novelraw Chapter 123 : Learning the Correct Way to Use the Profound Other (10)
Chapter 123 : Learning the Correct Way to Use the Profound Other (10)
The environment of Tianzhu is desolate. Water is scarce throughout the four seasons, and it is difficult to solve even the simple necessities of life.
Perhaps because of that, the people of Tianzhu had a great longing for God.
Perhaps it was to escape the hell of reality even a little.
"God is the only deviation, salvation, and object of desire for us Tianzhu people."
"What does that have to do with you?"
Fatima, who had joined us by chance, gave us quite a variety of information about Tianzhu in addition to being a guide.
"In Tianzhu, astrologers are often called this. God's guide."
Each country has its own unique cultural elements. Considering that, I think it's not too strange for them to call a guide in a rather elegant way in Tianzhu. Above all, it wasn't that I didn't understand it at all.
Sand in front.
Sand to the side, and sand behind.
In this place with nothing but sand, a guide was no different from a god.
If it weren't for Fatima, we might have been drying up and dying in the middle of the sand right now.
"And as I said before, perhaps because of the barren environment of Tianzhu, the people of Tianzhu are largely divided into three groups."
Fatima did not rest her words for a moment. Not letting the people going with her get bored. Perhaps this was the main ability she had as a guide.
If I had to give this ability a name...
It would be Infinite Mouth Art.
Anyway, it was a moment when I realized the importance of a guide once again.
"So?"
The occasional interjections I put in were the correct attitude of a listener.
"So!"
Look at this. Didn't Fatima's momentum revive with just one word when the atmosphere was down?
Does this make me a god?
"The people of Tianzhu, tired of life, either take refuge in religion, run away from life and become bandits, or form their own villages to live a new life. And most of these people form villages centered on the oases of the desert."
Just then, Fatima points her finger to one place.
"Wooooo!"
Seeing that, the Mad Demon let out a shout.
"Phew."
The quiet Sword Demoness let out a sigh of relief for the first time.
"Oh, God."
I looked at Fatima and cried out to God.
"Ahem!"
Fatima crossed her arms and tilted her head back so much that her Adam's apple was brightly exposed to the sunlight.
A week and three days after entering the desert.
For the first time, a village appeared, not sand, insects, or reptiles.
* * *
Taking refuge in religion does not make everyone happy.
"When is the date of the contract with the Central Plains people?"
"It's coming soon."
"I see."
Religion could be a refuge to escape reality, but it could never be a utopia that completely frees one from reality.
Also, the afterlife led by him, who had newly ascended to the divine throne of Tianzhu, was no different from hell.
The unit leader of the Mad Wind Unit, Gurat, was one of the types who had escaped from that hell.
But he was still tied to the desert.
There was no way to escape his eyes in this desert.
"Unit Leader, let's just move according to the contract with the Central Plains people. If we drag on any longer, we'll be finished too."
Gurat looked around.
He saw his comrades with dead eyes like his own, with their shoulders slumped.
They were once comrades who had lived with hope like himself.
He, and they who gathered here, believed that they could change this hell.
But that was all just a delusion.
When he came to his senses, he and his comrades had been reduced to the henchmen of God.
As his faithful sword, they were cutting down people in the same situation as themselves. They were continuing their lives with their blood and tears as a curse.
The time to end that was approaching.
"Do you think the Central Plains people will keep their promise to give us a place to live?"
"We can't trust those barbarians, but one thing is for sure, it will be better than going back there."
The one talking to Gurat now was a blind man who could not see ahead. By losing his eyes to see the world, he was able to see new things.
He was a guide in the language of Tianzhu.
In Tianzhu, guides are treated like saints. They could not see what others saw, but instead, they could see what others could not see.
Currently, all the guides in Tianzhu had been killed by 'him', and the only surviving guide was the blind man.
Currently, there were no more guides in Tianzhu who could see God.
And in a world without God, 'he' was the only one who called himself God.
The only current guide, Firmi, said.
"God has hidden his form. Tianzhu has been dominated by the bird demon. There is no place for us to stay in Tianzhu anymore."
"What if the bird demon keeps the deal?"
"Unfortunately, as God's guide, the 'one' he wants does not exist in this world. Because he is a being who is over a hundred years old. If he had reincarnated, he would have done so long ago, and if so, I would have seen him long ago. So we cannot satisfy his desires."
"I see."
-Good. I promise. Either bring 'that person' before me, or kill all the guides who follow 'that person'. If you do, I will grant you what you want.
Abundant water and land.
That was all that the unit leader of the Mad Wind Unit, Gurat, wanted.
He thought he could be a being who brought salvation to everyone.
"Firma."
"Yes. My only lord."
The fallen hero, pulling his sword from the corpse at his feet, asked the only guide.
"Is it true that God and all the guides who follow him are dead?"
It was a confirmation, and a question that urged him to make a decision.
Firma opens his eyes. Then, eyes full of only white sclera are revealed. He raises his head and looks at the sky. The fierce sunlight shines vertically on his eyes, but he just continues to look up at the sky. After a long time, Firma answered.
"I feel the energy of a guide from the west."
In a world where only one god existed, another god should be a being that could never coexist.
"I see. How many are left now?"
The fallen hero asked, and the only priest who followed him answered.
"There is only one left now."
"The day to escape this hell is not far away."
The Mad Wind Unit started walking again.
In the place they left, there were numerous corpses, and a single crow was watching them.
* * *
I thought it would be the size of a rural village since it was a village made in the desert, but it was quite large.
Children are running around brightly. The clothes they are wearing are shabby, but they are diligently covering their bodies with cloth.
The faces of the women also have worries and anxieties, but at the same time, they contain satisfaction and happiness with life.
If I didn't know this was the middle of the desert, I would have mistaken it for one of the villages in the Central Plains.
"This is one of the major cities in the desert, Surt! A place you would never have reached if it weren't for me!"
We immediately headed to an inn. My back was aching from sleeping only on the sand all this time.
A fluffy bed!
Warm water!
Real meat, not lizards!
Just imagining it made me feel like I would pee myself.
A ten-day life where I realized how important these three things are in life.
I saw an inn over there.
The name is also fitting for a desert city, the Blue Oasis.
As we opened the door and entered, a clerk greeted us.
"Welcome to the Blue Oasis."
"Four rooms for each of us to stay in! And warm water for a bath right away!"
"Our Blue Oasis always has empty rooms on standby for our guests, and water is drawn so you can warm your body right away!"
"Oh! God! Amitabha!"
A reverence for God naturally arose. It wasn't just me who had this reaction, as the Sword Demoness, who usually doesn't show her emotions, was already going up to her room without a word, overwhelmed with emotion. The same was true for the Mad Demon. We each washed up and rested, and then decided to meet on the first floor of the inn in one shichen.
The bath I took after a long time was so blissful that I would sell my soul for it. I felt like I wanted to stay at the inn forever. Of course, if I did that, my body would explode and I would die. And the food that followed was far from that of the Central Plains, but compared to chewing on lizard tails, it was truly a feast.
The village tour that followed was also a new experience.
Perhaps because the necessities of life were different, the market streets in the Central Plains sell snacks like skewers, but here, they mainly sold things like dried scorpions, centipedes, and the poison of a snake's tongue.
But who would buy something that can be commonly seen just by going out into the desert?
"Wow! How much is this?"
There was. A pushover who buys that.
"It's 3 silver coins!"
"That's a complete bargain! You can't even buy this for 30 silver coins!"
"Haha! The young lady knows very well! Actually, I was going to close up after today's last business. So I'm giving a special 90% discount just for today!"
"If you don't buy this, you're a pushover! Give me everything here!"
She's a rather short woman. I've seen many pushovers in this world, but she was definitely the best. By the way, it was strange that the woman's eyes were shining as she looked at the poisons. She was definitely not a normal person.
In the Central Plains, there is a group of abnormal people who go crazy when they see poisons. It's the people of the Tang Family. Come to think of it, the old Medicine Saint was also from the Tang Family. No wonder he went crazy whenever he saw my blood. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm a poison.
Oops! As I was staring, she must have noticed, because she turned her head towards me. I quickly turned my attention elsewhere.
Just then, the Sword Demoness spoke to me.
"Do you like short women, Jae-ha?"
I don't know why she's suddenly asking this here, but I said confidently.
"I like women with big breasts."
I vaguely remember hearing that a person's character comes from a big chest. A man and a woman must first become a person.
Character is the first virtue to look at when getting to know a person.
"Breasts."
The Sword Demoness walked down the street, repeating what I had said earlier. She looked somewhat dejected. The Mad Demon was excitedly looking around here and there, listening to Fatima's explanation.
Watching that, I thought the Mad Demon was truly amazing. While crossing the desert, listening to Fatima's unending mouth... no, words, I felt like I was going to lose my mind.
"What's that?"
"Hehe! That's a stardust bead!"
"Wow! Then is there real stardust inside?"
"Of course, it's not real! In the fine sand of the desert, there are sparkling powders that resemble starlight, and they are collected and trapped in glass with various decorations like that."
"Wow! Amazing! Then, what's that?"
"That's a white snake! In the desert, almost all living things are used for food. Even if it's a poisonous snake."
"Shasha!!!!!!"
Hmm? I hear a familiar, urgent snake sound.
"Shashashashashasha!!!!"
That white snake is probably not the white snake I know. The white snake I know is a respectable native of the Central Plains. This is the middle of the desert. Hmm... but it looks a bit similar?
As I got closer, the white snake went completely crazy and moved around in a small wire cage.
At this, Fatima looks at me with wide eyes.
"Jae-ha-nim, you treat people so roughly. It seems the animals are also having a seizure seeing your evil nature."
I have a slightly different perspective.
"I think it likes me."
"Shashashashashashasha!!!!"
Look. Isn't it foaming at the mouth and going crazy like that?
"Hey! I've been to various villages and received snakes as a reward for fortune-telling, so I know, that's being terrified."
"Is that so?"
"Shasha!!!!"
I was about to just pass by, but since it was a guy that resembled Baek-ah, I felt a bit bad just leaving. So I decided to go to the snake merchant, buy the white snake, and just let it go.
I had plenty of money since I hadn't had a chance to spend it.
"How much is this?"
"Oh! You're a customer with a good eye! This guy, on the outside, looks like an ordinary white snake, but in fact, it's a spiritual creature that has shed its skin over 1,000 times!"
Anyone can see that he's lying as casually as a passing joke.
"Mister, have you ever heard of an astrologer?"
"T-The great guide of God?"
"That's right. That great guide of God said this. If you get caught lying, you'll get a hole in your stomach."
"Ahem. You, can you prove that?"
I shrugged and pushed Fatima forward. Fatima confidently held out her fortune-telling tube and said.
Her atmosphere was different from what I had known until now.
"I was born into this world with the stars. You lowly mortal. If you have told a lie in this place now, I will forgive you specially just this once. But if you do not, a heavenly punishment will surely fall upon you."
Fatima held a bamboo slip from the fortune-telling tube in her hand. The moment he saw it, the snake merchant prostrated himself before Fatima and confessed his own sins.
"I-I'm sorry! O guide of God. This white snake is a guy I caught a few days ago when it was struggling in the desert."
Fatima stopped as she was about to draw the bamboo slip. Seeing that, the snake merchant let out a sigh of relief and gave me the white snake for free.
"Shasha!"
The white snake came to me, immediately wrapped itself around my wrist, and rubbed its head against my hand.
"Don't tell me you're really Baek-ah?"
At my question, the white snake answered.
"Shasha!"
Seeing it nod its head vigorously, it seemed to be Baek-ah. Still, I had to check. I said a signal that only Baek-ah and I knew.
"That thing?"
The white snake raises its tail high.
Seeing that it wasn't there, it was definitely Baek-ah.
"It's really Baek-ah!"
"Shasha!!"
Why on earth is this guy here? It's not like he followed me. Did the Demonic Brain send him to give me some information? I grabbed Baek-ah's tail and shook it forward vigorously.
No matter how much I shook, nothing came out of Baek-ah's throat.
"As expected, he must have been a demon in his past life!"
Seeing that, Fatima took a step away from me.
Well, anyway, I decided to find meaning in saving Baek-ah.
By the way, I asked a question I was curious about from the situation earlier.
"Fatima, why was the snake merchant so subservient earlier?"
Fatima answered as if it were no big deal.
"In Tianzhu, a fortune is not just a fortune, but the word of God. So, as the snake merchant said just now, the person who delivers it is called God's messenger or God's guide. In other words, the fortune that comes out of this fortune-telling tube is the word of God that will surely happen."
"Isn't that a scam?"
"Hey! You may think so in the Central Plains, but it's different in Tianzhu. And this is my boast, but my fortunes are quite accurate!"
"It's still a scam."
"It's not just a scam! It's a fortune!"
"So, what were you about to draw earlier?"
Fatima pulled out the bamboo slip she was holding.
The moment she saw the bamboo slip, Fatima suddenly trembled like a leaf in the wind, as if she had seen something terrifying.
Look at her acting.
Watching that, I personally realized that a professional swindler is different.
But Fatima was not acting now.
"T-This was drawn!"
Great Misfortune.
Among the four fortunes of good luck, bad luck, fortune, and misfortune, Great Misfortune is one of the worst fortunes.
Fatima drew a fortune again.
Great Killing.
Another fortune comparable to Great Misfortune.
"T-This can't be?"
She drew a fortune again.
Great Demon.
A fortune comparable to Great Misfortune and Great Killing, which are called the Three Misfortunes.
"Huh?"
Is it just a coincidence?
At the same time as having the question, Fatima's eyes, which were looking at the sky, widened.
The sky was covered with fire arrows.
* * *
The unit leader of the Mad Wind Unit, Gurat, said.
"Brothers, shoot."
(End of Chapter)