“…This… is it really feasible?”
Quilla looked a little dizzy from the “big plan” Everly had painted.
Everly nodded.
“Of course. Actually, if you ask , it would be best to build the museum inside the reservation. That way you can avoid a lot of compliance risks and unexpected trouble. If you’re worried about the sacred tree and the altar being discovered, you could even build several similar attractions across the reservation. That would increase the number of tourist sites, and the real altar could be hidden among them, making it less conspicuous.”
Sotis, hiding sothing too carefully only arouses suspicion and curiosity. But when you openly display it, outsiders instead feel it’s too easy to access and lose interest quickly. That’s also a kind of reverse use of public psychology.
“Also, during operations, governnt departnts or research institutions might offer large sums to buy the specin. My advice is to refuse. Don’t let anyone touch the corpse—just keep the Chupacabra mysterious. If you really can’t refuse, you can tell them the specin is fake.”
“Why do that?” the silent Indigenous young man couldn’t help but ask.
“Because once certain agencies beco interested in what you have, they may use special authority to ‘compulsorily requisition’ it. At that point, even if you hide it in the reservation, they’ll still find a legal way to take it away.”
For example, during the cockroach disaster incident, the U.S. military forcibly took away the cockroach specin that the townspeople had risked their lives to obtain. If those specins had stayed in the town, Lemot Town’s tourism industry might have taken off—maybe Misha wouldn’t even have needed a part-ti job to afford college.
The old priestess nodded repeatedly as she listened.
“That makes sense. I rember Old Dival is very skilled at handling animal remains. I’ll have him make a fake Chupacabra corpse later and keep it on standby—so if anything happens, we can mislead them.”
The following period of ti was spent continuing to brainstorm ideas around the local “museum economy.” The group discussed enthusiastically for quite a while, until the people applying the sap finally finished their work and ca over to call Quilla and the young man.
“So how are you planning to deal with these people?”
Everly had been quietly observing the Indigenous group since earlier. The branch they were holding was strange—no one knew how, but the greenish sap seed endless, coating the faces of the white captives and turning everyone into grotesque green-faced figures.
“They have already been stained with the sacred tree’s sap, and will swear an oath under the tree’s witness. If they dare break that oath and reveal anything about the sacred tree—directly or indirectly—the sap will turn into poison and take their lives.”
The old priestess stood at the entrance of the bark hut, leaning on her cane as she spoke with a tone of mockery.
Whether intentional or not, she projected her voice very loudly.
All the Indigenous people who heard this could not help but show excited, uplifted expressions. As for the white captives—already painted a sickly green—their faces turned even paler beneath the dye. So of them, already traumatized by the earlier encounters with the two monsters, were so terrified at the ntion of being “poisoned” that they began trembling uncontrollably and even lost control of themselves.
Ugh…
The ones who had co to cause trouble when they were confident, and the ones now reduced to panic and humiliation when they realized they couldn’t win—truly a sight too unpleasant to watch.
Everly recoiled slightly into the bark hut in disgust.
Since the atmosphere had already been pushed this far, the old priestess did not return inside. Instead, she stood on the altar, summoned the sacred tree’s manifested form, and ordered the Indigenous people to pin the white captives down and force them to swear that they would never reveal any information about the sacred tree.
During this, the massive form of the sacred tree lood over each white captive one by one, stopping in silence before them as its unseen “eyes” watched them.
It successfully caused three more of the weaker-willed captives to completely lose control.
And that still wasn’t the end.
According to federal law, unauthorized intrusion into Indigenous reservations would result in fines, deportation, and imprisonnt. These people had entered the reservation at night carrying firearms and gasoline—the situation was even more severe. Since they had been caught, reporting them to the police was inevitable.
With evidence stacked against them, even if the police wanted to cover it up, they would not dare to do so too openly. In any case, the Winton people would make sure these white n paid the price.
Dealing with the trespassers took so ti. By the ti the police cars arrived with sirens blaring to take the suspects and so Indigenous witnesses away, the sky outside had already begun to lighten with dawn.
Seeing that the old priestess looked exhausted, Everly had originally intended to pause the conversation so she could rest and recover a bit of sleep. But the priestess was a woman who valued her promises.
After sending the Indigenous people away, she returned to the bark hut and picked up where she had left off, continuing to recount the Winton tribe’s creation myth—
As ntioned earlier, Anu and Enli used the serpent and the banyan tree to create a stable continent. With land now ford, the two gods began to unleash their imagination, populating the world with all kinds of plants and animals.
Before long, the world beca lively.
The two gods presented their creations to Aurelbis, hoping to earn a smile from the supre deity. However, Aurelbis felt that the world still lacked beings with true intelligence, and therefore remained unsatisfied.
Looking at the lancholic supre god, Anu and Enli gradually ford an idea—just as Aurelbis had created them, they would, in turn, create a new intelligent lifeform modeled after themselves.
Thus, the earliest ancestors of humanity appeared on this continent.
“It is said that the earliest humans possessed, like the two gods, flawless appearances, brilliant minds, and immortal lives. However, humans—who did not yet know the aning of reverence—soon angered the gods due to the arrogance, pride, and conceit hidden deep within their souls. The gods then unleashed a world-ending flood to cleanse the world of all sinners…”
After the great flood, life was devastated and the world’s surface lay in ruins.
The two gods started over and created a new generation of humans upon the earth.
This ti, they withdrew their earlier favoritism and added many flaws to humanity, making birth, aging, illness, and death inescapable fates for mankind.
But the supre god Aurelbis was ultimately rciful.
With deep compassion, He looked upon the small and fragile beings on the earth and decided to grant a glimr of hope to those humans who were the most outstanding, the most devout, and the strongest.
Thus, He instructed Anu and Enli to build a ladder connecting Earth and the heavens, located on the right side of the land of the rising sun—the very island where the two gods had first descended into the mortal world.
At the top of the ladder were two springs: one for drinking, one for bathing.
Those who drank from the spring would have their potential awakened, their bodies forever preserved at their peak condition. Those who bathed in the other spring would have their original flaws from creation corrected, gaining eternal life.
After completing the ladder, the two gods left behind a guardian to watch over it, then ascended back into the sky to reunite with Aurelbis. As for the ladder and the springs, they sank into the depths of the ocean, only surfacing at specific tis to await the arrival of human heroes.
…
After the story ended, the old priestess extended her arm and gently adjusted the dimming candle fla. As the fire flickered, Everly noticed the elderly woman studying her with an observant gaze.
“I imagine you must have many questions to ask.”
“Yes… may I?”
The old priestess nodded.
“You are soone blessed by the sea—you saved our sacred tree, and you are now a forever friend of the Winton people. As a friend, you are of course entitled to all the knowledge you seek from us.”
Hearing this, Everly finally understood why Buddy had brought her here. Without the events of that night’s ordeal, the Winton people would still have likely told her their myths, but they would never have been this warm, patient, and willing to answer anything she asked.
She carefully compared the mythology in her mind with Orff’s poetry and asked the old priestess:
“On the right side of the land where the sun rises—do you know exactly where that refers to?”
“I’m very sorry, I can’t answer that… our historical transmission has been severely broken. Many myths were gradually lost along with the deaths of our ancestors during the wars. I can only tell you that it should be sowhere in the ocean south of Delaware State, but I don’t know the exact location.”
Everly nodded.
She had already expected as much.
The Winton tribe had once been a moderately large group, but after centuries of persecution by colonizers, fewer than a thousand Winton people remained alive today. It was already fortunate that anyone still rembered their creation myth—far more could not reasonably be expected.
“Then do you know what kind of trials must be passed to reach the ladder?”
The old priestess shook her head again.
“I don’t know. That part of the legend may never have existed, or it may have been lost to history. In any case, the version you heard is all I know. I’m not familiar with any further details.”
Everly’s third question concerned the Fountain of Youth.
In the legend, there were two springs on the ladder—one for drinking, one for bathing. She did not quite understand what the difference between the two actually was.
On this question, the old priestess was able to answer.
“Although we broadly call it the ‘Fountain of Youth,’ the springs set by Aurelbis should actually be divided into the Spring of Eternal Life and the Spring of Agelessness.
The bathing spring is the ‘Spring of Eternal Life.’ It grants endless life, but the human body still continues to age—you simply do not die.
The drinking spring, on the other hand, is the ‘Spring of Agelessness.’ It keeps one’s body at its peak condition, but when one reaches the natural limit of lifespan, death still cos.”
Everly imdiately beca alert.
“So the Spring of Eternal Life requires bathing… I an, if you take the water away and apply it externally, like wiping it on the body, would it still produce the sa effect?”
Everly had not told her grandfather that she was searching for the Fountain of Youth. On one hand, she did not want to worry him; on the other, she had a vague feeling that if she did tell him, he might try to stop her.
So she planned to rely on her own strength, obtain the Fountain of Youth first, and then confess everything afterward. By then, once the thing was already in front of him, surely her grandfather wouldn’t be able to refuse it—for the sake of all the effort she had put in.
But all of this depended on one premise: that the Fountain of Youth could be taken away.
If the “Spring of Eternal Life” could not be packaged and had to be used on-site like a bath, then she would have no choice but to confess everything in advance.
Fortunately, the old priestess’ answer was “yes.”
“The powers of longevity and agelessness are inherent to the water itself and will not lose their effect once it leaves the spring. However, you must ensure that you carry away a sufficient amount of water to fully wet your entire body.”
After a pause, the old priestess added:
“In truth, I do not recomnd that you rely on the power of the Fountain of Youth. In Winton belief, life and death coexist. Without the fear of death, life itself loses its aning and value…”
“Of course, since the gods have left behind a ladder to the heavens, anyone who knows of its existence is entitled to pursue immortality. So I will not try to dissuade you. In fact, I will tell you another story, which may help you.”
The old priestess’ second story was about an Indigenous warrior.
Legend says that the warrior, nad Gesar, witnessed the death of his aging tribespeople and thus set out on a journey to find the Fountain of Youth.
Facing east, he ran across endless plains day and night for forty-nine days and nights, until he finally reached the land where the sun rises. After that, Gesar plunged into the ocean on the right side and fought against the waves for another forty-nine days and nights, yet he still could not find the ladder erected by Aurelbis.
Just as he was on the verge of exhaustion and drowning, the sun in the heavens was moved by his struggle and shed tears.
As a result, the vast ocean trembled, and an island rose from the sea. Gesar stepped onto it and, after countless trials and hardships, finally arrived before the ladder leading to the heavens.
The guardian watching over the ladder stopped Gesar and demanded a key.
Gesar offered the tribe’s most precious jewels, gold, and mineral treasures—but all of them were refused.
“Aurelbis loves all forms of unique life,” the guardian said. “Bring news from faraway places.”
Gesar did not possess what the guardian desired.
And so he was sent back to the land, and for the rest of his life, he never again saw the island rise from the sea.
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