Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 227 The Gods Seated Above the Bones
"Gods turn into light after they die."

"But if the obsession remains, only darkness remains."

The will-o'-the-wisps on Luoshen Street finally died down for a moment.

Amidst the scorched earth and decaying bones, the group finally stepped into a boundary that had not yet been completely defiled—a half-ruined old temple.

The shrine's branch temples are buried deep in the ruins, like forgotten shadows in the cracks of time.

The shrine had collapsed, the courtyard gate leaned against the wall, and dried bloodstains covered the stone steps.

A broken wind chime hangs at the end of the door lintel, swaying gently in the night breeze, but it can no longer produce a sound.

The stone lamps on both sides had long since died out, and the remaining incense ash contained charred talismans. The corners of the paper were blurred, but a few faded strokes could still be vaguely discerned.

"...Mina..."

Flames rose beneath the broken pillar.

Si Ming lit the last bundle of dry firewood and used the broken screen to block the night wind.

He sat by the campfire, his gaze calmly fixed on the burning wood chips in the firelight, as if reading a chapter of destiny yet to be revealed.

"This used to be the old branch temple of the Mijinin in the Mirror God Rift World."

Nobuna stood before the shrine, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword, her voice low and solemn.

"She was here when she first awakened the 'former ghost'."

Selene kicked aside a piece of the severed paper fox remains and sneered:
"It also fits the usual aesthetic of you Onmyoji players—flashy and flashy, but actually a complete mess."

Wang Yichen squatted by the stone wall at the corner of the temple, staring down at the ashes-covered floor, repeatedly wiping the bloodstains from his wristband with both hands.

His blank expression wasn't because he wasn't afraid, but because he was so afraid that he could no longer think.

"She's my sister."

Nobuna sat down with her knees together and her back straight.

Her voice was cold and hard, devoid of hatred, leaving only a strange sense of detachment—

Like a stranger standing outside of family ties, observing coldly from afar.

"Gojinin, Minako."

"The eldest daughter of the Imperial God Academy, and the backbone of the family's destiny."

“She has abilities I don’t have, and ambitions I’ve never been able to reach.”

In the firelight, half of her face was burned red, while the other half was hidden in darkness.

Her eyes were still like an unsheathed sword, its sharpness concealed, silent and still, yet so cold that no one dared to look directly at her.

Do you know about the 'Eight Million God Card System'?

Xin Nai suddenly looked up, her voice low and hoarse.

Xiao Lianyin chuckled softly, her voice alluring and seductive:
"Of course. That is an ancient secret technique that is one of the very few that combines the Fate and Life systems. Only a very few families possess the original version of the technique."

“That’s something our clan has guarded for hundreds of years.”

Nobuna said slowly.

"Eight million shikigami are not true gods."

She gently raised one hand and pulled out a yellowed Destiny card from her waist.

The card is mottled and the pattern is blurry. Only a one-eyed fox can be discerned, surrounded by the afterimage totem of a paper umbrella and a blood moon.

"Those are 'fragments of will' left in the human world after the fall of a god."

“Each card represents a forgotten faith.”

She took a deep breath, her fingertips lightly tracing the edge of the card, her voice cold:
"She stole 143 tickets."

“She took away our family’s ancestral shrine, uprooted it, and severed the ties by burning incense.”

Xiao Lianyin raised an eyebrow slightly, a half-smile playing on her lips:

"Voluntarily joining the Mysterious Remains Research Project?"

Nobuna nodded, her expression calm:
She said, "Since the gods are long dead, let me become the new god."

"This ceremony is her self-affirmation."

"It was also her own burial."

The God of Fate slowly rose, walked to the base of the already burnt-out statue, exhaled a thin mist-like breath, and spoke in a low, hoarse voice:

"She's gone mad."

"They've been crazy for a long time."

Shinna answered crisply and coldly.

"Do you still remember—the state of those fallen shikigami after their deaths?"

Si Ming turned to look at everyone.

"Even though the physical form has been completely destroyed, it can still regenerate continuously."

"It's like some kind of implanted 'will memory' that is constantly being awakened."

"She created a closed loop."

"Nobuna said in a deep voice."

“Killing was also incorporated into the ritual process.”

“Every intruder, every drop of blood shed, is a sacrifice.”

“The neighborhood is the outer altar, and the shrine is the main altar.”

"And us—"

Nobuna's voice paused, her gaze turning icy.

"—It's a flesh and blood engine."

Xiao Lianyin scoffed, her voice icy and chilling:

"So, from the moment we stepped onto this street, we became part of her god-making plan?"

Nobuna looked at her and smiled faintly:
"Yes."

"But if you don't come, and wait until she truly completes her divine transformation—"

"No force in this world can stop her."

Rudolf coughed a few times, attempting to rephrase in more rational terms:

“From an energy circuit perspective… this is a kind of structural sacrifice system.”

"Life and death, battle, fear... every emotion, every act of bloodshed is its computational fuel."

Si Ming chuckled and clapped his hands:
"Awesome."

"We are working inside the computing core of a god-forging machine."

The campfire crackled and popped.

The fire burned brightly, but the air remained as cold as a frozen abyss.

No one spoke, no one moved.

Each pair of eyes peered at the other in the dim light of the campfire, yet instinctively avoided each other.

"So, we are the sacrificers?"

Wang Yichen finally broke the silence, his voice deep and resonant like a powder keg that had been suppressed for a long time.

"She had already set out the plates, just waiting for us to come in and add firewood?"

He turned his head, his eyes narrowed, and looked at Si Ming with a fiery expression.

"You didn't already know, did you?"

Si Ming raised an eyebrow and answered lazily:
If I had known—

"You still have the chance to ask me that question?"

Wang Yichen paused, his face turning pale and then flushed, but he still stubbornly retorted:
"So we have to follow her pace? I don't believe it—there's no other way."

"Have."

Xu Jinxiao, who had been silent all along, suddenly raised her head. For the first time, her eyes, which seemed to be forever shrouded in mist, reflected the light of the campfire.

"You can quit—lie here and wait for the monster to eat you."

Wang Yichen's expression changed, and he abruptly stood up:

"What did you say?"

"This ceremony has only one exit."

Nobuna stood up, walked to the center of the crowd, and spoke in a voice as cold as a steel blade scraping against bone.

"Destroy the reincarnation array and sever her path to godhood."

"Otherwise, once she succeeds, she will restructure everything—including us."

The air suddenly tensed, and even the flickering flames of the fire seemed to pause for a moment.

Martin Ayers slowly raised his head, the easel on his lap trembling slightly.

He murmured:

"She once said... real idols are not painted, they are burned."

His gaze had wandered, as if he were no longer a painter, but a sacrifice depicted by a madman.

"I can die."

Fabio let out a low growl, cutting off Martin's murmur, his gaze fixed firmly on Xiao Lianyin:
"But I will not allow myself to see you injured in front of you!"

He suddenly turned to Xin Nai, gritting his teeth as he asked:
"Are you sure you want to kill her? Your own sister?"

Nobuna slowly turned around and looked at the broken plaque with the character "God" on the wall.

Her gaze was as cold as a blade:

"She is no longer my sister."

"She is the 'vessel' of the fallen god."

Upon hearing this, He Chengxun straightened his back without hesitation, his thumb pressing against the magazine with decisive and swift movements.

He said in a hoarse but steady voice:

"I obey your command, Lady Xiao Lianyin."

Wang Yichen gritted his teeth, his expression shifting several times, and finally asked in a low voice:
"Is it possible... she's insane, but not beyond saving?"

No one answered.

He looked around, trying to read a trace of agreement on anyone's face.

But all he saw was Si Ming's calm and composed face.

"What about you?"

Wang Yichen asked him.

Si Ming raised his hand, casually wiping away a speck of dust from the playing cards, and smiled faintly:

"I've been gambling with my life."

"Madmen, gods, humans—to me, there is no difference."

"She's going to kill us."

He spread his hands.

"Then we have to kill her."

Outside the skylight of the dilapidated temple, the night was as dark as ink, with a few cold starlight points down.

Si Ming lowered his head, picked up a piece of unburnt talisman paper, and turned it between his fingers. The firelight reflected on his fingertips, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

"Sometimes I find it very strange."

He said softly, with a hint of absurdity and amusement in his tone.

“Mystics masters entrust their fates to cards.”

"So, what do I really have left?"

"Obsession."

Xiao Lianyin's voice came from behind him, cold yet unusually firm.

She twirled the lipstick of the Abomination in her hand, but her gaze was fixed on the distance, piercing through the endless night fog.

"Without obsession, even the Mysterious Cards cannot be bound."

Si Ming chuckled lightly:

"What about her?"

"What was the obsession of your senior, Minako?"

Xiao Lianyin did not answer.

Nobuna walked to the campfire, slowly knelt down, put her knees together, and clasped her hands together.

She closed her eyes and softly recited:
"Shinobu Mishinin, I beseech the Mirror God's Gate—allow me to wield my sword and sever the barrier."

The ashes on the shrine seemed to tremble slightly at that moment.

An invisible spiritual pressure slowly spread from Nobuna's body, as if every drop of her blood was echoing the sealed door.

"She once wanted to become a god."

Nobuna opened her eyes, her gaze as cold as an ice blade.

"Then I only wish to be a god-slayer."

-

Everyone got up and prepared.

Wang Yichen adjusted his headband and pressed the last self-made plastic protective plate against his chest.

Martin silently sealed the last page of the easel, covering the unfinished broken-faced statue.

Fabio bit his knuckles and tightened the iron chains around his finger bones again.

He Chengxun inspected the magazines with swift, cold-blooded movements.

Xu Jinxiao remained silent, only looking up at the heavy night sky.

Xiao Lianyin turned to look at Si Ming and asked softly:
"are you ready?"

Si Ming tossed up a Jack of Hearts and spun it gently between his fingers.

"How about this time..."

He smiled, a long-lost gleam appearing in his eyes.

"Let's reveal our true trump card."

-

Thud!
In the distance, from the direction of the Central Shrine, the bells suddenly rang out.

It was deep and heavy, like the low growl of some ancient monster in the darkness.

Nobuna opened her eyes.

Her eyes were as cold as swords, and her voice as clear as a tinkling bell:

"Let's go——"

"The ashes of the throne still lingered on the corpse of the god."

Everyone stood up.

Under the firelight, the dilapidated temple began to slowly collapse, and the broken wood and dust turned into drifting shadows, burning into the last faint but stubborn light behind everyone.

You once asked the gods why they were silent.

I think it's not that it's silent—

It's just that no one has dared to do it for too long.
Step onto its throne.

(End of this chapter)