By this point in the story, Zhang Ming's expression had turned grim.
Inside his head, he even felt a crawling sensation, as though tens of thousands of ants were biting him all at once.
Stone Mama rolled round and round on the altar. Hearing the commotion, several sea turtles crawled over to watch.
In truth, they could not understand Stone Mama's "Spirit Language." Their lives as turtles had given them too little experience, and without a corresponding understanding of the world, they simply could not imagine the Flamehorn Race's former glory or the intricacies of its social affairs.
Only Old White Turtle lay quietly at the threshold, keeping watch and observing their discussion.
After quite a while, Zhang Ming regained his composure and rubbed his temples. "Have you been wondering all this time why such vicious rumors appeared?"
"If stealing the Source of the World earlier was still within the bounds of what you could accept, for the sake of the next generation, or rather, the survival of their civilization..."
"Then spreading these rumors was an outright betrayal of Black Tortoise, who was about to attain godhood through faith. So you must have found it very strange, Stone Mama... why did things suddenly take such a drastic turn?"
"But from a human perspective, there was nothing particularly surprising about these rumors appearing."
Stone Mama stopped rolling, seemingly waiting for Zhang Ming's explanation.
"Why...? Let me break it down for you." Zhang Ming lightly tapped the surface of the altar with the Ice Spear.
"First, the repeated theft of the Source of the World meant the upper ranks of the Flame-Horned People no longer shared the basic consensus needed to stake everything on a life-or-death gamble."
"They were already hesitant when the odds were thirty percent. As the Source of the