"Because I arrived too late."
The Queen of Sheba said the reason with a bitter smile, "When I came to this land, Oshun and Yemoja had already disappeared without a trace, and even I couldn't find them."
Yemoja was also a goddess originating from Nigeria. This deity who controlled water had helped the supreme god Olodumare create the first humans alongside the earth goddess Aya.
This was strange. The three goddesses had led the black people in an uprising to overthrow slavery and liberate their exploited compatriots. With such achievements, they should have become more powerful with the tide of faith. Why had they disappeared now?
Lin Xiang pondered. The black community today was in a quagmire led by the gods, with Vodou at the forefront. Had the goddesses abandoned their followers?
"I met Baron Samedi, the god of death in Vodou, at a bar in Baror. This Baron of Saturday gave me a very strange feeling."
Lin Xiang recalled the sense of subconscious aversion and discomfort he felt from Baron Samedi and couldn't help but ask the Queen for the reason.
The Queen of Sheba's face changed drastically, and the champagne in her hand spilled onto the gambling table.
"You've seen them!"
Something seemed wrong. Lin Xiang saw deep fear in the Queen's eyes.
Seeing Lin Xiang nod, the Queen of Sheba actually trembled. Lin Xiang quickly took her hand to comfort her emotions. Feeling Lin Xiang's sincere comfort, the Queen calmed down, took a deep breath, and revealed a secret that made Lin Xiang feel dizzy.
"They were contaminated!"
The Queen murmured, "Ever since a suddenly appearing deity revealed the truth of the world to them, they were no longer themselves!"
Vodou originated in West Africa and is a primitive religion that blends ancestor worship, animism, and spiritism, somewhat like shamanism. It is popular in West African countries from Ghana in the west to Nigeria in the east, as well as in Haiti, the Caribbean, southern Louisiana, and South America.
This was during the period when white people were abducting African blacks and selling them to America as slaves for forced labor. Although the black people sold into slavery in America were all black, there were still significant differences. The beliefs of various tribes merged during this time, and their suffering led them to seek solace from the gods. In order to gain salvation, Vodou was born.
The beliefs within Vodou were quite chaotic, even incorporating Christianity to a certain extent.
"That day, a black sun fell from the sky, and a black-skinned deity emerged from the sun."
The Queen of Sheba trembled at the thought of this deity's appearance. "At first, we thought he was the sun god from Egypt. He wore a golden crown and bracelets, like a pharaoh."
"He claimed to be from a distant realm beyond the heavens, and what appeared before us was merely a weak incarnation used to explore the unknown world. This foreign deity showed us a book filled with strange spells and generously taught us how to use it."
Hearing this, Lin Xiang already sensed something was wrong. Who would unconditionally share knowledge and power with others? If a stranger treated you well unconditionally, the reward they sought from you would only be greater than what they gave.
The Queen continued the story of this strange deity, "He appeared very friendly and imparted the knowledge in the book without reservation. But I always felt his smile was malicious. However, the spells were real, including the spell to awaken the reanimated dead. All the gods thought he came with good intentions."
"But gradually, I realized that everything he did seemed to be just to mock us!"
The Queen of Sheba frantically pulled at her long hair and whispered in disbelief, "The gods attacked each other with these spells, causing chaos. They seemed to have lost their minds! He just watched, as if the gods' slaughter was merely a performance for his amusement!"
"Slowly, he also grew tired. The blood of the gods was no longer enough to satisfy his desire for pleasure."
"I still can't understand why he did this!" The Queen closed her eyes in fear. "He gave up resisting and let the chaotic gods devour him!"
"That scene terrified me! I abandoned everything and fled north, and I never saw them again after that."
As if ashamed of her own escape, the Queen of Sheba couldn't help but sob softly.
"My friend Erizli, the gentle goddess of love, became completely lost after devouring part of that deity's body. She, who had once protected young girls, became jealous and ordered all unmarried girls to set up altars for her at home, or she would ruin their love affairs and prevent them from ever marrying."
"She began to hold decadent parties, having all her male followers dedicate their bodies to her. Decadent desires made men abandon their wives, and the guardian gods of the family began to destroy families! She snatched other people's husbands for herself, yet she herself never remained faithful. She even wanted all men to become her husbands!"
Lin Xiang understood. Everything that deity, also from the Sea of Chaos, had done, including letting the gods devour him, was about sowing seeds!
Those irrepressible contaminants had distorted the divinity of the Vodou gods! Once the Vodou gods grew to a certain extent, they would become ripe fruits to be harvested. Not only that, their existence also served as a guide. Perhaps when this deity returned again, the harvest would not be limited to the Vodou gods.
Lin Xiang immediately thought of the Yoruba gods who had been absent for a long time. The spider god Anansi was clearly their eyes and ears left on earth. In this light, it seemed that Oshun, Yemoja, and Aya were likely holding back the Vodou gods in secret, delaying their maturity!
"Did you also use those spells?" Lin Xiang looked at the Queen of Sheba with some strangeness. This goddess was probably not accepted by the Yoruba gods because she carried contamination.
The Queen's trembling paused for a moment, and she nodded in pain.
"Through those spells, I connected with a life goddess possessing abundant divinity, and her power changed me!"
Thinking of the Queen of Sheba's strange sacrificial methods, Lin Xiang immediately suppressed his thoughts. Those sacrificed men likely had no chance of survival! Even if they survived, they could no longer be called human!