Civilization Temple

"Pure seed stock?" Scar's subordinate froze. The way he looked at Shen Feng changed instantly. "Now that you mention it, I think this outsider really doesn't seem mutated..."

"Come on, Boss Scar, you're overthinking it. Gray Three doesn't look like there's anything wrong with him either. Who could tell just from looking at him that he has a tail? Even Firefly, that little chick, looks pretty decent, but who'd know her mutation index is the highest in town? She nearly didn't make it back then." A bald man chewed up the dried earthworm in his mouth and waved a hand dismissively.

"Yeah, Brother Scar. You can't see or touch this curse. In all these years, I've never met anyone who wasn't cursed. I heard the Crow Tribe's pure seed stock was seized from another tribe in a war long ago. He's nearly fifty now, old as hell. No wonder they want to find new seed stock..."

Scar snorted coldly, ignoring his men's pessimism. "That's why we need to get a sample from him and let the Crow Tribe's seed masters examine it. I heard they have a sacred relic that can detect whether someone has been cursed..."

"The mayor already said we're not to cause him trouble..." The bald man smacked his lips. "But I happen to know Old Wang, the shopkeeper..."

It took Shen Feng and Firefly nearly an hour to finish their food. Since they had ordered so much, the owner even gave them a plate of extremely hard dried rabbit meat, which made their gums bleed from chewing.

After lunch, Firefly patted her belly in satisfaction and said to Shen Feng, "So? No need to thank me. I'll show you around our town."

The meal had not been as delicious as the food Shen Feng had given her, but that chili sauce had been unbelievably fragrant. It went perfectly with cockroach cake.

By now, Shen Feng had gained a general understanding of wasteland cuisine. He rubbed his slightly sour stomach and nodded in agreement.

Real Doomsday Game had not given him a time limit for this nuclear-war wasteland mission, which suggested it might become a lengthy task. The clues would not be easy to gather.

He was in no rush. Perhaps he would stumble across an important clue when he least expected it.

For example, in a place like Nameless Town.

Besides, in this post-apocalyptic wasteland, the real danger was standing out too much and seeming out of place. Perhaps he ought to change his clothes too, into something woven from scraps of plastic, tree bark, and grass roots, so as not to attract others' covetous eyes.

Lost in thought, Shen Feng followed Firefly as she led him around town.

Though Nameless Town was small, it had everything one could need: shops, a blacksmith's, restaurants, and even its own hospital.

Of course, there was no medicine. The doctor relied entirely on experience to mix medicinal herbs from plants, and anesthesia meant knocking the patient unconscious.

Before long, Firefly led Shen Feng to the most important building in Nameless Town.

The Civilization Temple!

Judging from its appearance, it seemed to have been converted from an old bank.

Atop the building stood a pattern assembled from discarded circuit boards: a little green bird.

People occasionally entered and exited through the arched doorway, their faces filled with devotion.

When Shen Feng reached the entrance to the Civilization Temple, he could not help feeling surprised.

Two lines of poetry had been scrawled crookedly in Chinese on either side of the door:

On the left was, "East wind at night sets a thousand trees ablaze," and on the right, "Then blows down stars like rain."

Yet whoever had written them clearly did not recognize the characters at all. They had merely copied the shapes from somewhere.

Firefly reverently closed her eyes, raised both hands, and wiggled her fingers as if typing.

Before Shen Feng could ask, Firefly opened her eyes and explained, "This is how we pray to the Civilization Temple. Come on, I'll take you inside to worship the statues. There are lots of gods in there."

The two stepped inside, and Shen Feng immediately realized that the layout was much like the temples he had visited before.

There was a main hall, with pedestals around it displaying the worshipped statues.

Dried rats, bottle caps, and similar items had been placed on the offering tables around them, clearly left voluntarily by worshippers.

But what shocked Shen Feng were the statues displayed on the pedestals!

On the left stood an old yellowed refrigerator and an electric oven!

On the right were a rusty train wheel and a cracked airplane model wrapped in torn plastic bags.

Other platforms held microwave ovens, mobile phones, electric fans, broken air conditioners, televisions without screens, and more.

They were all electronic junk.

At the very center of the hall stood a model intercontinental ballistic missile made from spent artillery shells, with the crooked inscription "DF-36" written on it.

Noticing Shen Feng's shock, Firefly assumed he had never seen these things and immediately began introducing them.

"This is the statue of the Winter God. This is the Flame God. This is the symbol of the God of Strength. This is the Sky God. This one is said to have once been the Light-and-Shadow God, able to create a colorful world out of thin air... This is..."

As she introduced each "god statue," Shen Feng's mood grew somewhat heavy.

The humans of this wasteland had clearly undergone a massive extinction and rupture of civilization, leaving them almost completely severed from their former technological civilization.

All that remained of the old technology were legends. After being passed down for who knew how many years, those legends had ultimately become worship of the technological creations of the past.

Shen Feng pointed at the strategic missile model in the center and said, "This must be the legendary God of East Wind. Is he the chief god?"

Firefly hurriedly waved her hands. "No. Although the God of East Wind is the strongest god, there is only one true chief god: the great Jingwei!"

As she spoke, she smiled and pointed upward.

Only then did Shen Feng notice another pedestal above the strategic missile model. Resting on it was a damaged laptop, seemingly little more than an empty shell. Yet on its shattered screen, a pattern had been drawn in red paint—or perhaps blood.

The pattern was extremely ancient: a little bird in flight.

Jingwei?

Jingwei Filling the Sea?

That ancient myth had actually survived in this world?

Seeing Shen Feng's confused expression, Firefly continued, "The great Jingwei commands the God of East Wind, bringing everlasting vengeance upon our enemies while protecting everyone who lives on this land. Hurry, tonight is Rebirth Day. Let's pray together to the great Jingwei so we can be reborn tomorrow."

At the mention of Rebirth Day, Firefly's expression became much more solemn, and her tone brooked no argument.

Unable to refuse her, Shen Feng walked over and stood before the "statue." He closed his eyes, raised his hands, and began tapping at an imaginary virtual keyboard.

"Huh?" Firefly asked in puzzlement. "Your movements seem even more standard than mine..."

Shen Feng smiled faintly. Of course. Had all those years of online chatting been for nothing...?

This Rebirth Day was probably some kind of festival, like the Spring Festival, Ghost Festival, or Easter.

After all, having endured brutal war and miserable lives, people needed spiritual comfort all the more.

By then, they had eaten, toured the streets, and worshipped the gods. It was time to part ways.

Firefly grabbed a large handful of bottle caps from her pocket and stuffed them into Shen Feng's hand. "Hehe, thanks to you saving me, I was able to come back and make a fortune. And I ate so much of your good food. Consider these a token of thanks."

Shen Feng did not decline. He casually accepted them and put them into his bag.

The girl seemed carefree and thoughtless, but she was actually very considerate. If he refused, he might only hurt her feelings.

Then Firefly grinned at Shen Feng and said, "I'm going to buy a big house. We're friends now, so how about we celebrate Rebirth Day together tonight?"

Shen Feng nodded. "All right. See you tonight."

After Firefly left excitedly, Shen Feng walked behind Jingwei's statue and suddenly lifted the curtain beneath the shrine.

The person hiding inside immediately revealed himself, along with the dark muzzle of a gun aimed at Shen Feng.

Shen Feng grinned.

"Mayor?"