The tribal girl, Xiaosi, has been paying attention to that Deity for a long time.

The Deity is shrouded in a black cloak, revealing only a pair of pale young hands, occasionally wandering outside the tribe, doing nothing, seemingly just watching everything inside the tribe.

This Deity is said to be named Su Xiaobai.

At the beginning of the world, He descended from the vastness to the mortal world, with unfathomable Wisdom and limitless Ability, becoming a Guardian of humanity, generously casting Fireseed upon the earth, sowing seeds into the arid fertile soil, and teaching people the art of farming.

If not for Him, people would still be in hunting and gathering stages today, unable to live a farming life.

Selfless, kind, wise, noble.

He gave humans the curved plow, water mills, and livestock techniques, taught them seed selection and hybridization. Technologies and tools humans were supposed to master after hundreds of years were generously bestowed by Him, accelerating history's pace, with the chariot of civilization rolling forward rapidly.

Some tribes believed He was an Ancient Evil God. But many felt that the Deity was indeed humanity's benefactor, especially with the recent drought; the fields urgently needed a rainfall.

"If we cannot pray for a rainfall, many will starve in winter," the male Shaman with feathers in his hair said in a hoarse voice.

"The Deity has given us Fireseed, Wisdom, and agricultural knowledge; we should give back to Him," people discussed.

"More than a hundred nearby tribes have presented sacrifices. I propose that, besides offering sacrifices, we should also build an altar transcending the masses to express our admiration and reverence for the Deity through its towering height. The High Priest has chosen the name for this altar, let's call it 'Babel.' In ancient times before the appearance of the old calendar, it seemed to mean reverence for the Deity." The Clan Leader, with white hair, stroked his beard and said.

"What unique sacrifice can we offer to satisfy the Deity? He doesn't seem interested in fruits and fur."

"... Humans." Ultimately, they reached this conclusion.

Human sacrifice in this era was extremely common; every tribe had children thrown into volcanic craters alive as sacrifices. Sing a few ballads, draw a lot, and you could choose an unlucky child as a sacrifice.

The chosen one is a child named Xiaosi, her parents died early, leaving only an aunt named Xiao Yue. Xiao Yue was merely a Warrior skilled in hunting within the tribe, unable to stop the ritual decided by the entire tribe.

Drums beat, flags fluttered, people's faces smeared with heavy paints, barefoot they set off. The strongest Warrior carried the painted stone tablet, the most beautiful woman in the tribe donned the colorful leather skirt, the wisest elder raised the torch.

"Praise the Deity, praise the Lighthouse!" They sang the tribe's ballads:

"Great Father of the sky, Guardian of the tribe. We kneel beneath your boundless sky, asking you to cleanse our toil, grant nourishing rainwater.

"The Son of God will surely forget their own suffering, grief, and joy..."

Xiaosi was sent into a dark cave, and the tribe people gradually left. She lay tied on the stone slab, her vision pitch black, with only the smell of damp soil.

... Will the Deity come?

... Will He take her life?

In anxious waiting, she suddenly heard a clear voice:

"... What have they sent this time."

The Deity stood quietly in the sunlight at the edge of the cave, cloaked in black. His appearance did not cause the "sky changed color, beasts roared" as the tribe claimed, seemingly no different from normal people.

"I don't need sacrifices." The Deity raised His hand, and the ropes binding Xiaosi loosened: "You can go back."

He turned to leave.

"... Wait." Xiaosi called out: "I am your sacrifice, even if I return, they will still kill me, Deity."

She heard the Deity's faint sigh.

"... Human fantasies about Deities tend to skew towards greed and excess. When they realize they desire too much, they won't stop their desires but attempt to exchange more costs..."

Xiaosi blinked, somewhat unable to understand.

Seeing the Deity was easy to talk to, Xiaosi couldn't help but bring up the long-buried question:

"Deity, my tribe is no different from other tribes, those large tribes offer better sacrifices to you. Why do you never favor those large tribes but often wander around our tribe, what are you observing?"

The Deity closed His eyes.

Xiaosi was anxious, wondering if her tone was too disrespectful.

But the Deity said: "Your tribe's Xiao Yue... Is she living well?"

"My aunt? She is a very strong Warrior in our tribe, many people like her. She is powerful, has the freedom to choose her mate, but she seems to have no such intention..."

"Is she happy?"

"Yes, she's quite well, she even taught me to play the leaf whistle." Xiaosi took out a leaf whistle from her robe and played it for the Deity.

The music was intermittent, not skilled, but the Deity recognized it, this was... the tune from "Bedside Fairy Tales." Xiao Yue had not remembered who she was, but she remembered the prelude of this tune.

"It seems you care about her. If you propose to the tribe to make her a divine attendant, the elders would be very delighted. My aunt wouldn't have to toil everyday hunting." Xiaosi said: "Every time you wander outside the tribe, my aunt often looks out at the same time, if I hadn't noticed, I'd think you two had telepathic connection."

"... Coincidence," the Deity said: "As long as she's happy. Let go of the divine attendant, she should be free and independent, not tied to me, not my possession."

Xiaosi faintly sensed that the Deity seemed to have a familiarity with her aunt, yet her aunt was merely a common tribe member, why would they know each other?

Deity matters, she was sure she couldn't understand as a child, but she wanted to make the Deity happier, after all, protecting so many humans, the Deity must be tired.

Thus she stopped probing, concentrating on playing the leaf whistle.

Since then, she stayed by the Deity's side. Most of the time, the Deity stayed in the cave, standing all day, gazing distantly at the smoke covering the mountains. Her only task was to play the leaf whistle for the Deity when He stood.

Days passed by like this.

Not knowing what the Deity spoke, afterward, no more human sacrifices occurred.

Rice transplanting techniques, iron plows, oxen farming, waterwheels, papermaking... Human progress accelerated ever faster, with the Deity's assistance, civilization advanced like it was on a rocket. As ironware gradually became widespread in their hands, war among tribes inevitably commenced. Contests for prey, divisions of farmland, currency definitions, salt drying ownership... Human conflicts emerged daily, casualties increased.

The Deity never intervened in human wars, no matter who died, He always watched indifferently.

Xiaosi grew from an eight-year-old girl to an adult. Long-term living in the forest granted her healthy wheat-colored skin and black long hair.

Yet, she had never seen the true countenance of the Deity, nor could she speak with Him much. Simply approaching Him exhausted all her courage. Let alone the Deity mostly unmoving, it seemed all times passed between His eyes fleetingly. Her few words couldn't stir even a speck of dust in His vast Life.

Eighteen years old, Xiaosi prepared a song she was most satisfied with, wanting to play it for the Deity. Yet she received His faint words:

"You should return to the tribe."

Xiaosi's eyes widened, wanting to speak but due to too long without communicating, her tongue was incredibly dry.

"Before, I kept you here because you were too young, even if you returned it would be easy to die from disease and beasts. Now, you can return, I have informed the Clan Leader." The Deity's voice remained clear and cold: "I observed people dying from infections caused by ironware, carry this book of medicines, it should reduce casualties."

A book of medicines was placed in Xiaosi's hands, tears shimmered in her eyes wanting to stay, yet the Deity was no longer in sight.

The Deity was like a gust of wind; if the Deity wished to leave, no one could find where the Deity went.

In the vast cave, only Xiaosi's usual belongings were left. The Deity left no trace, as if the Deity had never stood here for ten years.

Xiaosi knelt on the ground, feeling an emptiness in her heart, as if a large part was forcibly dug out.

"God... God... don't leave me... don't go..." She cried out all night, but the distant smoke and flames of war did not respond to her cries.

Her feelings should have been admiration, a reverence for the omnipotent Deity, yet her heart ached as if torn apart.

After returning to the Tribe, she quickly integrated back into normal life. But sometimes, Xiaosi would often return to the cave, hoping the Deity would return, even though she knew it was impossible. But it never happened.

In the year 201 of the Old Days, under the distant moonlight, Xiaosi unexpectedly saw the Deity.

The Deity stood in front of a grave behind the Tribe, its Shadow stretched long. Though a powerful Deity, it gave her a sense of loneliness spreading from that figure.

"... What a coincidence, are you also here to worship Aunt?" Xiaosi walked over, holding flowers: "Since I came of age and bid farewell to you, it's been seven or eight years since I last saw you..."

At this moment, the Moonlight shone over their faces, and she unexpectedly saw—the Deity's face, without a veil, revealed a young and delicate appearance, with eyes slightly reddened.

Unlike the Tribe's worshiped statue, which had sharply defined perfect proportions and bulging muscles, it was more like a young man from the Tribe.

This left Xiaosi stunned.

"... I should have started the research on antibiotics earlier," the Deity gazed at the gravestone and said softly, "But, antibiotics, for you all, it's still too early, too early. It's not suitable for it to appear now..."

Xiaosi's aunt, Xiao Yue, died from an infection during a war. She was the Tribe's bravest warrior, and her loss was deeply mourned.

"Antibiotics... what is that?" Xiaosi murmured this completely unfamiliar word.

The Deity was silent for a moment, shook their head, looked at the tombstone for a while longer, then stepped away under the moonlight.

Xiaosi knew that the next time she accidentally encountered the Deity, it might be many years later, perhaps never again in her lifetime.

"God!" She called out to them.

The Deity did not turn back.

She hurriedly shouted: "... I'm going to get married."

The Deity stopped in their tracks, quietly looking at her.

"I have no thoughts about marriage; in the Tribe, everyone must get married. Apart from warriors like Aunt with special privileges, everyone is the same." Xiaosi said softly, "The person is from a distant Tribe... I haven't even seen his portrait, yet I am to spend my life with him. I don't know what my future will be like, whether it will be happiness or misery, longevity or brevity..."

"..." The Deity remained silent, like a patch of white snow. They seemed to have witnessed too many such things.

"Before being offered as a sacrifice at eight, I never lived a day for myself." Xiaosi clutched her hem: "But, God, those ten years in the cave with you... were my... happiest times. I know, your gaze could never linger on someone like me, yet protecting me for ten years was your kindness. So... I want to say..."

She slowly lowered her head:

"Thank you."

"Thank you for watching over this world."

"Thank you for your blessing upon us mortals."

"Thank you... for your kindness towards us. Even though you are a Deity, you can see each person's suffering... Thank you."

"You can see, you can hear."

The Deity did not respond.

The Deity merely gazed into the distant Moonlight, lost in thought, not sparing a glance for Xiaosi.

Xiaosi waited for a long time, receiving not a single look from the Deity.

... Is that so? The Deity probably doesn't care about me.

Xiaosi smiled bitterly.

... In the eyes of the Deity, there are billions, who would care about a girl like her? Being able to express her gratitude was enough for her...

Let it be, this would be the last meeting...

Just when Xiaosi thought the Deity was about to leave, the Deity slowly spoke.

The voice was clear and bright, just like their first meeting:

...

"In a future I can foresee... you will be very happy, harmonious with each other all your life. You respect his wishes, and he respects yours. Apart from a quarrel about the future at forty, there will be no major troubles."

"You will live a long life, free from the ravages of war, free from early illness."

"Among a population of 593,810,293, your destiny line is a very happy one. Xiaosi."

"You will be happy... don't be afraid, don't be anxious."

Xiaosi's eyes widened.

Her heart pounded, and she almost wanted to burst into tears.

When she looked up again, the Deity's figure was no longer there.

Under the moonlight, a bouquet of pansies lay on the gravestone, the petals still fresh with dew.

She clasped her hands, knelt to the unseen distance, playing a leaf whistle alone. Regardless of whether the Deity could hear, it was like an unspoken farewell.

The Deity was wise, omnipotent, ever-responding.

She spoke of her confusion.

—The Deity responded to her confusion.

Oh God...

Oh God.

...

In the year 213 of the Old Days, the conflict between the Slave Master and the Landlord surpassed the Tribe disputes, and the collectives based on Tribes gradually transformed into cities.

The Primitive Age ended.

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