"Daenerys isn't dead yet. She still has a chance to earn merit," the High Sparrow said sourly.
"She has opened new dioceses in Slaver's Bay and the Dothraki Sea. In the future, she might bring the entire world under the radiance of the Seven Gods. Such merit would be immense, enough to canonize her ten times over. And there is also the Long Night…"
"Ah, ending the Long Night was originally my mission. Daenerys was responsible for opening dioceses in the secular world, while I was to save the world from the spiritual to the material.
"Yet I fell into that mire of power and ambition in King's Landing, unable to pull myself out, losing who I was.
"I kept playing the game of power and forgot the savior's mission entrusted to me by the Holy Mother."
"I failed the Holy Mother's expectations." The High Sparrow burst into tears, crying even harder than Aegon had earlier.
Aegon asked in surprise, "May I ask… who are you?"
"You don't recognize me?" The High Sparrow had just asked when it suddenly dawned on him that although he and this fake prince had communed in spirit for many days, they had never met in person.
"I am the High Septon of King's Landing, the Holy Son of the Seven Gods!" The High Sparrow announced his title with restrained pride.
"So it's you, High Sparrow!"
Aegon suddenly understood, and his attitude changed at once. The earlier trepidation he had felt before the administrator of Heaven vanished, replaced by an easy calm.
"I thought you were a first-generation saint from a thousand years ago. Turns out we're all old acquaintances, old friends!" He laughed and draped an arm over the High Sparrow's shoulder.
The High Sparrow frowned, raised his hand, and knocked Aegon's arm away, saying sternly, "I'm not close to you. This isn't the mortal world either. Trying to play up connections is useless. Behave yourself."
Aegon's face flushed red with embarrassment.
"Sorry, my lord. I was just too excited."
He was very tactful and immediately bowed to apologize.
As the High Sparrow had said, this was Heaven, and the other party was the Holy Mother's favored one, while he himself was merely someone who had slipped in through the back door.
As they spoke, the two had already climbed the steps. Their view suddenly became incomparably vast. On an endless grassland stood a gigantic temple.
The temple was carved from a single block of white jade, radiating sacred, seven-colored light under the sun.
But apart from the temple, there were no other buildings around, not even a single person.
"This is Heaven? Where are the other saints? Could they all be praying inside the sanctuary?" Aegon asked in confusion.
The High Sparrow shook his head. "There are only the two of us on this island."
"You must be mistaken. Even if I'm not a saint, the Church has been passed down for thousands of years. There couldn't be only you and Aunt Daenerys as saints, right? What about Saint Baelor?"
"They're not here," the High Sparrow said as he led Aegon into the sanctuary.
The sanctuary's walls were built of jade, and its dome was constructed of gold and crystal, more luxurious, sacred, and magnificent than the palaces of all the kings in the mortal world.
Yet there was not a single person inside.
After offering prayers before the statues of the Seven Gods, the High Sparrow began to explain the situation of Heaven to Aegon.
They stood on a cliff at the edge of the island. Before them lay a boundless blue sea. Above the sea, several islands could be faintly seen floating in midair, shrouded in clouds and mist, like immortal mountains beyond the seas.
"The saints live scattered across these islands. When I first entered Mount Heaven, it was Saint Baelor who came to guide me. At first, I lived on Saint Baelor's island."
"It's that one!" The High Sparrow pointed to the island closest to them.
"Then why did you come here?"
"Saint Baelor is far too timid. The Holy Mother is merciful. I shouldn't speak rashly!"
Having just spoken ill of Saint Baelor, the High Sparrow immediately began praying to the Holy Mother.
Aegon's curiosity burned. He really wanted to know how Saint Baelor was timid, but he could only follow along and recite the prayers with the High Sparrow.
Since I've become a monk, chanting a few more scriptures can't hurt.
"Ah, Saint Baelor's understanding of doctrine differs somewhat from mine. He harshly criticized my actions in restarting the Church's armed forces and even scolded me for breaking the rules and defying the Holy Father's teachings, provoking conflict between religious and royal authority," the High Sparrow said with a bitter expression.
Recalling Saint Baelor's deeds, Aegon instantly understood.
Saint Baelor and the High Sparrow were indeed not of the same path.
"Didn't the Holy Mother mediate your conflict?" Aegon asked curiously.
"The Holy Mother said, 'The way that can be spoken of is not the constant way; the name that can be named is not the constant name.'"
"What?" Aegon's eyes spun.
The High Sparrow pondered and said, "The Holy Mother's meaning is that the Seven-Star Scripture is not a shackle on believers, but a ladder to help them reach the ultimate sacred realm.
"In essence, doctrine itself has no meaning. The Holy Mother merely wishes, through doctrine, to elevate flawed humanity into noble sages.
"There are countless paths to becoming a sage, and each sage has their own characteristics. Therefore, each sage may have a different interpretation of the Seven-Star Scripture.
"That is the meaning of 'the way that can be spoken of is not the constant way.'"
"So profound, and so reasonable. Truly worthy of the Holy Mother!" Aegon said reverently.
Even though I still don't understand it, since I've become a monk, praising the Buddha a bit more can never be wrong.
"Can I also have an island all to myself?" he asked again.
"You're not even a saint. What right do you have to become an angel?" the High Sparrow snapped.
"An angel?"
"Above saints are holy sons, and holy sons who go one step further become messengers of Heaven. I am an angel!" The High Sparrow proudly gestured around them. "Look, open your eyes and see. Heaven is so vast. How many islands do you think there are?"
Aegon truly counted carefully. In just this one direction, there were five islands. There were surely more farther away.
"That's not exactly few," he muttered.
"What do you know?" the High Sparrow said disdainfully. "Do you think Mount Heaven governs only our one world?
"Hmph. The multiverse, trillions of planes. Countless believers of the Seven Gods will all return here!"
"The multiverse? Planes? What are those?" Aegon was utterly confused.
The Great Sparrow picked it up on the spot and sold it right away, passing along the nonsense he had heard from Holy Mother Daenerys and smearing it straight onto Aegon's face. The fake prince listened in stunned disbelief, his mind blown apart.
"Is that really true?" Aegon's worldview shattered in an instant.
"Of course it's true. I even went to a heaven in a plane called 'Earth.' The people there are so simple and honest, far more noble than the Westerosi mired in the quagmire of desire," the Great Sparrow said with deep emotion.
"Tell me about it," Aegon said eagerly.
There were only the two of them on the island, and the Great Sparrow was happy to chat with him.
"Earth people have a kind of magic called 'technology.' Without horses, they can make iron boxes race across the ground. They also have an information-transmitting crystal called a 'mobile phone.' Earth people don't like riding horses or hunting. They usually stay at home, reading novels on their phones and browsing Weibo."
"Wait!" Aegon hurriedly interrupted, puzzled. "What are you talking about? Iron boxes without horses, how can they run? And mobile phones, Weibo. I don't understand any of this!"
The Great Sparrow sighed. "I know I sound like a madman right now, but that is another world.
"One mu of land can yield a thousand jin of wheat. Nobles live in small houses and eat vegetables instead of meat. Commoners live in magnificent buildings dozens of stories high, eat meat at every meal, and all of them are rosy-faced and plump."
"What kind of world is that? It's too strange," Aegon said in disbelief.
"Yes, it's a highly developed civilization. Society is advanced, the people are simple and honest. A perfect world," the Great Sparrow said dreamily.
"How simple and honest are they?"
"What is the dream of an ordinary Westerosi?" the Great Sparrow asked in return.
"Well, to become a noble, have a vast fief, servants in droves, marry a beautiful noble lady, and perhaps win great deeds and glory known across the realm, becoming a legendary hero," Aegon said thoughtfully.
The fake prince summarized it perfectly. The Great Sparrow nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Anyone with even a little ambition can't escape those desires."
"But Earth people," the Great Sparrow sighed, "are too simple and honest. I've seen many of them. Toward God, oh, the Great Holy Mother's title on Earth.
"Earth people only hope the Holy Mother will grant them a one-hundred-square-meter home. Well, actually only seventy square meters. The rest is supposedly shared space. Sigh, I don't really understand it. Roughly speaking, a place that can fit two beds, a kitchen, and a living room."
"Isn't that a lack of ambition?" Aegon frowned. "If you pray to the Holy Mother, shouldn't you at least ask for a castle?"
"That's why I say they're simple and honest," the Great Sparrow sighed again. "Most men pray to the Holy Mother, and their greatest wish is simply to marry a wife."
"Do they at least ask for a woman of stunning beauty, unmatched talent, who can sing and dance?" Aegon guessed.
"No. As long as she's healthy, not promiscuous, can bear children, it doesn't matter if she's a bit stupid, a bit ugly, or a bit crude."
"T-this…" Aegon was dumbfounded. "That's unbelievably simple and honest! Can I go live in the Earth people's heaven too?"
"Crossing planes consumes an enormous amount of divine power. You're not even a saint. Where do you get the right to choose?" the Great Sparrow snapped angrily.
Even he himself, driven by overwhelming curiosity about another world, had only managed to beg the Holy Mother to take him out to see it.
The faith-power consumed would take him a hundred years of prayer to repay.
Aegon turned back to look at the vast, boundless grasslands and sighed. "But this place is so desolate. There isn't even anywhere to live."
"You should learn from the simple Earth people. Be content with your lot, keep your desires light. Build your own house and farm your own land," the Great Sparrow said calmly.
"How do I build it? There isn't even a forest."
"Pray to the Holy Mother," the Great Sparrow said, kneeling on the ground to demonstrate for Aegon.
He recited the Seven-Star Scripture. A flash of white light passed through his right hand, and a brick-sized piece of gold appeared.
"Here, worldly power and wealth are meaningless. Here, as long as you offer devout faith to the Holy Mother, you can obtain everything," the Great Sparrow spread his arms wide, raised them high, and shouted fervently. "This is heaven!"
Soon Aegon also obtained a large apple through prayer. With a crisp crunch, it was juicy and delicious, tasting wonderful.
"So this is heaven!"
Aegon was overjoyed. He really had come to heaven!
After the excitement passed, he thought of his ties to the mortal world. The joy faded from his face, replaced by a faint sorrow as he asked the Great Sparrow, "I want to see my wife, and I also want to see Aunt Dany. Can the Holy Mother arrange that?"
"Smack!" The Great Sparrow flew into a rage and slapped Aegon hard on the head, scolding him. "So you really did get in through the back door. Do you think the Holy Mother is your family nanny? If you don't want to stay in heaven, the Stranger can send you to the seven layers of hell."
Aegon shrank back meekly, not daring to get angry or say a word.
The Dragon Queen looked at the sandbox-like scene before her and said with a grin, "Maybe we could open a dream-sending service, letting saints communicate with the mortal world in a limited way."
The Great Sparrow's Myriad-Mile Island was like a grain of sand, floating upon the ocean of divine power called the Song of Water.
The ocean of the Song of Water existed within a single thought of Dany.
A single thought was born from a fluctuation of neurons.
In other words, the heaven of the Great Sparrow and Aegon was nothing more than one idea, one thought of Dany.
(End of chapter)
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