"Is he not a god?"
A god telling his followers that he is not a god—the most pious sacrifice is an absurd claim.
Neos's mind suddenly went blank, so much so that he wondered if he was hallucinating.
What was this man talking about?
"You think it sounds as unbelievable as the moon reflected in water?"
Neos hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Then the Priest glanced at Adam, who was still immersed in deep thought.
Being the closest to the Fire (Adam), the Priest knew that His contemplation usually lasted several days.
Rather than waste time, it was better to carry out the task of explaining the Fire.
[Strengthen the Tribe]
The young man before him was in the prime of his life and suitable for joining the tribe.
But the Priest also saw it clearly: the young man named Neos was burdened with great hatred.
Therefore, if they wanted to accept him into the tribe, they needed to pay attention to the right approach, and this suited him, a forty-year-old man.
The lifespan of Stone Age people was very short.
Twenty years was an entire generation.
The forty-year-old Priest had immense experience. Instead of immediately asking Neos whether he wanted to join the tribe, he began with one of the most common and often overlooked things.
"Have you ever seen death?"
"Not the death of beasts, but the death of your own kind."
Neos nodded. Of course, he had seen the deaths of his tribesmen—whether those who perished while hunting or those who drowned in turbulent rivers.
He didn't understand. Wasn't death very common?
"This is death from old age."
"Perhaps you don't understand what this means. Let me explain what old age and death are."
"It is not a sudden downpour, but a slow, cold wind that will leave deep gullies on the face and fade the color of long hair, like a torch... about to go out."
"This is the death from old age that the gods of our tribe believe in, speaking of [aging]. Those tribesmen with gray hair all came to death within a certain period."
"It is terrifying."
"Our people, our tribe, are sheltered by the Fire. He leads us to use fire, teaches us language, writing..."
"Before dozens of people died, we always thought we would encounter an endless summer under the Fire."
"But the winter of death is approaching."
"No one knows how it happened. No one knows who died first. But everyone knows that death is not the end."
"And in the era without fire, death was a very common occurrence, like a shadow accompanying all of life."
"At that time, death was death—being eaten by wild beasts, freezing to death in ice and snow, simply starving to death due to lack of food..."
"But we were sheltered by the Fire."
"We do not want birth, aging, sickness, and death. We do not want to see the death of our people. Why must we die?"
"Why must humans die?"
Neos was silent.
He could not answer this question either.
And he, too, began to fear death.
This fear arose so inexplicably that it spread like an invisible plague into the depths of the souls of all who knew of this [special death].
It was a catastrophe, and it was special.
Not a material catastrophe—like lack of water, food, fur for wintering beasts, or sufficient fuel...
But an intangible one, rooted in the depths of the soul, originating from the fear of biological instinct, but mixed with the thinking of human rationality... A subsequent spiritual catastrophe.
Even Neos couldn't help but ask: "Why do we die?"
"I don't know."
"And isn't that the question I asked you?" The Priest paused for a moment, but he did not forget that the purpose of the conversation was to persuade the young man to join the tribe.
Neos quickly apologized.
Having been an outcast, he had received help from this tribe—water, food, and temporary shelter.
After all, this question was originally raised by the other party, and he really shouldn't use it to make things difficult for the tribal leader (the Priest).
But...
This question was too fascinating.
It wasn't that people couldn't accept death, but everyone wanted to understand why they had to die.
"This question troubled our tribe. No one could answer it, so we went to the Fire (Adam)."
"At first, we thought death was a disease, and we wanted the Fire to expel it, even destroy it."
"But what the Fire tells us, we do not understand."
"So..."
"The Fire conveys His Word in another way, saying that there is a god who is in charge of death, and He is... the God who drives away the bitter cold of the summer and autumn winds."
"Ereshkigal. The Fire calls her the Goddess of the Underworld. All dead beings will go to her land—a dark and desolate land where no flowers, plants, or great trees can exist, only the dead of night and howling cold winds."
At this moment, Neos had an illusion.
His voice trembled slightly, and he almost whispered the question: "Then if you take the dead beings out of her land, can you resurrect people?"
"I don't know."
"Neos, I am just a man without talents. But I have lived a little longer, carved the wisdom and experience of my tribesmen onto stone tablets, and then recorded them here."
The Priest patted his chest—the location of the heart.
It was often believed that souls lived there.
When the sun rose, the soul would awaken, and the heavy body would gather and hunt;
When night fell, the soul would sink into a long sleep, curled up in the body to avoid being eaten by monsters in the darkness.
"Lived long enough?"
"Of course. But even if I've lived long enough, I still cannot answer your question."
The Priest calmly admitted: "Because I have not climbed the highest and farthest mountain, which is Ereshkigal's dwelling. She does not want to stay in the underworld all day, witnessing death and desolation, so she comes to the highest and farthest mountains of the earth to look upon this land."
"But she was not there all the time."
"She had a duty as a goddess. She could only leave her land when everything withered, and stay for months on the highest and farthest peaks."
Then, on the eve of the restoration of all things, return to the land of death and desolation.
That is to say,
If you want to see this goddess of the underworld, you must climb the highest and farthest mountain in winter.
This was simply [courting death].
Not to mention having to take a being from her land afterwards.
Neos understood that people simply could not do this.
But the desire to resurrect his father was like a wildfire, burning stronger and brighter in the depths of his heart.
So much so that he didn't care about the Priest's words.
Until this sentence——
"The Fire plans to meet the Goddess of the Underworld this winter. He is curious about what kind of god she is..."
"If you stay, if you join our tribe."
"Then..."
"You will have the opportunity to become a Guardian of the Fire, to follow the Fire, and even to witness the meeting of two gods, to enter her land, and perhaps... to meet your deceased father."