Mage Joan

"Actually, I'm also thinking about this issue." Qiao An stretched out an eye stalk, stroked his daughter's forehead, and said thoughtfully: "Udinese's current situation is like a primitive living in the dark wasteland where Warcraft is rampant. In the tribe, the prophets of the tribe stolen the holy fire from the sky, where the fire shines, the ferocious beasts dare not invade, and the people in the tribe can be protected by the fire."

"However, the protection of the holy fire is not without cost. If you want to keep the holy fire burning, you have to add firewood regularly. Ordinary dry firewood is not enough. You must use healthy unmarried men and women in the tribe as sacrifices to push the fire to burn to death and hold it. After the burnt offering ceremony, the holy fire can emit the brilliance that will shock the beasts."

Inanna listened intently, looking forward to her adoptive mother to continue telling this rather cruel fable.

"In the beginning, a burnt offering ceremony was held every year in the tribe, and it was enough to sacrifice a pair of unmarried young men and women."

"Compared to the safety of the entire tribe, such a sacrifice is worthwhile. There are no lack of enlightened young people in the tribe. They take the initiative to sign up to serve as sacrifices, sacrifice their young lives, and their souls merge into the sacred fire, transforming into the glory of dispelling monsters, and protecting relatives and friends. With compatriots."

"Yet, day after day, year after year, the flames from the heavens are polluted by human fireworks, and the divine power is gradually declining. People have to add more firewood to keep the holy fire from expelling monsters."

"The annual burnt offering ceremony has increased from the initial two offerings to four, eight, sixteen..."

"As the sacrifices continue to rise, tribal residents' attitudes towards sacrifices have gradually changed, questioning whether such a large sacrifice is worth it?"

"Young people, as a sacrifice group, have the strongest voice of resistance. Now no one has volunteered to sacrifice themselves as firewood. The tribe has to choose the sacrifices by drawing lots."

"The winners may not be willing to give in. There are endless escapes and even rebellions."

"Due to the increasing sacrifice of burnt offerings, too many unmarried young people have been pushed into the fire as firewood. This has led to an age gap in the entire tribe and fewer and fewer newborns. According to this trend, it will deteriorate in the foreseeable future. Can't make up enough sacrifices to sustain the burning of the sacred flame."

"Where is the sacred fire? It is clearly a curse!"

Inanna couldn't help but interject.

"Yeah, the holy fire that originally guarded this tribe and was widely revered by people has now transformed into a vicious curse. It is deeply hated by people, but it is inseparable from this pile of flames. The whole tribe will be swallowed by the holy fire, day by day. One day sinking into the abyss of despair."

Qiao An sighed, and then said: "There is another more sad and absurd fact than this-when the day when the tribe dies, the unattended holy flame will also be extinguished, and it can be said that it will die."

"Is it necessary to maintain this coexistence model, which is doomed to death?" Inanna asked loudly, "Mother, what happened to the young people who refused to serve as firewood and escaped from the tribe?"

"They have never returned to their hometown, and the people in their hometown don't know their fate afterwards. There is a high probability that they will die on the wasteland shrouded in darkness, swallowed by monsters, and there is no bones left."

Before Qiao Ann's voice was over, Inanna rushed to say:

"But there is a silver lining, even if it is only a small possibility, the young people who walked out of the tribe were forced to upgrade their strength and wisdom in the fight with Warcraft, become stronger and more united, and eventually survived and succeeded in the wasteland. Open up a new home?"

"Mother, you can't deny that there is such a possibility, right?"

Inanna could not restrain the excitement, her eyes flashed with fanaticism.

"Yes, Inana, although the road is tortuous, the hope is slim, and the future is bleak, I must admit that there is no absolute in the world."

A bitter smile appeared on the corner of Qiao'an's lips.

"Those young people who have the courage to escape the protection and curse of the sacred flame are indeed likely to fight for a new world in the perilous wasteland, and live a happy life that the old-fashioned fathers dare not imagine."

"So, isn't the tribe guarding the fire in the same situation as our Udinese?" Inana has already understood the purpose of the adoptive mother's telling of this fable. "We should settle for the status quo and guard the doomed meeting. The extinguished sacred flame is lingering, or will you venture into the fire-free wilderness and try to find a new way out?"

Qiao An lightly nodded and said to her daughter with deep feeling: "Inanna, we live in a sick world. In the past, illnesses were mainly manifested in saying that healthy people were sick and forced to treat them. Later, they turned it upside down, knowingly. People are very sick, but they even make up a set of rhetoric, pretending that everyone is healthy."

"If you respect someone's free will, you must respect the lifestyle they choose, including but not limited to pathology, madness, despair, and even self-destruction."

"Is it to choose to guard the tradition, serve as firewood, burn myself to illuminate Udinese, force compatriots to sacrifice freedom, maintain public order with fear and resentment towards you, and ensure that the home of the beholder can be temporarily maintained in the dark region where the weak and the strong. Peace and peace?"

"Or simply overthrow the existing order without breaking or standing, extinguishing the traditional holy fire, liberating Udinese completely, returning freedom to your compatriots, allowing them to do whatever they want according to their nature, even if they have to sacrifice the whole for it. The unity and stability of the beholder society may eventually lead to the collapse of the order of the city and its decline?"

"Spread the fire or put out the fire, order or freedom, two paths are in front of you, Inanna, what choice do you have?"

Finally, Qiao An added solemnly.

"I'm sorry, my daughter, this time, my mother won't make decisions for you again."