Chapter 1 Boniya

Boniya was a short, small girl, completely different from the "Fire Witch" Hao Ren had imagined. She wore an overly large, dark red cloth robe, and her long brown hair was braided and draped behind her, with colorful threads woven into it for decoration. The little girl timidly hid behind the adults, observing Vivian and Hao Ren's actions with bright, curious eyes, until Gezer called her out, and she dared to bow to Vivian. She didn't look like a high-ranking "Holy Maiden" at all.

"Boniya was just chosen as the Holy Maiden last year," the Fire Tribe elder, a robust middle-aged man built like a warrior, explained with some embarrassment. "The previous Holy Maiden suddenly passed away, and Boniya didn't even have time to finish learning the incantations and rituals before hastily taking office. But her faith in the gods and her talent as a Holy Maiden are beyond question, and she will definitely be a good guide for you."

Vivian looked curiously at the timid little girl, who blinked and carefully met her gaze, saying in a very small voice, "Goddess, praise... praise you, your descent makes the earth... the earth tremble..."

She sounded like she was about to cry.

"Take us to the place where that witch is buried," Vivian said directly, not letting the little girl continue to be nervous. "No one else needs to come."

No one expressed any objection to Vivian's arrangement. Gezer and the Fire Tribe warriors retreated together, and Hao Ren heard them begin to discuss the goddess's descent and how Gezer had instantly arrived from the Wind Tribe as they left. Boniya was left alone. She glanced at Vivian carefully and pointed to the base of the Celestial Pillar Tree, "It's there, very far, inside the Eternal Pillar."

The Celestial Pillar Tree was so huge that a single root could be called a mountain range, and a small hole in the trunk could be called a tunnel. The Fire Tribe lived at the foot of this giant tree, but their range of activity was not much larger than the territory of a colony of ants nesting in the roots. The "temple" Boniya referred to was the tribe's sacred site located in the central part of the Celestial Pillar Tree, so how far was it from the nearest root to the center of the trunk?

More than ten kilometers.

The miracle plant created by the First Born was indeed so magnificent and astonishing.

Hao Ren took Boniya and drove directly to the sacred site.

This Celestial Pillar Tree was similar to the one the group had initially passed through. It was also hollow, and entering the interior through a triangular crack at the base of the trunk revealed a vast, dim space. But unlike the other one, this place showed many traces of human activity as the Fire Tribe's base. Some lights were scattered on the open space inside the giant tree, and a wide, well-maintained road led from the crack in the trunk all the way to the center. At the end of this road, Hao Ren saw what Boniya called the "temple." Unlike other temples he had seen, the building in front of him was much simpler than he had imagined. It was just a building made of wood and stone, somewhat imitating the Dorasil pyramid. It wasn't gorgeous, and it couldn't even be called grand.

Of course, even so, it was still much better than the tribe's yurts outside.

"The witch and the Holy Maiden from four hundred years ago are both buried behind the temple," Boniya seemed much more at ease after arriving here, and she boldly took the initiative to point the way for Vivian. "It's very quiet here, and warriors only come here during festivals."

Lili, however, was looking up at the chaotic darkness above, which undoubtedly led to the surface crust of the Purgatory Planet. "Speaking of which, you build houses in here... aren't you afraid of being hit by something falling from above?"

Boniya was stunned for a moment, then said softly, "Occasionally... things do fall down."

Lili was startled. "Isn't that very dangerous?!"

Boniya maintained her stunned expression, as if she had never thought about this question at all. "The goddess protects us, so it's okay."

Lili felt incredible. "What if you get hit? What if you even get killed?"

"Then... it's still the goddess's protection. If you get killed, you should be able to be with the goddess," Boniya said blankly, quickly glancing at Vivian. "Right?"

Vivian looked at the endless darkness above her head and felt guilty herself, let alone protecting others, but facing Boniya's stubborn question, she could only grit her teeth and nod. "She will protect you, she will protect you – but I still suggest that you don't move around inside the tree trunk in the future. You can hold ceremonies outside. This pillar leads to the surface, and if something really falls down, it won't just be a bump on the head."

Boniya didn't know if she understood, but she nodded blankly, then led the group to see the witch's grave.

Behind the "temple" was a large open space enclosed by round stones, and many stone mounds piled up with gravel were neatly arranged on the open space. The stone mounds themselves were indistinguishable, but a rough stone pillar stood on top of each one, with simple information such as the tomb owner's name written on it in hieroglyphic-like symbols. The witch from Earth, who had explored the depths of the Purgatory Star and had an extraordinary life experience, was sleeping in this cemetery. Her stone mound was mixed in with the others, with no special features.

Boniya pointed to the witch's grave. There was only a simple sentence on the stone pillar: Witch, friend, foreigner, you sleep here. May your soul return to your homeland in your dreams.

"This is it," Boniya said, bowing slightly in front of the stone mound and performing a simple prayer and comfort with a complex and strange gesture.

Vivian looked curiously at the graves around her. "Are all the Holy Maidens of the Fire Tribe buried here?"

Boniya nodded. "Yes."

"You allow a foreigner—and possibly a 'cursed' foreigner—to be buried with the Holy Maidens?" Hesperian took over the conversation. "You don't have any taboos about this?"

"This was specially allowed by that Holy Maiden back then. It is said that the Holy Maiden and the witch were very good friends, and they worked together to cure the black plague at the time," Boniya said, suddenly looking at Vivian nervously. "Is this... not okay?"

Vivian immediately waved her hand. "Oh no, it's okay, it's very good."

"Besides this grave, what else did that witch leave behind?" Hao Ren was not satisfied with only one grave in front of him. "Relics, messages, or other legends will do. Speaking of which, you didn't bury all her things with her, did you?"

As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced at Lili, thinking that if the witch's relics had already been buried with her, he would have to let Lili dig up the grave. Anyway, she was best at digging holes. Lili noticed Hao Ren's gaze and trembled, shrinking her claws and hiding behind Nangong Wuyue. "Landlord, don't look at me! Digging holes is different from digging graves!"

Fortunately, the things left behind by the witch were not buried with her. As Hao Ren had expected, people who were accidentally stranded in such a situation would try to pass on their stories to compatriots who might visit again—the witch left behind many things, and entrusted her native friends to preserve them properly.

Boniya led the group into the temple (which was actually just a large stone house) and took out some seriously discolored parchment scrolls and inscribed stone tablets from an old stone box, as well as many miscellaneous things. "This is what the witch left behind."

Hao Ren was overjoyed. These were the things he wanted. Vivian also eagerly began to examine the relics. She saw scrolls and pieces of paper made of black goat skin, as well as ritual daggers carved from obsidian, glass bottles that once contained magic potions, some scraps of cloth, and a pair of old, special gloves that witches often wore when making potions. These things undoubtedly came from Earth. She even found a coin from eight centuries ago in the pile of old objects. The small piece of metal, so corroded that it was almost unrecognizable, stunned her for a long time. "...Ten thousand years, a full ten thousand years, and this is the first time I've found money..."

Hao Ren casually slapped the coin out of Vivian's hand. "Don't be silly, this isn't something you found, it's someone else's relic."

"It's about the same thing," Vivian pouted. "I used to dig up other people's graves and never found any money."

"Ahem," Hao Ren quickly coughed twice to get past this topic. "Let's see what's written on these parchments."