Qingmu looked at Situ, just as Situ was looking at him. Due to the thick fog, their faces were somewhat blurry in each other's eyes, but their consciousnesses appeared clearly in each other's mental worlds, like lightning piercing through the fog.
Situ remained calm, speaking in a gentle, Tushu tone. "Madam, why don't you finish telling the myths of the Itza People? Myths are the source of civilization. The ancient myths we hear are like gamma-ray bursts captured in the universe; though they are only sporadic flashes, they testify to the former glory of long-dead stars in the dark depths of the cosmos. You are an expert in this field; perhaps you can glean some traces of ancient civilizations from them."
"Alright." Mrs. Larry smiled and continued recounting the myths and legends of the Itza People, "Besides Cheva and Ischewa, Unabu's other five children Sangqi, Manti Stone, Tuoxiao, Chayak, and Huracan."
Sangqi represents the Tree of Life, the driving force of life's growth and the source of all spirituality. He dwells where Cheva and Ischewa rise. Cheva likes to compete with him in height, while Ischewa likes to nestle among Sangqi's branches, spying on people's activities at night. It is said that later, Sangqi grew too tall, blocking Cheva's radiance. Cheva complained to Unabu, Unabu then sent a large bird to carry Cheva to the highest point in the sky each day. After completing its mission, the bird would perch on Sangqi's head, awaiting the arrival of the next day.
At this point, everyone turned to look at Qingmu and the Crow above his head. Although only their outlines could be seen in the thick fog, it only added to their mystery.
The Hanran creature in Su Huilan's arms let out a soft meow.
The Crow sensed something was wrong and became a little uncomfortable. It cawed, "Oh dear, I feel a bit hot down on my back! Guagua... Can you see a... Sun on my back?!"
People laughed, "Oh yes, you have a Sun on your back, that's how your hair got baked black!"
Mrs. Larry laughed and said, "Actually, there are similar stories in human mythology. For example, the Fusang Tree and the Golden Crow in Eastern mythology are very similar; in the Negrito People legends of Oceania, it was Crow that brought fire, and only then did light come to humankind; in the Haida People legends of the Pacific Ocean, ravens are thieves who steal sunlight; Koryak People of Russia believe that volcanic activity is caused by Crow. These are all related to the Sun or fire. The most interesting one is in Greece mythology, where the Sun god Apollo kept a white raven. There is a saying that Apollo never drove a golden chariot, but instead rode a white Crow around the world."
"Can a white bird be called Crow?"
"Perhaps it used to be called the White Raven! In mythology, Apollo's raven had snow-white feathers. At that time, Apollo had fallen in love with the mortal princess Coronis, but the princess had an affair with a mortal while she was pregnant, which was witnessed by the raven."
Upon learning the news, Apollo and his sister, Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, went to seek revenge. Artemis killed everyone with her arrows, including Princess Coronis. Apollo took the unborn child from the princess's womb and entrusted it to the Chiron, Asclepius, the god of medicine.
Later, Apollo regretted his actions, realizing he shouldn't have acted so impulsively. He then took his anger out on the raven that carried the message, scorching its feathers, and from that moment on, the raven turned black.
"Oh dear, what a sad story!" the Crow cawed. "Well... let's not talk about Crow anymore. Let's talk about something else. There are so many gods, you can't possibly keep Crow..."
Mrs. Larry said, "Because I am more familiar with this tribe, and Sangqi represents the god who protects this tribe, I know more about him. As for the others, I only know that Manti Stone represents mountains and strength, and he lives where Cheva and Ischewa fall down."
Whenever the great Unabu rises into the sky, gazing down upon humanity with his millions of eyes, the mischievous Cheva hides behind her elder brother Manti Stone to avoid their father's punishment, while Ischewa snuggles into her father's arms. Sometimes, Unabu, doting on his daughter, deliberately conceals his own light, allowing Ischewa to become the brightest color in the night sky.
" Guagua! What a loving god!" the Crow cawed. "And what about the others?"
" Tuoxiao is the god of fire, symbolizing flames; Chayak is the god of ice, representing ice and water; Huracan is the god of wind, symbolizing wind and all things that change. But we haven't seen the tribes these gods protect, so I don't know their stories, nor have I seen their totems or appearances. I think this place we are in now must be the territory of one of these gods, and those savages who suddenly retreated yesterday, I wonder which god's children they were..." Mrs. Larry finished speaking and fell into deep thought.
Qingmu and Situ exchanged a smile but remained silent. Qingmu was almost certain that this was the territory of the Wind God Huracan, and he knew that Situ must think the same thing.
In retrospect, these myths were indeed unfounded.
The five guardian deities represent different attributes, which are the properties of five Mental Power Field, or they can be considered as five different frequencies of spiritual fluctuations. Whether by coincidence or some other special reason, Qingmu and Situ's Mental Power happens to match the frequency of one of these Mental Power Field, which is why they are able to have a spiritual connection with the corresponding scepter.
"What about Gaia?" Situ suddenly asked, "Madam, you just mentioned Gaia."
"Oh, yes, and Gaia too." Mrs. Larry seemed to be sorting through the information she had gathered. "Their legends don't contain much about Gaia's origins, only that Gaia was a god who shared control of the stars with Unabu. He was jealous of the world of light that Unabu created and always tried to let darkness devour the light."
The evil Gaia is omnipresent; once touched by her tentacles, there is no escape. She can kill silently, and people must always be wary of her arrival and avoid her wicked tentacles.
"Tentacle?"
"Well, this is my translation, and it might not be accurate. According to Kubota's description, it should be a kind of mind-control magic that can control a person's soul and mind. Because it seems to exist between the tangible and the intangible, the Itza People cannot see it, but the priests who hold the divinely bestowed scepter can see it. So I translated it as 'tentacles'."
What happened next?
"In order to protect the starry sky, Unabu could not attend to the human world. His five sons also stepped into the nebula to follow Unabu in his battle against Gaia."
Mortals could not withstand Gaia's tentacles and could only hope for the day when the gods would return victorious. More and more mortals died, until one day, a hero Itza stood up, cut off Gaia's tentacles with his greatsword, led his people to build an altar, echoed the gods, and fought against Gaia's evil army.
The place where we stand is where they once fought— Ramla —meaning 'journey' in their language.
After Itza's death, the Itza People continued to fight and guard the altar until the day the god returned. This is the content of the Hymn to the Starry Sky that you heard last night."