Only God

...…

As the dwarves of the Gold Silver Clan stormed the execution ground, the craftsmen also took action, and chaos erupted instantly, everyone shouting the name of Hiris, but Hiris remained silent.

For a long time, Hiris had stopped responding to prayers.

The God of Mountains and Craftsmen feared, feared that a single thought might lead the dwarves to a terrible end.

Laren's hands and feet trembled, he urged Hiris,

"Say something, tell them you are Hiris, otherwise, we are going to die again!"

Utus could not hold back either,

"Hiris, hurry! Speak! Don't mind whether they believe or not, just say something!"

In the noisy square,

The bound Hiris still said nothing, blankly watching the rioting dwarves.

Every person here was his follower, all had chanted his name.

Seeing Hiris indifferent, Utus and Laren, desperate, loudly proclaimed that Hiris was the God of Mountains and Craftsmen, but their voices were drowned out in the riot's noise, like fine sand falling into the ocean.

They tried to flee through the surging crowd, but they were pushed by wave after wave of people, all the way to the palace, as mere mortals they were powerless, unable to control anything.

Soon, as Kafu the Sixth reprimanded, the people began to besiege the palace, like fine sand in a big wave, constantly driven by the current, constantly battered.

Hiris stared blankly at the scene before him.

The angry crowd was shouting Hiris, the palace guards were shouting Hiris, the unarmed people were shouting Hiris, the fully armed people were also shouting Hiris.

Hiris blankly turned around, in the crowded crowd, a boy was jostled, fell to the ground; crying, he stood up, praying to Hiris to stop all this.

And so many prayers were missed...

At that time, he was hiding in the Netherworld of the Death God, no longer responding to prayers, no longer watching over the dwarves, evading everything, even allowing the Divine to manipulate his followers.

Because of cowardice, he dared not deny.

Because of cowardice, he disregarded.

"It turns out, I am truly cowardly…"

Accompanied by this trembling, wood-shattering voice, the riotous people were already surrounded by Kafu the Sixth's forces, blade after blade fell, ending thousands of lives.

And the three of them also met death.

Consciousness gradually returning, they once again found themselves in that blank room, Xilan still kneeling like a dead man.

The pain of death lingered around them, Laren and Utus pale-faced, gasping for breath, and suddenly, the sound of splashing water turned around.

Hiris directly collapsed onto the shallow lake, surrounded by gentle bitter grass as the ripples gently caressed him, wrapped around him, as if he were asleep, his breathing eased, with some ripples on the water surface.

The two waited for a long time, just when they thought Hiris was truly dead, the craftsman slowly stood up from the shallow lake.

His first words upon rising were,

"How very cowardly I am."

Laren, for some reason, emotionally said,

"The faults of all that your followers have suffered lie with us.

But, if we delve deeper, the fault isn't really with us, but in the path created by the Father's Divine—it's the Divine Path.

Without the Divine Path, we wouldn't have had to do this.

Change your convictions, let Xilan die, he looks like a dead man anyway."

Hiris fell silent, his head lowered as if thinking, thousands of water grasses embraced him, like a flock following a shepherd.

"No, he cannot die."

Unexpectedly, the deeply tormented Hiris said,

"I see clearly now my cowardice, so he cannot die, absolutely cannot."

Laren and Utus stood stunned; they thought such a sight would shake Hiris's will, but the reality was the opposite. After seeing his own cowardice, Hiris became completely resolute.

"You damned thing!"

Laren cursed.

Hiris looked up, his eyes full of pity, the eyes crowded with wrinkles, occupied by tears.

"Why do you look at me with such eyes, do you consider yourself a Prophet? A Shepherd?

Do you think we are who, mere mortals to be led?!"

The frustrated Laren, spitting and cursing at Hiris, in this room where they could not lie or pretend, they discarded their feigned respect, freely expressing their emotions, no trace of divine dignity to be seen on them.

Suddenly, without warning, Hiris burst into tears, almost as if he had lost his mind, saying:

"Ah, I realized Father's intentions, I understand!

This place forbids lies and falsehood, all for us to truly see ourselves!"

Laren grew angrier as he listened. He stepped forward, intending to grab Hiris by the throat and strangle him, but he saw Utus standing still, as if petrified.

"What's wrong, Utus?"

Laren quickly asked.

Utus, somewhat absentminded, said,

"I thought of... an ancient legend,

where there was a king named Seleucus, in an ancient country called Libog.

King Seleucus sought eternal life, yet was deceived by his father, the Fire God.

In the end, the only lesson he learned was...

to truly see yourself."

Laren felt an inexplicable panic.

"What are you trying to say, Utus? What do you mean?"

"The law of the jungle, naturally just..."

Utus slowly said:

"Our Father...

He has the power to make us see ourselves."

From Utus's words, Laren sensed a waver.

He became even angrier and yelled,

"Fine, you've become preachy too! You're betraying me, becoming that craftsman's lamb!

Go ahead, even if I'm the only one who wants Xilan to die, he will definitely die!"

Utus, a fervent believer in the survival of the fittest, clasped his head tight and grimaced,

"I have not betrayed you, I will still make him die, I will still make him die."

After these words fell, silence suddenly descended among the three, punctuated at first by the gasps of excitement, which gradually faded, sounds seeming to be confiscated, vanishing in the listless room. Beneath the dim light, the statue-like Xilan still stood in a position of prayer.

For them, destroying a miracle was as easy as blowing out a candle.

But now they were all silent, silence prevailed everywhere.

Hiris seemed to stop trying to persuade the other two, Laren no longer argued with Hiris, and Utus was lost in his tortured thoughts, trying to convince himself.

Bitter grass swayed under the shallow lake, silent like a starry sky, soundless.

They did nothing, said nothing, waiting for the arrival of a new day, waiting for the day the candle would be blown out.

Waiting... for the next rotation of heaven and earth.

Among the three, still two sought to kill Xilan, but one of them was becoming less resolute.

Xilan's time of death drew one day closer, the steps of death accelerating, drawing ever nearer, the three about to destroy His miracle as easily as blowing out a candle.

.........…

Another rotation of heaven and earth

This time, they arrived at a place.

It seemed like a once small, peaceful village, which had recently suffered a vicious plunder.

"What happened here?"

Laren looked around, sensing the dream-like divine power, and involuntarily furrowed his brow.

Both Hiris and Utus were surveying the surroundings.

Then, the craftsman thought of something and said,

"Laren, this is yours, the sins committed by your Clan Shangla'er."

The heavy words fell to the ground.

As Laren turned his head,

he saw,

a wooden house being burned down,

on the cold, ashen earth, wild horses burning in the fire.