My Goddess is Good at Pretending

Chapter 152: Her Clan was Wiped Out?

Daytime in winter under the warmth of the sunshine. The bright sky and a beautiful day.

Ely walked up the mountain through paths and stone steps, past several red torii gates.

As she looked around, she noticed a white blanket of snow covering the trees and ground. She took a deep breath, realizing how quiet and serene everything seemed.

The only sound she could hear was only her breath and the boots crunching in the thin snow.

She returned to the shrine abode after clearing the path from the snow. However, she was not alone. Yuuki and Evelyn were also there.

The smell of the damp trees made the air feel so fresh. It felt so peaceful, but a sudden cold air brushed against her cheek. So, she pulled her scarf up closer to her face.

"You forgot to activate your cold-resistance magic item, Ely." Evelyn pulled the blue amulet by Ely’s waist and activated it with a touch.

"Oh, no wonder it’s so cold..." Ely chuckled with some embarrassment. She didn’t feel cold when she and her friends were clearing the path from the peak to the foot of the mountain with magic.

She was probably too engrossed in talking and joking with them. They finished the task before noon arrived.

As Ely approached the forest gathering spot, she saw a group of forest dwellers discussing various matters in animal language. The spider lady also conferred with the other beasts and demons.

"Oh holy, shrine priestess is here." Ranee widened her eyes when she noticed the approaching people.

"!?" The surrounding beasts and demons immediately acted accordingly.

"No wonder we couldn’t find you at your cave this morning. You get along well with the other forest dwellers, Miss Ranee." Ely raised her hand in greeting.

"Ah, yes... They are good beasts and demons. They showed me around the Sacred Mountain this morning and told me some important stuff I needed to know." Ranee laughed nonchalantly while patting the nearby snow owl.

"Then, everything is good. I hope you are comfortable here."

"Hehe, I had an amazing time. Thank you for your gift. You are so generous to provide all that to a new recruit like me."

"It’s not worth mentioning."

Ely was slightly astonished because her gift was just daily necessities, furniture, magic items and spirit stones. It was a simple small gift.

She then faced the forest dwellers and spread her arms wide. "Our New Year event will be held soon. We have some new friends this year, and I hope everyone can participate in the event."

"Rawr!" "Aooo!" "Roar!" "Squawk!"

The forest dwellers voiced their enthusiasm. Everyone was looking forward to the New Year event, and they were always excited every time the end of the year came. As for the reason, it was all because the shrine priestess would be there, and she would distribute a gift to everyone!

Also, the shrine priestess brought a pleasant surprise every year. No one would miss such an event. Everyone would definitely participate in the preparations and everything.

Ely then bid her farewell to Ranee and the forest dwellers.

Ranee rested her cheek against her hand while watching the shrine priestess walk away.

She then spoke in a whisper-like voice. "Phew, it must be hard to act like good animals. Some of you already have demi-human or beastkin form, but why have you never shown it to her? She wouldn’t know if you never showed it."

"It’s her wishes, and we are satisfied with it." The sea eagle shook his head.

"Then, you can at least talk to her, right? What’s with your bestial roar and howl?" Ranee raised her eyebrows.

"There’s nothing wrong with that. Our origin is a beast, to begin with."

"Yeah, we can’t act cute and ask for a head pat if she knows we’ve evolved."

"Everything is good. I don’t want the shrine priestess to give us a change of treatment."

"But, we can still talk to her disciples."

"Yes, that’s it."

The forest dwellers did not consider Ranee’s suggestion a wise decision. They would instead maintain the current situation where everyone was happy.

"Nevermind. That’s up to you. But have any of you ever entered her residence? I went to the mountaintop last night; her residence is majestic. Unfortunately, it’s surrounded by high walls." Ranee tapped her cheek while looking at the Sacred Sakura Tree on the mountaintop.

That pink tree was that big and could easily be seen from the mountain’s foot. However, she couldn’t notice it as she flew over twenty meters above the ground.

"Some of us have been invited in. It’s an Immortal Residence. I warn you. Don’t mess with the sacred tree spirit on the mountaintop. That pink spirit is fierce and will shoot down anyone who flies close without permission."

"Yeah, you can try visiting the shrine priestess’ residence and try your luck. However, anyone without authority needs to walk the path."

"You see the red gates over there? There are over a hundred gates like that from the mountain foot to the top."

"No evil creatures can pass through them, but you won’t be able to get a visit pass if you haven’t even gone through all the red gates from Mountainfoot to Mountaintop."

Several forest dwellers enlightened the Spider Queen.

Hearing that, Ranee smirked faintly, determined to approach the shrine priestess to curry favour. Before the dark knight demon returned, she had to receive the shrine priestess’ protection.

---

Ely’s disciples returned alternately. The ones to return first were Gabriella and Jophiel.

Gabriella reported the Guardian of Dream’s readiness to fight even a Heavenly Demon God.

As for Jophiel, she just finished sorting out the gifts. It took her all night to complete her task. Several things were cursed items, and she sealed them for her master to deal with.

"Ah, right... what about the red demon who terrorized the Great Yan Empire’s northern border region?" Ely returned to the discussion table after putting things into the warehouse.

"Various righteous sects and renowned clans sent several experts to hunt down the red demon, but he still hasn’t been caught. He was seriously injured after being ambushed by over forty 5th Rank experts and above. We still monitor his movements, but his traces disappeared four hours ago." Gabriella shook her head.

"Hmm~ Such a tricky demon. What if I go to slay him?" Evelyn suggested an idea.

"Not now. Let them do what they have to do first." Ely replied with a subtle smile.

"Let them handle it. They need to demonstrate their capabilities. We are not their protectors, to begin with. Things would be different if he were a reincarnation of the Heavenly Demon God." Yuuki understood Ely’s purpose and supported that decision.

"What about casualty?" Ely heaved a subtle sigh.

Gabriella closed her note because she didn’t want to read the number. She answered with a positive response instead. "Experts from various righteous sects and renowned sects succeeded in suppressing the enemy and minimizing the casualty."

"Then, it’s good. They should be that capable of protecting their people." Ely nodded in understanding. She could ignore that matter for now.

She then raised a topic about magic research. She wished to research the unknown items they had just obtained. She also wanted to create a new Super-tier artifact or above.

Everyone could join as long as they could follow her command. Of course, everyone was eager to participate in that magic research.

*Bam!*

The door to the empty room next to the warehouse suddenly opened. Zi Xuan floated out from there with a sad expression. She went to the top of the Sacred Sakura Tree and landed on the highest branch without speaking to anyone.

An aura of loneliness radiated from her. She sat pensively while staring at the expanse of snow-covered mountains with a blank gaze.

Sylvia stepped out of the empty room in a relaxed and calm manner as if nothing had happened. She went to the discussion table to gather with Ely and everyone.

"Is she okay? She looks like she’s about to cry. Could you please accompany her for a moment, Sakura? I will follow soon." Ely looked up at the tree worriedly. She then stroked the nearby pink spirit’s head.

Sakura nodded, then flew up to accompany the sad ghost.

Sylvia placed the soul-sealing gourd on the table in front of Ely. "I don’t find he is useful, Ely. Just throw him to the Artificial Hell Realm and let the Artificial Hell Core corrupt him into its ghost minion or something."

"Huh?" Ely was astonished. She felt a deliverance by purgatory would be more appropriate.

"Then, what happened to that ghost girl? Did you make a move on her and hurt her fragile heart?" Yuuki crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hmm, what’s with your prejudice? I received the mission from Ely, and I completed it. We got what we wanted from the Nightmare Demon Ancestor. I just accompanied that ghost girl and ensured the villain didn’t hurt her."

Sylvia paused for a moment, then looked up.

"She comes from a fairy clan named Zi Clan but is also a young saintess from the Moon Palace. God of Poison’s soul essence said her family was wiped out by a mysterious Heavenly Demon Sect. No one survived, he said. She didn’t believe anything he said unless she saw it with her eyes. He is battered because of her wrath."

After Sylvia said that, everyone fell silent. They looked up to look at the sad ghost with condolence.

Nobody could confirm whether that statement was true or not. Still, Sylvia and the Immortal Saintess clearly knew the God’s soul essence they had just interrogated was not lying.