Chapter 8: My Brother Luo Jia—Egypt, Are You Going or Not?

Aaron stepped forward, the ground beneath him scorching hot, forcing him to quicken his pace. He looked around at the fervent worshippers, their skin already burned by the searing heat. Yet he himself only felt slightly warm—nothing more.

Could this be because of the dream?

Where exactly was this place? A desert under the blazing sun, with tall stone buildings in the distance. Faintly shimmering on the horizon was a pyramid-like structure, as if a mirage.

Aaron hastened his steps, calling out to the “younger brother” ahead:

“Hey, look back! I’m here—your brother! I can’t wait to take you back.”

“Huff, huff—this place is really hot. Are you all going to light this damned thing on fire?”

At last, he reached the giant and rested his hand on his broad back.

Aaron thought to himself that he had merely imagined the speed Marum displayed in battle and tried to recreate it in his dream. Unexpectedly, it had truly worked.

His physical discomfort wasn’t due to an inability to bear the strain, but rather the sudden adjustment to such a change. In other words, he could move even faster within this dream.

The giant finally stood and turned around, his face carved as if chiseled by knife and axe, curiously examining Aaron.

Logan looked down at this “man” and noticed he cast no shadow.

Moreover, the surrounding worshippers seemed completely oblivious to his presence. They did not even react when this saint suddenly stopped praying and turned.

Logan smiled. Suddenly, a fierce wind blew, rustling his monk’s robe. He spoke:

“You call yourself my elder brother? How amusing—you don’t even have a shadow.”

“Here,” Logan pointed behind him to the enormous blazing altar, where swirling smoke twisted and tangled in the air, as if passing through those mists would lead into the realm of the gods, “here, everyone has a shadow.”

Indeed, behind those clouds of smoke was the sun—burning fiercely, radiating endless light.

Those plumes of smoke did not obscure the sun but transformed its light into the revelation of the one true God, shining down.

That was the only thing eternally burning between heaven and earth.

Aaron looked down in astonishment.

“Wow, I really don’t have a shadow. How interesting. It seems the communication with my brothers truly happened in a dream.”

He showed no fear, nor did he worry about being seen as a heretic by these devout believers.

After all, if a son doesn’t even treat his own father well in this world, what was there to fear?

***

“Enough talk. My younger brother once said that in your time, there are many dangers, so you need a father’s help. That old fool is useless. Let me handle it!”

“I’m going to be a hero!”

Aaron patted his chest and circled around Logan, marveling at the towering figure that matched the divine descriptions.

“By the way, I’m Aaron Will. What’s your name?”

He stepped in front of Logan again and extended his small hand.

Logan wanted to remain wary of this shadowless stranger who suddenly appeared before him.

Yet some indefinable feeling inside told him Aaron spoke the truth.

He parted his lips and uttered his name:

“Logan Aurelian. As for the difficulties I face? Honestly, I have but one question troubling me.”

“Where is God?”

Logan reached out and shook Aaron’s hand cautiously, careful not to break his “brother’s” arm.

He then invited Aaron to walk toward the altar together, through the fiery smoke where sunlight poured down, casting a great shadow of Logan’s figure but leaving no physical shadow on Aaron.

Aaron leaned his hands on his shoulders, supporting his head, and strode briskly, needing to keep pace with this “younger brother.”

He said happily, “Any problem, leave it to me. If it really requires a father to solve, well—then I’ll deal with it later. By the way, where is this place?”

Logan smiled in return:

“This is Colchis, a general name. The city is called Vinicia.”

“You mentioned a father? Good. Now I have two questions: Where is my father?”

Aaron recalled Kiriman’s vague words and quickly approached Logan, then turned with his back to the altar, walking backward so he could face his “younger brother,” teasingly saying:

“Maybe these two questions were originally one. Kiriman—uh, I don’t know who’s older between you two—but Kiriman is also searching for our father. It seems the father has returned to his divine state.”

“I think he is Zeus. Zeus, you know, king of the gods, the eternal ruler of this age in myth and legend. He will be destroyed by his son—or sons—in the future. But when that day comes, it will become the present again, so his era will never truly end.”

Logan immediately shook his head, stopping in his tracks and scrutinizing Aaron:

“That’s wrong. I do not know who Zeus is. But I understand there is only one true God in this world. If there is a king of many gods, doesn’t that mean there are many gods?”

The believer’s expression instantly turned severe, his eyes blazing with endless fury as he glared at the tiny human before him and shouted:

“You are a follower of darkness! A servant of those numerous false gods, daring to appear before me!”

“Die! There is only one true God in this world—the endless flames, the ever-burning sun—burn this heretic!”

Aaron jumped anxiously:

“Hey, where did this punishment of burning heretics come from? You have a desert and pyramids here. It should be Egypt, right?”

***

“I’ve never heard of such strange things in Egypt—”

Aaron couldn’t finish his sentence. In Logan’s rage, the giant’s fist came crashing down.

This devout believer was clearly unlike the other frail companions weakened by austerity; he even knew a bit of hand-to-hand combat.

Boom!

Logan’s punch gouged a huge pit in the ground, and the shadowless man had already vanished.

“Hmph, this dark false god dares to shake my faith and claims to be my kin.”

“I, Logan Aurelian, will never fall to the dark false gods!”

The giant’s resolute gaze fixed on the sunlight filtering through the smoke, feeling its warmth.

Behind the flames, the blue currents were displeased. Had some unexpected variable arisen?

Logan calmed himself and resumed his pilgrimage.

***

The year was 600 BC, Thebes, five o’clock in the morning.

Anda woke the deep-sleeping Aaron. Still rubbing his eyes and dazed, Aaron heard Anda speak rapidly:

“The Roman envoy caused a disturbance at the banquet just now, but the army he brought has disappeared. Thebes is entering lockdown—we have to leave.”

Yawning, Aaron got out of bed:

“Moving again? We’ve only been in Thebes for three years. Fine, fine, where to? Aren’t there any other options? I’m almost an adult—at least let me decide.”

Anda said nothing but handed all the luggage and the donkey to the ever-dutiful Marum.

Aaron complained:

“Here we go again. Explain what’s going on and let me decide? As if that’d be a death sentence. Marum, you agree, right?”

Marum dared not respond. In his memories of the great expedition, the emperor was always like this.

He could only explain:

“The master has offered several locations—Egypt, Crete, and others. All places where we can temporarily avoid conflicts stirred by Rome.”

Aaron’s eyes lit up. Egypt—the land of the brother he recently dreamed about!

He dashed from the room and stood before his father:

“Let me decide—Egypt! Shall we go or not?”