515 A Teardrop
Selma Payne’s POV:
I’d tried to repair the black opals that were about to run out of power, but it was not that easy to restore the creation of a god. Ultimately, after using up the last of its divine power to replenish Aldrich’s body, this shiny gem completed its mission and became an ordinary stone.
The mysterious and resplendent gem was embedded in Aldrich’s fair chest, it was a very eye-pleasing scene. However, since it was no longer of use now, I suggested that Aldrich have surgery to dig it out in case any accidents happened later and harmed his body.
However, Aldrich refused.
“This is our token of love. I know it will never hurt me.”
Alright, I was easily convinced.
After I stayed in the Spring Rain Pack for a week, Emma finally came back. She had gotten a little tanned, but her figure was more muscular than when she was in the office. Her apartment was filled with drawing boards and half-finished sculptures. She even wore an apron covered in colorful paint when she opened the door for me.
She was so passionate that she wanted to hug me, but she suddenly stopped and kissed me halfway through.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Selma.” She raised her hands, which were covered in traces of plaster and clay. “I hope to hug you, but your silk coat will be ruined if I do that.”
Emma, Jordin, and I hadn’t gathered together like this in a long time. Since we started our businesses, we’d been apart more than together. We often only met through the phone or the internet. So, we drank too much at night, half-squinting our eyes as we lay on the artistic pumpkin-shaped sofa in Emma’s house and talked about everything.
Speaking of my children and husband, the girls were very happy about Aldrich’s recovery. Emma was quite surprised to see my daughter suddenly appear.
“There are many different versions of the legends about the offspring of the Moon Goddess. This is a story I heard from my elders when I was young: One day, the Moon Goddess woke up on the lawn and found herself pregnant. She had given birth to a daughter, but she did not know who the father was. The goddess searched everywhere but to no avail. She was so angry that she thought the child’s father was a cowardly villain and even began to dislike the child. Hence, she came to the cliff and prepared to throw the child into the river to drown him. At this moment, the child’s father finally appeared. He had always admired the goddess, but he knew his lowly body was not worthy of a glance from the goddess, so he asked the demon for help. The devil sent out a moth, and in spring, the man’s sweat dripped on the goddess’s belly button, and the goddess became pregnant and gave birth.”
Emma excitedly told us the legend behind the painting. As she spoke, the blurry colors gradually became clear in my mind.
“How could a dignified goddess like her endure such humiliation? Therefore, she separated the drop of sweat that belonged to the father from the child’s body and threw it into the sea, cutting off the connection between her daughter and her father. The moth that works for the underground devil cannot eat the fruit trees on the ground. After that, the moth’s offspring will no longer be able to eat and will starve to death after seven days of ascendance. In the end, the goddess announced that men could never accept the moonlight’s grace again, so the man became a floating monster, living and dying day and night, futilely searching for his drop of sweat in the water.”
“This legend isn’t widely known because we traditionally think that the Moon Goddess is a famous Virgin. Therefore, this legend is regarded as a ‘deviant’. But now isn’t like 500 years ago anymore, right? More and more works of art began to pursue the ancient legends denounced as fallacies by the orthodox sects.”
I could gradually see the blurry colors on the canvas. The goddess looked angry and raised the baby in her arms. On the other hand, her daughter was still smiling innocently, unaware of the possible fate that might come. The weak and despicable man ran out of the bushes in a sorry state. His cheeks and arms were covered with scars made of thorns. His strange expression seemed to beg for mercy, but it also seemed afraid of facing the goddess’s anger.
Flying moths surrounded them. These little white creatures were nothing more than the creation of chaos, but they were about to pay the price for this farce.
Where was the demon?
I squinted to take a closer look, only to see the man sneer when he touched the corner of the goddess’s robe – so the demon was hidden in the man’s body. He indifferently interpreted this rotten marriage, greedily taking the goddess’s anger and the fear of men as his dessert.
Where was the goddess? The goddess seemed to have noticed this as well. But why was she crying? The tear that did not fall from the corner of her eye, was she feeling aggrieved for her unexpected disaster, or was that tear supposed to fall into someone’s heart?
