After returning to his room, he would stare blankly in various ways and then start doing confusing things.
This includes but is not limited to soaking boot polish, sword and gun oil in a teacup... using unwashed boots to wrap food... turning each book sideways and turning your face sideways when reading... even getting up in the morning by standing upside down.
It's weird, really weird. Especially when such a weird person quickly returns to normal when in front of people, the contrast is really creepy.
Looking at it this way, Hitzfeld gradually came up with a new guess: the corpse of the evil god might not have been on the red soil plain at first, but was brought there by Jodin.
The basis is that the states when Yodin was alone really looked like cognitive tampering. She could see that he was not fully immersed in it at that time. Sometimes when he was reading with his head tilted, he would suddenly pause and quickly straighten the book back up.
Every time he "discovered" something was wrong with himself, he would lose his temper, swear, fly into a rage, throw things, and walk around the room in a hurry.
But he didn't tell anyone, he had to bear everything alone.
The more Hitzfeld looked at it, the more he felt that this was the case. That is to say, the original Eye of the Evil God was not on the Red Earth Plain but on Jodin. The reason he fled the cult was not to evade responsibility nor was it the so-called "patrolling around to suppress evil spirits", but he chose to sacrifice himself.
The Eye of the Evil God is like a time bomb, it is so hidden that ordinary people can hardly even detect its existence. However, Yodin relied on his strong willpower to resist some cognitive tampering in the early stage. He realized that if he continued like this, it would definitely bring disaster to everyone, so he had to leave, and he had to leave with this bomb.
The Nature Sphere and the Sword of Ahoin were the few things that could fight pollution, so he had to take them with him.
Similarly, the reason why he chose the Northwest Plains was because it was uninhabited. He had planned his own destiny early on, which was to try his best to delay the revival of the Evil Eye, and deal with other things later.
The images switched very quickly. She saw Jodin leaving the city, leaving the village, stepping into the desolate yellow land, and setting up a camp under a rock hill.
Seeing him holding up the sword of Ahoyin, the clear blade cast a reflection, illuminating the red eye in his eye socket clearly.
[I don't know how long I can stay awake. Just trying to keep my head above water takes all my strength. So I have to seize every moment of lucidity. I have to write everything down for future generations to see.]
He began to write down the narrative in a small notebook.
[This is wonderful and strange... I used to think that Fili didn't let me into his room simply because he didn't want to be disturbed. When he held my hand and warned me, 'People's beliefs have been guided back to the right track and no longer need any artifacts', I also took his words seriously, thinking that he was guiding me with some kind of particularly noble mentality, guiding us to rely more on ourselves rather than the power of external things.]
[However, he ultimately failed to hold on until he trusted me enough. He didn’t have the time to… tell me the whole truth. He was buried in this great misfortune, which also implicated his successor, me, and caused the tragedy to repeat itself.]
[The Book of Ur is a means of connecting with the evil god.]
After writing this line, Hitzfeld, who was watching, held his breath.
[There is a huge horror hidden in the Gray Mist Temple. He never said... No one knows what he saw there. The only thing we know is that he brought back the [Commandments]. He reconstructed the erroneous descriptions of the goddess. It was also the first time in history that someone put [man-made objects] and [gods] on the same level and used such statements to guide faith.]
[This is ridiculous... As his original follower, I didn't think too much about it, but now I think how could it be possible? He is obviously the most devout believer, and any degradation of the goddess would make him furious. How could he accept that he did such a thing? Given the environment at that time, in the eyes of anyone, this was a blasphemy against the goddess?]
[So…if anyone can see these words, congratulations, you guessed it right.]
[Fili-Nifhinx, the Firebringer, travels through time and space with the secret technique he learned from the Book of Ur, but the one he communicates with is not actually our god.]
[It was outsiders, those 'outer gods', those things that wanted to study us, keep us captive, or even completely destroy our souls... It's really rare that he could escape from that place.]
[I think his faith must have been shattered at one point. Because anyone... it's like they are drowning, and suddenly they have hope of survival, and then they find that what is floating above their heads is not a branch but a poisonous sea snake. That feeling might as well be that of dying immediately.]
[But he... (smears and blurs) After all, he is Fili-Niffinks. I can only say that if I were in that situation, I would definitely commit suicide. Who would have thought that he would do that? He actually dared to pretend to be God's will and lie to the whole world...]
What on earth does this stinky old man mean???
Seeing this, Hitzfeld could no longer suppress his inner surprise.
Everyone - including her, no matter how controversial the details were, at least no one disagreed with the creation of the Mechanical Yang Cult and that its existence saved human civilization.
But what happens now?
According to what Jodin recounted, this is false?
Is it a lie?
The great Saint Fili had never seen the goddess. He just accidentally entered the territory of the "Outer Gods" and escaped back with a narrow escape. Afterwards, he chose to lie to everyone and said that he had received an oracle, and thus created the Mechanical Yang Cult?
In a trance, she suddenly remembered many strange situations within the cult.
Indifference to faith, indifference to religious activities... and as Frick seemed to have complained, there are many people within the sect who have given up on faith.
Why are they indifferent? Why are they desperate?
Because apart from the holy stone tablets as a few proofs, there has been no other miracle of the goddess in reality.
And all of this happens to coincide with this narrative - because from the very beginning, the "Church of the Goddess of Machinery and the Sun" was not actually established. The goddess never agreed to let people do this. The definition of "Goddess" in the name of the church is empty. It should actually be "Mechanicus" or "Mechanicus". The reason why Fili-Nifhinx still put "Goddess" in the name of the church is just to deceive more people into believing in the religion.
He knew he had to and could only do this.
Simply telling people the truth will not be effective. Seran is a religious country and its people are extremely devout. Even if their faith is misled after the gray fog descends, they will not give up their faith unless they experience great hardships.
There are only two ways to keep them alive.
The first is to guide faith towards correction.
The second is to make everyone a non-believer.
Fili chose to lie and fabricated a religion that actually had no faith significance - he might have also brought back the Eye of the Evil God from the Gray Mist Temple. The Natural Orb might just be a sealing method left over from the War of Gods. He used the remaining power of the artifact to resist cognitive tampering, almost burning his own life... He used a huge lie to lead people over and turned them into non-believers in the true sense.
[You endured everything and concealed everything, and I actually doubted you, suspected that you were lying to me, and lied to me not to touch the magic ball artifact that belonged to you...]
As I write this, the old man in the light and shadow trembles, sits on the stone and begins to cry quietly.
"You are still so young..."
"You were supposed to be... that age..."
"And I..."
"Felix..."
"Felix..."
He cried harder and harder, and finally he simply threw away the paper and pen, covered his face with his hands, and kept shaking his shoulders, roaring like a wild animal.
Hitzfeld watched all this and his mind went blank.
After crying for a while, the old man finally calmed down.
He picked up the paper and pen from the ground and said softly, "And now... I realize the importance of my work."
"This is my salvation, the sin I must bear."
He took the notebook in his arms and held it tight like a treasure.
"I will inherit your will and continue to suppress it."
"May you rest in peace."
"Felix..."
"Felix..."
Chapter 99 The Unfinished...
Half a day later, at the temporary base in the ancient city of Sos, Xia Yibing, Darent, Smail and others gathered together and listened quietly to the girl's description of everything she saw.
There were very few people, because this matter was of great importance and could be said to have overturned the foundation of Sarah's country. Apart from the girl's agent partner, the only people qualified to listen were the three golden knights.
"So..." Frick coughed to break the silence, "The goddess we actually believe in... this action is just a blank check?"
He is not an ascetic, so he feels fine now. He is loyal to his faith but does not regard it as the most important thing. He just... well, he admits that he just wants to use the cult to survive at first.
As for the Golden Trial and the Golden Secrets, etc., it doesn't matter if you pass that thing, right? It only tests your own beliefs and whether you are willing to sacrifice everything.
But Smail and Hart's faces were not very good. These two people were extremely firm in their beliefs. When they suddenly heard the truth of this past incident and knew that Sanfeli had simply made up a concept, they were filled with mixed feelings.
"I don't think there's a conflict." Xia Yibing glanced at the gray-haired girl and spread out a hand to smooth things over. "Well... although the concept of the goddess in the sect is empty, it doesn't mean that the goddess doesn't exist. The holy stone tablet, the golden flint, and these artifacts and blood all prove that she hasn't completely abandoned us. As long as this fact doesn't change, then we should believe in her... can't we still believe in her?"
"That's what happened." Hearing her say this, Smail's expression relaxed slightly.
Yes, yes... Maybe Sanfeli had no choice but to do so at the time, but things are not static.
Each era has its own background. In Saint Fili's era, he needed to spread... do this kind of thing to induce others to become unbelievers. But now is different from the past. The boundary between unbelievers and believers has long been blurred.
Anyway, no one can force them, right? Thinking this way, he became more motivated, because he couldn't wait to apply to develop those hidden ruins. He wanted to find and confirm... the true oracle of the Sun Goddess.
But even though he thought so, he still felt very complicated.
By founding a religion based on "machinery", a synonym for human industrial civilization, Phil's intention was already clear.
He may have seen through the fragility of faith since then, and he believed that believing in any god was not as good as believing in himself. The only right way was to rely on human's own strength and condense all human wisdom and will.
Smail's reason told him that this was right, but the education he had received over the years...his feelings towards that belief made it difficult for him to accept this view.
His current state is relatively good. At least compared to the lost Hart, he can still think normally and communicate with others normally.
"I'll take Hart out for a while." After thinking for a moment, Smail grabbed his companion's arm and walked outside. "You guys continue...try to get more rest before they get here."
"What does he mean." After watching them leave, Hitzfeld looked at Frick, "'They'? 'Come over'?"
"Well... I have a secret method that allows me to communicate with people over a long distance." Frick coughed, "I told them the general situation when you entered that state, so help should be on the way..."
"Don't look at me like that." He quickly added an explanation, "It's not that I didn't use it before, but this thing doesn't work - they have to contact me first, I can't do anything about it!"
Having said that, he scolded Carlo harshly in his heart.
This brat was ecstatic when his palms ached, but when he tore off the skin and saw the words appearing on it... the other party was actually asking him if he had found a wife in Wengsayn?
He has decided that he must continue his previous training with Carlo after returning.
This is also for his own good. It is said that he has reached the gold level, so he needs to test his quality.
...In any case, this is good news. It is much better to stay here and wait for others to rescue you than to spend time climbing up and walk back to the fortress on foot despite the difficulties of insufficient food and water.
Hitzfeld and Xia Yibing looked at each other and could see the joy and relief in each other's eyes.
"Are you sure you have absorbed the power of the evil eye?" Darent asked suddenly.
"It's not that I don't trust you or anything, Aisuen, you have to understand... People like Fili only lasted five years, and Yodin was forced to leave the world with it."
When he said this, Xia Yibing and Frick's expressions became serious.
They all knew that the girl had the blood of the goddess and her conditions were different from those of Fili, Jodin and others.
But the pressure they were under was also different - Fili, Jodin, and Jola, they only had to bear one eye, but she let the Nature Orb absorb all the power of the other eye, so the pressure was doubled.
"As far as the feeling is concerned, there is no problem." Hitzfeld affirmed, "It feels very good... It has never been so good!"
She wasn't exaggerating, but she felt there was a possibility...she was not far from being a normal person.
The sleepiness caused by insomnia?
Gone.
The whispers that are always ringing in your ears?
No more.
Even if she was feeling correctly, the tentacles in her head had been shrinking... It wasn't as simple as "shrinking back", it was more like reverse growth, they were getting shorter and smaller.
"I think this is a reaction between the magic ball artifact and the divine blood..." She said tentatively, "The problem that has troubled Sixus and the others all along is that they can't balance the two forces. If I insist on doing this, I will have to pay a price personally..."
"But now I have the Nature Orb. It can blend and regulate everything... I think I may not need to take medicine anymore..."
"You don't have the final say!" Frick interrupted her. "It's a divine weapon anyway. Do you know how valuable a divine weapon is? Not to mention that it may also have the effect of prolonging life?"
The girl frowned deeply when she heard this, but she had to admit that it was true... It was still unknown whether the Orb of Nature would be allowed to stay with her after the cult and the royal family had investigated thoroughly.
"But I didn't say that."
Frick stood up and rubbed his ears as he walked out.
"Who said this thing can prolong life?"
"Ah, I don't think I reported it to them..."
Hitzfeld stared at his back in a daze for a moment, then looked at the floor and smiled with a bitter and complicated look.
……
Another day passed, and Hitzfeld and Xia Yibing arrived at the top of the city.
She had stood here many times and looked down, looking at the camp outside the city, looking at the evil altar with the statue. But now everything was completely different.
The camp was badly damaged, with most of the altar destroyed and the statue's location empty. It was said that it was moved away and thrown away by the awakened underground people.
"Have these underground people decided where to go in the future?"
"I'm not sure, but from what Smail said, they still hope to return to civilized society."
"Do they have any recollection of what they have done?"
"Some have, some don't... Actually, it's a good thing that they don't have it. After all, they are victims, and that kind of memory is not conducive to their return home."
After answering a few questions from the girl, Xia Yibing thought for a while and moved closer.
"I also heard that..."
