Grandma Taiyigi's funeral was held on a low hill outside the tribe.
The departure of this Name-Forging Master had actually been within everyone's expectations.
She was already old and often told the people taking care of her that she could hear the Wayob whispering to her in her dreams.
But she could not leave yet. She still had words to leave with the right person.
Until then, she could not answer the Wayob's summons.
[...Blood of the mountains, eye of the ravine.]
[Blazing turbidity burns away filth, souls gather in the fiery abyss.]
Xilonen threw the torch in her hand downward and watched the pyre ignite.
She waited here for an entire night. The next morning, she collected Grandma's ashes into an urn and placed it in the rock cave that Grandma had always mentioned.
The rock cave was very quiet. The people of the tribe still held respect for the elderly and would not come in to disturb her rest.
But outside the rock cave, Grandma Taiyigi's story became as chaotic as the wild wind in the valley.
Some said that Taiyigi had passed the true technique of forging Ancient Names to them, and they had classics signed by Taiyigi as proof.
Some said that Taiyigi had left her workshop to them, and they held the key to that workshop...
These interest-driven bites and fights were not worth Xilonen's attention.
What truly concerned her were certain more cunning lies.
"I heard that when Taiyigi was teaching, she would sometimes question the authenticity of those hero stories..."
"You heard that too? I also... Sigh, although this is just an academic issue, won't it lead the children astray?"
"Yeah, yeah. I heard before that when Taiyigi was young, she always focused on pure technical research. For someone like that to teach the forging of Ancient Names... Sigh..."
In oral transmission, Grandma Taiyigi's story became distorted and altered. She was sometimes portrayed as great and selfless, sometimes as having ulterior motives.
In one person's mouth she became a heroic figure, and in the blink of an eye she turned into a despicable villain.
People could not catch the wind, so they tried every means to make various boxes and lied to the outside world that the shape of the wind was like this.
The true story would always be, and could only be, that heavy, pitch-black stone — the [Ancient Name].
Xilonen returned home. She felt she had to do something.
Her father and mother seemed to have known this would happen long ago.
They waited at home for her return.
When she was young, Xilonen had once asked her father, "Dad, why do you want to be a Name-Forging Master? Is it for a very important reason?"
Her father put down the forging hammer in his hand, wiped his sweat, and told her, "There isn't any particularly important reason. I just think that those who listen to stories also have the responsibility to pass the stories down."
At that time, Xilonen still could not understand. "Isn't that very simple? Just record the story on woven scrolls or carve it on stones."
Now she understood. Passing down stories was indeed simple.
However, not everyone was willing to pass down true stories.
Grandma Taiyigi was one of the few people willing to do so.
Her mother took out a comb and prepared to style Xilonen's hair in a new way.
Xilonen was very familiar with this comb, because Grandma had once used it to braid many different styles of braids for her.
Just to coax Xilonen back to class.
Another day passed, and the people in the tribe were surprised to find that the usually lazy and casual Xilonen seemed like a different person.
She seemed to have endless energy. She traveled throughout the entire Children of Echoes, interviewed everyone related to Grandma Taiyigi, and consulted all materials related to Grandma Taiyigi.
This still could not stop Xilonen.
She left the tribe, inquired with the envoys of the Scions of the Canopy, visited the musicians of the People of the Springs, requested the Masters of the Night-Wind to let her consult their woven scrolls, climbed the high cliffs of the Flower-Feather Clan, and stepped through the gates of the Collective of Plenty...
Every trace Grandma Taiyigi had left in the world was meticulously recorded by her.
These materials were enough for Xilonen to refute any slander or vicious rumor against Grandma Taiyigi, and also enough for her to kick away certain strange titles imposed on Grandma Taiyigi.
But she did not rush to do so.
What Xilonen wanted to leave behind was a Taiyigi with no discrepancies, completely true.
Only ore without any cracks and possessing the most solid strength could be quenched, forged, and repeatedly refined into material.
Xilonen read a lot of materials and made all the preparations for forging the "Ancient Name."
She followed the tribe's prospecting team into the mountains and found the highest-quality ore.
She also asked her dad to modify the forge so it could hold more Phlogiston and produce a fiercer, hotter flame — a fire strong enough to melt any ore.
She re-inscribed all the Phlogiston inscription diagrams in the workshop. During the entire forging process, every spark flying from this workshop would be under her control.
Everything was ready, Xilonen. Now it was time to strike the hammer.
But how should she strike the first blow?
Xilonen froze. Grandma Taiyigi seemed to have never mentioned this question.
Where should the first hammer strike land?
What pattern should be forged?
How many times should it be hammered?
Silence occupied the workshop. Even the furnace fire did not dare to crackle, afraid of disturbing the artisan.
Xilonen put down the forging hammer and instead held a comb made from wild beast teeth. The comb had been polished smooth and warm from constant handling. Even under the blazing furnace fire, it looked much gentler.
Its previous owner was a kind old grandmother. Every time Xilonen wanted to slack off, she would coax her back to continue studying by offering to comb her hair.
She would also braid very beautiful braids for Xilonen. The braids were very complicated. Even her mom studied them for a long time and finally went to ask Grandma for the braiding method — after all, Xilonen liked this kind of braid.
The story of Name-Forging Master Grandma Taiyigi surfaced in Xilonen's heart. This was the story she had personally collected, and now she was going to personally forge it into a Name.
The resounding vibration of the hammer striking dispelled the silence. When Xilonen struck the hammer, it was both precise and powerful. She did not let go of even the slightest thread of the story. Even if they were ethereal winds, at this moment they would be restrained before Xilonen and allowed to be forged by her into material.
After the last trace of Phlogiston was completely consumed, the furnace fire extinguished, and a brand-new [Ancient Name] had already taken shape.
Grandma Taiyigi's story had been forged into a Name. There would no longer be any distortion or alteration.
As for who the Wayob would ultimately grant it to...
That was something the Wayob should worry about.
"Mmm~"
A clear breeze blew past. Xilonen woke up from the tree and stretched.
She felt she had dreamed of many things from the past.
About Grandma Taiyigi's story.
Perhaps because the children had made a fuss, it brought back memories of her own student days.
"Grandma..."
Now, although she did not yet have that kind of seniority, she was also dedicated to passing down true stories.
She probably had not let Grandma down.
Xilonen leaped down from the tree trunk. She had rested well.
It was time to go back to work.
Besides the work of a [Name-Forging Master], she still had many other commissions.
Helping the tribe and everyone in Natlan forge tools and weapons was her main job.
Today seemed to be the day Kachina came to adjust her weapon.