The information that Gezer provided had caught Hao Ren’s attention. He stopped the discussion on the planet’s strange history and redirected his focus to the missing wizard. He still remembered his purpose there: to find Baptiste as well as extract information about the secrets of evil-spirit Vivian and the summoning ritual. The strange faces of Inferno just acted as a temporary diversion.
When Gezer mentioned the witch, it struck a chord with Hao Ren. The time the witch fell from the Pillar of Eternity coincided with the time when Baptiste was active and experimenting on the opening of Inferno on Earth. The answer to Baptiste’s hell-bent attitude on getting to the second level of Inferno had to also lie with the witch. Vivian finally learned where the final resting place of the witch was; she was buried in the territory of the Fire tribe.
Hao Ren could not wait to find out everything. “How far is the Fire tribe from here?”
“They’re on the other side of the grassland, at the intersection of the spirit of the earth’s veins,” Gezer replied in the peculiar language of the tribe. “The spirit of the mountains and the spirit of the wind gather there, where a magnificent Pillar of Eternity supports the sky. For generations, the Fire tribe has had people guarding the place.”
Then he lifted his finger and pointed in a direction. “Go in that direction. It will take 66 days and nights if you travel on horseback. You will know that you have reached when there is hot wind blowing.”
“We can’t afford to take our sweet time.” Hao Ren’s brows knit together. “Gezer, do you know someone who has contact with the Fire tribe?”
“You want to go there?” Gezer’s eyes widened. He looked stunned. “Oh yeah, I forgot. You can travel a thousand miles in the blink of an eye. I can guide you there; warriors of different tribes know each other well, and we have an inter-tribal covenant, which allows us to visit each other’s Pillar of Eternity.”
Hao Ren nodded. He tossed the MDT into the air and said, “Then, let’s not delay any further. We will teleport—”
“I have to inform the elder first,” Gezer said quickly. “Since we’re visiting other tribes, I should tell the elder.”
Hao Ren nodded. “Yes, please. Oh, wait a second. I’ll go with you. I need to ask the old man if he knows about the witch.”
Gotarug was still in his yurt. The highly respected and knowledgeable old man was too fragile for the cold evening wind outside. He would not leave his yurt once the light in the clouds went out. Hao Ren and Vivian’s sudden visit surprised him. He quickly stopped whatever he was doing and got to his feet to greet them. Hao Ren noticed that there were many parchment-like writing materials on the table. The old book he once saw was also lay opened on the table. If he remembered it correctly, the book was about history and myths; the part of history that the aborigines of the world remembered.
Gotarug was making a copy these sacred classics. It was his job as a tribal head as every tribe had its holy scrolls. The elder was responsible for safeguarding the manuscripts. When they became old and felt that their time had come, they would begin to copy the knowledge on these scrolls and passed the copy to their successors. Tribal elders had magical ability of premonition that could predict their time of death accurately. So they could always finish the sacred job before they passed on to the other world.
Such was how the human remnants in this incredible underground sanctuary passed down their ancient knowledge and memories from generation to generation. They had successfully passed down their ancient wisdom this way until today. Some might have been lost though.
When Gezer saw the writing tools and papers, he was awed. But he quickly conveyed what Hao Ren and Vivian had to say.
“Ahh, the witch! The witch of a few hundred years ago…” Gotarug’s mind still agile though he was in his old age. He nodded repeatedly and said, “There are still many people who know about her. Gezer, bring the ‘Seal’ and give it to Bonia of Fire tribe. And be sure to explain the situation, don’t slight our Goddess.”
He handed a wooden ornament that looked like a pendant to Gezer. Hao Ren asked, “What did the witch do that those people still talking about her even after hundreds of years?”
“She fell from the Pillar of Eternity, which was significant enough to be recorded in history.” Gotarug nodded repeatedly. “And, she had brought many novel and interesting knowledge and saved the Fire tribe once. You will know when you get there.”
Hao Ren left the yurt of Gotarug with a little doubt as well as anticipation in his mind. He then brought along Gezer and departed the tribal settlement. They came to open space and was ready to teleport. Geisel asked curiously, “How do we go? Are we using the very fast ‘magic cart?'” He was referring to his North Stars.
“No, this time we teleport.” Hao Ren pointed at the MDT that was floating in the air. “I have a probe heading into the direction that you said. It has found Fire tribe. We can teleport directly.”
Gezer thought for a moment, figuring it might be another kind of miracle.
They stood inside the teleporting range as the MDT enveloped them with a halo. A sense of dizziness and vision of distortion struck them. When everything subsided, they had already arrived at the foot of another Heaven’s Pillar.
The Pillar of Eternity, which how the tribes called it, looked no different from the other Heaven’s Pillars. It supported the heaven above, and the black mountain ranges stretched out under its foot. But unlike the air in Wind Tribe settlement, the temperature around this Pillar of Eternity was significantly higher, as if they had come to the tropic from the temperate zone. The vegetation around this Heaven’s Pillar was few, and the land around the roots of the giant tree was exposing a strange reddish color, which gave a peculiar sense of heat.
It was why the tribe called themselves the Fire tribe.
Not all humans lived a migratory life on the grasslands though all tribes still maintained a nomadic lifestyle. They had their territory, and the tribe stationed some of their tribal men at the foot of a particular Heaven’s Pillar. They regarded Heaven’s Pillars as the foundation of their tribe. The Heaven’s Pillar here was where the ‘totem’ of Fire tribe located.
The tribal customs of this world were very complicated. It took several days and nights to scratch the surface of the knowledge about religion and tradition of this land. Hao Ren only learned some bare basics from Gezer, not much.
Fire tribal village was at the foot of the Heaven’s Pillar. From where they stood, they could already see the lights in the village. When they arrived, it was just nightfall, and the tribal people had yet not rested for the night
Gezer had just recovered from the teleporting dizziness. He looked at the familiar scenery not far away and felt a little at lost. After a while, he only came to his senses that he had crossed the sixty-six-day trip in the blink of an eye. He was rooted to the spot, and he would have stayed that way if not for Hessiana jolting him with a jab on his back.
“Don’t alert too many people,” Hao Ren pulled Gezer close to him and said. “We are here for the witch. Just let the tribal warriors and elder know we are here. If can, take us directly to the tomb of the witch.”
Gezer nodded and then quickly ran into the tribal village not far away. He was fast like wind and soon disappeared into the darkness. Not long after, Hao Ren saw him coming back with a small group of people, including the elder of the Fire tribe. Unlike Gotarug, this elder was a strong man, even looked stronger than the tribal warriors were. Hearing the news of the coming of the Goddess, the elder had launched from the doorstep of his yurt toward this direction. His zero-to-hundred time was just slightly over three seconds.
After that, the process of was the same; Vivian was the front. After a while of frenzy and obligatory greeting and rites, they began to come down to their real business. Hao Ren had not the time to get to know the elder and warriors of the Fire tribe. He got straight to the point explaining his purpose here. Gezer pushed a little girl who looked like only ten years old before them and said, “This is the current saintess of Fire tribe. Her name is Bonia; she can take you to the temple of the Pillar of Eternity.”