The next morning, Xi Ming Dong woke up again. The events of the previous day were still somewhat unclear to him.
This time, as he went to the riverbank and lit a fire to grill fish, he decided to test how effective ash could be when used for writing.
Suddenly, someone followed him. Turning around, he saw it was just an ordinary little girl - nothing unusual.
There was no issue with this. After all, in the tribe, everyone knew what beauty and ugliness were. But focusing on beauty wasn't practical.
Would being more beautiful make food appear? Would it prevent freezing to death? Would it cure sickness?
Survival was more important. Beauty or ugliness was something to notice only when there was free time, which wasn't often.
Living today meant preparing for tomorrow—there wasn't much time to spare.
Of course, children had more free time, but they didn't care about such trivial matters.
Between a beautiful person and a grilled fish, the grilled fish was always the priority.
"Hey, you've been acting a bit strange these past few days, haven't you?"
The girl seemed about the same age as Xi Ming Dong. Occasionally, he'd played with her a bit - after all, the children in the tribe got along well.
"Huh? I'm heading to the riverbank to have breakfast and test the uses of ash." Xi Ming Dong replied.
Hearing this, the girl froze, her face filled with confusion.
She understood each word he said, but when strung together, the sentence felt oddly incomprehensible.
"Ash... what's there to test? Don't we usually just throw it away?"
Seeing her puzzled expression, Xi Ming Dong thought:
"Maybe I should recruit a helper? She's clever and quick-witted - perhaps she can help me come up with ideas. First, I'll teach her the alphabet. If her thinking aligns, I'll keep her around. She's still young, so she doesn't have much to do anyway."
"Do you want to come with me? I'll show you the beginning of a new era." he said.
Curious, she decided to follow him. She wanted to see what could possibly be called a new era.
The only "new era" she'd ever heard of was the day the tribe learned how to cultivate rice.
.....
A while later, the two of them arrived at the riverbank. Breakfast was postponed as Xi Ming Dong led her to a large rock and said:
"Look here, these drawings - I call this the alphabet. These five symbols are vowels, and these twenty-one are consonants."
She stared in amazement at the simple-looking drawings and asked:
"What is this used for?"
"It's used to represent the language we normally speak. Let me give you an example. How would we write the word 'jump'? It's a combination of j, u, m, and p. When we put these letters together, we get the word 'jump.'"
As he spoke, Xi Ming Dong picked up a stick and began drawing in the dirt.
The lines were incredibly simple, yet they seemed to follow a pattern. Her eyes widened in astonishment, and she exclaimed:
"If we have this, couldn't we convey information to others without meeting them in person? How did you come up with something this amazing?"
Hearing this, Xi Ming Dong was just as surprised. He thought:
"Damn it, I didn't expect this new teammate to be this sharp. She's quite similar to me. Looks like she'll be a huge help in the future."
"I met God. Do you believe me?" he said.
She was half-convinced, half-skeptical. Convinced because of his seriousness, yet doubtful because it seemed too incredible. She asked:
"What does God look like?"
"God looks like an older man. But that's not God's true form - it's just something God uses to interact with us."
Her eyes darted around for a moment before suddenly stopping. She stared intently at him and asked:
"Is God in the tribe?"
Xi Ming Dong was startled. He didn't remember mentioning anything like that to her. He thought:
"What is this? Damn, this teammate seems really promising. Could she even surpass me one day? That'd be great, though. The faster, the better since we don't have unlimited time with the current body."
Seeing him startled, she became even more shocked. She said:
"No way! I was just guessing - don't tell me it's true? Did God tell you anything important? Hurry up and tell me!"
Her face was filled with anticipation. At that moment, she realized where the so-called new era came from.
If possible, she wanted to contribute to this new era herself.
At that moment, God happened to have some free time and decided to check on Xi Ming Dong.
However, upon seeing the two of them together, He hid in a corner, thinking:
"What's this? Found a new teammate, huh? Seems like there's a lot of potential here. This girl isn't ordinary - I hadn't noticed her before. Well, it's not surprising. This is probably the first time she's encountered something this strange, which brought out this side of her. Never mind, I'll leave them to it. Now that there are two of them, they probably don't need me anymore."
With that thought, God didn't linger but went off to tend to the fields. After all, God wasn't entirely some lofty, the kind that always looks down on lower beings.
To describe God, one could say this: what humans have, God has; and what humans don't have, God also has.
This includes emotions, feelings, and desires - both negative and positive.
However, since God values rules above all, the universe won't truly be thrown into chaos.
That said, there are many incarnations of God out there acting as the "Hitler of the cosmos", wreaking havoc in distant galaxies. Of course, it's all within control.
Back with Xi Ming Dong, he noticed the girl's curiosity and that she seemed to sense God's nearby presence. So, he decided to speak truthfully:
"God told me something along these lines: Who says humans have to die? Humans only die because they don't understand the truth about this world. What is the truth? Everything that exists around us - what we see, hear, and feel. All of this must adhere to the rules of the universe. We can use these clues to solve the puzzles, step by step, understanding the truth, and eventually becoming gods ourselves. Humanity is a divine race."
Hearing this, the girl was stunned. She didn't laugh, didn't show disbelief. Instead, her face took on a serious expression. She said:
"Count me in as your companion. A divine race that doesn't seek to understand the truth of this world would be a disgrace. Together, we'll usher in the new era. One day, humanity will truly live up to its status as a divine race."
Were these two children crazy? Arrogant? Yes, and yet no. Their actions were undeniably bold, but this kind of madness is what drives societal progress. So, is it really madness?
Arrogant? To speak of divine matters while still mortal might seem arrogant. But if being divine is the true nature assigned to humanity by the universe, then why should it be called arrogance?