Chapter 56: The Divine Means!

The God of Prophecy looked at Vadhama once again and said:
"Betrayal from within is the gravest of sins, Vadhama. My punishment for you is that your remaining days shall be more agonizing than death itself."
"I sentence you to eternally chase after death across this vast earth."

He looked upon the olive-skinned, dog-headed giant, who held a staff, wore a black crown, and was adorned with bracelets and anklets.

"I command you to build nine Netherworld tower-tombs for the dead, and forge an iron chain to ferry various dead corpses, hauling them onto your vessel and carrying them away to prevent plagues and disasters caused by rotting bodies across the land."
"You shall be responsible for guiding the wandering souls of the entire realm. As the giant hound of the graveyard and the ferryman of funerals, you will protect the dead from disturbance."

Vadhama prostrated himself on the ground and cried out loudly:
"If this is your will, we shall certainly obey!"
"I shall drag a ship of sorrow with chains that know no rest, day and night, loading the deceased living beings of the earth upon the raft and ferrying them to the tombs on the other shore."

Thus.
At the two ends of the world, lovers appeared who could only meet once every thirty-six years when the new moon arose.
Across the boundless earth, a dog-headed god holding a heavy iron chain emerged; wherever he went symbolized death, pulling a terrestrial boat to ferry the departed souls.

"Go."
The God of Prophecy waved his hand.

"Yes." The three giants silently departed.

Only after the three of them had left did Liu Jun finally let out a sigh of relief.
So exhausted.
Being a god was truly difficult.
Making the sinner, the deities by his side, the monarchs, and even the resentful Die Lvxin convinced and submissive was no simple task.

"Disperse."
With that, his figure vanished.

Within the hall, the Angel of Truth and several monarchs had heard the entire judgment, their hearts overturned and left in a daze.
"This is what a true god is."
The Angel of Truth tightly clenched the feathers behind her, deeply shocked.

To mete out the harshest punishment, yet make the sinner willingly submit.
Back then beneath the parasol tree, facing all living beings alone, that overlooking majesty, that peerless arrogance, and the absolute equanimity in those eyes truly belonged to a genuinely eternal and immortal deity.

Yet power was merely external; wisdom was internal.
Recalling the coldly composed deity just now, the deliberate pacing used to manipulate emotions step by step, steering the sinner's feelings through soaring heights and plunging depths.
Clearly inflicting the most severe punishment imaginable, one they least wished to endure, yet compelling them to accept it willingly, even winning their hearts over...
Reflecting upon all of this, he could not help but sigh in profound admiration.

...

The three giants departed the palace, walking across mountains and rivers, their hearts filled with an indescribable sense of emotion.
"The god has been far too good to us! Far too lenient!" Agni and Varuna exchanged a glance and said to Vadhama:
"Friend, thank you for rescuing us from the depths of chaos. From this day forward, you are our dearest friend!"
"If you encounter hardships across the land, you can come to the two ends of the world to find us in our confinement."

Vadhama did not refuse this, and instead offered comforting words:
"You need not worry about loneliness. One of you may dwell within a volcano at the edge of the world, using divine power combined with knot-weaving to create fire-related lifeforms to pass the time."
"Another may dwell within the ocean at the edge of the world, fashioning water-related lifeforms to pass the time."

The two of them laughed heartily and said to Vadhama: "You, too, can craft death-related lifeforms to pass the time, making it easier for you to gather corpses properly."

The more they chatted, the happier they became, parting ways only with great reluctance at the end.
Before leaving, Agni suddenly made a suggestion, using Vadhama's childhood nickname:
"Anu, since you must haul a vessel, why don't Varuna and I help you build it together? Consider it our gift to you; it shall accompany your eternal voyage!"

Vadhama agreed.
They spent seven days and seven nights weaving a living ship with knotted ropes, infusing it with a portion of the divine powers of fire and water using two supreme divine artifacts.

Varuna spoke:
"For now, we are still too weak and do not yet know how to wield the divine artifacts we have just acquired. In the future, as you pull your boat, come to the two ends of the world to find us, and we will continually help you upgrade your vessel, adding all sorts of new divine powers!"

Remembering the endless voyage he was about to embark upon, Vadhama could not help but muse aloud: "When this ship continuously replaces its parts, is it still the same ship in the end?"
All three suddenly fell silent.
What lay before them was an eternal punishment and an unknown future.
Aside from the aloof and mysterious immortal god, who could endure eternally?
Even Ajitama, the mighty divine elephant standing tall in the vast heavens, was nearing the end of his days and facing natural death.

Filled with a sense of melancholy and a lingering fear of the future, they pondered.
"Why don't we give this ship a name!" Agni suddenly suggested.
They began racking their brains in deep thought.

Right at that moment, a voice suddenly drifted over:
"Why not call it the Ship of Theseus? It shall step forth upon an eternal voyage, embarking on a mysterious and legendary great adventure, witnessing the rolling epic of an era!"

The three giants looked over and saw a small colorful butterfly hovering near a tree, though none knew how long it had been listening.
"I remember you. You were by the side of the immortal god up in the parasol tree," the three of them said in unison.

"That is a fine name for a ship," Vadhama remarked. "And what is your name?"
Xu Changsheng had many names throughout history, but now he held a name fitting for language and text: "My name is Naqi."
"Pleased to meet you, our new friend," the three laughed heartily.

"Hahaha, friends, we shall meet again in the future!"
"My two friends, I, Vadhama, shall be your messenger, delivering letters to the two of you at the world's ends whenever I travel across the land!"
"That would be wonderful!"

They smiled at one another.
Accepting their missions.
Bearing their burdens of guilt.
Three brave hearts collided into one another in that single instant, joined by their new friend, the little colorful butterfly Naqi.

Xu Changsheng's heart was filled with an inexpressible sense of astonishment as he witnessed everything, beholding this magnificent and startling tale.
The origin of foolishness.
The birth of male and female.
The tale of stealing divine artifacts during the god's midday rest.
The punishments at the two ends of the world, and the hound of the underworld...
And the three giants before him... He had a premonition that the future would become vastly different.

"Let us make a pact!"
"The heroes present here shall grow within a cradle of iron. When we are finally liberated from our eternal punishment, we shall visit the omnipotent immortal god upon the tree once more."
"Until then, the three of us must part ways first, walking alone through this sacred era."

...

When Xu Changsheng opened his eyes, he found himself back in the morning of Rehe City, still wrapped in a lingering sense of unreality.
An irrepressible thought surged wildly in his mind.
"This memory will replace The Amber Sphinx, becoming the mythical story of a new fairy tale, spreading far and wide across this era."

Not only did he wish to prevent this story from being buried by the dust of history, but he also held a selfish ambition.
The Confucian sects of this era all possessed exclusive texts; he could establish a brand-new scholarly school centered on reading The Myths.
And within the book...
He, too, was an archaic deity reborn in Rehe City.
More than enough justification to proudly raise the banner and rise to prominence!
By using this to rally a new school of scholars dedicated to reading historical texts and cultivating the spirit of the past, it might just be possible to birth the potential to overturn this very era.