The mist of Genting Mountain is dark. The steep cliffs are covered with snow all year round, and the pale peaks are like a column of guards, marching towards the sky in a staggered manner. The gloomy cold light on the top of the mountain loomed above the clouds, day and night, like a giant blue eye staring at this small settlement. The girl, Fei Ying, held the weak baby in her arms and bravely met the contemptuous or hostile gazes of the other strong male feathered men of the tribe.

It was a difficult year, and the gifts of the sky became more and more limited. The prophet prophesied that once the early spring was over, the birds from the north would roost in the south, and the hunt would become abundant. However, when summer turns to autumn and the Hallownest is covered with frost and snow, the sight that everyone is looking forward to has not yet arrived. The branches of the tree castle where the clan chief lived have been nurtured and guided by the feather people over the years to grow into a magnificent wooden terrace, and delicious soup is often boiled under the lush needles. However, at this moment, only galangal and various wild vegetables in the mountains are left in the soup to satisfy hunger. The amount is certainly sufficient, but the feather people cannot do without meat, and a small amount of protein must be reserved for children.

And now, this skinny female feather man has added a mouth to give them priority to eating.

When Fei Ying stood at the front of the team with the child in her arms, she seemed to feel the eyes of others behind her.

Today's leader in the soup was Panda, who had pursued Fei Ying a few days ago, but that was a long time ago for her. How long has it been? She doesn't remember. She is naturally beautiful and wants to forcibly possess her in the power-supreme feather settlement, but Panda is the kind of feather who will make a good impression with his gentleness.

"What's your name, this kid?" He asked in a low voice as he scooped the soup into the bamboo pot he had taken from Fei Ying.

"No surname, no name." Fei Ying replied honestly.

"No name, no name!" Panda whispered in horror, "Is it true?" No surname, no name? ”

"Yes." Fei Ying held the child in one hand and took the bamboo pot with the other. However, Panda reached out and pressed her shoulder: "Ying'er, you need to know-"

However, the other feathered man landed on the terrace, and the protruding pectoral muscles roughly pushed the warbler to the side, and the girl propped up one of her wings, carefully protecting the baby. The soup in the pot shook violently, and she nearly fell in her search for balance.

"We'll talk about that later." Watching Fei Ying stagger down the stairs, Panda reassured.

Holding the child, she could not fly. So she had to walk in the dense jungle, and the water roots of the baobab tree, which were like veins, tried to trip her several times, but Fei Ying was able to avoid it. The trees of the forest are not friends of the feathered people, they shake tangled roots, and sometimes drag lost animals into the maws of the abyssal buried in the earth. From time to time, the cold light of Genting Mountain poured down through the dense jungle and shone on her face full of uneasiness.

Looking up from the depths of the forest, the view is spectacular. Fei Ying's home is just above this glade, a small jungle tree house. A golden-spotted python named Sisha perched on a comfortable bump beneath the treehouse, wagging its tail twice lazily at her.

One of the walls of the treehouse is inlaid with several silica crystals, which absorb the energy of Saturn's radiation and convert it into heat, which is the only way to warm up in a humid forest. Another silica crystal is in the middle of the treehouse, connected to the trunk of the ancient tree. Once upon a time, the mother and grandmother used this stone to cook pigeons and pheasants, accompanied by galangal, sorrel and shallots. The female feather people have their own dwellings, while the male feathers are constantly roaming around the homes of the different female feathers, forming a cohabitation relationship similar to that of a homestay with their short-term spouses. For the feather people, there are very few truly long-term partners. The emotions of the feather people are completely obligatory, and there are people who care about things like family affection, but it doesn't hurt if they don't have it in the difficult years.

Thanks to the strange custom of the Feather people to find a mate, the origin of this child may always be a secret.

Panda came to visit near evening. As soon as the curtain of bamboo silk is opened, the smell of pine needles mixed with the fragrance of soup comes to the face.

Panda's face was not very good-looking, and his rough features were twisted at a distorted angle on his face as if they were hostile to each other, looking tired and worried.

"It's been a long time since you've been here." Fei Ying heard herself.

She remembered. Just a few months ago, he was pretty much the only future she had ever imagined - the entire Featherland Island longed for her, and Panda was one of them. However, the throbbing of the heart does not deceive, and the young girl Fei Ying has a strong desire, but the object is by no means her strong and toned kind. When she was soberly aware of this, she vaguely felt that her future life might not be easy.

If such a few years passed, Fei Ying would probably follow the lifestyle of her ancestors, give birth to strong boys, and watch them fly between the treehouses of the other female feathers.

Her first boy could have been Panda's. Unlike the other feathered people, Panda doesn't like violence and aerial gladiatorial fights - but he can catch enough birds to eat. Life on the island is like this, love and beauty are luxuries, once Fei Ying has a child, she will be regarded as a burden, and no one will look at her again.

Panda, however, is different. "The child is not mine." It was a declarative sentence, but there was a glint of doubt and hope in his eyes. Feather likes to use declarative sentences.

"It's not." Fei Ying replied succinctly.

"You can't be sure. After all, we were—"

"It's not." She interrupted him, "Look at his back." ”

The baby's back is soft and smooth, and the sweet, delicate feathers cling softly along the tiny back and hips. The child kicked his fleshy calves and stared at them curiously. Panda trembled and reached out to touch him, but was shocked at the touch.

"He-his wings-"

"Hmm." Fei Ying said softly, "His wings are missing two bones. ”

He ...... It's unfortunate. Panda muttered to herself, "God allowed this to happen?" ”

"I wish he could fly." After a moment of silence, Fei Ying said proudly, holding out a finger to tease her child.

"But Ying'er, look at him, look at his muscles...... He simply couldn't fly. He then pointed to his well-developed pectoral muscles: "God created us this way for a reason: we can't fly just because we have one more point or one less point." This kid ...... God doesn't love him, Ying'er, God doesn't love him. ”

"You can't know if God loves him or not."

"I can." Panda said sadly, "You know, I once saw a god. ”

Fei Ying retracted her finger. "You've seen God."

"During the great storm of spring, the Eye of God on the Hallownest shone like thunder and lightning. I was at Bohida's house at the time – you know, she's smart and always finds the answer to her questions. Bohida told me that the Eye of God was talking, and the thunder was his roar. I saw God coming down from Mount Genting, and He saw me, and I saw Him. Orioles, you know, they can fly without wings. ”

Some instinct frightened the warbler. She knew Panda wasn't lying. When she was young, her mother would tell her stories, the story of the gentle and kind goddess Nina and the grumpy male god Quell. The walls of Yunding Mountain stand thousands of miles, and the smoke and waves in the north of the mountain range are slight. The majestic mountains sheltered the hurricanes that struck from the depths of the ocean, and on a clear day, the gods came from the sea in winged palaces. The palace rested on a thin-air cliff that the feathered people could not reach, and the shining vaults reflected the light of Saturn's veil.

"When they come, all the clouds will disperse. Sometimes the feather people will pray to them, and their wishes will always come true. And when they are angry," the mother mysteriously lowered her voice, "God will show her true face." ”

Fei Ying still wanted to listen to it, but whenever she talked about it, her mother refused to say it.

Years later, when she left her mother to live alone, one morning she found a small snake hanging from the beams of the house, and she would sneak into the house on a cold night and coil over the head of the warbler's bed, patting her arm gently with her slender and strong tail...... But it doesn't tell a story. The absence of wings is a sign of God, so is it a similar sign that the child's wings are smaller than those of the other feathered people? Fei Ying remembered the prophet's prophecy.

At this time, Xisha silently roamed into the house, and her soft and thick body gently supported the baby.

"There is something like a halo on the head of the god." Panda continued, "He just stood in mid-air and looked down at me, and when God spoke, God's eyes heard his voice, and the mountains seemed to shake. ”

"What did he say?"

Panda pursed her lips. "He asked my name." "That seems to be the only thing God cares about," he said. After that, lucky things happened to me one after another. ”

"For example?" Fei Ying smiled.

"I met you." Panda said earnestly. The child sucked his fingers and stared at him curiously.

Fei Ying felt her face flush.

"I don't say this for any other purpose, Fiolet," Panda seemed to try to restrain her feelings, "a feather man without a name will not be blessed by the gods. You didn't give him a name before you were born, and God cursed him. This is what God has revealed to me, Fei Ying. God did not love Him, and they sent down punishment because of His birth. ”

Fei Ying was dumbfounded. She had heard that names were threads in God's hands, but no one had told her that she had to be born with a name.

She remembered the words of the prophet.

He will have a song.

The warbler looked up at Saturn's rings as it swept through the branches, a silky soft light leaning against the purple sky in the north.

"It's too late to choose a name, right?" She muttered to herself, but Panda was dumbfounded.

"I'm going to call him to lean on the wheel of heaven." Fei Ying took the child from the big snake's arms, her eyes shining.

The Heavenly Wheel means "the one who is loved by the gods" in the ancient language of the feathered people.