Goddess Kaleidoscope

In fact, since the old astrologer's underground cult was destroyed, Shanis's followers have dwindled to almost nothing, and she's on the verge of being forgotten. For the past year, she's barely survived by eavesdropping in the brothel.

Having learned the whole story, Lu De thought to himself that Shanis's life as a goddess was quite miserable.

“There’s no such place in the village. Why don’t you bear with it for now? I’ll find a way to address the issue of faith.”

Upon hearing Ludwig say that there was no place to "eat" in the village, Shanis's expression revealed a hint of lethargy beneath her indifferent demeanor. Hume secretly told Ludwig that Shanis, due to a long-term lack of sufficient sources of faith, was in a drowsy state most of the time. On the way to Pine Village, she was carried on Fallen Leaves' back almost the entire time, like a burden.

Lude glanced at the listless Shanes, then at his own lively Aina, and thought to himself that the difference was indeed crystal clear.

And so, Rudd cleared out two more rooms on the second floor of the temple to accommodate the three new residents. Because she had to force herself to stay awake and act opposite Rudd during the day, and hadn't been able to gain faith for several days, Shanis was now on the verge of collapse.

Lude wanted Hume or Fallen Leaf to help carry Shanes upstairs again, but the Thief God made excuses and even pulled Fallen Leaf away from helping, making it clear that he wanted Lude to do it himself.

Left with no other choice, Lude had to do it himself. As soon as he lifted the drowsy goddess up, Lude discovered through the touch of her back and hands that although Shanis was not heavy, she was really quite fleshy!

After carrying her upstairs and putting her on the bed, Lude subconsciously glanced at Shanis, who was already asleep. She seemed completely unguarded.

Although Lu De usually pretends to be an old man, his physical body is still that of a genuine eighteen-year-old lad, so it's inevitable that he feels a slight flutter in his heart.

And so, as if possessed, Ludwig reached out to Shanis, first removing his outermost cloak to reveal a nun's habit identical to Aina's, his curvaceous figure straining against the loose robe, creating a stunning silhouette. Then, Ludwig removed his hood, and his long, glossy black hair, reaching his waist, cascaded down, slipping gently from his fingertips.

"No, no! I can't..."

Suddenly realizing his behavior was becoming increasingly bizarre, Lud quickly took a few steps back, then slapped his face hard to clear his head. He was now completely certain that this woman did indeed possess a special kind of bewitching power, and he had almost been bewitched just now.

Before his mind completely gave way, Lu De hurriedly fled the room, then went to the backyard and washed his face with cold water, managing to suppress a certain desire for the time being.

"Did you almost lose control just now?"

Holy crap! You scared me to death!

Suddenly hearing someone speaking so close behind him, Ludwig felt his heart almost stop. He turned around and saw Hume with a half-smile.

"Hey lady, can you make a little noise when you walk?"

"I am the God of Thieves. Walking silently is a divine skill of mine. There's nothing I can do about it."

Hume shrugged, but Ludwig felt that the other woman was most likely trying to fool him. He couldn't believe much of what this dark-skinned old woman said, so he asked her what she wanted to say, keeping it simple and direct.

"What's going on with Shanis? You just mentioned divine skills; she's the goddess of desire, so could she be born with natural allure?"

Ludwig was still somewhat shaken by the thought of almost losing control, and the fact that Hume had anticipated this and deliberately made him escort Shanes back to her room alone made him furious. If he hadn't known he couldn't beat her, he would have given her a good beating.

Seeing that Ludwig was getting a little angry, Hume knew not to go too far, so he put on a slightly more serious expression and said.

"You guessed right, Shanis does have a charm skill, but under normal circumstances, this skill is different from my silent walking; it's not a passive skill that can be released indiscriminately to the surroundings."

"You mean she's out of control right now?"

"That's right! To put it more bluntly, she's hungry."

Shanis's biggest problem right now is the lack of a source of faith. She has no followers left, and the meager income she gets from eavesdropping is barely enough to fill a gap in her teeth. Therefore, as her power gradually weakens, the rationality within Shanis's divinity is gradually declining, while her survival instinct is constantly increasing, and this indiscriminate charm is one manifestation of this.

Hume speculated that if Shanes were allowed to continue to weaken, she would eventually "go berserk," which in fact had already happened once before.

Shanis made a brief stop in a small town. One night, she couldn't hold on any longer, and her divinity suddenly went berserk. Within a radius of nearly one kilometer centered on her, everyone, human and animal, was instantly struck by a powerful charm and began to frantically... engage in sexual acts! The scene was completely out of control!

Fortunately, Hume arrived in time and, relying on his divinity, was immune to this aphrodisiac magic, and managed to take Shanes away from the town in time.

After hearing this, Lud was completely stunned.

"Big sister! I'm just a mortal. Are you sure it's okay for you to bring her here?"

“Last time she was in that town, she managed to get a decent meal. She should be able to hold on for a while longer, but you’d better hurry. After all, she is the ‘legacy’ your mentor left you. If you don’t take care of her, then no one will.”

End of this chapter

That night, Lud had a terrible nightmare while sleeping!

In the dream, Ludwig was preaching when a group of nuns from another sect discovered his identity. They roughly removed his divine mask and stripped him naked in the street.

Finally, the group of voluptuous nuns stripped naked themselves and surrounded him with wicked smiles...

Lude, who was awakened by a nightmare, jumped out of bed and sat on the bed, panting heavily, still shaken.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a huge lump of something hidden in the blanket. So he carefully opened a corner of the blanket and was immediately stunned by what he saw.

"You... what are you doing here?"

Inside Lude's bed, Shanis, completely naked, curled up like a cat. Awakened by a blast of cold air as Lude lifted the covers, Shanis sat up yawning, exposing her alluring figure and skin to Lude without reservation, and uttered something that could easily lead to misunderstandings.

Thank you for your hospitality.

"Wait a minute! What did you do to me last night?"

Upon hearing Shanis's words, Lud quickly threw off the blanket. His linen shorts were still on him, and his little friend was as energetic as ever, standing tall and showing no signs of fatigue.

Just then someone knocked on the door, and Hume's voice came from outside.

"Hey! Are you there? Is Shanis here with you?"

"She, she..."

The situation before him left Lud somewhat confused. In addition, he had just woken up and his brain was still turning on, so he stammered for a long time, not knowing what to say. His eyes even betrayed his brain, unconsciously glancing between Shanis's legs.

Thank goodness! There weren't any extra parts.

Perhaps sensing something from Ludwig's slightly flustered voice, Hume burst through the door and, upon seeing the situation of a man and a god in the room, couldn't help but laugh.

"I didn't realize you were so quick!"

"Oh no... I... I didn't do anything!"

After gesturing for a long time, Lud still didn't know how to explain, because even he himself was still confused and had no idea whether he had acted like a beast or worse than a beast last night.

Fortunately, Hume did not deliberately tease him this time, but asked Ludd very seriously.

"You must have had a dream last night, right? One of those dreams that's not really worth talking about, am I right?"

"Is it related to her?"

Lude pointed at Shanes, and Hume nodded, indicating that this was also one of Shanes' abilities: she could make people within a certain range have erotic dreams, and then generate desires in their dreams, which would be absorbed by Shanes.

As for why Shanis would crawl naked into Lude's bed in the middle of the night, it can only mean that his dream last night was really exciting!

"Seventeen or eighteen-year-old lads are definitely at a time when their brains are full of ideas, and I can understand that!"

"Please stop talking, thank you..."

For Ludwig, it was undoubtedly a terrible morning. Shanes had only been there for one day and had already given him a huge task. Moreover, according to Hume, if he couldn't find a way to "feed" her quickly, she would "self-destruct" when she got too hungry!

However, Ludwig knew that he couldn't completely follow the old astrologer Perseus's methods when preaching to Shanes.

The old man only cared about his own pleasure and didn't consider whether his followers could handle it. If Ludwig were to take over Shanis, he would have to make considerable changes to her divine image, but not too drastic, otherwise it would be tantamount to creating a new god.

Another problem that has been troubling Ludd is whether he can hold multiple positions and serve as a priest in several different denominations at the same time.

In fact, Lu De had considered the future development of his Medicine God Cult long ago. The cult he founded could not remain in the remote mountain village of Songshu forever. When it expanded, they would inevitably face challenges from other cults.

So Lu De kept thinking about whether he could win over some of the various sects when he came into contact with them. He couldn't just be like Long Aotian, crushing all the sects as he went.

Later, Ludwig met Hume, from whom he learned many more secrets and stories about the gods.

Lude discovered that the so-called gods in this world clearly live by absorbing the faith provided by mortals, but they have never deeply understood the production mechanism and principle of this spiritual energy of faith.

It's like noble lords eating bread but never caring about the growth of wheat or how bread is made; they only think about simply expanding their territory and the number of their subjects, without considering improving planting techniques.

Most deities actually have a misconception: that there is a limit to the total amount of faith each mortal can produce. Therefore, the pie is only so big; if other gods take more, they will inevitably get less.

It was this very concept that led to the outbreak of the War of the Gods. Nowadays, the various sects are less awakened than they are afraid of fighting, so they have restrained each other a lot, but the struggle and hostility still exist.

Many religious sects, when proselytizing, deliberately emphasize "loyalty" to their followers, requiring them to believe in only one god. They believe that being unfaithful will anger the god and bring punishment, thus artificially creating a psychological burden for the followers.

However, after continuous observation and exploration, Ludd discovered that faith probably doesn't have an "upper limit." The amount produced depends solely on the skill with which you stir the emotions of your followers. It's like water in a sponge or a young woman's cleavage—you can always squeeze some out.

The most typical example is the last time bandits attacked. The women and children who retreated to the temple prayed for one night and generated more faith than they had in the previous few months combined. This gave Rudd the opportunity to create a miracle.

Therefore, Lude believed that if the differences and conflicts between various gods and sects could be eliminated, the gods of this world could form a mythological system like many non-monotheistic mythologies on Earth, coexisting and building a community of shared destiny.

However, considering the actual situation, Lud is not yet capable of achieving this goal, at least not at this stage.

End of this chapter

Looking at the calendar, Lu De realized that it was Saturday, a day off from the study group. Most of the villagers would arrive in the afternoon, so he had more time to make preparations.

Hume happened to be very interested in Ludd's missionary methods, and she had nothing to do at the moment, so she insisted on watching.

"Aren't you also supposed to help train militiamen for the village?"

"Please! We just arrived yesterday. Can't we rest for a day or two after such a long journey? You go about your business, I'll just watch from the side."

Looking at Hume, who was clearly there to "steal" his skills, Ludwig thought to himself, "Fine, if you, the God of Thieves, can learn it, then I'll admit you're capable."

Contrary to Hume's expectations, Ludd's so-called "missionary preparations" were not, as she had guessed, the preparation of various strange magical artifacts, or, like the old astrologer, the use of his extensive knowledge of pharmacology to concoct hallucinogenic drugs.

He simply brewed a cup of berry tea, then picked up a pen and paper, and sat there quietly... writing a myth.

"You...you're just using this to spread your faith?"

"Otherwise what? Never underestimate the power of stories. As long as your story is interesting and engaging enough, it can spread the ideas and beliefs you want to share more effectively, while those dry and boring doctrines and beliefs will only make believers who are listening feel drowsy."

"So what are the actual results?"

"You'll find out when I start my storytelling this afternoon."

Signaling to Hume to be quiet and not disturb him, Ludwig began to devise the "goddess story" he would tell today. And thanks to being in another world, he was now practically the ultimate plagiarist, so much so that even the infamous Disney legal department on Earth might not be able to handle him.

So, for the sake of efficiency and convenience, Lud simply copied many stories from Earth, made slight changes and localizations, and used them there.

However, the story I'm going to write today is a little different from the previous ones. Before, Lud only needed to promote one "Medicine God," but now he has to try to add new "crossover characters" so that Shanis and Hume can appear harmoniously and be accepted by the believers who listen to the story.

So, Lu De made up a "love story" on the spot.

The story features a beautiful girl and two young men who like her. One of the young men genuinely likes the girl, while the other is simply lusting after her body.

One day, a young woman fell ill and needed a legendary medicine called "Banlangen" to recover. A young man, deeply in love, sought help from the god of medicine. After overcoming numerous hardships, he finally found Banlangen and cured the woman's illness. However, another young man heartlessly abandoned the woman while she was sick, and then shamelessly pursued her after she recovered. He even went to seek help from Shaburcohn Yenis, the god of love and desire, hoping to use his divine power to change the girl's mind and make her fall in love with him by offering her money.

But the goddess of love, Shabakorn Yenis, and the goddess of medicine, Evelina, were good sisters. She had already learned the truth from the goddess of medicine. Therefore, the goddess of love did not help the scumbag just because he offered her gold. Instead, she personally descended to earth, transformed into a beautiful black-haired woman, and blessed the couple who truly loved each other. Then, she transformed into a terrible monster and brought divine punishment to the scumbag's dream.

In this new story, the God of Medicine remains a staunch friend of justice, selflessly helping those believers with kind hearts and sincerity, while Shanis's true form, Shabakorn Yenis, appears as the "God of Lust," playing the role of punishing the wicked.