Father

Similar scenes played out everywhere. That day, many people heard whispers.

The voice was twisted and bizarre, and the words it spoke were utterly absurd, yet they quietly took root in people's hearts.

Most people forgot what they had heard upon waking. Some remembered a few details, but dismissed them as ridiculous dreams and put them out of mind. Very few would ponder those details or investigate them.

Yet in their dreams, guided by those twisted whispers, they had explored this world from another perspective, in a way they had never experienced before.

They would instinctively think, whether they saw a falling bamboo pole or boiling water.

Everything seemed unchanged, yet something had quietly shifted.

But the instigators of all this had not noticed it.

"How was that, little Gwen? Did I do all right?"

Beside Theus the worker, little Gwen wore an expression too complicated for words.

"That's what's written in your Holy Scripture?"

Theus immediately felt a little embarrassed. He just hadn't had any teaching materials on hand and had impulsively made up some nonsense. Was it really that bad?

Come to think of it, the last time he had made something up like this, the Church had seemingly wiped him out directly.

Theus's eye twitched.

"All right, all right, I won't tell any more. It wasn't having much effect anyway."

"Um... maybe you should tell some more. Those little stories are ridiculous, but they're kind of fun," Little Gwen said hesitantly.

"Don't tell me you're lonely by yourself and want me to come here and tell you bedtime stories?"

Gwen clenched her fists.

"Tell them or don't, but let me remind you: Zoe kept calling out for many days. Maybe whispers like these need to continue for a long time before they work."

Theus thought it over