Honestly, at first, I didn't believe it.
I told Zhuo Ya that superstition was bad, and that a good child shouldn't be worried about such things so early in the morning.
After some thought, I decided to take Zhuo Ya to eat first, and also let her close friends educate her on scientific knowledge.
While we were having breakfast, I mentioned what Zhuo Ya had told me that morning to everyone.
Luo Yaqin smiled and affectionately patted Zhuo Ya's little head.
"Silly child, these are all fake. How can there be divine punishment in the world? Don't worry about it."
Seeing that everyone didn't believe her, Zhuo Ya became a little anxious and said, "It's true. Divine punishment happens on this island every few years. Rolling thunder cleanses the dirty earth, and along with the divine punishment, messengers of heaven appear in swarms, cleansing the dirty creatures in this forest. As far as I remember, every time this happens, the tribal priest would lead us to the sacred land to escape the divine punishment."
Thunder? Messengers?
This sounds like something out of a fairy tale!
But I saw that Zhuo Ya's expression didn't seem like she was joking. Perhaps this was indeed a unique weather phenomenon specific to this island.
Wait!
In a moment of daze, I suddenly remembered what Qu Xiangyun had said, and a chill ran down my spine!
Qu Xiangyun had been urging us to leave the island before the weather warmed up. Could she have known in advance that divine punishment would occur at this time!?
What Qu Xiangyun said and what Zhuo Ya described now perfectly matched!
To be honest, since arriving on this island, one unbelievable thing after another had been happening.
It had profoundly impacted the worldview I had formed over 20 years.
Now, regarding this matter of divine punishment, I felt it was better to believe it existed than not.
Shangguan Yao still seemed a bit skeptical. She smiled at Zhuo Ya and said, "Perhaps the people in your tribe were just scaring you when you were little, and your memory has embellished it into what it is now."
Zhuo Ya became agitated upon hearing this. She took out a tortoise shell and showed it to everyone. She pointed to a deep crack on it and said with conviction, "Every time divine punishment is about to come, a new crack appears on the tortoise shell. I discovered this new crack on the tortoise shell this morning, which is how I knew the divine punishment was coming."
Guan Hai'er added from the side, "Isn't this just an ordinary tortoise shell? The crack is probably due to its age. How can this be related to divine punishment?"
I had already made up my mind. Seeing that no one believed Zhuo Ya, I interrupted them with a deep voice.
I said, "I have a premonition that what Zhuo Ya is talking about, this divine punishment... might be real. We need to prepare in advance."
Seeing that I had made my stance, the women also dropped their playful attitude.
I surveyed them and said slowly, "On this nameless island, anything strange can happen. We must be fully prepared. It's best if it doesn't happen, but if it does, we won't be caught completely off guard."
The women nodded and expressed their agreement.
Due to the urgency, we hastily finished breakfast and began preparing for the impending divine punishment.
Guan Hai'er and I went out to gather food. I didn't know how long this divine punishment would last, and our current food supply wasn't abundant, so we needed to store more.
Shangguan Yao and Luo Yaqin stayed in the cave, using the wood collected in the past few days to build a fence.
I had initially wanted to ask Zhuo Ya to help gather food, but she earnestly refused, saying she wanted to make more protective amulets for us before the divine punishment arrived.
As she spoke, she took out a small wooden pendant from her chest, inscribed with unknown characters in red paint.
I didn't know if this thing would be useful, but seeing how much Zhuo Ya cared, I let her be.
However, a vague sense of unease lingered in my heart.
Earlier, we had encountered consecutive storms and blizzards. I wondered what this upcoming divine punishment would be like.
What made me even more anxious was that this time, it seemed to involve more than just the weather; according to Zhuo Ya, there would be accompanying beast attacks!
I could only hope it wouldn't be swarms of large, ferocious beasts, otherwise, we would have no way to defend ourselves.
Under our tense preparations, the day quickly turned into night.
After dinner, I stood outside the cave, mentally simulating various scenarios and contingency plans.
Suddenly, my shoulder felt heavy. I turned to see Luo Yaqin leaning on my shoulder, her face filled with fear.
"Lu Zi Ye, do you think we can get through this?" she asked, her voice tinged with anxiety.
I smiled at her and feigned a relaxed tone, "Don't worry, we've been through so many storms before. What difficulty could a little divine punishment pose? We'll definitely get through it!"
Luo Yaqin responded with a noncommittal hum, a quiet agreement.
I didn't say anything further, enjoying this rare moment of respite with Luo Yaqin.
And so, we continued our tense preparations, always on guard for the impending crisis.
Finally, it arrived!