Chapter 5 Chapter 4 Dreams and Stories

A'erha was unwell for several days.Everyone treated her as a fever, and either put her in bed, or let her sit on the porch of the hut, looking up at the western mountains under the warm autumn sun.She felt weak and dull, and the same thought came over her again and again: she was ashamed that she had passed out.Ke Xiu didn't send anyone to guard the wall around the tombstone, but in this situation, she may never dare to ask more questions.She didn't want to see Ke Xiu at all, and she never wanted to see her again.It was embarrassing for me to pass out. She sat in the sun, often thinking about how she would behave the next time she entered the dark world below the hill.She had also thought several times how she would order the execution of the next batch of prisoners when they arrived: in a more subtle way, in a manner more suited to the etiquette of the Empty Throne.

Every night, she wakes up screaming in the dark: "They're not dead! They're dying!" She had a lot of dreams.In her dream, she had to cook pot after pot of delicious barley porridge, and pour it all into a hole in the ground after cooking.She also dreamed that she was holding a large bowl of water in a deep copper bowl, passing through the darkness to give a thirsty person to drink, but she couldn't get to the person no matter what.When she awoke, she was extremely thirsty, but she didn't get up to get a drink.With eyes wide open, she lay awake in the windowless room.

One morning, Pan Si came to see her.Arha saw her approaching the cabin from the porch, with a relaxed and idle expression on her face, as if she just happened to be walking by.Maybe if Alha hadn't spoken first, she might not have stepped up the steps.But Arha felt lonely, so he called her. Pan Si bowed down as all those who approached the mausoleum priestess must do.But just after the salute, she let out a "hoo!" and plopped down on the steps below Arha.In the past few years, she has grown quite tall and chubby. No matter what she does, her face is flushed when she moves. Now she is pink when she walks over.

"I heard that you are sick, and I will save some apples for you." From under her loose black robe, she conjured a net made of rushes, with six to eight yellow apples inside.Pan Si has now devoted herself to serving the God King and works under Ke Xiu in the God King Temple; but she is not a priestess yet, and still attends classes and works with other trainees. "This year it's Papua and I's turn to pick apples, and I keep the best ones. They often take the really good ones to dry in the sun. Of course, it's best to store them that way, but I think it's a waste. Look, these few apples are beautiful. Not pretty?"

Those apples have pale golden smooth skins, and the twigs at the pedicles are still delicately attached to the brown dry leaves. Arha touched and looked at them, and said, "It's really beautiful." "Eat one." Pan Si said. "I won't eat it now. You can eat it." Out of politeness, Pan Si picked the smallest one, and she immediately gnawed it skillfully and with great interest.The apple was sizzling after biting into it, and after about ten bites, Pan Si finished eating it. "I could eat all day long," she said. "I'm never full. I wish I were the cook instead of the priestess. If I were the cook, I'd cook better than that old miser Nashaba. And well, I'll definitely lick the pots clean... oh, did you hear about Munice? She was assigned to polish those copper pots of rose oil, you know, the thin pots with lids She thought she was going to clean the inside too, so she put a piece of cloth in her hand into the mouth of the jug, and it turned out, well, the hand couldn't get out. She pulled so hard that her hand and wrist were swollen. You know, this way It's stuck. She's running around the dorm, yelling, "I can't get my hand out! I can't get my hand out!" You know, Ponty's ears are gone now, he thinks it's a fire , hurriedly yelled out the other stewards one by one, trying to save all the trainees. At that time, Wu Tuo was milking the goats, and he immediately ran out of the sheep house to see what was going on, and left the door of the sheep house open in a hurry , as a result, all the suckling sheep ran out, poured into the courtyard, and collided with Ponty, several stewards, and a large group of little girls. On the side, Munice waved the copper pot on the end of her arm, and gradually became hysterical. Just as everyone was in a mess During the group tour, Ke Xiu walked down from the temple and kept asking, "What's going on here? What's going on here?""

Pan Si's round face, which was not bad, had a disgusting sneer at it. Although it was not at all like Ke Xiu's indifferent expression, it was quite similar in some parts. When A'erha laughed, he almost Take your fears with you. "'What's going on here? What's going on here?' Ke Xiu said. Then—then, that brown goat hit her with its horns!!" Pan Si couldn't help laughing, tears welled up in her eyes: "Munice took the - copper pot - and beat the - sheep -" The two girls hugged their knees, coughing and rolling forward and backward laughing.

"Then, Ke Xiu turned around and said to the goat: 'What's going on? What's going on?'..." The end of the story disappeared amid the laughter.Finally, Pan Si wiped her eyes and nose, casually picked up the second apple and whistled. Laughing so hard that Arha felt a little trembling.She managed to regain her composure, and asked after a while, "Pan Si, how did you come here back then?" "Oh, I'm the sixth daughter of my parents. They really can't afford to raise so many daughters until they marry off. When I was seven years old, they took me to the Temple of the King of God to serve in Oshahua. The Temple of the God King, not here. But they sent me here shortly after, and I guess there were too many apprentice priestesses there, or maybe they thought I would make a particularly good priestess. You got it wrong!" Pan Si bit the apple cheerfully and sadly.

"Would you rather not be a priestess?" "I'd rather not? Of course! I'd rather marry a pig farmer, live in a ditch, do anything, than spend my whole life in a desolate desert with a lot of women! But it’s useless to hope, I’ve dedicated myself to serving, and there’s no way I can escape. I only hope to be a dancing girl in Avabas in my next life! I’ve worked so hard in this life, so I should be able to get that kind of reward.” Arha lowered his head and stared at Pan Si intently.She doesn't understand.Pan Si was like a golden apple at the moment, round and juicy, beautiful, and Ah Erha felt as if he had never seen her or looked at her carefully.

"For you, is the Temple of the King of Gods meaningless?" Arha's tone was a bit persuasive. Pan Si's personality has always been submissive and easily bullied, but this time she was also not vigilant. "Oh, I know your mistresses are very important to you." The indifference of her tone surprised Arha. "But anyway, it makes sense, after all, you are their special servant. You are not just dedicated, your incarnation is also special. But me, should I be so in awe of the current God King or so what? Even if he lives in that golden domed palace ten miles around in Avabas, he's just a mortal man in his fifties and bald!! You can tell he's bald from all the statues. I bet you He had to cut his toenails like everyone else. Of course I knew he was a god, but my idea was that he would be more like a god when he was dead than he is when he is alive."

Arha agrees with Pan Si, privately she also feels that these self-proclaimed holy emperors of the Karg Empire are actually false and false gods, but they still steal worship from the people of the empire, and that kind of worship should only be dedicated to the real and eternal strength.But at the bottom of Pan Si's words, there are still parts that she disagrees with and is afraid of, which is a completely new concept for Arha.She hadn't understood how different people were, how different their views on life were.At this moment, she felt as if she looked up and suddenly saw a brand new planet hanging outside the window, a huge and populous planet, it was a world completely unfamiliar to her, and God had no weight there.Pan Si's firm belief in not believing in God frightened her.Startled, she bounces back violently:

"You are right. My mistress died a long, long time ago, and there is no man among them...Pan Si, do you know that I can order you to serve in the mausoleum." She said happily, as if to her A friend offers a better alternative. The pink color on Pan Si's cheeks disappeared instantly. "Yes," she said, "you can order it, but I don't...I'm not good at that job." "why?" "I'm afraid of the dark." Pan Si whispered. Arha snorted in mockery, but she was satisfied, she was confirmed.Pan Si may not believe in gods, but she is no different from every mortal, after all, she is afraid of the indescribable power of darkness. "You know, unless you want to go, I won't give that kind of order." Arha said. There was a long silence between the two. "You are becoming more and more like Saar," Pan Si whispered dreamily, "Thank God you didn't become like Ke Xiu! But you are very strong. I wish I was so strong, but I just want to eat..." "Keep eating." Arha said, feeling superior and interesting.Pan Si slowly bit into the third apple until it saw the seeds. The ensuing ritual demands brought Arha out of her two-day seclusion.A female goat gave birth to twin lambs. Due to the wrong season, the pair of lambs should be sacrificed to the twin gods according to the custom.This is an important ceremony and the first priestess must be present.Then there is the "Dance of the Black Moon". This kind of ceremony must be performed in the throne hall. First, the medicinal herbs are burned in a wide flat bronze plate in front of the throne. elves dancing.As she danced, the spirits gathered in the air around her and spun with the slow movements of her feet and arms.She danced as well as she sang, but no one understood the words, learned by rote from Saar long ago, syllable by syllable.In the dark behind the double row of giant columns, a chorus priestess hummed those strange words.The air in the ruined hall also sang with these people, as if the spirits crowded in the hall repeated it again and again. The god-king of Awabas did not send the prisoners to the tomb, and Arha gradually stopped dreaming about the three prisoners.They were long dead and buried in the low graves, in the great vault beneath the tombstones. She mustered up the courage to return to the Great Tomb.She must go back: the mausoleum priestess must be able to enter her personal realm fearlessly, to know the paths within it. Getting into the trapdoor for the first time was a struggle, but not as hard as she had feared.After she had exercised herself well and developed considerable determination, she had the courage to go alone.But once inside, she was almost taken aback when she found that there was nothing to be afraid of.There might be many graves in it, but she couldn't see it: there was nothing in it, it was dark and dead.That's all. Day after day, she kept going in there, but each time she always went in and out through the trap door in the room behind the throne room, until she got familiar with the strangely carved stone walls in the cave, and then the whole circuit of the cave, Reach the situation of "knowing what has not been seen".However, she never stayed away from those stone walls, because if she wandered around in the big empty cave, she might soon lose her sense of direction in the dark, and even if she fumbled back to the wall, she would not know where she was.The first time she went in, she learned that in that kind of dark place, the most important thing is to find out how many turns and openings have been passed, and what kind of turns and openings are there next.It counts, because every turn and opening is the same to the groping hand.Arha's memory has always been well-trained, and this weird way of finding her way by touching and counting rather than by sight and common sense didn't bother her at all.She quickly memorized all the passages dug in the tomb, the smaller network of tunnels under the throne room and the crest of the hill.But there was a passage she hadn't entered yet, which was the second passage on the left from the entrance of the Hongyan Gate.She knew that once she strayed into that passage, she might never find her way out.Although the desire to enter the passage and to know the Great Labyrinth has been steadily increasing, she is suppressed, and must wait until she fully understands it on the ground before entering. Saar didn't know much about the Great Labyrinth, only the names of a few of the rooms, and some directions and turns that should be taken or skipped to get to those rooms.She only told A'er these data verbally, she never drew clearly on the sand, she never even used her hands to make gestures in the air.Saar himself never followed those directions, nor entered the Great Labyrinth.But when Arha asked her: "Which passage should I go to go to the painting room from the iron door that is always open?" or "How is the passage from the bone room to the riverside tunnel connected?" and other questions, Saar would be silent for a moment before reciting the strange directions he had learned long ago from his previous life, Arha: skip many side roads, turn left several times, and so on.Arha only needs to listen to these once, and he will keep them in his heart just like Sar.She would repeat it to herself each night in bed, trying to imagine those places, those rooms, those turns. Saar took Arha to see the spy hole.The spyholes open into a network of tunnels, numerous in number.There are spy holes in every building, every temple, and even outdoor rocks.In the subterranean darkness beyond the walls of this whole district, and even beyond the walls of the site, lurks miles and miles of cobweb-like tunnels of stone walls.But the people here, only she, the two high priestesses, and their three exclusive servants: eunuchs Manan, Wu Tuo, and Dubi, knew that there was a network of tunnels under every step they stepped on.The rest knew only by vague hearsay that there were caves or chambers beneath the tombstones; but none of them was interested in anything connected with the Unknown or its sanctuary.Perhaps they thought the less they knew the better.Of course, Arha's curiosity was the strongest, as soon as she knew that there were spyholes opening into the Great Labyrinth, she wanted to find those spyholes.However, the spy holes were so well hidden, perhaps in the pavement, or on the desert floor, that she never found one—she didn't even discover that her own cabin had one, or that Sarah She didn't know until Er pointed it out to her. One night in early spring, she took a candle lantern, unlit, and led it through the mausoleum to the second passage on the left of the passage at the Red Rock Gate. She went down some thirty steps in the dark, and when she came across an opening, she felt for the iron door frame embedded in the rock: so far this was the limit of her exploration.She passed through the iron gate and walked along the tunnel for a long time. After feeling that the passage gradually turned to the right, she lit a candle to look around.Lighting of lamps is permitted here because she is no longer in the tomb.This place is less sacred, but perhaps more terrifying—this is the Great Labyrinth. In the small circle illuminated by candlelight, all around you can see rough rock walls, rock vaults, and rock floors.The air was stagnant, and the tunnel stretched into darkness no matter in front or behind. Crossing and crossing, all tunnels look the same.She had been carefully counting the turns and passages, and recited Saar's instructions to herself, though she knew them by heart.After all, in the big maze, once you get lost, you will be out of control.If lost in the Great Tomb and the short passages around it, Kershun or Saar might still find her, or Manan would try to find her, and she had taken him a few times before.And here, except for her, no one of them has been here.It was no use even if they went to the tomb and yelled, for she was lost in a tangle of tunnels half a mile away.She imagined hearing echoes calling her, and how she tried to find them: the echoes echoed through every channel, and as she sought, she became more lost.Because the imagination was so vivid, she actually thought that she heard someone calling her name in the distance, so she couldn't help but stop.As a result, there was no sound.In fact, she is so careful that she will not get lost, not to mention that this is her territory and her personal domain.Dark forces and the unknown of all ages will guide her steps, just as they will lead in the wrong direction for other mortals who dare to venture into the maze of the tomb. In this first expedition, although she didn't go deep into the maze, it was deep enough.A certainty of utter solitude and independence, a strange, bitter yet joyous feeling grew inside her, pulling her back again and again, each time going deeper and deeper.She went to the painting room and the six-forked road, then followed the long outer ring tunnel, and then passed through the intricate and strange passages to reach the bone room. "When was the Great Labyrinth built?" she asked Thar.The stern, gaunt priestess replied: "Mistress, I don't know. Nobody knows." "Why build the Great Maze?" "To collect the treasures of the mausoleum, and to punish those who want to steal the treasures." "Most of the treasures I've seen are hidden in the rooms behind the Throne Hall, and some are hidden in the basement of the Throne Hall. What will be in the Great Labyrinth?" "A greater, older treasure. Would you like to see it?" "think." "No one can enter the Great Treasure Room of the Mausoleum except you. You can take a few of your servants into the Great Labyrinth, but not the Great Treasure Room. Even Manan is the same. Once he enters, the Fury of Darkness will be destroyed." Will wake up, it will not keep the Great Labyrinth alive. You will always enter the Great Treasure Room alone. I know where the Great Treasure Room is, you told me the way when you were dying fifteen years ago, so that I can reincarnate after you Let me tell you. I can tell you the way to go in the great labyrinth, which is beyond the painting room; as for the key to the great treasure room, it is the silver one on the iron ring around your waist, with a Dragon shape. But you must go yourself." "Tell me the way." Saar told her the way, and she remembered it, as she remembered everything Saar had told her.But she did not go to see the great treasure room of the mausoleum.She vaguely felt that her will and knowledge were not perfect enough, so she retreated.Or maybe it was because she wanted to keep something to look forward to, and these endless tunnels through the darkness often ended in austere stone walls or dusty closets, leaving a sense of mystery that greatly added to the appeal. After all, hasn't she seen it before? She always found it strange to hear Saar and Kosuu talk about things she had seen or said before she died.She knew that she had indeed passed away, and was reincarnated in a new body at the time of the old body's death, and not only fifteen years ago, but fifty years ago, and before, and before, going back hundreds of years , generation after generation, back to the original beginning of the ages, when the Great Labyrinth was dug, and the tombstones erected, and where the first First Priestess dwelt and danced before the empty throne.They are one, including all her past lives and her in this life.She is the first priestess, and all mortals are always reborn, but only she, Arha, is forever reincarnated as her original self.She had reviewed the passages and turns of the Great Labyrinth hundreds of times, and finally came to this secret dark room. Sometimes, she thinks she remembers.She knew the dark place beneath the hill as if it were not only her domain but her home.Every time she inhales the medicinal herb vapor and dances the Black Moon Dance, she will feel light and light, and her body will gradually no longer be hers.She danced through time and space, but no matter which life she was in, she would always be in black and barefoot, and she knew that the dance would never end. But every time Saar says, "You told me before you died..." it always sounds weird. Arha once asked: "Who are those people who came to rob the tomb? Has anyone ever come to rob the tomb?" Thinking of the robbers made her a little excited, but it didn't seem like something that would happen in real life.How did those robbers sneak into the location secretly?There have always been fewer pilgrims visiting here, even fewer than prisoners.Occasionally, trainees or slaves were sent from the smaller temples on the four islands, or a small group made a special trip to offer gold or rare incense to a temple.Beyond that there was nothing: no one came by accident, no one came to do business, or sightsee, or steal.Only those with instructions will come to the location.Arha didn't even know how far it was from the nearest town, maybe twenty miles or more, and the nearest town was just a small town.It is emptiness and isolation that guard and defend the place.She thought that the chances of anyone trying to cross the desert that surrounded the area without being seen were as slim as a black sheep on the snow. For a while now, as long as she wasn't in the hut or went down the hill alone, she was mostly with Saar and Ke Xiu.On a cold and stormy night in April, she stayed with Sar and Ke Xiu in Ke Xiu's room behind the Temple of the God King, and the three sat around the fireplace, where the rushes were burning and the fire was weak.In the hall outside the door, Manan and Dolby were playing a game with thin sticks and chips: Throw a handful of thin sticks upwards, and then try to catch the thin sticks with the back of their hands as much as possible to see how many they caught.Until now, Manan and Arha sometimes secretly play this kind of game in the inner courtyard of the hut.The sound of the stick falling, the sighs of winning and losing, and the crackling of the fire were the only sounds in the room when the three priestesses fell silent.Outside the wall, the only thing that can be touched in all directions is the silence of the desert night, and the occasional sound of sparse but strong showers. "A long time ago, many people came to rob graves; but no one succeeded." Sar said.Although she has always been taciturn, she likes to tell stories occasionally, and she often uses storytelling to teach Ah Erha.Her look this night, as if a story is about to come out of her mouth. "How can someone be so bold?" "They just have guts," Ke Xiu said, "because they are charlatans, wizards of the Inner Ring Kingdom. But that was before the god-king ruled the four islands of Karg. We were not strong enough at that time, and wizards often They sailed from the west to Karigu and Etuan Islands to rob coastal towns, plunder farmers, and even entered the holy city of Awabas. They said they came to slay dragons, but in fact they came to rob towns and temples." "The best of them heroes will come to us to try swords," Thar said, "and cast impious spells. But here one of their best warlocks and dragonlords perish. That was long, long ago , but to this day, everyone remembers the story, and not only here. The powerful magician named Eriyabai, who was both king and wizard in the western islands. He came to Karg , formed an alliance with several rebel lords in Avabas, and fought with the high priests of the central twin temples for the laws of Avabas. They fought for a long time, and it was a battle of mortal spells against the thunder of the gods , and even the temple was destroyed. Finally, the high priest broke the magician's staff and broke his power talisman in two, finally defeating him. After the defeat of Eriyaba, he fled from Janvabas, He stayed away from the four islands of Karg, crossed the sea, and fled to the extreme west. Finally, he was killed by a dragon because his power was exhausted. Since that day, the power and influence of the Inner Ring Kingdom have gradually declined. The high priest named His name was Intesin, and he was the first of the Taba family. This lineage has since fulfilled the prophecy and served as the priest-king of Karigol for hundreds of years, and later became the god-king of the Karg Empire. Since Intesin Since the time of being a high priest, the power and influence of the Karg Empire has grown day by day. The people who came to the tomb robbers in the past were warlocks and wizards. It has always been here, and the high priest put it here for us to keep. Similarly, their bones are also here..." Saar said, pointing to the ground under her feet. "Half of the talisman is here." Ke Xiu said. "But the other half of the talisman is lost forever." "How did it get lost?" A'erha asked. "Intesin sent half of what he owned to be stored in the great treasury of the mausoleum, because it could be kept safe forever. But the other half was in the hands of Eriyabai, and he gave it to a rebellious little king before he fled, which is the place of Hupang Soreq. I don't know why Eriabai did it." "To cause fights, to make Sorig proud." Ke Xiu said: "He has indeed achieved his goal. When the Taba family system was ruled, Sorig's heirs rebelled. When the first god king took office, they And lead the fight, because they won't recognize him as a king, and they won't recognize him as a god. The Thorig family is a damned family, and now they're all dead." Saar nodded. "The father of the current God King, Lord Xingsheng, suppressed the Hupang family and destroyed their palace. But when it was done, the half piece of amulet!! Since the era of Eriyabai and Intesin, the Soreig family has kept it The half piece of the talisman that belonged to him was missing. No one knows its whereabouts. That was a generation ago." "It must have been thrown away as trash, there is no need to doubt it." Ke Xiu said, "People say that the amulet known as the 'Ring of Eriabah' in the world doesn't look like a valuable thing at all. I curse it, And curse everything the wizards spill!" Ke Xiu spat into the fire. "Have you seen the half of the amulet stored here?" Arha asked Saar. The thin woman shook her head. "It's in the Great Treasure Room, which no one but the First Priestess can enter. That half-amulet is probably the greatest thing in all the Great Treasure Room's storage. I don't know if it is, but I'm guessing Probably so. Because for hundreds of years the Inner Isles have been sending wizards and thieves here to steal it back, and they all want that broken talisman and don't bother with the open golden chest. The era of Raiyabai and Intesin has been alive for a very long time, but the people here and the western islands still know this story, and it is still passed down from generation to generation. As hundreds and thousands of years pass, many things become old and disappear .There are very few things that are still regarded as precious, and there are not many stories that can be handed down." After thinking for a while, Arha said, "Those who entered the mausoleum were either very brave or stupid. Don't they know the power of the nameless one?" "They don't know." Ke Xiu said coldly: "They don't believe in gods. They know a few tricks of magic and think they are gods. But they are not at all. When they die, they will not be reincarnated? Instead, they will become dust and bones. ghosts howling in the wind, only to be blown away in an instant. They have no immortal souls." "What kind of magic do they operate?" Alhapo asked fascinatedly.She forgot that she once said that if she saw a boat coming from the Inner Ring Islands, she would turn around and walk away without looking at her. "How do they work? What can magic do?" "It's all tricks, tricks, tricks," said Ke Xiu. "If some of the stories you tell are true," Saar said, "then it's more than a trick. Those wizards in the West can raise the wind, stop it, and make it blow in the direction they want. That's what we all know." Agreed, every story is pretty much the same when it comes to this part. And that's why they're all good sailors, they can put magic wind into their sails and sail as they please. They can also calm storms at sea. It's also said that they Make light and darkness at will, and turn rocks into diamonds, and lead into gold; and say they can build a great palace or a great city in a second, at least in appearance; and say they can turn themselves into bears, Fish or dragon, whatever they please." "I don't believe it at all," said Ke Xiu. "They say they are dangerous and cunning, and sneaky, and slippery like eels, but I do. But it is said that if you take away the magician's staff, he has no strength. Perhaps the staff There must be some evil rune written on it." Sarah shook her head again. "They did carry a cane with them, but that was just a tool. The real power was in them." "How did they get the power?" Arha asked, "Where did the power come from?" "It was made up out of nothing," Ke Xiu said. "From the word," said Thar, "I was told so. The man had seen a great sorcerer of the Inner Isles, and they called him the sorcerer. They hunted the sorcerer, and with difficulty Caught him on the western island. Seeing the critical situation, the mage took out a stick and said a series of words to the stick, and the stick blossomed. He said another series of words, and look! It grew red apples ...Say another string of words, and the stick, flower, and apple all disappear, leaving only the mage. Say another string of words, and even the warlock disappears like a rainbow, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye. An island, but the warlock has never been found. Like this, is it just a trick?" "It's easy to fool a fool," said Ke Xiu. To avoid disputes, Saar said nothing more.But Arha was unwilling to let go of this topic.What did those wizards look like? She asked: "Are they really black all over, only the eyes are white?" " "They are black and vile, but I have never seen half of them." Ke Xiu said with satisfaction, she slightly moved the heavy and huge body on the low stool, and opened her hands to keep warm on the fire. "May the Two Gods keep them far away," murmured Saar. "They won't come here again." Ke Xiu said.Then the fire crackled, the wind and rain rattled on the roof, and outside on the dark porch Manan cried out, "Ah! I've won half, half!"