2: Underneath A Thousand Skies

259 Reality (15)

The next day, Song Jia discovered that the 'earthquake' had been felt at least four hundred miles away, although fortunately, because of the solid bedrock in the area, there was minimal damage. 

Yang Yimo's mansion had received the most damage because it was the epicenter of the earthquake. Xu Jinhai promised Song Jia that he would alert the local government overseeing the city planet and hand over money funds to take care of all the collateral damage. 

Since he was being personally recruited to become the monarch of the planetary system Yueji, dealing with a city planet under its domain was an easy thing for him.

Because of his extremely good mood, Xu Jinhai didn't pester Song Jia much and allowed her that night to sleep together with her friends. The next day, he even generously didn't argue when Song Jia kicked him out before breakfast. Song Jia didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she heard him whistling under his breath, looking tremendously pleased with himself. 

"The person you like is leaving now. Jia, don't miss me too much, okay?" 

He patted her head.

Song Jia waved his hand away and said, "Will do. Goodbye, Jinhai."

Xu Jinhai wasn't bothered by the lack of emotion in her voice and flashed her a two-hundred gigawatt smile. After giving her another quick kiss, he walked towards the door backwards, keeping his eyes on her. When he reached the door, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, he spun around on his heels, stepped through the doorway, spun around again, blew her a flying kiss, and closed the door.

When Song Jia turned around, she wasn't surprised to see Gu Chen, Yang Yimo, and Mu Wan looking like Buddha-like youngsters [1]. Song Jia thickened her face and smiled at them, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

"Let's go eat breakfast." Song Jia linked arms with Mu Wan and Yang Yimo, dragging them to the dining room. Gu Chen hid his smile and followed after them.

Since they were her friends, and were bound to interact with Xu Jinhai again in the future, Song Jia had to let them start adapting to the male god's BT disease now, oh~

...

The first-rate city planet that they were in, Xiannu, was famous for its natural stone arches that rose high up in the sky, their sloping crowns barely visible among the floating clouds. Water plunged down from the stone arches into a vertical drop of about 400 meters, creating a series of waterfalls amidst a green landscape filled with mist from the spray of water.

On the sides of the stone arches were the towering spires of religious temples that were almost concealed by moss, vines and thick overgrowth. In just one side of a stone arch, many bell towers rose up as if they were stacked like gigantic boulders, row on row, shoulder to shoulder, rising up next to one another in a feat of architectural beauty. 

Looking at the closest stone arch in front of them and its accompanying temple, even from afar, Song Jia could see its stained glass rose windows, and the large statues placed near the pinnacles.

The four of them were walking down on a footpath that was said to offer the best view of the area. The planetary system Yueji and its theistic government was known for highly valuing history and tradition, and as its city planet, Xiannu was no exception. As they walked, they saw other people passing them by, the women dressed in long dresses with loose, trailing sleeves and the men wearing tunics. 

While wearing historical gowns weren't mandatory, most of the citizens wore it as a statement of their culture and also because it was a very popular and an undying fashion trend in Yueji.

"It's unfortunate that because of the earthquake, the temples temporarily closed its doors from visiting worshippers. It's even more beautiful up close, especially the statues of the Golden Princess and the Hunter inside the temple."

Yang Yimo sighed.

Hearing Yang Yimo's words, Song Jia was reminded of the truth about her transmigration missions. She had been born in Yueji, so she naturally also knew about the Golden Princess and the Hunter. In fact, she had also worshipped them in the temple several times.

"Look! There's a vendor that seem to be selling religious figures there. Jia, let's buy some souvenirs," Mu Wan pointed out.

Before Song Jia could protest, Mu Wan had already dragged her to the vendor stall. The owner had set up a temporary tent along the footpath, and inside was a variety of different statues of the Golden Princess and the Hunter in different sizes. Song Jia's eyes were immediately drawn to a life-sized sculpture that depicted the Hunter with a crown on his head kneeling before the Golden Princess, offering his sword to her.

Mu Wan stood next to her, admiring the detailed carving of their faces. 

"Wow, the Golden Princess sure is beautiful, huh? They even covered her hair with gold. She looks like a fairy. The Hunter, on the other hand..."

Song Jia pursed her lips as Mu Wan shuddered beside her.

When Song Jia was young and still lived in Yueji, she was also terrified of the Hunter. While the Golden Princess was depicted to be a selfless and benevolent deity in religious texts, the Hunter was the extreme opposite of her. It was said that when he walked the earth, he carved rivers of blood with the corpses of people that had earned his wrath. It was also mentioned that he drank blood and that his eyes were red like a demon's, and the only person he showed his soft side to was the Golden Princess. As if to mirror his war-like nature, his features had always been distorted in religious paintings, and his statues were also carved with a monstrous face.

In fact, there had been disputes in Yueji as two opposing factions emerged because of the contrasting personalities between their deities. Those who worshipped the Hunter followed a hedonistic lifestyle, using violence to achieve their goals. While those who followed the Golden Princess' teachings were pacifists who protected the weak and preached showing compassion to one's neighbor.

Song Jia stared at the life-sized sculpture in front of her and let out a helpless laugh. She didn't know that when she was worshipping the Golden Princess during her youth, she was worshipping herself, ah.

Even her boss wasn't that much of a narcissist.

Song Jia took one last look at the sculpture and tugged Mu Wan away from the vendor's tent. It would have been embarrassing to have her close friend buying a deified statue of her and Xiang Feng. She already couldn't do anything about Yang Yimo and Gu Chen, who were both devout believers of the Golden Princess and the Hunter.

Thinking about the day she would have to tell the truth about her unbelievable past with Xu Jinhai to her two best friends...

Song Jia placed her hand on her forehead and sighed heavily. 

True friends should indeed enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together. [2]

[1] A popular meme in China where a "Buddha-like youngster" claims that he sees through the vanity of life. The article was first published on WeChat with the title of "The first group of post-90s generation who have become monks" and became popular with the Chinese youth for reflecting their casualness and calmness under mounting social pressure. 

[2] Ch. proverb, 有福同享，有难同当。It means that true friends share not only the good times, but also the hard times.