The night fell.

Bei Ta and his friend He Gao were digging in the sand barefoot by the coast.

The Death Light was faint at night when the real sea regained its vigor from beneath the covering of the Dead Sea, as the waves continuously washed ashore.

Two months ago, a super typhoon swept through Shell City, bringing with it many objects. Some scattered around while others got buried in the sand.

Bei Ta found a strip of plastic and half of a broken metal window frame. These were items from the Divine Era, which he sold to a merchant for some money.

He Gao even found a soft hammer that made a pleasant, rustling sound when shaken, as if sand was inside; it seemed to be a kind of prehistoric musical instrument.

Several merchants offered a high price to buy it.

But He Gao didn't sell.

Bei Ta didn't understand, "Why not exchange it for money?"

"I want to use this as my family heirloom."

He Gao held the soft hammer and said, "My ancestors had a family heirloom made by my great-grandfather. His name was He Jue, and he had a silver cup with beautiful patterns engraved on it, but my dad sold the heirloom because of gambling, and then I was sold too."

"I want to create a new heirloom, one that is impressive. That way, my descendants will remember me."

"Do you know what 'Jue' means?"

Bei Ta shook his head, "I can't read."

"Jue refers to a kind of jade that breaks easily. It's a sort of gem. Because of the heirloom, both my dad and I remember this ancestor we've never met."

He Gao looked at the soft hammer in his hand, "I hope that later generations will remember me the same way they remember him."

He always spoke in ways that were hard to understand.

Bei Ta thought He Gao thought too much.

All he wanted was to get something good to eat, like sweet potato crisps and peanut fruits from the Wasteland Development Company.

"Hey, there's something!"

Bei Ta's face lit up suddenly, and he quickened his pace with his small shovel, pulling something strange out of the sand.

He pinched it.

The thing was soft and very small, light, about the size of an egg. It was yellow all over with erect legs, its short paws lifted, a wide fin on its back, and a mouth full of sharp teeth.

"A statue of a god from the Divine Era!"

He Gao exclaimed, "You're really lucky, but why is it so small... Such a small statue is really rare."

Bei Ta brushed off the sand from the statue, and under the shine of the rhombic lamp, its texture was very clear, though it seemed a bit wrinkled.

Does it need water?

Bei Ta put it into a small puddle nearby.

Then he and He Gao chatted and dug in the sand, just like the other people along the coast.

The night grew colder, with blowing winds that made Bei Ta and He Gao sneeze continuously. They both wrapped their clothes tightly and kept working with sniffles.

Bei Ta kept glancing at the puddle next to him.

After an hour, he couldn't help but exclaim, "It got bigger!"

"Really?"

He Gao also came over, curious.

Bei Ta picked up the Monster God Statue. It had indeed grown larger than before, now taking up most of his palm, having doubled in size.

He Gao frowned, "This statue grows by absorbing water. If we keep feeding it water, will it keep growing? Maybe it will even come back to life."

"Do you know about the Night Church? They are the ones who revived the deities from the Divine Era, bringing forth the Night God. Maybe your statue is also one of those deities. Though, it looks rather fierce..."

Bei Ta also listened with some concern.

Both were scratching their heads in puzzlement, not knowing what to do.

In the end, Bei Ta decided that to avoid bringing harm to the world, he must seal the Monster God Statue. He took it out of the water, dried it with his clothes, wrapped it up, and placed it in his pocket close to his body.

He Gao suddenly said, "This is your family heirloom."

Bei Ta thought it seemed so.

He started to understand that feeling.

It was hard to part with it, wanting to keep it preserved, to be secretly viewed by one's own people.

Suddenly, snow began to fall from the sky.

The rhombic lamps by the shore started to go out one by one, and a great number of people hurried toward the city at high speed.

Bei Ta and He Gao quickly packed up their tools and baggage and ran towards Shell City.

Winter had arrived.

The war had begun.

...

Back at Mushroom House, Bei Ta couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

He Gao, sleeping on the layer above, looked down through the hole, "Do you think this place will hold up?"

Bei Ta said, "I don't know."

"What if it's like when Jade City broke through our city, and suddenly our area collapses? If that happens, what should we do? We need to find a way out."

Bei Ta's head rested on a soft grass pillow, "This isn't the time for that kind of talk..."

Mushroom House suddenly started shaking violently.

Both curled up.

The shaking lasted for a moment, then came a second wave.

Then it was quiet again.

After a long wait, Bei Ta dared to peel back the fibrous layer of Mushroom House and look outside.

A big crater had exploded not six meters away, and another Mushroom House had turned into burnt rubble on the ground.

Rolling thunder echoed through the sky, but it was unclear what was mounting the attack.

He Gao secured his bag calmly, "We might not be safe here anymore. We should head to the city, where there are more soldiers."

"That's not right."

Bei Ta fought against the unease in his heart, remembering Dr. Feng Ying's advice.

"When in need of help, stay in an open area. The mayor also said before, we should try not to run around and wait for the city's rescue and follow-up notice."

"Since this place has already been attacked, it might actually be safer."

He Gao furrowed his brows, but in the end, he did not argue.

So they stayed inside Mushroom House and hung up a rhombic lamp outside, to help the soldiers find them.

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