Finally, Gawain asked the most concerning and important question during his trip to Tallond.
About the chain connecting mortals and gods.
If he only had some one-sided concepts and rough guesses about this "chain" when he was in the continent of Loren, then since he came to Tallond, and since he saw this "chain" As the Dragon Kingdom revealed more and more of its "real side", his impression of this chain became increasingly clear.
This is an "intra-planetary civilization" that has developed to the extreme. It is a stagnant country that seems to have stopped moving forward at all. From the social system to the specific technology tree, Tallond has been put under many shackles. , and these shackles seem to be completely "man-made" by them. Thinking of the laws of movement of gods, it is not difficult for Gawain to imagine that the birth of these "civilization locks" is inseparable from the Dragon God.
In Xiacheng District, he saw what a completely locked civilization would look like, at least he saw part of its truth, and he believed that this was what the Dragon God took the initiative to let him see - exactly This "initiative" makes people feel particularly weird.
Because he could feel from the details of the Dragon God’s words and deeds that this god did not want to lock up his people - but he had to do so because there was a supreme rule, more powerful than the gods. There are also irreversible rules that restrain Him.
Gao Wen has tried to analyze and demonstrate this rule with his experts and scholars, and they believe that they have at least summarized part of this rule, but there are still some details that need to be added. Now Gao Wen I believe that the "god" in front of me is the last piece of the puzzle in these details.
Hearing Gawain’s question, the Dragon God fell silent for a moment. It seemed that even he needed to organize his thoughts before answering this ultimate question carefully. Gawain then said after a short pause: "I actually know that gods are also 'involuntarily'. There is a higher rule that binds you. Mortal thoughts are affecting your state. Too drastic changes in thoughts will cause gods to slide towards madness, so I guess you are In order to prevent myself from falling into madness, I had to impose heavy restrictions on the Dragon Clan..."
"Outside the Territory Wanderer, you are only partly right." At this moment, the Dragon God suddenly spoke and interrupted. Gawain's words.
Gawain frowned slightly: "Only part of it is right?"
"God is indeed involuntarily...but you underestimated the extent to which we are involuntarily. "The Dragon God said slowly, with a low voice, "I really don't want to fall into madness, and I am indeed the shackles of the Dragon Clan. However, all of this... I did not do it on my own initiative."
Light Gold. The glow of light descended from the top of the temple hall, as if it condensed into a hazy halo around this "god". The low roar coming from outside the temple seemed to weaken a little, becoming like a faint sound. Hallucination, Gawain showed a thoughtful look on his face, but before he asked, the Dragon God took the initiative to continue: "You want to hear the story?What? "
"Story? Gawain was stunned for a moment, but then nodded, "Of course - I'm very interested." "
The Dragon God smiled and gently shook the delicate cup in his hand: "There are three stories in total.
“The first story is about a mother and her child.
“A long time ago, in an era when there were no human beings in this world, a mother and her child children live on the earth. It was the barbaric age of ancient times, when all knowledge had not yet been summarized, and all wisdom was still hidden in the immature minds of children. At that time, children were ignorant, and even their mothers, I don’t know much.
“The world at that time was very dangerous, and the children were still very fragile. In order to survive in the dangerous world, mothers and children had to live cautiously, be careful in everything, and not dare to make any mistakes. He There are biting fish in the river, so the mother forbids the children to go to the river. There are man-eating beasts in the woods, so the mother forbids the children to go to the woods. Fire will burn the body, so the mother forbids the children to play with fire. Instead, Mothers use their own strength to protect their children and help them do many things... In primitive times, this was enough to maintain the survival of the entire family.
"However, as time goes by, the children will grow older. Big, wisdom began to burst out from their minds. They mastered more and more knowledge and could do more and more things - the fish that used to bite people in the river can now be caught with a harpoon. Even man-eating beasts cannot beat the sticks in the hands of children. The grown-up children needed more food, so they began to take risks, going to the river, to the forest, to make fires...
"But the mother's thinking is slow, and the children in her eyes are always Being a child, she only felt that those actions were extremely dangerous, so she began to dissuade the more and more daring children. She repeated the teachings she had given many years ago over and over again - don't go to the river, don't go to the forest, don't touch the fire...
“Her obstruction is somewhat useful, occasionally slowing down the children’s movements slightly, but overall it is of no use, because the children’s mobility is getting stronger and stronger, and they... must survive. Go down.
“At first, this slow mother could barely keep up. She gradually accepted the growth of her children, and was able to let go little by little to adapt to the new changes in the order of the family, but... As the number of children increased, she finally couldn't keep up. The children were changing faster and faster. It once took them many years to master fishing skills, but slowly, it only took them a few days. Able to tame new beasts and set foot on new lands, they even began to create a variety of languages, and even the communication between brothers and sisters quickly changed.
"The mother was at a loss - she was at a loss. She tried to adapt, but her slow mind finally couldn't keep up.
“She can only repeat those old dogmas over and over again and continue to restrict the children’s various behaviors.She prohibits them from moving too far away from home and prohibits them from contacting dangerous new things. In her eyes, the children are still too early to grow up - but in fact, her restraints can no longer protect the children. , but only made them irritable and uneasy, and even gradually became a shackles that threatened their survival - the children tried to resist, but in vain, because as they grew up, their mother also became more and more powerful.
"Now, the mother has built a fence at home. She can no longer distinguish what the children have grown into. She just circles everything and regards everything as 'dangerous'. 'Things are kept away, even if those things are actually the food that the children urgently need - the fence is completed, and it is covered with mother's teachings, and all kinds of things that are not allowed to be touched or tried, and the children ...and starved to death in this small fence."
Gawain showed a thoughtful expression. He felt that he could easily understand this simple and straightforward story, in which the mother and the child were separated. The meaning is also obvious, but the details revealed are worth thinking about.
But when he wanted to ask something, the next story had already begun -
"The second story is about a prophet.
“It was also a long time ago, when the world was a barbaric era, a prophet appeared in the ancient country. This prophet has no specific name, and no one knows where he comes from. People only know that the prophet is full of wisdom, as if he knows all the knowledge in the world. He teaches the locals many things, and is therefore loved by everyone.
“In that ancient era, the world was still very dangerous for people, and the power of the world was extremely weak in front of nature—even so weak that the most common diseases could easily kill people. The extent of life. At that time, people in the world did not know much about how to treat diseases or how to eliminate dangers. Therefore, when the prophet arrived, he used his wisdom to formulate many rules for people to survive safely.
“You cannot eat wild beasts that live near swamps, because most of the meat of these beasts is poisonous; you cannot drink water from a certain mountain, because it will cause gastrointestinal infections; you cannot Cross a certain river, because poisonous weeds grow on the other side of the river, and humans have not yet been able to make an antidote for the poison...
"After leaving these instructions, the prophet rested and returned to his secluded place. place, and the people of the world accepted the prophet’s wise teachings with gratitude and began to plan their lives according to these admonitions.
“Soon, people benefited from these admonitions. I found that my relatives and friends no longer fell sick and died easily, and found that these admonitions could indeed help everyone avoid disasters, so I followed the rules in the admonitions more carefully, and things... gradually changed.
“People are paying more and more attention to these admonitions and even regard them asThey have established precepts that are more important than the law. Generation after generation, people have even forgotten the original purpose of these admonitions, but they are still observing them carefully. As a result, the admonitions have become dogma; people have also paid tribute to the prophet who left the admonitions. They became more and more respectful, and even felt that they were beings who had glimpsed the truth of the world and possessed supreme wisdom. They even began to build statues for the prophets - using the glorious and perfect image of the prophets in their imagination.
“After many years, the prophet returned to this land. He saw that the originally poor and weak kingdom had prospered, and the number of people on the earth was many, many times more than what it had been many years ago. People have become wiser, more knowledgeable and more powerful, and the land and mountains of the entire country have also undergone tremendous changes over the long years.
“Everything has changed and become more than before. That desolate world became more prosperous and beautiful.
"So the prophet was very happy. He observed people's way of life again, then ran to the streets and loudly told everyone that the wild beasts living near the swamps were also edible, as long as they were eaten with the right food. The cooking method is enough; the water on a certain mountain is drinkable because it is no longer poisonous; the land across the river is already safe, and it is now fertile land..."
Dragon God He stopped and looked at Gawain with a half-smile: "Guess, what happened?"
Gawain took a gentle breath: "...the prophet is going to be unlucky."
"Yes, the prophet is in trouble - angry crowds rushed in from all directions, shouting slogans to crusade heretics, because someone insulted their holy springs and holy mountains, and tried to trick civilians to set foot on the other side of the river. 'Holy Land', they surrounded the Prophet and beat him to death with sticks
"This is the second story. "
Gawain frowned a little bit.
At first he thought he had understood the meaning of these two stories, but now, a trace of doubt suddenly appeared in his heart - - He realized that he might have thought too simply.
He raised his head and looked across: "Both mothers and prophets do not only refer to gods, but children and civilians are not necessarily mortals... right? "
"I'm glad you can think so deeply," Dragon God smiled, seeming very happy, "If many people hear this story, I'm afraid they will think so at the first time: the mother and the prophet are referring to They are gods, and children and civilians refer to humans. However, throughout the story, the identities of these characters are far from simple.
"All people - and all gods, are just insignificant characters in the story, and the real protagonist of the story... is the invisible but difficult to fight the rules. The mother will definitely build the fence , this has nothing to do with her personal wishes. The prophet will definitely be beaten to death, and this has nothing to do with his wishes. The children and civilians who are the victims and perpetrators... they are just from the beginning to the end. It’s just part of the rules.
“You might think that it would not be difficult to break the tragedy in the story., as long as the mother can change her way of thinking in time, as long as the prophet can become more diplomatic, as long as people become smarter and more rational, everything can end peacefully, and there is no need to go to such an extreme situation... But unfortunately , things won’t be that simple. ”
The Dragon God’s voice became ethereal, and his gaze seemed to have fallen on some distant and ancient time and space. As he gradually spoke in a low and ethereal voice, Gawain suddenly remembered that he was in eternity. The scene seen in the deepest part of the storm.
On that static battlefield, the two warring parties were so relentless and merciless, as if they had deep-seated hatred, as if only life and death could end everything. ——But think about it carefully, did the two sides on the battlefield really reach that situation because of "hatred"?
Enya's voice sounded calmly: "...the trend of group thought is a kind of A powerful and inertial force. When a race adheres to a set of rules for thousands of years, and this set of rules points to religion and gods, then this force will become... powerful. Many times, you cannot change the concepts accumulated by ten generations in one generation. This conflict of concepts will directly affect the trend of thought and set off a storm. You call it 'God's madness' - but God is not actually There is no madness.
"God is just 'correcting' your 'dangerous behavior' according to the 'tradition' of mortals for thousands of years - even if He doesn't actually want to do it, He must do it."
Gawain looked at the other party: "God's 'personal will' is separated from the 'operational laws' that God must fulfill. In the eyes of mortals, schizophrenia is madness."
"Indeed, from a mortal point of view... when the gods choose to destroy all living things, there is no difference whether this behavior is 'correction' or 'madness'."
Gawain was silent for a long time, Shen Sheng said: "From the perspective of the development law of civilization, in a healthy and continuously developing society, the birth rate of new things and new ideas will always be faster and faster - changing ten generations in one generation. The concept of accumulation is a necessity, because productivity must be developed unless..."
Gawain stopped hesitantly here, although he knew that what he said was true, but here , in the current situation, he always felt that he continued to speak with some kind of quibble, or with "mortal selfishness", but Enya continued for him -
"Unless Trapped in the 'Cradle of Eternity'"
His expression was plain.
"The dragons have failed, the gods have merged into one, and the chains on the soul directly trapped all members of civilization, so I had to turn Tallond into such a cradle for everything to Only by being still can I ensure that I will not kill them all by mistake, and you have seen the result - they are still alive, but only alive. Tallond is dead. It is the machine running on this land. The lifeless steel and stone are stained with some of the things that were once called 'dragons'The crumbs... keeping these crumbs is all I can do for them.
"So, outsider, do you like this 'eternal cradle'?"