kneeling!

Only gods could enjoy such a grand blessing, and those who had received such blessings were surely gods!

The system felt its heart was about to burst, panicking, “What is this? What’s going on? Liu Che’s heart rate is increasing, and I’m getting anxious!”

Lin Jiu modestly replied, “It’s not that much, don’t worry, just wait a little longer.”

The system screamed, “No way! Is it not over yet? Let Liu Che go! Look at his face, it looks like he’s about to collapse!”

Lin Jiu didn’t speak, but she didn’t do anything either.

The system let out a slight sigh of relief, thinking that since the thousands of people had already bowed, the scene couldn’t get any bigger… right?

This time, the ancestral rites ended abruptly, with Liu Che, as the emperor, taking on the responsibility of returning the ancestors and goddess to the Weiyang Palace.

The three of them sat together in Liu Che’s imperial carriage… though Liu Che might have felt that only he was human in the carriage.

It was quiet in the carriage, no one spoke, making other details stand out more clearly.

A peculiar smell was in the air, clear as if it were floating in the air.

It resembled the smell of rust but was slightly sweeter, like the scent of blood.

Liu Che sat vacantly next to the goddess, while Liu Bang sat opposite him.

—–

In this situation, turning his face away from Liu Bang seemed inappropriate, staring directly at Liu Bang was even worse, and lowering his head might expose something he shouldn’t see—who knew what taboos gods had.

So, he just kept his gaze blank, pretending to be dazed. It was the safest—seeing without seeing.

But the wound on his forehead was still slightly bleeding, and the smell of blood became stronger.

Liu Che’s expression started to stiffen, and his hand resting on his knee tightened slightly.

He realized that the goddess was watching him, staring unblinking.

Liu Che didn’t know what it meant, but he sensed danger.

He frantically turned his mind, trying to figure out what he had done to attract the goddess’s attention.

And why the goddess was still holding that bundle of herbs.

It had originally been a bundle of herbs he intended to offer to Emperor Gao, but due to blood getting into his eyes and blurring his vision, it had mistakenly ended up in the goddess’s hands.

Could it be that the goddess had a special liking for these herbs? Or perhaps there was something on the herbs.

What could it be?

A rumor he had once heard suddenly resurfaced, and in that moment, all the blood in Liu Che’s body went cold.

He remembered that the bundle of herbs had his blood on it.

As for gods, it was unknown what they typically consumed, but sometimes they fed on human blood and flesh!

The wound on his forehead was still bleeding, and the smell of blood grew stronger. Liu Che, as he smelled it, suddenly had the illusion that his whole body was emitting the scent of flesh.

The goddess was still staring at him.

Her gaze seemed hungry.

Liu Che almost held his breath, cold sweat uncontrollably appearing on his forehead.

But it seemed to make his flesh scent even stronger, and he saw the goddess slightly close her eyes and softly say something.

“The taste… of the Emperor’s blood.”

Her voice was pure and innocent, yet her words carried a chilling meaning.

Liu Che’s expression changed. He looked like he wanted to jump out of the carriage.

But he didn’t have time to act.

The goddess was approaching.

As if unable to see clearly, she slowly leaned forward, heading towards Liu Che.

She quickly leaned forward to the point where she couldn’t maintain her balance, and gently placed her hands on Liu Che’s thighs.

Liu Che caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and saw Liu Bang across from him, looking completely shocked.

The situation was actually a bit ambiguous.

But clearly, Liu Che didn’t find it ambiguous at all. He was desperately signaling to Liu Bang with his eyes, his eyes nearly twitching.

Ancestor, help!!!

His ancestor, Liu Bang, seemed to have suddenly gone blind. He kept his gaze fixed ahead, his eyes as calm as could be, sitting still like a chicken.

Under Liu Che’s desperate gaze, the Goddess moved even closer, her knees now on his legs, one hand on his shoulder, and the other slowly pressing on his forehead.

He couldn’t avoid making eye contact with the Goddess.

He didn’t realize that the hair on his body had already stood up, and he even briefly forgot the concept of “body hair.”

He only felt as though his entire body was covered with an indescribable sensation, densely packed, and a surge of impulse rose in his heart to reach out and scratch it.

The system was already buying some cyber emergency heart-saving pills.

He quickly and urgently spoke up, “Stop, stop! The heart rate is skyrocketing, but this isn’t even about milking the sheep anymore. You’re going to kill Liu Che!”