...
Lying on the soft animal skin, the air was filled with the stench of the dry season baking the earth, the rot of food, and the sweet fragrance from the wine bottles inside the house.
Lisoben's mind was groggy.
After a bout of drunkenness, he could no longer feel that ethereal happiness; his head was both heavy and had a slight sting, making him somewhat dizzy.
The various past experiences flashed through his mind, the prosperity and decline of the tribe, all within just two short years.
He couldn't understand why everything went downhill after the old Priest disappeared.
He remembered asking the old Priest if there really were gods in the world, and the old Priest's answer was negative —
Perhaps there really were gods, but they never responded to him.
If there were no gods, why did the tribe appear to be abandoned by them after the person who communicated with them died?
