The old man put his hands behind his back and looked at the tops of the willow trees covered with snow. Dark dry branches protruded from under the snow cover, like the side fins of a white bream. That reminded the peasant girl of her dream.
"I saw the herd when I came here," said the old man, "a flood of destruction, washing away everything in its path. A group of robbers tried to escape, and several beasts tore them apart. But they did not Eating these minced meats, it seems they just want to tear everything that moves into pieces. Do you know the origins of these beasts?"
Farm girls know it. She also told the old man truthfully: not all earthly life was created by the king. The king made only the good parts of it. The remaining ones - the beasts - hatched from the ashes on their own. They started out as seeds of sin that fell from nowhere and were buried in the ashes. When the king was not careful when he created all things, he gave them light and heat, causing them to hatch from the ashes. These evil beasts were not created by the gods, but they are also very capable. Their largest size can approach the sky whale, and they can spit fire and venom, which corroded her second brother's arm. The giant insect with red robes was also a kind of evil beast. It took a lot of effort to kill it, but other evil beasts could not be killed. They do not have a fixed group. Each one looks strange and strange. They mate at any time and give birth to countless uglier monsters.
These evil beasts were neither created by the will of the king nor by the orders of the gods. They kill endlessly and are so ferocious that they give even the gods headaches, so some mortal creatures actually choose to worship them. They are the king's creations, but they believe that evil beasts should be the masters of the world. The way of life of evil beasts is free and correct, so they shave their heads, tattoo their eyebrows, cut their lips and ears, and sometimes eat their own kind alive. captive. They wanted to imitate the evil beasts as much as possible, but the evil beasts would not appreciate it. They also tear apart their own believers like other things, and there are no believers in their eyes. Hunting and being hunted are innate.
The old man began to smile when he heard this. When the peasant girl asked him why, he just shook his head.
"These believers appeared much later, when the gods had disappeared from the earth," he said. "Before, your father erected nine pillars here, eight of them at the edges of the world and the remaining one in the center. You once The land kingdom of God was personally guarded by him. But later he faced exhaustion, so he took the initiative to knock down that pillar. Once the central pillar collapsed, your land kingdom also collapsed. The vanguard of Hellfire first arrived from there. , and the gods hid underground along the collapsing abyss. As for the light of creation in the pillar, your father did not take it into himself - his failure was doomed, because he was promised to give him infinite light and heat. The being was killed, and his wish was withdrawn - he left it to Hema, telling her to find a suitable mortal girl, someone beautiful, pious and wise. To be with this There is a deep connection to the land and a deep loyalty to the gods. When your new kingdom below the ground was established, a girl who fit this criteria was found. She was a priestess of Nabebi, raised as a wolf. She grew up on breast milk and can predict the life and death of others. This talent is unique among priests. She is also one of the most beautiful girls in the local area: her skin is as white as ice and snow, and her hair is as long and black as black gauze. , with emerald blue eyes. She always wears a sacrificial crown made of wicker and silver crochet on her head."
The peasant girl looked at him with wide eyes. She was surprised by what the old man said about "the king's wish", and at the same time she didn't understand why he told a mortal girl so carefully, but her heart made of weather was beating fast. The old man said nothing more about the priestess. He spoke in detail about the customs of Nabibai, saying that people there regarded the willow tree as the incarnation of Ye'e, the goddess of fate. They believe that the goddess was first born from a blackened willow tree that was struck by lightning, and struggled to get out of the wood gap in pain. During the struggle, the dried willow tree dug into her back and has since become a part of her skeleton. All those who wear the willow ring will share her wisdom and pain. During every spring celebration, people sing and dance. Most people wore gorgeous clothes decorated with silver willow leaves, with only a few exceptions.
Those exceptions are the actors at the celebration, who are dressed in colorful clothes because of the needs of the performance. The person in gold clothing plays the role of Endon, the god of fire, and the person in aqua blue silk robe is the god of water, Religila. The person in red robes on the throne is always a dummy carved from white jade, because there is no earthly life that can play the role of the king of the kingdom of God. Several of her brothers and sisters were played by children, riding small wooden and lacquered mounts. These children are also young actors, and they have to pretend to chase a child dressed in black on stage.
The peasant girl was surprised again when she heard this. She recalled her dream of being a child playing games, and in the dream she also had to chase a child dressed in black. Who is the kid in black clothes? She couldn't help but want to ask the old man for clarification.
"That's Bam," said the old man. "The people of Nabibai believe that she is the daughter, sister, or another incarnation of Ye - in short, they have similar natures, but Bam is bad. She She is the shadow of the willow tree, the bane of wisdom, the sin of the goddess. She cannot be killed, and she always follows Ye'e, so people can only keep driving her away... I see you are wondering about this, child .Yes, there is no Bam among your father's kindred. She never existed. She is just a goddess made up by people. I think it is inappropriate to call it a goddess. She is a witch, but she is better than any other person in this world. Every witch who has ever survived has to be very powerful."
But why? asked the peasant girl. She didn't understand why people made up such a non-existent goddess. The gods have their own believers and priests, and they try to only appear in front of their believers. How can a god who never appears be believed to exist?
"She is responsible for the moments when other gods have not appeared." The old man said, "Your father is in charge of this world, but he has very few restrictions on the lives of mortals, and he pays little attention to the inevitable tragedy in their small lives - —In his opinion, it must be part of the way the world works, just like weeds that never complain about withering. But people don’t think so. They feel that the parts they gain are natural, and the parts they lose are unnatural. They are not destined to Lost, but the gods want them to lose. Your father also set up some gods to manage misfortune, but their duties are very rough, they just want to ensure that the world is generally balanced. For those small pains, like a beggar losing his broken Bowls, young and beautiful women being wasted by time, disabled babies abandoned in the wild... These small things are not of concern to your father and the gods. But for those who encounter these things, this is more unfortunate than fire, oceans and lakes. It was much more important. At that time, they were at a loss and could only think that other things had brought all this. Ah, all of this was a trick of fate, but Ye'e only decided the fate of the ethnic group and heroes, so she must have a small shadow , a twin sister who deliberately causes people to feel pain when thinking about their fate. At this time, they believe in the existence of Bam. They will not ask the gods why they allow Bam to exist, and the gods will not deny this fictional one. members because it’s good for both sides. It’s a mutual convenience.”
The peasant girl still didn't understand. She wanted to ask the old man to explain in more detail. After all, she knew very little about how humans and gods should get along. But then someone interrupted their conversation.
A sound of flapping wings sounded very close to them. Before the sound sounded, the peasant girl was not reminded by the wind. She looked over with alert eyes and saw a person standing in the shadow of the willow tree.
That man - let's call him that - had no face or facial features. On his head were six plump snow-white wings, with nearly a hundred large and small gold beads embedded in the wings. This visitor was so strange that when the golden beads on the wings rotated, she realized that they were its eyes.
"True Master." The man with the wing head said. Its sound vibrates like a reed, light and bright, flowing freely, but without any emotion. It uses words that peasant girls can understand, but it is a very old title. The true masters, that is, the most experienced and wise among the chief priests, they hear the voices in the hellfire and can sometimes even make the gods respect them. Such people are now extinct, but the wing-headed people call them old people.
"Ah, Wei Gaden." The old man said, "You are here. I think it is the flaming monarch who is urging you. The stars here are a bit like your hometown, aren't they?"
"He asked for your answer."
"I'm keeping an eye on it," the old man replied. "Tell him to keep thinking about his enemy. But since you're here, you might as well go for a walk in the woods with us. Are you interested?"
The wing-headed man turned dozens of golden beads coldly and didn't answer a word. So the old man said again: "What a pity that you are not interested in this beautiful winter night and innocent children. But interest is hard to force. Go find those sinners who satisfy you."
The six snow-white wings were folded up and lowered slightly towards the old man, as if performing a salute. Then it fell away like the ground, disappearing into its own shadow.
