The Merchant Bugs greatly respected Simon and proactively offered him some treasures.
They found useful items from their stockpiles in small groups and lined up to hand them to him.
However, Simon politely declined each offer; he wanted to travel light and couldn't carry too many things.
The Merchant Bugs felt Simon was being too distant, and also worried about his safety, so they insisted he choose three items.
Left with no choice, Simon took two Charm slots and a very high-quality Nail.
He now had three Nails: the largest one was the dullest, the slightly smaller one was the gift he had just received, the sharpest with beautiful patterns, making it a refined Nail, and the smallest one he had bought previously, which was the most comfortable to wield.
He tied the largest Nail vertically, and the remaining two were arranged by size on his right shoulder, forming a semi-fan shape, ready to be drawn with a raise of his hand.
The round shield was tied to the Nail system, precisely at the intersection of the three Nails.
The crossbow and grappling hook were fastened to his waist, the lantern hung under his cloak, the water bottle was on his lower back, and the map was in the pouch holding his geo.
Finally, Simon attached the two Charm slots to the carapace on his chest and fastened the Charm he had obtained from Gruz's nest onto them.
A strange power emanated from the Charm, and Simon felt his body suddenly become incredibly light, as if he could be blown away by the wind.
But he hadn't actually become lighter; it was just an irrepressible urge to jump that arose in his heart!
Simon bent his legs and leaped, like a firecracker, shooting straight up into the sky.
The Merchant Bugs on the ground gasped in surprise; they watched as this unrestrained warrior spread his cloak high in the air, like a strange bird, and glided into the distance.
"Travel safe!" they shouted, wishing him well.
Simon, now like a gentle breeze, carried a heavy responsibility, his posture like a free swift, flying towards the direction with the most moisture.
The hazy lights of the Merchant Bug village below gradually faded, and Simon saw a cave wall not far ahead, with a raised platform suspended in mid-air.
He quickly took out his crossbow, strung the grappling hook, and after estimating his gliding distance, shot the grappling hook diagonally upwards.
The hook firmly embedded itself in a stalactite on the cave ceiling.
Then he swung forward, holding the rope, passing the lowest point, and rising again.
He retracted the grappling hook, spread his cloak, and glided once more.
This time, the distance was sufficient, and Simon landed steadily on the platform.
Ahead, blue, dreamlike ripples of water shimmered in the depths of the platform's passage.
Simon quickly walked forward, and past the passage was a massive natural cave.
He was currently standing on a platform near the cave ceiling.
Walking to the edge and looking down, beautiful, pure Blue Lake water formed a jewel-like body of water.
The light projected from above was clear and beautiful, and the lake seemed to conceal an entire world, fully revealing its beautiful side to all visitors.
Simon was not a very talented person, and rarely felt poetic inspiration from beautiful scenery, but his pursuit and judgment of beauty were unproblematic.
Blue Lake was indeed the most beautiful scenery he had ever witnessed in his two lives.
Opening the map, there were many small Crossroads around Blue Lake, but only one led to the Resting Grounds, directly opposite, so there was no need to worry about taking the wrong path.
So Simon launched himself into a glide.
Whenever his altitude became too low, he would use the grappling hook to pull himself up again.
Repeating this process, he flew for a long time.
Blue Lake was truly vast, and Simon's gliding speed was not particularly fast.
Fortunately, the shimmering Blue Lake water was very soothing to look at, and Simon himself had ample stamina, so he wasn't worried about exhausting himself while traveling.
At some point, the opposite shore appeared.
It was a wide beach, with water plants growing from the lake to the shore, and some seashells and conch shells scattered on the bank, looking like a summer beach, very leisurely.
Simon landed, even with his current stamina, he was a little out of breath.
He felt a bit sleepy, but not to the point of needing to sleep.
Simon roused his spirits and looked at the path not far ahead, which clearly stood out.
The style of the Crossroads was spiral shells, including the paving stones, cave walls, and houses, all with spiral patterns.
But this passage was different.
Although still dark, deep blue rock, the carvings were no longer spirals, but elongated masks, like plump melon seeds, with sharp chins and mysterious, deep eye sockets.
Simon carefully examined these carvings, thinking, "They look completely like alien faces!"
Indeed, it resembled the icon on an alien's laptop.
But this should be a symbol of soul and death.
An elongated mask.
The bugs' view of death was still very ancient, Simon thought, he could try to understand it when he had leisure time.
Now he had completely confirmed that this path led to the Resting Grounds, exactly like in the game.
He quickly entered, the Blue Lake behind him growing increasingly distant, its beautiful, hazy light also dimming.
Simon walked into the darkness, just like all the bugs in this world, bustling in the faint light, while the bright, beautiful world was always rare, like a dream.
Upon entering the Resting Grounds, the terrain was no longer sprawling but closely resembled that in the game, which provided great convenience to Simon.
He continued forward, jumping up steps, activating mechanisms, and entering the upper platform.
As soon as he arrived on the upper platform, he noticed the ceiling was very low.
Looking around, he realized he was essentially standing under a bridge; there was another platform above.
Simon climbed up to look, and found it was surrounded by memorial pillars.
Various tall pillars with sculptures were scattered here, all commemorating bugs who had contributed to Hallownest.
One sculpture was particularly large, with a pair of sharp horns, like an abstract bug.
Simon walked to the sculpture, where a stone tablet was carved at its base, inscribed: "Curse those traitors who betrayed the King."
Simon knew this was the statue of the warrior Ze'mer, and he might have to deal with the warrior's lingering dream in the future, so he did not linger and turned to leave.
After another passage, he arrived at an even larger forest of memorial pillars, and in the center of the cave, there was a raised altar with three exceptionally tall pillars.
Each pillar had a pale mask relief carved on it, and there was a monument in front of the pillars.
Simon walked onto the altar and looked up at the three tall pillars.
The middle one was taller than the two on the sides, with a one-eyed mask carved on it.
The left pillar had a four-holed mask, with one pair large and one pair small, the small eye holes like eyebrows, located above the large eye holes.
The right mask had three pairs of eye holes, looking particularly terrifying and ferocious.
The monument had bug script written on it.
"To protect the Vessel, the Dreamers slumber.
Monomon the Teacher, shrouded in mists within her archives.
Lurien the Watcher, overlooking the city from his spire.
Herrah the Beast, in her den, deep in the darkness beyond the kingdom.
Through their devotion, Hallownest endures forever."
Simon nodded, thinking, "The predecessors always wish for future generations to never decline, but prosperity and decay, birth and death are natural laws; how can there be an immortal dynasty?"
"So such words can only be considered a blessing for descendants.
It's a pity, few bugs will come here, and such inspiring words are remembered by only a few bugs, such a kingdom…"
Just before his thoughts veered into a nihilistic obsession, Simon snapped back to reality and stopped thinking further.
In the original work, at this point, the protagonist would be drawn into the dream of the Moth tribe, chasing the Radiance within it.
After proving his determination, he would obtain the Dream Nail, this powerful artifact.
But that might be the Vessel's special privilege; Simon did not receive any special treatment.