Chapter 98 The Forest
Hundreds of years after the great flood, humanity re-established itself on earth. The outstanding descendants of Noah's three sons spread throughout the world, with Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, being the most prominent.
Ham begat Cush, who in turn begat Nimrod. Born with courage, Nimrod overcame all dissent and advocated eastward expansion. A group of people chose to follow him, and they quickly occupied a vast and fertile plain in the middle and lower reaches of the Euphrates River.
A life of abundance fostered civilization, just as it had many years before.
The prosperity of Mesopotamia shone brightly throughout subsequent human history, but with a slight change: they no longer operated as city-states. Nimrod proposed a state as the administrative center, replacing the previous leadership of city-states.
He was proud of Noah among his many descendants, especially after his descendant Nimrod surpassed Heber, the descendant of his brother Shem. Nimrod diminished Noah's standing in the people's hearts; they no longer recognized Noah as their common ancestor, but instead actively echoed Nimrod's self-proclaimed title of king of many nations.
The existence of a king increased barriers between nations, but this also fostered unprecedented unity and strength among his people.
At least in this era, no one questioned Nimrod's wisdom and decisions. Just as people believed that following in Nimrod's footsteps would bring happiness, they also initially believed that his rule would last forever.
This blind worship unsurprisingly attracted the attention of Hell, but this time they were much more cautious and did not choose to confront Heaven directly.
Therefore, not a single celestial being noticed the subtle changes taking place on the continent to the southeast.
When God and Haniah arrived on Earth at dawn, they landed in an untouched primeval forest.
As the seraphim wished, they did not use any magic from the moment they landed. "This isn't what I imagined," Hania said, sweating profusely as he relentlessly hacked at the poisonous vines with his longsword.
He glared resentfully at the idle Yahweh, finding it hard to believe that the other would simply watch him, an angel, toil away.
"If you regret it…" A beam of light appeared in God's hand.
"No!" Hania firmly rejected the magic; he was a man of his word. "His Highness Michael said that excellent angels never rely on magic to solve problems."
"He once spent a whole month in the mortal forest, slaying a dragon without using a single spell, and becoming a celebrated hero! I want to be like him!"
'Obviously, this is just a harmless story to appease the little angel,' God thought indifferently, always lenient towards archangels. He wouldn't actively clear these vines anyway; they would part ways when He so desired. But since Hania was willing to put it into practice, he would grant his wish.
As dawn broke, the angel who had spent the night cutting down trees to clear a path returned, while his lazy companion, who had spent the night lounging, gazed at the sky at a 45-degree angle.
"How cruel you are..." He clutched a large, colorful python, seemingly about to ambush him, his heart heavy with exhaustion. He was about to express his near-death experience when a graceful butterfly suddenly flew out of the forest, trailing two long, flowing ribbons.
Yahweh was looking at it. The morning sunlight filtered through the trees, illuminating the sunlight, dew, and the silver-haired angel—a breathtaking scene that made Haniya feel utterly out of place.
"What is that?" he asked.
"A long-tailed silkworm moth."
The moth, more beautiful than the butterfly, landed on the god's hand, gently kissing it with its antennae.
"So beautiful!"
The mortal world by day was far more beautiful than at night; compared to the pure white of heaven, Haniya felt his eyes were not enough to take it all in.
God released the long-tailed moth, watching Hania happily leap through the forest. Perhaps he had left too little color in Heaven, so every newly descended angel seemed so naive and inexperienced.
Haneya didn't know what Yahweh was thinking; he only felt that God's use of color and symmetry had reached a level that dazzled him.
The large, fluttering moth was like that (he had previously thought moths were only grayish-brown), and the round, smiling face nearby was even more so; it seemed alive, moving.
"What's that? How cute!"
He didn't know that such strange creatures existed on Earth. Two red dots on a green sphere, a curved black line, formed a pattern resembling a smile.
If the long-tailed butterfly (it was a moth, God corrected him) made him think God was a great artist, then the little thing before him was more like God's undiminished childlike heart, if the Heavenly Father possessed a childlike heart.
It looked so mischievous and cute that the god, seeing Haniya's curiosity, glanced at it and gave his answer.
"A stink bug's egg."
A stink bug...?! Haniya's expression froze instantly. He stared at the small round ball in his palm, his previously adorable smile instantly turning into a devilish grin.
The two red dots were the eyes of a stink bug in its incomplete metamorphosis stage, and the black arc was the location of its ovipositor.
"The nymph uses its ovipositor to push open the cap around the egg," the god explained to Haniya, referring to the black line resembling a smile.
"That's not the point!" Haniya immediately cried out in despair, several meters away. "It's a stink bug! It's a stink bug!"
The seemingly cute round ball was actually the immature version of a very smelly stink bug.
The god looked at him in confusion, not understanding his strong reaction.
"Stink bugs smell terrible!" Haniya exclaimed excitedly.
"...It hasn't even hatched yet."
Such blatant disdain was incredibly hurtful to the nymph. Besides, Heaven should normally offer biology courses; why was Hania displaying such ignorance?
His divine sense ascended to the Sixth Heaven, easily accessing the Angel Academy and finding Hania's file. The god was surprised to discover that Hania, usually so obedient and charming in his presence, had poor grades in biology.
Not only biology, but botany was also lacking. The god frowned, exuding a palpable pressure.
His grades shouldn't be this low.
Hanyia didn't care at all when Yahweh brought up his grades.
Anyway, the god didn't care about his academic performance; as long as he was perfect in the god's eyes, that was enough. Moreover, Hania was now more concerned about Yahweh than himself. He realized that if Yahweh were to take the botany exam, Raphael would undoubtedly give him a perfect score.
Because he knew almost everything.
"Who exactly are you?"
"You're so powerful, why have I never heard of you in Heaven?" He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly realized, "You must be an archangel from the beginning of creation! Like Michael and His Highness Metatron, back when there were no angelic academies..." Hania looked on with envy.
"How wonderful! No exams, no classes, I can go wherever I want."
God looked at that simple, beautiful face, and his lips moved slightly.
The newborn angel didn't know that his current ease was happiness.
But God knew the immense pressure He had placed on the seven archangels of creation, even though that pressure was accompanied by supreme status and glory...
He didn't answer, continuing on his way. Hania followed behind him with light, quick steps, chattering like a noisy golden bird, asking Yahweh about various unusual biological characteristics.
Sometimes he received a quick answer, sometimes he remained silent, as if lost in distant memories.
When the silver-haired angel fell silent, the surrounding temperature would plummet, but Hania didn't care. He knew that Yahweh would answer his questions once he regained his senses. He even secretly hoped that Yahweh wouldn't remember, so he could comfortably believe that there were no omniscient angels in this world.
However, Yahweh always provided the most perfect answers.
Hania wasn't stupid, nor was he uninterested in learning; it was just that years of confinement in Heaven had limited his exposure to real-world objects, gradually diminishing his enthusiasm for studying. But for anything he had seen and could remember, Yahweh's answers were exactly the same as in the textbooks, not only accurate but also supplementing his knowledge with information not found in the books.
Thus, he learned that bugs hold a full moon ceremony for themselves after hatching, and that lizards that can walk on water aren't doing so because of special abilities, but simply because they are fast runners.
Indeed, nothing could stump Yahweh. It was as if he had etched the characteristics and features of every creature into his mind, allowing no room for error.
His golden eyes shone brightly as he spoke of them, as if he deeply loved this world.
At that moment, Hania strangely connected him with the Father in the Grand Cathedral.
They walked on, and soon came upon a tree in the forest with a festive color. It was fiery red and fragrant, its beauty no less than the golden fruit tree in the Garden of Eden.
Having seen so many deep green trees, Hania was naturally delighted to discover such a striking tree, and he approached to examine it.
Yahweh said it was called Red-flowered Silver Birch, with a sweet fragrance, a very pleasing plant.
"Indeed, it smells so good!" Hania loved the sweet scent, but turning around, he noticed Yahweh was standing far away. He asked curiously why he was so far away.
"Because..." A flock of birds suddenly fluttered their wings.
"It is also very attractive to birds," God said, though a beat late.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Having narrowly avoided a shower of bird droppings, Hania glared at Yahweh. He retracted his comment that Yahweh was like the Father; don't think he couldn't see through it—this angel clearly harbored ill intentions. God wouldn't be as wicked as him!
"But God is truly amazing. How did He come up with so many wondrous creatures?" He gazed at the red-flowered silver birch from afar, no longer daring to approach it too closely.
God paused, taken aback. No one had ever said that before, for such creatures were too numerous and too insignificant in the vast world.
Only an angel with Hania's innocent nature could appreciate the beauty of nature, and this reminded him of his feelings long, long ago when he created this world.
"Perhaps he didn't think of anything at all," He said, His golden eyes softening slightly.
They spent several days emerging from the forest, without using magic, yet they didn't suffer much, for in God's eyes, the entire world was at his disposal, with convenient tools everywhere.
At night, they used edelweiss for fire and light. This fluffy grass was lovely to look at, containing little moisture and igniting easily.
Haneya didn't know why Yahweh's attitude had changed, but it was obvious he had changed; he was no longer indifferent to everything.
"Will we really be able to get out of the forest tomorrow?" he asked, his eyes still heavy with sleep. Angels don't need sleep, but rest is a biological instinct, and it's especially easy to fall asleep when relaxed.
"Yes."
Hearing the affirmative answer, the angel fell asleep peacefully by the fire.
The fire crackled and popped. A hand pushed the fire away, lest it burn the angel's brilliant golden hair.
A smile appeared on Hania's lips, then his consciousness sank into nothingness.
He trusted Yahweh; perhaps even he himself hadn't realized it, he had begun to depend on Yahweh.
Just as he naturally depended on God.
(You provide the author Danmu's [Hebrew Mythology]: The arduous journey of a world's formation.)