God's Gift

Ning Yue was leaning back in the armchair, his posture casual, his clothes loosely draped over his shoulders, gently waving a paper fan in his hand, his eyes turning slightly to look at Yu Youyou in the corner below the stage.

She seemed to be uninterested in the story and was fiddling with a pot of red peonies on the table. She looked curious and looked at it, as if she had never seen such a thing before.

Lu Keming picked up a piece of chestnut crisp and put it in front of Yu Youyou's mouth. Yu Youyou didn't even look at what it was, she opened her mouth naturally and took the chestnut crisp away.

Seeing this, Ning Yue paused with the folding fan in his hand, then looked away as if nothing had happened, looked at the person who had just spoken, and asked:

"The gods in folk legends protect humans, but what about the gods outside of these legends?"

"They are immortals who do not accept tribute from humans, but absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. They do not abide by human dogma and can destroy a living being at will."

"Tell me, if there is such a god, will he bless mankind?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Yu Youyou, who was chewing the chestnut crisps, paused and glanced at Ning Yue on the stage.

Lu Keming noticed Yu Youyou's gaze, and he rubbed his fingers on the cushion, and looked over with a clear gaze.

"How can there be such a deity!" The man in green in the audience immediately retorted:

"Since you are a deity transformed by the spirit of heaven and earth, you should protect all living beings in the world. How can you kill people at will?"

Everyone looked at Ning Yue, but there was no panic on his face. He said calmly, "The gods will naturally bless the living beings, but before that, what do you mean by blessing?"

The man in green was confused for a moment. Blessing is blessing, why does it need explanation?

Ning Yue looked at the stunned expression on his face, chuckled, leaned forward slightly, and continued:

"Did you stop jackals and other ferocious animals from hunting deer or rabbits and save the deer's life?"

"Or maybe we should stop rabbits and deer from eating the weeds to save the plants and animals?"

"Or when wild animals such as tigers and leopards threaten humans, do we kill them to save humans?"

After Ning Yue finished speaking, the hall fell silent for a moment, and everyone seemed to have not expected such a statement.

"But deer and rabbits are living beings, jackals are living beings, plants and trees are living beings. Humans are living beings in the world, tigers and leopards are also living beings. The word 'bless', when used between heaven and earth, is a kind of partiality."

"They are the gods of nature. If they bless the weak deer and rabbits, then the wolves, tigers and leopards will lose their food and starve to death in the wilderness. If they bless the weaker weeds and trees, then the rabbits and deer will also starve to death."

Ning Yue gently waved a paper fan, her peach blossom eyes full of affection, her voice gentle but cruel, "Isn't this also considered a massacre?"

He paused and continued:

"Similarly, if you want to protect all living things in the world and allow wolves, tigers, leopards, deer and rabbits to reproduce, then every piece of land and river in this world has a fixed number. If living things reproduce infinitely on this land, sooner or later this land will be crowded."

"So there are blessings in this world, and there are also disasters."

"Only when disasters and blessings coexist and yin and yang coexist, can life continue forever."

"So the gods born between heaven and earth will not only protect all living beings in the world, but will also bring disasters and kill those living beings."

When Lu Keming heard this, there was a hint of astonishment in his delicate eyes. This was the first time he had heard such remarks.

Yu Youyou held a pair of chopsticks, casually fiddling with the crispy peanuts on the plate in front of her, yawned lazily, and said:

"Since it is a god, the disputes between living beings in this world are nothing to it, so how could it take the Fang family seriously and even exterminate the entire Fang family out of jealousy?"

"Disasters and blessings exist only to maintain balance in the world, not as tools for it to seek revenge."

At this point, Yu Youyou stopped fiddling with the peanuts, looked up at Ning Yue, her eyes clear and innocent, and asked with curved eyebrows, "Really?"

Ning Yue looked at Yu Youyou's smiling eyes, but the smile on his face froze for a second, but he quickly reacted, coughed lightly, and replied:

"Of course. That was just my guess. It's not reliable."

Yu Youyou smiled and looked away at the plate, only to see a white insect in the plate of peanuts, which had been fried until golden and crispy.

"Huh?" Yu Youyou picked up the insect curiously, looked at it for a long time, and muttered, "What is this?"

Lu Keming's eyes fell on the white larva on Yu Youyou's chopsticks. He wanted to explain to Yu Youyou, but he saw her quickly throw the insect into her mouth, as if she was afraid that Lu Keming would not let her eat it.

Lu Keming was silent for a few seconds and explained, "This is a bee pupa, it's edible. It must have been mixed up when the kitchen staff was cooking."

"It's delicious." Yu Youyou nodded and grinned at Lu Keming.

At this time, the guests who had just heard what Ning Yue said gradually came back to their senses and asked Ning Yue with great interest:

"There are such gods in the world, but can they ride on clouds and mist and call the wind and rain like in our opera?"

"Of course." Ning Yue saw everyone's interested looks and said with a smile, "They are not only able to fly in the clouds and call the wind and rain, they have a lot of abilities."

"The lives of all living things in the world, from birth to death, are all in their hands. And as I just said, they can bring blessings and disasters."

"What's even more amazing is that they can see things in the future."

"See the future?" Upon hearing this, the audience immediately became noisy and asked one after another:

"Wouldn't it be possible to see the changes in the world situation?"

"Can you also see whether I can pass the imperial examination?"

"Of course, but..." Ning Yue changed his tone, drawing everyone's attention to him again. He paused for a second pretending to be mysterious, and said as everyone was expecting:

"Being able to foresee the future is not a good thing. The gods cannot use this magic at will. They can only see when something big is about to happen."

A person next to that person said, "What is a big deal to them?"

"I'm already a god, what big deal can there be?"

"Why not?" Ning Yue looked at those people and said softly, "Those gods..."

“They saw their own demise.”