Brain bloom

And, looking at Mori with pleading eyes.

……

(P.S. I've really been trying to make up for the missed updates. I've already posted 3 chapters, but I still owe... 39 more chapters. Can I just die?)

Volume 1, Chapter 110: Loneliness

Looking into the owl's eyes, Mori saw a small plea hidden within them.

Its form was as faint as smoke, seemingly about to vanish. So, was it trying to leave something behind? Mori walked to its side and whispered, "Do you need my help? What can I do for you?"

It acknowledged this and then emitted a very short, subtle syllable that meant "see".

Its claws rested on the corpse of the slave of the god, its body growing fainter and fainter, leaving behind only this one word with its last breath. Mori thought it was trying to show him something, perhaps hidden in the corpse.

Logically, Moritoki believed it would be a secret. For example, he might have discovered something shady while excavating Eden Bank, and Moritoki was the one destined to find it.

However, this secret is not easy to find.

The clothes on the corpse were so tattered that they should be described as "a pile of rags." Mori didn't think he could find anything interesting, but the bag next to it containing tools and miscellaneous items was a possibility.

"In the bag?"

The owl agreed.

"Okay, I'll read it. I accept your wish."

The owl was quite content, making no further sound. Instead, it lowered its head and gently pecked the corpse's face, as if giving it a light kiss. It was full of reluctance and longing, but these were its last actions.

It struggled to flap its wings, trying to fly into the sky.

And it did; the owl flapped its wings and flew away, leaving no trace.

"I hope you are free."

After saying that, Mori reached out and restored the ruby's brilliance, which was about to dim, before bending down to examine the bag. Although he didn't even know the owl, Mori could still hear the sincerity in its voice.

She wanted to see what the other person had left behind.

At this moment, the lotus flower asked, "What do you want to do?"

"Can't I look through this bag?"

"...I...I may just be a companion, but I will protect him! You know what? These tools are all tools that can bring him closer to the mythical holy land, they are of great significance—alright, Four Seasons. If you just want to take a look...then go ahead and look."

Sen Shi shrugged, thinking that Lianhua was actually quite easy to talk to.

Its duty, though to accompany the slaves of God, may not only be to offer encouragement and inspire faith. It also needs to act as their conversation companion, which may explain why it has decent emotional intelligence and is quite tactful.

“You’re all quite lonely, especially you.” Mori looked at Yuren’s face and said, “In this godforsaken place, everyone you were supposed to be with is dead, yet you’re still here… How much time has passed?”

“I don’t mind. As long as we have faith, there’s no problem. We are getting closer and closer to Eden Bank, which is a true holy place! It’s a process full of happiness, and there is no loneliness as you described. I am the same, and so is he. We are all devout believers.”

"Let's assume that's how it is then."

Sen Shi immediately started rummaging through the bag with his staff, since it had its own built-in light, which was very convenient.

Inside the bag were mostly digging tools. They appeared to be tools powered by mental energy, not made of steel or other metals, but judging from their shapes, they weren't much different from things found on land: hoes, shovels, spades, stone hammers, and so on.

"Pseudo-technical craftsmanship really can make anything, but is that all? Are you going to show me these tools?"

She was puzzled. Had this slave spent his entire life digging in the dirt, and now he wanted to show her his most important tool? But the owl didn't seem to be a human spirit either; Youlian couldn't see it. What was going on...?

Mori didn't think these tools were the answer, so he simply tossed the staff aside and started looking through the items with his hands.

"What are you looking for?" Youlian asked.

"What else is there besides tools?"

"And...right, he wrote a book. Every time he exceeded his excavation quota, he would write something in it during his breaks."

"A book? It seems to be this one. What's recorded in it?"

As he spoke, Mori took out the tools one by one and placed them on the outside. Only then did he discover something that looked remarkably like a cover in the most inconspicuous depths.

It's made of leather and has many blackened stains.

Before Senshi could even open it, Youlian boasted, "This is it! It's all about his longing for Eden Bank, his love and praise for the God who lives there. Every word is written with faith. It's truly nostalgic."

So, it's just the fanatical ravings of religious believers? With a sigh and a sense of disappointment, Mori finally turned the first page.

—"Fuck Eden Bank!!!"

It was a page covered in dried blood, the words written with such force that they seemed to penetrate the paper. Even after countless years, they still struck Sen Shi like a powerful cry.

“Right? That’s his pursuit of Eden Bank.” Youlian smiled and continued, “There’s no paper or pen here, so he used tools to cut off his own skin and then used his own blood to carve on it. All of this was to leave behind his faith.”

Sen Shi gasped, but instead of answering, he limply turned to the second page.

“Blue sky!” The blackened handwriting read, “I miss the sunshine, the boundless blue sky, and the clouds, but they’re not here.”

"Are you devout?" Youlian asked.

Sen did not answer, because the words that had been painstakingly preserved with skin, blood, and lies expressed his grief and indignation throughout.

According to his account, he was originally just a falconer, but was captured and taken underground by a group of people who called themselves "traveling souls." After being cursed with an immortal body, he toiled there for countless years.

It was all in order to find the so-called Eden Bank.

After a few pages, he stopped complaining and being indignant, and accepted his fate. Although it only took Mori a few seconds to flip through the pages, she knew that writing these words and changing her mindset must have taken a long time.

This book is so heavy...

According to records, Youlian was his companion who monitored his work and instilled faith in him, something he already knew. However, he uttered few curses, only words of gratitude, because Youlian had truly been working diligently and wholeheartedly to accompany him.

He believed that the lotus was also a sad thing. It was clearly a plant, but it was given a soul... It couldn't even feel loneliness and fear. It just consumed the "faith" that had been instilled in its heart, but it didn't actually know what it was.

However, what is conveyed more between the lines is nostalgia.

He misses everything on the surface of the earth. For example, the companionship of Youlian reminds him of the little owl he found in the forest when he was young and who grew up with him. That little owl was also the companion that taught him what freedom and warmth are.

After a long time, he indicated that he was tired of everything.

Much later, on the penultimate page, he said he had a dream—

“I dreamt that I had a dream in which the owl came to keep me company. It taught me what freedom is! It let me see the blue sky and touch the azure sea. So, Youlian, goodbye. Thank you for your company. I should go and look up at the blue sky now.”

After finishing reading it all, Mori bit his nails, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Volume 1 #111 · It seems like it should be renamed

“I also want to see what he wrote and how he expressed his reverence for God.” Youlian only had the courage to speak after seeing that Sen had finished reading the book.

"You wouldn't want to watch it; his way of expressing his faith... is quite unique."

Mori closed the book without agreeing. She didn't dislike the lotus flower; perhaps she was moved by reading the book in human skin from "The Slave of God." After all, the book's owner had specifically bid farewell to the lotus at the end. Therefore, it was best not to let it read this book that contradicted its own desires.

"Unique? I need to know."

"In short, it's not about pursuing Eden Bank."

"Wow, is that so? What exactly is it?"

"People are the ones you dragged down from the earth to be used as laborers, aren't they? Although you are companions, you also have the responsibility to monitor and transmit faith... Those who have lived under the sky will not fall in love with the dark and lightless underground from the bottom of their hearts. Well, that's all I have to say."

Youlian's smile froze, and a few lotus leaves covered her face.

Looking at his corpse, Mori still had two small questions he couldn't understand.

What exactly is that soul-like owl? Is it the manifestation of his childhood fantasies about owls after his mental breakdown? Or... is his soul liberated from his body and sublimated into the winged owl he sought?

In a world where magic and the mind can alter reality, all of this is possible.

Mori examined the severed arms of the corpse again and saw some bird peck marks. This made Mori understand why its hands had been separated so far. Time had not caused the corpse to decompose, but the bird peck marks were still preserved. Perhaps, this indicated that its yearning for freedom surpassed everything else.

"rest in peace."

After a long while, until Sen Shi returned all the tools and books to their original places, he heard You Lian's question coming from under the leaves.

"he……"

"What's wrong? Tell me something bigger."

"Does he... want to return to the blue sky?"

"Correct."

This greatly shocked Youlian; its lotus stem swayed, and it occasionally uttered incredulous questions. This reaction was understandable, after all, for a long time, it had spent in the dim underground, endlessly chatting with people who only knew how to do mechanical labor about the Bank of Eden and God.

This is its duty, and perhaps the only thing it can do...

Therefore, it is unacceptable to Youlian that her companion, with whom she spends every day, has secretly betrayed her so-called faith.

"What does it feel like to live under the blue sky through the four seasons? I've never experienced it..."

"You want to know about this?" Mori asked, somewhat surprised. "Isn't that blasphemy?"

"...Even so, I still want to know."

After saying that, it loosened one side of the leaf and carefully observed Mori. Then it looked at him with nostalgia and affection, at the man who had been with it for who knows how long.

"What kind of place is it that even Eden Bank is willing to give up and want to return to under the blue sky?"

"Blue, high, with occasional drifting clouds... it makes one feel the vastness of the world and the freedom of the soul." For Mori, the sky is like this in every world. She added, "However, it also means being further away from your beliefs."

"That sounds truly blasphemous."

"I guess so.."

“However, can I ask you a favor, Four Seasons?” Youlian asked timidly. “Since he wants to go back, then… send his body back to the Blue Sky. I want to go with him; I want to see.”

“Sure.” Mori accepted, because it wasn’t difficult, and he actually wanted to do it anyway.

Youlian asked again, "Trading with the Four Seasons Ones requires an equal exchange, right? I know... Since I've made a request, then... what can I offer you?"

Sen Shi laughed, thinking that You Lian must have gotten something mixed up.

"We're not devils, we don't do that kind of thing. Anyway, just answer a few questions—how many 'traveling souls' are there in the world? In which seas have they built cities? Can you give us some details? Also, what about their lifestyle?"

“I don’t know. All my knowledge is imparted through magic. So, I’ve never been to those places. He was captured along with me, and my fate was sealed. I awoke from the seed, and my duty is to accompany him, dispel his loneliness, and then tell him about Eden Bank.”

Is it possible to contact those "souls of travel"? Do they still exist?

"No. I don't know."