The Banished People of the Abyss

"Who's there?" Tito had lost his eyes, and his ears had become exceptionally sharp.

"A dying old man," the aged Person of the Abyss replied, his voice resonating from beneath the stone helmet that concealed his weathered face. This old man, wearing a stone helmet, shall henceforth be known as Old Stone Helm.

Old Stone Helm took out the decaying cup, which still didn't seem to have anything special about it.

Holding up the cup, he asked, "These are your belongings, aren't they? Can you tell me why you care about this so much? Does it hold some special meaning to you? Perhaps if I knew, I would let you go."

The other party must have observed him for a long time, only approaching at this moment.

Tito weakly raised his head, "Who are you, really?"

Old Stone Helm replied, "I am a banished old man, a monster with wisdom."

The other party possessed the power of wisdom. No matter how foolish Tito was, he wouldn't think the other was an ordinary person. "Are you also one of the People of the Abyss? Why do you call yourself a monster?"

Old Stone Helm's words were full of indifference, or perhaps wisdom tempered by the vicissitudes of life.

"Because when I was born, I was just a monster from the abyss."

"They are different. When they were born, they were already People of the Abyss."

Tito gave an ambiguous answer, "This is something that gives me a mission and guidance."

The other party untied Tito and fed him some water and food.

Tito finally caught his breath.

After resting in a cool, shaded corner below the island for a night, he gradually recovered.

He took back the Divine Cup from Old Stone Helm's hands. The moment his fingers touched the Divine Cup, a beam of light illuminated the dark world.

The guiding light of the Divine Cup was still there, even though he couldn't see anything else.

Rising to his feet, Tito listened to the sound of the tides and the howling wind echoing through the stone pillars.

After losing his sight, he could actually think more clearly about everything.

Why he had come here.

What he really wanted.

In the end, he decided to set out again.

He carefully placed the recovered Divine Cup into his backpack, along with a few broken bone tablets and his carving knife.

Old Stone Helm watched him and asked,

"Even in this state, you still want to go find the God-Given Land?"

This Person of the Abyss was very curious about what drove Tito to this point.

His persistence, his efforts, his fearlessness—what was the source of it all?

Tito immediately became somewhat wary. "You know what I'm looking for?"

Old Stone Helm laughed. "I heard everything you said to that little brat."

Tito: "You know the lord of the Sal Domain."

Old Stone Helm: "He is my great-grandson."

Tito was stunned. "Then why were you banished?"

The other paused for a moment, then said with a laugh,

"The People of the Abyss are different from the Yinsai. We revere strength and despise weakness."

"We multiply quickly, but food in the sea is limited. Our techniques for raising Ancestral Fish are far inferior to you Yinsai people. Not to mention, you occupy the most bountiful coastal waters, the most suitable place for Ancestral Fish to thrive."

"Aged People of the Abyss are useless. When they reach a certain age, they leave their homes and head out to the sea to fend for themselves."

"Even if they don't want to leave, they will be driven out of their homes."

Tito: "So you were banished? By your own people?"

Old Stone Helm: "In this cruel world, it's not easy to survive."

Old Stone Helm clearly didn't want to continue this topic. He looked at Tito with interest.

"You still haven't answered me. Why do you insist on finding the God-Given Land?"

"You've even lost your eyes. Why are you still so obsessed?"

Tito thought for a moment. "Do you understand the meaning of a mission?"

Old Stone Helm was taken aback. "I don't quite understand."

Tito laughed, a sound that mocked his former self.

"Actually, I don't understand either. I used to just say fancy words."

"But..."

"When you say fancy words often enough, you start to believe them yourself."

"Proclaiming that everything is fate, everything is God's guidance, and in the end, you truly attribute all mistakes and failures to God."

"I longed to become a greater poet, longed for people's cheers."

"I longed for my name to be recorded in history, for everyone in future generations to know me."

Old Stone Helm: "Then what exactly is a mission?"

Tito also asked himself, "What is a mission?"

This time, he gave an answer, which was also an answer to himself.

"A mission is not some supreme glory, nor is it guided by God."

"It's that I want to do this, that I feel I should do this."

"Before, I didn't understand. I firmly believed that everything in this world was predestined."

"But when I lost everything, I suddenly understood."

"I finally understood."

"Why God said those words to Redlichia."

Old Stone Helm listened with great interest. He seemed extremely fascinated by this kind of thing because he was also lost, searching for answers just like Tito.

"What were those words?"

Tito faced the sea and put his backpack on again.

"God said to King Redlichia, 'I am the God who created you, and you are their king.'"

"God created all things and life, but uniquely gave the Trilobite Men wisdom, because wisdom is the power to break free from fate, and wisdom is the miracle that creates everything."

"From that moment on, God relinquished his control over the fate of the Trilobite Men."

"From that time on, God let go. He told King Redlichia that history would be created by the Trilobite Men themselves."

A smile appeared on Tito's face, or perhaps it was a sense of relief.

"But we couldn't let go. We couldn't bear God's letting go. We didn't believe we could create history."

"Because we... are truly insignificant."

"But God believes that we, insignificant as we are, can create miracles."

Tito stepped into the sea, the water engulfing his footsteps.

"I no longer yearn for anything. I no longer wait for the arrangement of fate or the guidance of God."

"Because..."

"I am creating history, creating my own history."

"This is my mission."

Listening to Tito's words, Old Stone Helm suddenly felt an inexplicable shock.

Without any passionate outpouring or impassioned speech, the plain and direct words struck even deeper into the heart.

He felt that the answer he was seeking was right here.

He stood up and looked at Tito's retreating figure, calling out in a voice filled with wonder, "Tito, do you truly believe that God exists?"

Tito didn't answer, but Old Stone Helm caught up to him.

"I'll accompany you too!"

"I also want to see what the realm of God is really like."

"I also want to know if we were once the firstborn of God."

Tito still didn't respond, but Old Stone Helm persisted.

"The place you're going will pass through the royal capital of the Abyss Kingdom, the former Yesael City."

"Without my guidance and help, you won't be able to cross through there."

Tito turned his head back. "Are you sure you want to go to the God-Given Land? God may not welcome a sinful person stepping into his paradise."

Old Stone Helm: "That's my problem."

Tito dove into the sea, and Old Stone Helm closely followed him into the deeper parts of the ocean.

A God-Forsaken sinner on the verge of death and a poet who had lost his eyes.

These two strange individuals formed a partnership and set out together on a journey to find the God-Given Land.