Chapter 19 third quarter

Chi Yang sat cross-legged on the ground, listening to everyone's discussion.The voice gradually faded and weakened, and the warm sunshine in the late summer and late evening receded into darkness, leaving only trees, tall and blind existences in the empty space.The oldest children of the earth.Xi Guoyi, Chi Yang said in his heart, the created and the creator, let me come to you. The darkness stretched on, over the trees, over everything. Before the utter nothingness he saw the mountain, the tall hill to the right as he left the town, and the road, the trail, the dust and stones on it to the other side.

Now he turned his back on the path, away from the crowd, and walked up the hill. The grass grows tall, and the flower stalks of the star flower grass nod among the tall grass.He came to the narrow path and followed it up the steep side of the mountain.I am myself, Chi Yang said in his heart, Xi Guoyi, the world is so beautiful, let me come to you through the world. I can do the work I was born to do again, Alder thought as he walked, can mend what was broken, can make it coincide. He reaches the top of the mountain.Standing among the nodding long grass, in the mountain wind, and under the sun, you can see the fields, the roofs of the town, the Hongxuan Pavilion, the bright bay outside the island, and the sea on the right; if you turn your head, you will see endlessness behind you and the west The trees in the forest gradually recede into a distant light blue; in front of them, the hillside is vaguely gray, extending down to the stone wall and the darkness behind the wall, and the shadows gathered and calling beside the wall.I will go, he said to the shadow, I will go!

A burst of warmth spread over shoulders and hands, and the wind stirred the leaves on top.Someone's voice, someone talking, not shouting, not calling his name.Master Xingyi observed him from the grass circle, and so did Master Summoner.He lowered his head, dazed, trying to listen.He collected his mind and listened intently. Wang is speaking, using all skill and willpower to make this group of strong-tempered, willful men and women cooperate towards the same purpose. "Master Roke, let me try to tell what I learned from the First Princess during the voyage. May I tell it for you, Princess?"

The princess, with her face bare, stared at Lebannin through the circle, and nodded solemnly. "This is the story of the princess: A long time ago, humans and dragons belonged to the same family and spoke the same language, but because they pursued different things, they agreed to separate and go in different directions. This agreement is called Fudunan." Obsidian raised his head, Sepo's bright black eyes gleamed, and he said softly, "Fernaden." "People go east, dragons go west; people give up the language of creation in exchange for the technology, craftsmanship, and things that can be created with their hands, while the dragon gives up all these and keeps the ancient language."

"And wings," said Irian. "And wings." Lebanin repeated, catching Azve's eyes, "Master Xingyi, maybe you are more suitable for telling this story than me?" Azfo continued: "The villagers of Gont and Hurhu remember things that the wise men of Roke and the priests of Karigol have forgotten. Yes, when I was a child, someone told me this story, or something like it, But the dragon in the story was omitted and forgotten. The story tells how the Hei tribe of the Archipelago Kingdom broke their oath. The Karga tribe promised to give up witchcraft and the language of magic, only speak Mandarin, no naming, no spells, relying on Xi Guoyi, Relying on the power of the mother of the earth, that is, the mother of the god of war. But the Hei people broke the agreement and used their skills to live in the language of creation, write it down with runes, keep it, teach it, and use it. Tongues, spells in the language of Creation. So the Kargs can never trust the Black Race, that's the story."

Irian said: "Humans are afraid of death, but dragons are not. Humans want to have life, possess it as if it were a jewel in a box. The ancient mages longed for eternal life, and prevented mortals from dying through their real names, but those who cannot die can never die. Rebirth." "The real name and the dragon are two sides of the same coin." Said the master of names, Kerrika Merrick. "Humans lost their real names in Furnarden, but we learned how to regain them. The real name is ourselves. Why can death change this?" He looked to the Summoner, but Rod sat heavy and brooding, listening, unwilling to speak.

"Master, if you want, please continue." Wang said. "What I'm talking about is half-learned and half-guessed things, not wild stories from the countryside, but the oldest records in the isolated tower. A thousand years before the first king of Yinglad Island appeared, the islands of Oia and Solia Above, there were the first and greatest mages, the Rune-Makers. They were the first to learn to write the Creation Words, created the runes that dragons never learned, and taught us to give each soul a True Name. The True Name is the Truth, the Self, and by their power , to grant life after physical death to those who bear the True Name."

"Eternal life." Saipo said with a slight smile surrounding the words in a soft voice, "In a land with rivers, mountains, and beautiful cities, there will be no hardship or pain, and the self will survive forever, without change, forever. No change, forever...that was the dream of the ancient Paan wisdom..." "Where?" asked the Summoner, "Where is that land?" "On other winds, in the west of the west." Irian looked around the crowd contemptuously and irritably, "Do you think we dragons can only fly on the winds of this world? You think we gave up everything for the freedom, Freedom as stupid seagull? Do you think our territory is a few rocks on the edge of your rich island? You own the land and the sea, but I'm a flame of the sun, riding the wind! You want to own the land , wanted to create, to keep things, and you got it. This is separation, that's Velnaden, but you are not satisfied with what you got, not only your own worries, but our freedom. You want the wind! With the spell and sorcery of the Oathbreaker, steal half of the territory belonging to my family, cut off life and light, so that you can live there forever! Thief! Traitor!"

"Sisters," said Tehanu, "these are not the ones who steal, but the ones who pay the price." Her hoarse, low voice brought a moment of silence. "What's the price?" asked the name master. Tehanu looked at Irian, who hesitated for a moment, then said calmly: "Greed puts out the daylight, that's what Kailasin said." Azifu opened his mouth and looked at the row of trees across the clearing, his eyes seemed to trace the slight movement of the leaves. "The ancients discovered that the realm of the dragon was not limited to the body. They discovered that the dragon could transcend... time, maybe so... They were jealous of this freedom, so they followed the path of the dragon family and entered the west of the west. They took half of the territory as their own There is a realm where time does not exist, so that the ego can remain forever. But the ego of man cannot be with the body like the dragon, only the soul of man can go there... They fear the wrath of the dragons, and they build a It is a wall that cannot be crossed by the flesh of a person or a dragon. The naming technique spreads a large spell net on the western islands. After the islanders die, they will go to the west of the west, where the ghosts will live forever.

"But after the wall was built and the spell cast, the wind inside the wall stopped blowing, the sea dried up, the sweet springs dried up, the mountains at sunrise became mountains at night, and the dead went to a dark continent and arid land." "I walked on that land," said Lebannin in a low tone of reluctance. "I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid of it." Silence fell. The Summoner said in a harsh, reluctant voice, "Kabu and Thorion are trying to break down that wall, so that the dead may be raised." "Not resurrection, my lord," Sepo said. "They, like the Talismans, are still seeking a disembodied, immortal self."

"But their spells disturb the place," said the Summoner gloomily, "and thus the dragons remember ancient mistakes... so the undead now pass over the walls, longing to return to the living world." Alder stood up and said, "What they long for is not life, but death. They long to be one with the earth again." Everyone looked at Alder, but he hardly felt it, only half of his consciousness was with everyone, and the other half was in the dry land.The grass beneath him was green and sunny, and dead and dark; the leaves quivered above him, and the low stone wall was not far away, at the foot of the dark mountain.Among the crowd, he could only see Tehanu, and although he couldn't make out her figure clearly, he knew she was standing between him and the wall.He said to her, "They build walls, but they cannot tear them down. Will you help me, Tehanu?" "I will, Hari," said Tehanu. A shadow rushed between the two, and a great bundle of dark power concealed her, captured and bound him.He struggled, gasped, couldn't breathe, saw red flames in the dark, and then everything disappeared. The King of the Western Isles and Master Roke, the two great powers of earth and sea, gathered at the edge of the grass and met under the starlight. "Can Alder live?" asked the Summoner, and Lebannen replied, "The Herb Master says he is out of danger." "I was wrong," said the Summoner, "I regret it." "Why did you call Alder back?" Wang asked, not blaming, but wanting an answer. After a long time, Master Summoner said gloomyly, "Because I have the strength to do so." The two walked silently on the open path between the big trees. It was pitch black on the left and right, but gray and white stars shone under their feet. "I was wrong. But it's wrong to want to die." The Summoner said in a low voice with the thick roll of Dongzhen, almost pleading, "Maybe it should be so for the elderly and seriously ill. But Life is a gift we receive, how can we go wrong if we want to keep and cherish this great gift!" "Death is also a gift we receive," Wang said. Alder lay on a cushion of grass.Master Xingyi said that he should lie under the stars, and the old herb master agreed.He was asleep, and Tehanu sat beside him quietly. Tenar sat in the doorway of the low stone house, watching Tehanu.The chief stars of late summer shone in the clearing, and the tallest of them was called Tehanu, the Heart of the Swan, the center of the Arch. Setheraki quietly walked out of the house, went to the door, and sat down beside Tenar.She took off the gold rings that held her veil in place, letting her thick, golden-brown hair hang loose. "Oh, friend," murmured the princess, "what will become of us? The dead are coming this way, can you feel it? Like a rising tide, over a stone wall. I don't think anyone can stop it. For centuries, All the dead are coming out of the tombs of the western islands at this moment..." Tenar felt the blow, the call, in her head and in her veins, and now she and all knew what Alder knew.But she clings to her faith, even now there is only hope left. "Sytheraki, they are only dead. We built a false wall that must be torn down, but the real wall also exists." Tehanu got up, walked lightly to the side of the two, and sat down on the stone steps at their feet. "He's fine, he's sleeping," Tehanu whispered. "Were you there with him just now?" Tenar asked. Tehanu nodded, "We are standing by the wall." "What did the Summoner do?" "The master summoned him...bring him back by force." "Bring back to the living world." "Bring back to the living world." "I don't know which is more terrible," said Tenar. "Death or life? I wish I could be free from fear!" Setheraki's face and warm, wavy hair leaned against Tenar's shoulder for a moment, and stroked it lightly. "You are brave, brave," murmured the princess, "but I, oh! I am afraid of the sea! I am afraid of death!" Tehanu sat quietly.Tenar could see her daughter's slender hand over the burnt, twisted hand by the faint, soft light that hung between the leaves. "I think," Tehanu said in a small, strange voice, "after death, I can breathe back the breath that keeps me alive, and I can give back to the world all that I have not done, all that I may and cannot be, All the choices I didn't make, all the things I lost, spent, and wasted, can all be returned to the world and given to the life that has not yet lived. That will be my return to the world, thanking it for giving me the life I have lived, the life I have loved love, and the breath that has been breathed." She looked up at the stars, sighed, and whispered, "But that was much later." She turned to Tenar. Setheraki stroked Tenar's hair lightly, stood up, and entered the room silently. "Mom, I think soon..." "I know." "I do not want to leave you." "You have to leave me." "I see." The two continued to sit in the gleaming darkness of the Xincheng Forest, relatively speechless. "Look!" Tehanu murmured.A meteor streaked across the sky and disappeared quickly, the trail of light fading slowly.