On the neatly repaired ground, the entire kingdom was in a panic, all were crying.
The abundant material wealth and comfortable life that came with rationality made the people of Logos forget about departure and death, but one corpse after another laid to rest pulled them back into reality.
"King, we have had rationality and thought we possessed the whole world..."
Al lamented,
"In the face of death, rationality is nothing."
Facing each Logos person buried in the ground for eternal sleep, the Sapo King remained silent.
It was not his first encounter with death, but the deaths he experienced during the Ape-man era were incomparable to this moment.
Rationality did not conquer death.
On the contrary, rationality made people fear death even more.
Hundreds of Logos people gathered in front of the palace, their gazes looking up at the Sapo King and his brother kneeling on the ground, begging the Sapo King for an answer.
Why must we die?
Logos people could accept death, but they could not understand why they had to die.
This was a crisis of rationality.
Standing before everyone, the Sapo King, after a moment of silence, turned around and went back into the palace.
Al followed him.
"Al, what shall we do?"
With his hands on the throne, Sapo King suppressed his quivering voice:
"So, we too will die!"
The palace, the city, the altar... His long life made Sapo King believe he had established great achievements on earth, thinking he would lead the kingdom forever until embracing the entire world.
However, the cruel reality told them that even with a long lifespan, they had to face death.
Just as the beasts in the mountains age, so too must they die.
Even he, the first king granted language, was no exception.
He too would die!
Suddenly, the Sapo King felt the grandeur of the world and his own insignificance.
The magnificent civilization he and Al personally built might just be dust that could not withstand the test of time.
"Beasts die, and we, unbelievably, will die just like them!"
Sapo King said agitatedly.
"King!"
Al reproachfully responded:
"Beasts die, does that mean we are still beasts?!"
Al's rebuttal made Sapo King feel ashamed.
He had lost his composure, but moments later, he calmed down and said:
"We must resolve it, resolve death. There must be something in this world that can conquer death."
Sapo King murmured:
"Fire..."
"Al, seek answers in the fire."
......…
The cold winter of death was so harsh; rationality awakened from language but misled Logos people into thinking the kingdom's summer could never be destroyed.
Why must we die?
In a very short time, this question became a crisis tormenting the whole civilization.
The thoughtful Logos people had to face this difficult problem.
And among Logos people, there were indeed wise men.
Based on accumulated experience, the wise ones attempted to explain, understand, and resolve death, trying all means, even arguing and debating over different views.
However, in this nascent civilization, no sage could provide a satisfactory answer.
People on earth sought remedies to cure death, wanting to know their date of death and circumstances.
But it was to no avail.
Since the curtain of death was raised, Logos people continuously met their final resting place.
Logos people realized they knew too little about this world.
A mere few centuries of rationality was not enough to answer questions about death.
Sapo King and Al, the king and the Priest, as leaders of the entire Logos Kingdom, naturally took on the heavy responsibility of seeking answers.
Under the gloomy night sky, Al led the priests in worshipping the blazing fire.
The priests were extremely tense; no one could resolve the question of death, and in their fear, Logos people could only place their hopes in the fire.
"O Supreme Fire,"
"Death... death is like a venomous snake, burn it away."
Al emptied all thoughts, wholeheartedly kneeling on the ground.
The priests followed suit, kneeling devoutly and reciting prayers.
As the head priest, Al was supposed to be the closest to that existence, and at that moment, he bore the mission of seeking answers.
"Why must there be death instead of Eternal Life?"
Al chanted the Logosians' praises and psalms of fire, exerting all his strength for the ritual at hand.
"Oh fire, why must there be death... Life could very well be undying, yet, we face death."
"Oh fire, burn away the venomous snake of death, for with death, everything perishes."
Al's Adam's apple trembled, and under the heat of the flames, he felt his moisture little by little being lost, but he still persisted.
"Oh fire, we need answers."
"Why must we die?"
"We could clearly be immortal!"
In the starlit night, aside from the Logos Kingdom, almost half the world fell into silence.
Atop the high mountain, Chen Yi heard Al's query, which was also the inquiry of the entire Logos civilization.
The Logos people needed God to answer this ultimate question, needed God to explain the mysteries of the world.
He gazed at the Logosians worshiping the flames.
God murmured to himself:
"I could certainly tell you."
But by doing so…
The Logos people wouldn't comprehend death.
Humans must first learn to accept death, then strive to find their own answers.
Because understanding is not a cold answer, but enlightenment found in the quest.
Since His arrival in the world,
Chen Yi's perspective of the world had changed.
He had come to understand much.
The Logosians thought they needed a godly answer.
Yet, what He had to do was reveal before them the timeless truth of the world, after they had endured endless hardships.
First…
God extended His hand, pointing to the incessant flames on the ground.
To extinguish the fire.
...…
The fire…
Was extinguished.
Al gazed in horror at the altar in the ensuing darkness.
Without any precursors, without any disturbances… Even during the ritual, there hadn't been the slightest movement or whisper.
The flames had simply burnt out completely.
The priests stood petrified, their faces as pale as death, eyes wide open, pupils sharply constricted.
A fear greater than death surged within their hearts, swiftly conquering their entire being.
As the main priest, Al stared blankly at the extinguished altar until a breeze blew by, making him shiver belatedly.
"The fire… the fire has gone out…"
"What… what did we do wrong?!"
Al felt a tremendous shock, wobbling and falling backward onto the stone steps.
Everyone was dazed, and no one could catch Al in time; thus, the head priest fell hard onto the steps, tumbling down from the altar like a rag, ending up with a bloodied head.
Even so, the physical pain was still lesser than the mental shock.
With his face covered in blood, Al still muttered dumbly:
"What did we do wrong…"
"Why…"
"Why must we die?!"
On the ground, the Logos people were bewildered,
They thought that God would grant everything freely.
However...
They must seek the answer to death themselves,
Only by doing so,
Can the Logos people break free from the bonds of ignorance and the shackles of arrogance,
Only by doing so,
Can the world's first "civilization" truly be born upon the earth.