Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1353: Limitations of Resurrection
Thousands of Dingdangs flooded into the house, naturally bringing endless bustle—and joy—to this large residence. It seems that the nature of the Life Goddesses is engraved with five major elements: "lively, curious, optimistic, gregarious, active." They quickly adapted to the new environment, and then, led by Dingdang, eagerly explored this somewhat unfamiliar place. They were amazed by everything they saw, and then a large group of Three-inch Dings would gather around, buzzing with discussions: you don’t have to guess what these little ones are discussing, they just love gathering to talk, that’s something I’ve already noticed.
Come to think of it, as Goddesses, in their lifetime they’ve probably seen countless rarer things. Earth should be an ordinary place for these little guys, yet they were so happy and filled with a sense of novelty, rummaging through the house. I pondered for a long time, and finally attributed it to the gregarious nature of the Life Goddesses: as long as they’re playing with their sisters, it’s the ultimate joy, and they probably don’t even care about what they’re playing with.
Another possible reason is that these little fellows are so small that as long as the space around them exceeds one square meter, they lose their sense of size, and everything feels incredibly grand to them—Dingdang’s Great Temple could fit several White Houses stacked inside, and yet that little thing comfortably sleeps in the lampshade by my bed. She doesn’t even notice any difference in spaciousness or crampedness...
The dozen or so Three-inch Dings that were just caught have now blended into the large group of Little Goddess, completely indistinguishable. I reckon even if someone wanted to individually take them out for education, it would be a futile task. My sister packed away that huge number of long-handled nets and insect boxes, always wearing a smile. Clearly, she didn’t find these little guys troublesome but rather amusing. I inquired about what happened while Sandora and I were away, and things generally turned out as I expected:
The little ones arrived at noon when Sandora and I were busy in Shadow City, and at home, everyone was having lunch: which meant the Little Ones caught mealtime. It seems the Star Domain Divine Race has a trend from top to bottom that "mooching food is not a crime"—well, let’s not get into that. The target of these Slap Goddesses teleportation was indeed Dingdang, and the little thing even solemnly flew into the air to announce the arrival of her sisters. Then, all my sister could recall was a green light enveloping everything... nothing but a sheer greenness could be seen.
"They’re always a bit over-energetic. Although they never have ill intentions, they inevitably cause trouble," Monina sat next to me, with a hint of embarrassment on her face: it’s quite awkward for her that within the Star Domain Divine Race there is a system dedicated to a Race of naughty kids. "You missed the scene at that time. The living room instantly turned into a madhouse. Little Baobao and Little Crow jumped up to catch dragonflies, and even your pet fox joined in the fun... then some Life Goddesses got startled, and as the window was not far away and open, a group ran out through it."
"I was the first to see them," Bingdisi shouted proudly, with a Dou Ding Goddess perched atop her head: the latter seemed to land everywhere, becoming a plague. "I promptly sealed off the area around your house with a barrier, yet ten or so still managed to dash out, so we took the crew to deal with it. Their Life Divine Power is quite evident, so tracking them down was easy."
"We also had to think of ways to divert ordinary people’s attention or interfere with their perception, though it wasn’t too troublesome," Monina added. "All the escaping Doudings ended up in the nearest ecological park. By the time we got there, they were gathered, contemplating whether to replicate the park worldwide—which gave me quite a fright."
Oh my gosh, it scared me too!
"Dingdang hadn’t explained things to her sisters properly," Bingdisi wore an exasperated expression towards Dingdang’s inability to handle things, "Those little ones had no idea that Earthlings are in an ’independently evolving’ state and thought they were teleporting straight to the Imperial Capital, assuming everyone outside were Imperial Citizens. Fortunately, it was discovered early, otherwise, with their overly friendly personalities, they’d surely greet everyone outside, and then Boundless Love would get busy again."
I wiped the intermittent beads of cold sweat off my forehead (have you noticed my cold sweat today is almost enough to solve the water crisis in the West?), feeling that this is the most challenging group of guests I’ve ever encountered in my life.
At that moment, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large fluffy tail rise from the other side of the coffee table, fumbling around until it found the fruit plate and skillfully curled an apple away like a human hand. I suddenly remembered there’s someone of more harm than good needing a lesson, so I slapped the coffee table: "Fox!"
The fox-eared girl popped her head up from the other side of the coffee table, presumably having been playing dead on the carpet, looking at me with an innocent face.
She’s still pretending to be innocent! This fox fairy lord, who’s claimed to be mature and steady for thousands of years, was actually chasing "dragonflies" with two little girls whose combined ages barely exceed five. If she hadn’t joined in the mischief, perhaps a dozen Three-inch Dings wouldn’t have run out, causing quite a ruckus, so I put on a righteously stern expression, ready to educate this demon girl. But then I noticed her face all black and white blotches—oh, I did see that when she first came in but didn’t have the chance to ask.
"What happened to your face?" My righteous reprimand got smothered in the cradle, leaving only surprise.
"Got burned by Divine fire," the demon fox girl replied pitifully as she shuffled around the coffee table, rubbing against me with her tail placed on my leg to show her need for comfort. "I don’t know why, when others catch Goddesses, nothing happens, only me, every time I catch one, I get struck by lightning..."
"Sister Fox tends to habitually nip with her mouth when she catches one," Xiao Xue came over to whisper a report, "And after a bite, her blasphemy index explodes, almost got me struck..."
I nodded blankly, pressing my hand on the demon fox girl’s head with heartfelt seriousness: "Willful ignorance brings about ill fate, when will you learn this hard truth!"
Such a massive group of Three-inch Dings definitely couldn’t keep creating havoc here, given their numbers were bound to be quite disruptive. So we had to move them over to Dingdang’s temple, which the Little Ones were quite happy about: their main purpose for coming here was to see Dingdang’s new home; naturally, their sister’s temple was a focal point. After not staying long in the house, Lili and I led this massive group of Three-inch Dings to Shadow City.
The teleportation drop-off point was around the Temple District because it’s a sacred place; there were few buildings and hardly any idle people. Around the Temple District were many open plazas, and surrounding these open spaces were abundant vibrant plants: it was this last point that brought the greatest delight to the Three-inch Dings.
As soon as the teleportation completed, I heard a chaotic cheer from the group of Little Ones behind me, and then I watched as a massive "green cloud" dispersed over my head, spreading in all directions: compared with the steel jungle and sparse trees of a modern city, the vibrant environment around the Temple District was truly the perfect place for the Life Goddesses. It seems bringing them here was indeed the right choice.
Still, these Little Ones are too hard to manage! I hadn’t even spoken, and they were flying off on their own!
"Boss, boss, they’re out of control!" Lilina exclaimed, hopping on her feet, chasing after the largest group of Dou Ding Goddesses, but as they spread and flew higher, dispersing into a dozen waves, the Female Pope returned with a mournful face, "They’re all Divine Beings, we can’t handle them roughly..."
I cast a sidelong glance at her, this person who was persistently saying no rough handling was someone who earlier carried an insect net back home. I’d bet when she used the net to catch Goddesses, she did so more decisively than anyone—something she was used to practicing with our own Goddesses.
Of course, not all the Doudings vanished; there were still approximately two or three hundred Little Ones hover-flying around me without leaving, showing they were more shy and sensible. They knew not to cause trouble for the host here, so they obediently followed behind the leader. Several hundred Dou Ding Goddesses pirouetted within a dozen meters around, constantly emitting green luminescence, leaving behind mystically enchanting trails of light in the air. This scene felt utterly fairy-tale-like: really a group that irresistibly reminds one of fairytale little fairies.
I was moved by these little ones’ sensibility, determined to praise these well-behaved Little Doudings who didn’t fly everywhere, but before I could speak, a few Little Ones landed on my shoulders, all looking at me with expectant eyes.
"Candy, candy? Dingdang said you always have lots of candy, where’s the candy?"
The little fairies, sensible and obedient, persistently following the team, asked delightedly with leaps. My heart nearly burst from crying then...
In the excitement, it turns out they refrained from flying everywhere just waiting for candy!
I emptied my pockets, of course, it wasn’t enough, so I opened my personal space, and the Little Douding weren’t wrong, I did carry a lot of candy for various reasons that you all know, so let’s not discuss it. A heap of candies piled up on the ground like a small hill, and I heard a cheer even more lively than before. In the blink of an eye, that candy hill was gone, leaving only a few pieces of candy wrappers swirling down: those tearing off the wrappers were probably the wild Dingdang I met when I last visited the Divine Realm, because I saw many Little Ones who were meeting for the first time struggling to bite off the packaging on the candy: they usually ate the honey offered by followers, which doesn’t come with wrappers.
The Little Ones who had eaten Earth candies before took on the role of commentators, passing on the experience of unwrapping candy to their sisters while I looked around, discovering that quite a large group had indeed gathered here: mostly temple people or Goddess believers living nearby.
In a hyper-modern city like Shadow City, filled with technological aura, there exists a group of people who, at first glance, seem stylistically different from us: they wear divine robes, sporting church symbols, Temple Knights still don that kind of medieval full plate armor, ascetics wear coarse linen single garments and straw sandals, and "penitent monks" even look wild donning grass-woven clothes. While such a group is not often seen in other parts of the city, they are the main residents of the Temple District. They are quite familiar with the Life Goddess’s divine power, so when I teleported with a large group of wild Dingdang, we quickly drew a crowd of onlookers.
Then, they saw hundreds and thousands of Lady Goddesses flying everywhere in the air, and large swathes of low-level believers were immediately as if graced by a miracle, vocally kneeling in worship. Lilina took this opportunity to comfort the believers and promote the great path, while I saw a guy dressed in the armor of a Heavenly God Guard, wielding a long spear, walking over with a bewildered look, as if his worldview crumbled, saying to me: "Boss, you finally made a move?! Wow, dragonflies really do proliferate at an insect-like speed..."
When Lilina and I were leaving the small square heading towards the temple, Di Lumu Duo was still there performing that act, charred all over, holding up his long spear like a lightning rod. Heaven knows how many rounds the more than three hundred strands of divine thunder would strike before they’re done with him, given the level of blasphemy displayed — thank goodness more than half of the Dou Ding Goddesses had already flown far away, or it wouldn’t be just about three hundred divine punishments...
"All these are Dingdang’s believers!" Little Baobao sat on my head, joyfully introducing the buzzing sisters around. I felt like a mobile candy jar, followed by a large group waiting to be fed by you know what. On our way to the temple, we kept encountering small groups of wild Dingdang: these were the ones who ran off on their own before. They’d been playing somewhere, and now, flying towards the temple, finally reuniting with the main group, I naturally had to hand out candies to each of them...
Candy, is the Life Goddess’s daily food.
I felt like the elementary school teacher taking naughty kids out to play, constantly reorganizing throughout the journey, every time picking up a dozen or so scattered Little Ones flying everywhere. I’ve already realized a serious issue, which is that the sisters invited by Dingdang didn’t have an exact number, let alone a precise list, and from the moment we left home, nobody could gather these Little Things together. And I had no idea how many wild Dingdang had fallen behind, nor who suddenly joined the group from an unexpected place. This bustling and noisy large group made its way to the temple — namely the section in front of the World Tree’s trunk, with total disarray and lack of discipline. Dingdang flew ahead to line her sisters up neatly in the air before counting, saying with a joyful spirit: "Hmm, though we don’t know how many came, after counting it should be fine! Here is Dingdang’s World Tree..."
Then a whole bunch of Three-inch Ding cheered and charged toward the trunk, crashing into it, stunned.
"The door control of the temple is broken, it takes two or three seconds to open each time." Dingdang quietly added the latter half of the sentence.
Is it too late to feel despair over these Little Ones by now?
But just as I was pondering spending the afternoon with this cheerful crowd of Dou Ding, a sudden emergency communication from Taville came through spiritual connection: "Your Majesty, please come to the research center, there’s an issue with the Ancestor Resurrection Project."
"Boss? What’s up?" Lilina asked curiously as she saw me suddenly stop in my tracks.
I pulled out a small Star Gold Stone box, handed it to the young girl, and patted her on the head: "Nothing, there’s a situation at the research center that I need to attend to — help collect the dust from the goddesses using this, or else that dust will disperse."
See, I haven’t forgotten the main task — although it seems Dingdang has forgotten the original purpose of gathering her sisters, I certainly haven’t: a bunch of ancestors is still waiting for the wild Dingdang remnants to save them.
Lilina nodded, looking troubled at the small box in my hand, then at the hundreds and thousands of wild Dingdang swirling above, the green light powder scattered from these Little Ones cast a mystic pale green glow over the surroundings: "Boss, it’s going to be a bit tricky collecting with this box, there are too many goddesses, you’ll need a bigger container."
True, I thought, but where would we find a large star gold stone box — something big enough to gather hundreds and thousands of Little Douding. Thought for a long while and realized it wasn’t very feasible, so eventually, I pulled out a vacuum cleaner from my personal space...
"Make do with this, the dust will take a while to disperse outside, just gather it up before it disappears."
Lilina accepted the vacuum cleaner in a daze, a dismayed expression on her face, "Boss, I’m the Pope, you can’t do this..."
"Pfft, why didn’t you say you were the Pope when you had your goddesses jumping through fire hoops with that iron ring, do a good job, and you’ll have some candy to enjoy afterward."
Leaving her with those words, I ignored the sulking Lilina, turned around, and opened a teleportation gate to the research center.
Leaving behind that humming crowd of wild Dingdang was refreshingly serene, making the world feel much quieter — that’s what crossed my mind as I walked through the quiet corridors of the research center, eventually finding Taville in the main laboratory. To my surprise, Sandora was also present, and it looked like they’d been chatting for a while; from the lack of optimism on their faces, I sensed that things weren’t going smoothly.
"What’s going on?" I waved as I walked over, "If it’s about life dust, Lilina has started collecting it, and there should be plenty this time."
"The dust is the least of our concerns," Taville shifted aside, and I saw another crystal coffin on the platform behind her, a slender ancestor lay within, and the other laboratory equipment had come to a halt. Yet the ancestor inside the crystal coffin remained lifeless, "The resurrection failed."
"Failed?" My eyes widened, "What’s the cause?"
After knowing the ancestor resurrection process, I hadn’t considered failure as a possibility, because Anses’s resurrection went so smoothly, which might have led people to misjudge resurrecting ancestors as an easy task.
"The soul has completely dissipated, the bodily material’s vitality is below the critical threshold. Even life dust can’t activate this body. I’ve attempted all conceivable plans, including injecting overdoses of dust into the remains, and using artificially fabricated souls to forcibly activate the body, but it’s futile — revival is absolutely unachievable..."
Taville sighed, looking at me and Sandora, "Your Majesties, I apologize, I’m at a loss — it seems only a small portion of ancestors can be revived, according to theory." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcomed to vote with recommendations and monthly tickets on the Qidian website (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)
