Chapter 29: The Sun Cup |
Along the Yesael Route, numerous underwater villages were connected to the largest underwater city, Yesael City.
Although more Trilobite Men had grown accustomed to living on land, some still preferred to dwell beneath the sea.
This route also served as a trade route, with merchants from the Yinsai Kingdom constantly traveling along it.
Several sea monsters of various forms cleared the way. Atop the spine of a giant starfish-like creature stood a palace made of bone, where the King of Wisdom currently sat.
Hundreds of Yinsai Kingdom’s royal guards stood on either side, among them several priests riding bizarre shrimp.
As they journeyed, the most abundant creatures beneath the sea were Trilobites, followed by the shadows of some Ancestral Fish. As the Trilobite Men domesticated schools of fish, this species also began to scatter throughout the ocean.
“The King of Wisdom has come!”
“Our supreme King of the Yinsai Kingdom has arrived!”
“Quick, look! Those are the mythical beasts bestowed by the God!”
Many even followed behind him from afar, seeing him off until he disappeared into the distance.
Without the presence of the God, Yesael had become a divine figure in their eyes.
Finally, they reached Yesael City, where thousands of Trilobite Men emerged from the seabed and surfaced to welcome their King.
The lord of Yesael City surfaced, stepped onto the back of the Fusion Monster, and knelt before the palace.
“Great King of Wisdom, your subjects welcome your arrival,” the lord said respectfully.
Yesael also stepped out, looking at this sea area with a tinge of emotion. “It’s been a long time since I returned.”
Led by the lord, the massive Fusion Monster submerged into the seabed.
Beneath the translucent blue ocean, bubbles continuously rose to the surface.
Under the refraction of sunlight, a magnificent and majestic underwater city lay at the bottom of the sea.
Large numbers of Trilobite Men resided here, entering and exiting the submerged buildings. Some drove schools of fish towards the underwater vegetation formed by Ancient Cup creatures, while others patrolled the waters above the city with bone spears.
Entering Yesael’s former temporary palace, the lord immediately asked cautiously, “King of Wisdom, may I ask the reason for your return this time?”
Yesael did not answer directly but first inquired, “In these years, has anyone entered the God-Given Land again, or rather, has anyone seen the God-Given Land?”
The lord of Yesael City was slightly stunned. “There has been no news of the God-Given Land for decades. If you hadn’t mentioned it, King, I would have nearly forgotten that the God-Given Land also exists in these waters.”
“I can’t even remember in which direction it lies.”
“It should be in…”
He tried his best to recall, but it seemed as if something in his mind suppressed his memory of the God-Given Land’s location, making it impossible for him to remember.
After speaking, he immediately realized. “King, you couldn’t possibly be wanting to return to…”
The lord of Yesael City became agitated.
Yesael, the second-generation King of Wisdom, gazed into the depths of the ocean, his eyes gradually overlapping with those of Redlichia from the past.
The same devotion, the same composure.
“I wish to see the God-Given Land once more, not seeking to bathe in God’s glory again, but only seeking a hint of guidance,” Yesael said solemnly. “I want God to guide me, to show the future of the Trilobite Men. How can we, the descendants of Redlichia, atone for our sins?”
On the boundless sea, a group of Trilobite Men and several Fusion Monsters scoured the waters, searching this sea area in a net-like fashion.
They wandered like blind sea worms for over half a month but to no avail.
They searched every corner, from the surface to the seabed, yet could not find the slightest trace.
A mighty force seemed to prevent them from approaching the legendary God-Given Land, no matter how much effort and thought they put into it.
“It should be right here, clearly right here,” an elderly Trilobite Man noble muttered in despair. “Why can we never find the God-Given Land?”
On the palace carried by the Fusion Monster, the noble broke down. “This is divine punishment! God has made it so we may never be able to return to the promised paradise.”
The Trilobite Man rushed out, facing the endless ocean. He knelt on the head of the Fusion Monster, weeping bitterly.
He was one of the noblest Trilobite Men in the former God-Given City.
Unlike the younger generation who only had a longing and admiration for the God-Given Land, he had personally witnessed the calamity that erupted between the first-generation King of Wisdom and the blasphemer Ense.
He had experienced the shock of the first-generation King of Wisdom’s death and the sorrow of being exiled from the God-Given Land by God.
He was born under God’s protection, growing up gazing at God’s palace.
He had grown up listening to the great first-generation King of Wisdom, Redlichia, proclaim that they were the firstborn of God.
He had once wailed and wept as he watched the God-Given City gradually disappear from sight. The older he became, the more he yearned to return under God’s protection.
He was in utter despair.
“We may never be able to return to the God-Given Land,” he lamented.
His generation could still find this sea area based on vague memories and records. What about a few generations later?
Yesael helped up this elder who had once followed his father and said to him, “God will forgive us. We, the wandering children, will one day be able to return home.”
Yesael had thought that even if he couldn’t set foot on the God-Given Land, it would be good to catch a glimpse of it from afar. However, he ultimately returned disappointed.
Yet, he still stubbornly had others search for traces of the God-Given Land on the surface.
He harbored a fantasy that perhaps in this way, God would see his devotion and persistence.
——————
In the God-Given Land, golden Sun Cup flowers had overgrown the ruins of the city, covering the entire island. Shelly was the only being that could move freely in this vast island, and the entire island was her garden.
She usually sat on the steps in front of the temple, imitating God as she watched the sunset and the moon, or gazed up at God’s statue in the depths of the temple.
She could do this for an entire day.
Sometimes, she would also stroll through the flower sea in the ruined city, fiddling with the crowns of the Sun Cups and inhaling the fragrance of the flower sea.
These Sun Cups had shattered the originally neat stone-paved paths. Shelly made her way through the ruins of the city, passing through a flower sea taller than her, and arrived at the seaside.
She came to the place where God had once instructed her to plant the first Sun Cup and picked up the stone flower pot she had previously discarded.
“Gurgle gurgle!” she exclaimed.
She plucked a golden flower, wanting to stuff it into the flower pot and hold it in her arms as usual.
Being violently uprooted from the ground, this half-plant, half-animal flower immediately let out a screech and bared its sharp fangs.
It struggled, and Shelly’s hand gripping it abruptly exerted force.
“Snap!”
The flower stem broke into two.
“Gurgle gurgle?” Shelly made a sound but paid no heed.
She threw the broken Sun Cup into the sea and then reached her venomous hand towards the next one.
The Sun Cup flower drifted with the ocean currents, gradually disappearing into the distant waters.
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