SFS Chapter 233 The Goddess Descends
Chapter 233 The Goddess Descends
At the same time, Shen Linfeng's accomplices who were planted in the crowd also began to take the opportunity to discredit the situation and try to disrupt public sentiment.
"Everyone, stop waiting! There are no immortals in this world. This is all a lie someone deliberately fabricated to deceive us! Someone must be trying to take advantage of this opportunity to make a profit, so they made up such an outrageous lie and made us wait here in vain in the cold weather!"
"Do you really believe in immortals? I think this is a farce. There won't be any relief supplies. Instead of waiting here, you might as well go home and find something to eat."
"I told you, this is too far-fetched. My wife insisted on dragging me here, and now, after all this waiting, there's nothing. We ordinary people are so easily fooled. Life is already difficult, and we're being fooled by these rumors!"
Just when everyone's patience was about to run out, a slight noise suddenly came from the dilapidated temple, and a thick white mist suddenly rose in front of the mottled statue, like a veil of smoke, and in a moment, it wrapped the broken altar into a fairyland of Penglai.
The people gasped one after another. A few young men in the front row stumbled back, making the dead branches crackle under their feet. Everyone widened their eyes and stared nervously at the ruined temple.
White mist rolled around, and suddenly the sound of bells and ornaments was heard. A young girl in a moonlit brocade dress appeared gracefully. The pattern of hundreds of butterflies embroidered with gold thread flowed and shone in the morning light. As she walked, star-like fragments of light appeared. The light gauze covering her face rippled in the wind, revealing the faint outline of her nose, which was like a jade carving.
As her skirt rippled, rouge snow fell from the air for no reason. The pearl held in the phoenix-tail gold hairpin in her hair swayed gently, reflecting the faint floating of sandalwood around her. The appearance of this goddess shocked the whole room into silence, with only the sound of petals falling to the ground.
A few days ago, after the news spread, Cheng Yuntao and Jiang Yu began to make intensive preparations.
Jiang Yu toiled day and night behind the ruined temple's Buddha statue, unearthing a winding, deep passageway perfect for concealing his presence and laying the key foreshadowing for this "immortal apparition." The rising white mist wasn't a divine omen, but rather the smoke from burning mugwort. Its fragrance, mingled with the mysterious atmosphere, instilled in the locals a deeper conviction. The shower of petals was composed of small wildflowers Cheng Yuntao had gathered from the grass on her portable farm.
While the people were shocked by the scene and had not yet recovered from their shock, Cheng Yuntao slightly raised her head and looked at Jiang Yu on the beam. When their eyes met, Jiang Yu immediately understood what she meant without much words and took out a smooth mirror from his arms.
Suddenly, a golden light flashed, dazzling and bright. It was the effect created by Jiang Yu using a mirror to reflect sunlight.
Everyone raised their hands to cover their eyes, not daring to look straight ahead. Someone was the first to react, and fell to his knees with a plop, shouting.
"The immortal has appeared! The immortal has appeared!"
"It's the goddess! We are saved!"
Seeing this, the people around also knelt down. For a moment, the dilapidated temple was filled with devout people kneeling in front of it, muttering something.
Shen Linfeng's pupils suddenly contracted, his eyes widened in disbelief: "Impossible, this is absolutely impossible! How can there be such a magical thing in this world? Someone must be deliberately making it mysterious!" He flicked his sleeves violently, and the wind from his sleeves swept past, rustling the branches beside him.
He secretly wondered who on earth could have acted out this scene so realistically that the people in the city believed it and almost made him lose his composure.
Just as Shen Linfeng was filled with doubts, Cheng Yuntao's red lips parted, and her voice was crisp yet ethereal, as if it came from the heavens beyond. "The city has been plagued by disasters lately. This is truly God's punishment for the foolish. I can't bear to see innocent people implicated, so I have come down to earth to help you through this difficult time."
After saying that, she waved her sleeves lightly, and in an instant, a pile of supplies appeared out of thin air in front of everyone in the ruined temple.
All kinds of grains are piled up like mountains, with rich colors; smoked bacon exudes an enticing aroma, making people salivate; there are also cloth clothes, of fine texture, enough to withstand the cold winter; charcoal fires for heating are piled up like a small mountain... The countless supplies are dazzling to look at.
The people were already immersed in the huge shock of the goddess's arrival, and now when they witnessed her extraordinary ability to "create something out of nothing", their awe was even greater.
The old woman kneeling at the front stretched out her hand tremblingly. As her fingertips touched the rice grains rolling out of the sack, turbid tears fell on the plump grains. She suddenly sobbed, "It's food! It's fresh food!
There were bursts of exclamations from the crowd, some were so excited that tears welled up in their eyes, some knelt down and kowtowed, the scene was so heated that it was almost out of control.
Shen Linfeng, who was in the distance, saw the familiar supplies and was immediately enraged. Unable to contain himself any longer, he rushed forward recklessly and roared at everyone, "This damn goddess is a liar! These things were stolen from the treasury of my City Lord's Mansion. Don't let her fool you!"
Cheng Yuntao had expected this. Her eyebrows were raised, her eyes were wide open, and she pretended to be angry and said, "How dare you! How dare you disrespect the goddess? Do you want to be punished by heaven?" The voice was like a thunderclap, exploding above the crowd.
Shen Linfeng remained unyielding. He didn't flinch at all, but took a step forward, staring fearlessly into Cheng Yuntao's eyes. The moment their eyes met, his heart trembled, and an inexplicable sense of familiarity washed over him. But before his mind could grasp that fleeting memory, he was surrounded by the rioting civilians.
The people shouted angrily: "Dog City Lord, don't disrespect the goddess!" The voices were so uniform and loud that the air around them was buzzing.
The people, who usually dared not speak out under Shen Linfeng's power, were now empowered by their faith and no longer afraid. The scene instantly fell into chaos, the noise was deafening, and the sounds of cursing, shouting, and pushing mixed together to form a powerful wave of sound.
Seeing this, Zhou Qingxiong was extremely anxious and wanted to go forward to save Shen Linfeng, but he was pushed to the ground by the surging crowd, his steps staggering, and he could not get close to Shen Linfeng at all.
Shen Linfeng was shocked and angry. He could never have imagined that the people who were usually submissive to him would be so bold at this moment.
"How dare you, lowly people, disrespect this city lord!" His voice was particularly weak amid the angry shouts of the people and was instantly drowned out.
Once, Shen Linfeng was the most powerful man in Junhua City, and the people feared him. Even if they had complaints, they could only endure it silently. But now, in the hearts of the people, the goddess played by Cheng Yuntao is a person who brings hope and salvation, and is their only support in this despairing winter.
Shen Linfeng actually dared to offend the goddess, which undoubtedly touched the bottom line of the people. The flames of anger burned in everyone's heart, and they wanted to defend the "god" in their hearts with their own actions!