Chapter 1: A Strange Visitor
On this small island, you can see that there is only a vast sky except for the vast ocean, as if there is only this small piece of land under the sky, which makes it particularly precious.
There are not many indigenous groups on the island, with only a dozen villages and a market place. People have never been out to sea, because the endless ocean and bottomless waters make their habitat even more cramped, but it provides them with a huge space for imagination, increases their fear, and makes them hostile to the rough sea. For them, this small island is the only safe place in the world for them to thrive, so it is natural that they are the only noble beings in the world who have been favored by the gods, and they are probably descendants of the gods. The rest of the creatures on the island are the survival resources given to them by the gods.
This is not unfounded conjecture. Because the people here have a slightly convex frontal bone above the eyebrow bones on both sides, which is shaped like a slender crescent, it is called "moon bone". The lower corner of the crescent moon is connected to the middle of the brow bone, and the upper corner is slanted up almost to the hairline, and the arc is opposite, resembling the two moons in the sky, which is evidence of their status as descendants of the gods, and people believe that they are the only "people" in the world.
They also believe that there is a cycle in life, and that the highest status people on the island are gods and witches. The so-called gods and witches are messengers of the gods, people who specialize in conveying the will of the gods. Witches usually possess unusually protruding moon bones and are considered to be the closest to the gods. Therefore, the inhabitants of the island worship the gods and witches as if they were gods, and obey their words. It is believed that the ocean is evil, a never-ending place of death full of evil spirits. When all the bad people who disobey God's orders die, their souls are thrown into an ocean that cannot breathe, and they are repeatedly punished by suffocation, never to land again. On the contrary, only the souls of good people who obey God's will can return to land in the next life.
Although no one had ever seen the so-called gods, people believed that they were good people who were favored by the gods, and thus received the grace of the gods to be born on this precious land, to become the sons of the gods again, and to continue to enjoy the protection of the gods.
The majestic sea is always prohibitive, lest once you step out of the boundaries set by the gods, you will lose the protection of the gods, and disobey the will of the gods will be punished. Therefore, they reject everything that has to do with the sea. These ideas have long been a part of their lives, and they are as natural as the limbs they are born with, and they are difficult to part with. All the meaning of people's lives seems to consist only in following God's will and finding happiness in this worship. Since ancient times, they have been content with everything given by the gods, and their lives have been plain and quiet, until one day thousands of years later, an unexpected overseas visitor suddenly disturbed the peace of the years.
That morning, the sun rose slowly from the end of the sea as usual, but for some reason it was not as bright as before.
At first, people did not notice this anomalous celestial phenomenon. After waking up each day, I pray to the gods before starting my day's activities. They gather and hunt, reaping the blessings of the gods, and usually do not pay much attention to the seemingly unrelated seas, and their daily lives are like a cookie-cutter ritual of faith.
For thousands of years, there has been a market every fifteen days on the island, and the fixed market point is not far from the coast. At the bazaar, people can take out surplus items from the village and exchange them for some much-needed items from other villages. This is the only day on the island that can be called a grand occasion other than the worship of the gods.
On this day, not only the sun seemed a little abnormal, but even the sea quietly changed.
As the sun rose, the sea became redder and redder, as if it were about to burn. There was a terrible silence all around, no wind, no birdsong, not even the sound of waves...... It was only then that the people of the coastal bazaar finally noticed this unusual vision.
But the sea did not cause any disaster except that it turned red, and it was even much milder than ever. However, it is precisely this unusual mildness that makes it all the more alarming. The people did not know what this unprecedented sight meant, so they panicked and ran to find the witch. Because they believe that the gods and witches with great powers can interpret all the celestial phenomena.
After a frightening silence lasted for a long time, a new vision appeared on the sea. I saw a flaming ball of light, slowly rising from the bottom of the water, and the strange ball of light was even more dazzling than the red sun in the sky. But the strange thing is that when the light is completely above the surface, it is no longer as brilliant as before, but becomes extremely soft, not dazzling at all. Immediately, the sea returned to its blue blue, and the sun in the sky finally returned to normal.
The light that surfaced slowly drifted towards the shallows and washed up onto the beach along with the waves. Once on land, the light began to slowly stretch out, and soon transformed into a new form. At first, it was just a vague figure, outlined to resemble the inhabitants of the island, as if consciously modeled after their image. Of course, it's not the same, it seems to be more mischievous and creative. The rapidly transformed form had a flaming red hair, no moon bones on its forehead, and a small and distinct shape, about the size of a four-year-old child.
Soon, the phantom had evolved into a well-detailed, entity. Then, like a newborn child, he began to take his first steps, slowly walking from the beach to the crowded coastal market......
People don't know anything about the world beyond the island, and they have never seen such a strange and transfiguring life form, and they can't help but be terrified. The kind of way of life evolution that transcends common sense has had an indescribable impact on the minds of the islanders, and they involuntarily retreat, trying to get away from the strange child. After all, people have long believed that the land is sacred and the sea is the place of death. When an evil demon from the ocean suddenly invades the Holy Land, it is a matter of life and death, like the end of the world.
So, the witch began to dance the exorcism dance, chanting incantations that no one could understand, which was said to be a divine grant. However, instead of flinching, the little demon came closer and closer. The god and witch sweated profusely and shouted, "That's not an ordinary demon, its magic is too powerful, we need to ask the gods for help......"
Hearing this, the panicked people quickly followed the witch's movements, singing and dancing, and prayed to the gods for help so that they could drive the demon back to the sea.
However, before the gods answered their prayers, the little demon was still approaching. Whipped by the sea breeze, the demon's hair resembles a raging flame, triggering a deep fear of the unknown. You must know that the indigenous people on this island are all dark brown skin and yellow hair, so the dazzling red hair is naturally beyond their cognition, which makes them puzzled.
However, as the little demon approached, it soon became clear that he was not only small, but also a little sluggish, like a child who had just learned to walk. On closer inspection, I found that the little demon's eyes had not opened, as if it was an unfinished product that had not yet been shaped. Realizing the possibility of greatly diminishing the sense of threat, the fear in people's minds was immediately replaced by a rapidly developing hostility. They no longer flinched, and began to stay where they were, and some even took the courage to pick up small pebbles and throw them over to test them. But the little demon didn't react, and still walked forward blankly, as if he was sensing the environment and evolving with the situation, as if he did not yet have a clear sense of self.
At this time, the gods and witches in the crowd suddenly danced the exorcism dance frantically, and shouted: "The gods have appeared, the gods have appeared! That lost little demon was finally restrained by the divine power, and the gods said not to be afraid, it has no power to harm us." This is a holy place given to us by the gods, and we must not let the demons of the land of death pollute us, otherwise the gods will condemn us......"
No matter how ridiculous the words of the gods and witches were, people believed it. In order to protect this holy place, more and more people bravely picked up the stone and threw it at the little demon in an attempt to drive him away from the land. The more the little demon did not react, the more indignant and fierce the people became, and they smashed all the stones that could be moved without mercy.
Perhaps the strong rejection of the people played a role, and the child finally reacted, slowly turning his head in the direction where the stones were flying, and slowly opening his eyes......
As a result, the appearance of this world was finally reflected in the pair of clear eyes like rubies.
At first, the child did not understand why people kept throwing stones at him, so he stared blankly for a while. Later, he noticed that everyone else was covered with a layer of fabric, and looked down at himself, which he thought was the reason why people were hostile to him. Fortunately, there were a few houses next to it, with muddy walls, leaf-covered roofs, and the kind of covering fabric hanging from the branches in front of the door. So the boy walked over, took one out of his reach, and wrapped himself in it.
Then the child turned and walked towards the crowd, trying to approach them again, not wanting to make them even angrier, and the stones that followed were much more violent than before. So the child stopped, stared blankly at the hostile crowd, and after a long time, slowly retreated for some reason, until he was completely out of view.
Although the islanders were unable to drive the child back to sea, they managed to drive him into the forest in the mountains, away from the people's lives. But it wasn't long before the strange child would come down from the hill again and then try to get close to them again, but if they did, they would quickly drive him away. After being driven like this many times, from one day onwards, the people down the hill never saw the child again.
Everything that has to do with the rough seas is regarded as evil by the inhabitants of the island, so people no longer easily approach the forest where the children are. Over time, the forest on the mountain became the only forbidden place on the island.