I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 517, page 2.1-32: The Crown: The Treasure of a Lost Dynasty
"Why them... hiccup! If it were followers of other gods who smashed my shrine, I wouldn't feel anything... hiccup! Why them of all people? Why my followers of all people!"

I never gave up on them... I tried so hard to repay them... I even sacrificed my divine power to help them... I... just couldn't heal others, just this once... hiccup! Just this once they smashed my shrine and left me homeless.

What did I do wrong? What did I... do I do to offend them?

Why... they wish I were dead..." The boy hugged Mu Yegui and wailed, hiccuping incessantly, his tone filled with despair, disappointment, confusion, and complexity.

He held Mu Yegui tightly, as if he were drowning and had found a lifeline, praying that he could be pulled out of the suffocating water.

Mu Yegui gently patted his back, as if coaxing a child. Her expression was calm, but there was a hint of something inexplicable in it. She didn't say a word, but just let him vent his emotions and listened quietly to his sobs.

Because she could do nothing, because she could not offer Dionysus any help, because she was not qualified to comment on the affairs between Dionysus and his people, she could only choose to remain silent.

No matter how young and immature Dionysus may appear, he is still a god. He has his own pride and does not need anyone to judge him.

"Hiccup! Was I wrong? Mu Yegui, did I do something wrong?" he asked in a low voice, pleading for his affirmation, so humble...

"Yes, I was wrong." Mu Yegui quietly looked at the scenery in the distance, her soft, sweet voice calm and without a trace of extra emotion.

"Why? Why do you have to say that too? What did I do wrong?!" Dionysus shoved Mu Yegui away abruptly. He stood up and staggered a few steps, his narrow, golden phoenix eyes filled with hurt and disbelief.

Mu Ye lowered his eyes and said to himself, "I cannot condone your actions, I cannot insult your divinity, and I cannot trample on your pride."

She paused, then continued, “Your love for the believers is too humble; that’s not something a god should do, so I cannot approve. You are a god, and you should be looking out to the world, not helping them time and time again, to the point that your pampered and arrogant believers take their anger out on you. Admitting you did nothing wrong would be an insult to you. You should be proud, unrestrained, and arrogant, not suffering for the believers time and time again. If I approve of you, it would be trampling on your pride and self-respect.”

Therefore, you made mistakes, even compounding them, and now you have only yourself to blame for the situation.

Mu Yegui slowly stood up, gently patted the dust off his body, his expression calm and devoid of any extra emotion.

She walked toward Dionysus, took a handkerchief from her pocket, and gently wiped away his tears. Even though they flowed again as soon as she wiped them away, she remained persistent and showed no impatience.

"The name of Dionysus is not worthy of anyone, at least not tears." She had never seen Dionysus cry before, and this was the first time, and hopefully the last.

The god of wine is supposed to be filled with joy and madness, banishing all sorrow and despair; he's really not suited to this expression at all. At least, his future self, with his cold and gloomy demeanor, is more fitting.

Regardless of whether he possessed divinity, Dionysus was always the god of wine.

“I won’t say anything to comfort you, nor will I say anything like I’ll be your home. Anything that sounds too nice is just a lie… You should recognize yourself…” Mu Yegui saw that his tears had gradually stopped flowing, so she lowered her hand and took a few steps back to distance herself from him.

"But if... you lose your divinity and gradually weaken because of the shrine, you can come to me and receive my protection."

As he spoke, Mu Yegui raised his eyes and glanced at Dionysus, his cold silver eyes containing a hint of mockery or ridicule.

"If that were the case, could you accept it? To be a weakling, barely clinging to life and being protected? Divinity in my eyes doesn't just refer to power, but to character. Even if you're not a god, as long as you retain your pride, you still possess divinity. You will always be Dionysus, not just a mere Dionysus." Anyone can be Dionysus, but only one person can truly live up to the name of Dionysus, and that person has to be Dionysus.

Mu Yegui bent down to pick up the pottery shards from the ground and placed them on the table. Then he walked to the windowsill, picked up the only potted green plant by the window, and forcibly stuffed it into Dionysus's arms.

"Although I cannot provide you with lodging, you can sleep with it." This was the reply to Dionysus's earlier statement that 'he has no home.'

Dionysus: "..." Who wants it?!

Dionysus glanced at the potted plant that had been stuffed into his arms. Its leaves, arranged in a rosette shape, would have looked no different from weeds if it weren't for its large size. Yet, for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

Mu Yegui stood by the window, her back to the sunlight, looking at him. Behind her was a dazzling light that made her long, misty gray hair seem to shimmer with a golden glow.

He lowered his head, pondering the inexplicable impression of the weeds in his arms. Before he could think of anything, he heard Mu Yegui speak in that soft, childlike voice, without any emotion, "An agave only blooms once in its lifetime. If it were you, when would you choose to bloom?"

Dionysus was slightly taken aback. Was this pot of weeds called agave?

She didn't dwell on his answer, but simply pointed to the pot of agave and said, "Speaking of which, agave seems to be used to make wine. Instead of worrying about the irreversible destruction of your shrine, why not consider the brewing process of wine made from agave?"

Can it be used to brew wine?

For the first time in a long time, he felt as if he had found some purpose, and his heart was filled with satisfaction and anticipation.

He enjoys researching, inventing, and brewing various kinds of alcohol, so he was suddenly very happy when he heard Mu Yegui say that it could be used to brew wine.

He suddenly understood why he admired Mu Yegui; it was probably because she was the only one in the world who understood him. She knew what he truly pursued, how to cheer him up, and how to comfort him.

Yes, comfort.

Although Mu Yegui kept saying that she wouldn't comfort him, everything she did was seen by him as a way to comfort him so that he wouldn't be sad anymore.

He didn't really care about pride in God, but things were different now. If he could, he would only want to show that pride to her.

"I'll sleep with it tonight," Dionysus scoffed, holding it tightly as he muttered to himself.

Before knowing it could be used to make wine, it was just a weed; but after knowing it could be used to make wine, it became his prized agave.

Little Wine's ordeal is temporarily over, but actually it wasn't that bad, right?

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(End of this chapter)