无面之神 The Faceless God

作者：Graham McNeill

我看着那条小虫蠕动着从沙中探出头。

I watch the worm wriggling its way up from the sand.

它布满密齿的头吻朝我摆来，嗅着空气，探寻湿气的源头。在我身旁堆叠的卷轴、骨笔和墨瓶之间，放着一罐水。那是两天前从枯井里打上来的，罐底积沙，顶上浮灰。但那条小虫不会在乎。

Its fronded head sways this way and that as it tastes the air, sensing the ewer of water I keep by my bedside amid the pile of scrolls, bone styluses, and ink pots. The water is two days old, gritty with dust from a well that is dry more often than not—but the worm won’t care.

我钦佩它的勇气，居然敢从沙下的巢里钻出来，靠近一个体型百倍甚至千倍于它的生物。它肯定知道我能一脚将它踩烂，但它并不怕我。肉虫穿过地毯上的小洞，吐出一根发丝般纤细的舌头，嗅探我这间陋室。

I admire its courage, emerging from its home beneath the sand before a creature hundreds, if not thousands, of times its size. It must surely know I could crush it beneath my sandaled foot, but it has no fear of me. A hair-fine tongue emerges as the worm eases itself through the hole in the threadbare rug covering the floor of my humble abode.

那张地布是母亲送给我的临别礼物，陪伴我一起离开肯内瑟，以见习石匠的身份追随大石匠诺瑞娅。即使是在年轻时，我摆弄凿子、锉刀和砂纸的技巧也可以说是小有名气。我曾在一年一度的飞升大宴上获得过第一名，当时我雕刻的正是瑟塔卡女皇的形象。

The rug was a last gift from my mother before I left Kenethet as an apprentice stonemason in the employ of Arch-Mason Nouria. Even as a young man, my skill with a chisel, rasp, and file was well known, and had earned me first place in the annual Feast of the Ascended, where I carved a likeness of Setaka.

也正是那尊雕像引来了大石匠的青睐。要知道，这位大石匠的大型雕塑装点着纳施拉美港务女督萨加的丝绸宫殿门脸，还有卑尔居恩的太阳神殿。据说她甚至曾为了替大洋彼岸的伟人雕刻塑像，前往那座金砖铺地、以魔法机器替代劳力的城市。我不太敢信那些道听途说的消息，因为她从来不曾提及自己在恕瑞玛沙海以外留下的作品。

It had also drawn the attention of the Arch-Mason, whose great carvings adorned the carved frontage of Magyett Sadja’s silk palace in Nashramae, and the Sun Temple of Bel’zhun. Some said she had even sculpted the likenesses of great men and women across the ocean in a city where the streets were paved in gold and great machines of magic did the work of ten strong men. I do not know if I truly believe these latter tales, for Nouria never speaks of any work she has done beyond the sands of Shurima.

她端起我那尊雕像的一幕，至今还犹在眼前。回想起来，竟然已是近二十年之前了……

I remember the moment she lifted my statue vividly, though it is close to twenty years ago now...

“你是如何为天神战士的女皇选定这张面容的？” 当时她的声音还没有被年岁磨哑，气息也没有被石料的粉尘摧残。 “瑟塔卡的尊貌从未记载于任何史料。”

“How did you choose the look of the queen of the god-warriors?” she asked, her voice not yet worn thin by the years and her lungs not yet ravaged by the dust of her great work. “No true likenesses have ever been found of Setaka.”

这个问题我早已有所准备，于是我给出了那个排练了多次的回答。

I had been prepared for that question and replied with my carefully rehearsed answer.

“我梦到了她。”我的语气中满是年轻人的恳切。 “我在梦里看到她带头发起了最终冲锋，然后她扭过头看了我一眼，一轮落日在她脑后，有如光环一般，然后我就醒了。”

“I dreamed of her,” I said, with the earnestness of youth. “I dreamed I saw her lead the Last Charge, and she turned to me just before I awoke, her head haloed by the setting sun.”

“答得不错，年轻人。”她说，“但我刚好认识这张脸。如果我没记错的话，这是贝妮达-马拉家里雇佣的一名沙裔女佣。”

“A fine answer, young man,” she said, “but I happen to recognize this face. If I’m not mistaken, this is a sand-maiden working in the employ of Benida-Marah.”

我被当场戳穿，满脸通红。

I blushed, caught in my lie.

但大石匠诺瑞娅只是大笑道：“别难为情，孩子。你并不是第一个用情人做模特的艺术家。”

But Arch-Mason Nouria only laughed and said, “Don’t be abashed, boy. You’re not the first artist to use their lover as a model.”

她端着我的雕塑作品左右打量，指尖滑过石料表面，一边微微点头。她在评判我的作品，而且很显然，她觉得我够资格。

She turned my sculpture this way and that, running her fingertips over the stone and nodding, judging my work and, apparently, finding it worthy.

“你来做我的学徒怎么样？”她问道。

“How would you like to be my apprentice?” she asked.

我第二天就离开了肯内瑟，跟随大石匠穿过可哈丽塞的北端，前往佐兰。

I left Kenethet the next day, following the Arch-Mason across the northern reaches of the Sai Kahleek, to Xolan.

无面之神在那里等待。

To where the faceless god awaited.

我拿起水罐，往那条小虫旁边倒了一口水，然后把工具带系到腰上。皮带松松垮垮地垂到了胯骨，怕是得拿锥子给皮带再扎个孔了。我们的食物并不充裕，如果没有商队经过，有时我们要连续几个星期严格限量配给。

I pour a small amount of water onto the ground near the worm before strapping my tool belt around my waist. It hangs loose over my hips, and I fear I may need to use my awl to punch another hole in the leather. Our food is not plentiful, and if the trade caravans do not pass our way, we sometimes go weeks with our meager supplies strictly rationed.

那条小虫在它的小池塘里开心地扭摆，我很高兴能帮他活下去。每一条生命都值得生存。我突然想起去年经过镇上的那个行乞的布道者。她告诉我，即使是最渺小的生物，织母也对它们做了安排。

I leave the worm wriggling happily in his little pool, pleased to have been able to help him survive. Every living thing deserves its chance to exist. I am reminded of the mendicant preacher who passed through our town last year, and told me that even the smallest creatures are part of the Great Weaver’s plan.

不知道她如今怎么样了，当时她好像很着急。

I wonder what became of her, for she seemed in a great hurry.

我把布道者和小虫赶出脑海，自己来到门外，感受清晨日出带来的热气。丝绒般细腻的蓝天上依然还挂着几颗星星，组成美妙的图案。

Putting her and the worm from my mind, I head outside, feeling the heat of the day even though the sun is still to fully rise. The sky is a velvety blue, a few stars still glittering in pleasing patterns above.

一阵凉风纷乱地卷过街道，扬起了石板上的尘土。风中夹着一股说不清的怪味，像是腐臭的肉或者酸败的奶，感觉像是有什么野兽死在了附近。

A gust of cold air disturbs the stone dust that swoops in playful spirals along the street. The wind carries the smell of something foul, like spoiled meat or rancid milk, and I wonder if some wild animal is lying dead somewhere nearby.

这一带乱石密布，不宜居住，但有许多迹象表明这里曾经土地肥沃，有大片的耕地和牧场。其实恕瑞玛完全不是外来者心目中的那个死气沉沉的废土，这里有着生机勃勃的动植物种群，有些十分凶险，有些则完全无害。幸好这里既不受掠食猛兽的威胁，也不担心盗匪的扰袭，一方面是因为佐兰地处偏僻，另一方面，据石匠长老们所述，是因为佐兰妮女神的眷顾。她护佑着我们，让我们有朝一日复原她的荣光。

The ground hereabouts is rocky and mostly inhospitable, but there are signs it was once abundantly fertile and used to raise crops and graze animals. The Shuriman desert is far from the lifeless wasteland many outsiders believe it to be; it has a vibrant ecosystem of flora and fauna, some dangerous, some entirely harmless. Thankfully, we are untroubled by dangerous predators or bandits in Xolan, in part thanks to our remoteness, but also because the elder stonemasons tell us Xolaani herself watches over us, protecting us so that we might restore her to glory.

我们每天很早就开工，几十个石匠打着哈欠向大石崖走去，准备开始自己被指派的任务。我们彼此问过早安，然后前往各自的岗位，四散在巨大神像的脚下、身上。

Work starts early, and scores of yawning masons are already making their way to the great cliff to carry out their assigned tasks. We share morning greetings before scattering to our assigned duties around or upon the great statue.

虽然在过去的二十年里我每天都要面对它，但它依旧能让我震撼得喘不上气。

And though I have seen it every day for the last two decades, it still has the power to take my breath away.

垂直的崖壁就像一整块巨大的石料，赭红色的石崖被风沙侵蚀后，如同层层刀刃齿列其上。其中一些凸起被我们铲平，成为了创作的画布，还有一些则保留原样，用来给我们的作品遮挡风沙。

The rock rises vertically in a solid escarpment, a towering wall of ochre stone, layered in wind-worn knife-like outcroppings. Some of those we have cut from the cliff to create our canvas, others we have left as great windbreaks to better preserve our work.

而说到我们的作品，堪称宏伟！飞升者佐兰妮的雕像，真可谓顶天立地的成就。

And what work it is! The statue of Ascended Xolaani is, quite literally, a towering achievement.

从塌陷的双脚到残损的颈项大概有三百码。当我第一次看到这尊摩崖而刻的石雕时，它已有几百年无人打理，历尽沧桑。如果过往的旅人只顾盯着天边的动静，甚至可能不会发现这里还有一座石雕。

Around three hundred yards from her carven feet to her shorn neck, the statue carved into the cliff had been all but worn away by centuries of neglect when I first laid eyes upon it. A passing traveler might even have missed it, were their eyes fixed too warily on the horizon.

风沙抹平了她长袍下摆上的细节褶皱，许久以前的落石砸掉了她的一截长袖，否则她张开的双臂会像是一对翅膀。

The wind softened the detail of the sculpted robes wrapped around her legs, and a long-ago rockfall smashed portions of the kaftan billowing around her outflung arms like wings.

最令人痛心的是，石像的面孔早已彻底削平，只留下一道古老的伤痕，使得这位天神战士的真正样貌无从得知。这位古代恕瑞玛英雄的无面之姿已经保持了不知多少个世纪，而我们——来自佐兰的石匠，就要让它恢复往日的荣光。

But most grievously of all, some ancient wound slashed clean through her carven stone face, leaving no hint as to the god-warrior’s true likeness. This legend from Shurima’s past has remained faceless for uncounted centuries, but we—the stonemasons of Xolan—are poised to finally restore her to glory once more.

当然，前提是我们先商量出来她的真容该是什么样子。

If only we could agree on her true face.

“予你水和荫凉，大石匠。”我说着，爬上了悬崖脚下的升降吊台。

“Water and shade to you, Arch-Mason,” I say, climbing onto the lift platform at the base of the cliff.

“也予你水和荫凉，门纳斯。”大石匠诺瑞娅头也不抬地说，“你迟到了。”

“Water and shade to you, Mennas,” Arch-Mason Nouria replies, without looking up. “You’re late.”

现在她每天早晨都这么说，算是最近一段时间养成的习惯，但我从来都不会给她理由指责我在偷懒。

She says this to me every morning now, a habit she has fallen into lately, though I have never given her a reason to accuse me of tardiness.

“我是为了给一条小虫解渴。”我说。

“I was slaking the thirst of a worm,” I say.

“小虫？”

“A worm?”

“是的，它每天早晨都出来，找水喝。”

“Yes, it comes by every morning, looking for water.”

“然后你就喂它水？”

“And you give it some?”

“对。”

“I do.”

她摇了摇头，但可以看得出，我养小虫当宠物的做法让她觉得挺有意思。

She shakes her head, but I can see the idea of me keeping a worm as a pet amuses her.

我伸长脖子，眺望雕塑的顶端。在如此靠近石崖的地方几乎看不清高处的细节，但等到我们升上去，就能将石雕的工艺尽收眼底。

I crane my neck, looking up the length of the statue. This close to the cliff, it is impossible to make out the details, but as we rise we will be able to see the stonework.

纵横交错的脚手架像蛛网一样盖在石崖的表面，木材不计成本地从东边的丛林和崇山南麓的林地运达此地。崖壁上钉着回火处理过的铁木梁和脚踏，让石匠们攀爬到施工的高度。许多条绳索带动滑轮组，牵拉升降吊台前往雕像的最高处。

A network of scaffolding clings to the face of the cliff like the web of a spider, the wood brought at great expense from the jungles of the east, and the greener lands south of the mountains. Tempered ironwood beams and steps hammered into the rock allow masons to climb to where they need to work. A series of pulleys and ropes serve as an elevator to reach the highest portions of the statue.

今天，大石匠诺瑞娅和我就将在那里开工。

It is there that Arch-Mason Nouria and I will be working today.

“准备好了？”她问。

“Ready?” she asks.

“好了。”

“I am.”

我一环环解开上升装置的固定套索，拉着配重的绳索与升降台分离。整个升降装置颤抖着动了起来，我在上升的同时数着绳索上的结。每两个结的间隔是十二尺。

I untie the loops of ropes securing the lift mechanism, and allow the counterweight rope to pull free of its moorings on the lift platform. The whole contraption judders, and I count the knots as we ascend, each one marking a twelve-foot interval.

我坐在升降台的边缘，品味着不断增加的高度感。

I sit at the edge of the platform, relishing the increasing sense of height as we rise.

佐兰镇并不大，大约有两百条生命聚集在一湖浊水和一抹绿荫周围。绿荫里偶尔会结出一些果实供人采摘。在这穷乡僻壤的生活不容易，但我们在这里所从事的活动，可比任何人类的陪伴都更重要。我们的住所都是精雕细琢的，毕竟我们是一群石匠，每户住宅都由居于其中的匠人建造，不仅独一无二，而且都能反映出每个匠人的性格和风格。我自己的房子很含蓄内敛，简朴的审美风格取自我远在肯内瑟的母亲家。

The town of Xolan is not large, a collection of perhaps two hundred souls clustered around a murky lake and patches of greenery that provide a little shade and some fruit from time to time. To live so far from the cities is hard, but what we do here is more important than any human comforts we might miss. Our dwellings are all finely made, as you would expect from a community of stonemasons, each uniquely crafted by the artisans within and reflective of their character and style. My own house is humble, its understated aesthetic reminiscent of my mother’s home in Kenethet.

镇子朝阳的一面紧邻着施工场地，堆放着石崖上凿下来的石块、松动滚落的巨石——还有一些尺寸更大的装饰石料，那些是刚刚做好准备吊装入位的工件。

A work-yard lies at the sunward edge of our town, filled with rock cut from the cliff, fallen boulders, and larger pieces of new, decorative stonework that have yet to be lifted into place.

如果我们明天突然全部消失，那这些雕塑、篆刻和精心拼接的石料，将成为我们毕生心血的证明。

Were we all to vanish tomorrow, its many statues, carvings, and master-worked blocks would stand as a testament to our life’s work.

一条宽阔的河道从这座石崖下方的碎石带伸出，穿过小镇中心，然后蜿蜒曲折地消失在可哈丽塞的黄沙之下。河床里铺满了尖锐的石块和黄沙，但我在一些画里见过这条运河曾经水流充沛的样子。

A wide channel cuts through the heart of our town, running from the rubble-choked base of the cliff in a zig-zagging manner before disappearing beneath the sands of the Sai Kahleek. Shards of stone and sand fill its length, but I have seen pictures that show this channel was once awash with running water.

听说鹰隼皇帝让古恕瑞玛城重新焕发了生机，如果那些故事是真的，那只能说明他浩荡的皇恩没有泽及此地。但当我们重塑这位无面之神以后，这条运河就将再次注满疗愈之水，而当人们回到这片光复的土地上，将会赞颂我们的贡献。

If the stories of the Hawk Emperor restoring the ancient city of Shurima to life are true, then little of his liquid bounty has come our way. But when we have restored the faceless god, the channel will once again flow with healing waters, and we will be lauded for our part in the land’s restoration.

“跟我讲讲佐兰妮。”诺瑞娅看着远方说。

“Tell me of Xolaani,” says Nouria, her eyes somewhere far away.

我就在等她这句话。我转过头去朝她微笑。

I have been waiting for this, and turn to smile at her.

这是她最近养成的另一个习惯——在我们搭乘吊台上升的时候，我要背诵这位天神战士的历史。我并不介意她这个要求，因为我们不能忘记初心，不能忘记为什么要献出自己的一生来复原这位飞升者的面孔。即便我们所知道的都是零散的碎片，也不应陷入怀疑。

This is another habit she has fallen into—having me recite the history of the god-warrior as we ascend. I do not mind indulging her, for it is good to remember why we do this, why we have all devoted our lives to restoring the face of the Ascended, even if much of what we know is fragmentary.

“相传，佐兰妮是一名疗愈者的女儿。”我闭上双眼，把头扭向东方，“降生于保护者星灵经过太阳的吉时。她生活在恕瑞玛发生巨变的年代。那时对抗邪恶术师的战争刚刚开始，皇帝的军队在艾卡西亚的城墙下遭遇了一场大败。”

“Xolaani was said to be the daughter of a healer,” I begin, closing my eyes and tilting my head to the east, “a child born under the Aspect of the Protector at an auspicious passage of the sun. She lived in a time of great change for Shurima, when the war against the vile thaumaturges had just begun, and the armies of the emperor had suffered a great defeat before the walls of Icathia.

“将士们痛苦不堪，而佐兰妮不知疲倦地工作，尽可能拯救更多生命。她还公开指出皇帝的昏庸，道破了太阳子民之间自相残杀的根源。”

“Great was the suffering, and Xolaani worked tirelessly to save as many lives as she could, speaking out against the folly of emperors that still drove the tribes of the sun to make war with one another.”

诺瑞娅点点头，她的目光在天边飘忽不定，似乎在看什么我看不到的东西。

Nouria nods, her eyes drifting over the horizon, as if seeing something I can not.

是我的错觉，还是她曾经湛蓝的瞳孔中渗进了一丝乳白？

Is it my imagination, or do I detect a milkiness to the once sapphire-blue of her eyes...?

她感觉到了我的目光，把头扭到一边。“继续讲。”

Sensing my scrutiny, she turns away. “Go on.”

“据说她救下了成百上千人的性命，但却更加悲痛，因为她知道那些人又会被送回战场。有人说她甚至公开反对皇帝，称他是战争狂和暴君。”

“It is said that she saved hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives, but mourned that they were saved only to be sent back into the fighting. Some say she even spoke out against the emperor, calling him a warmonger and a despot.”

“你的语气告诉我，你并不相信这是真的。”诺瑞娅说。

“Your tone tells me you find that unlikely,” says Nouria.

“如果她反对皇帝，那为什么后来皇帝还同意让她接受飞升的天恩呢？”

“If she spoke out against the emperor, why would he later agree to her being gifted with Ascension?”

“决定谁与太阳并肩的，不是皇帝，而是祭司。只有他们能解读天兆，根据太阳的金光划定未来的进程。很少有哪个皇帝敢违抗太阳的意愿。”

“It was not the emperor who decreed who would rise to meet the sun, but the priests who read the augurs and charted the course of the future in the beams of its golden light. Rare would it be for any emperor to defy the will of the sun.”

“但也不是没有？”

“But not unheard of?”

她咳嗽一声，她的肺脏依然没有从上个冬季的热症中完全恢复。

She coughs, her lungs still weak from the fever that struck her last winter.

“也不是没有。”她最后说道，“要想操控一个人，简直太容易了。不过你还是继续讲吧。讲讲佐兰妮在恕瑞玛陨落以后怎么样了。讲讲后来发生的纷争。”

“No, not unheard of,” she says finally. “All too easy for one to manipulate the other. But keep going. Tell me what became of Xolaani when Shurima fell. Tell me about the conflict that followed.”

我之前从来都不需要讲完后边的故事，因为往往还没等我讲到晦涩模糊的部分，我们就已经到了。但今天，我们要去的是神像的头部，所以我只能继续讲下去。

I’ve never needed to tell this part of the story. We always reach our destination before the details of Xolaani’s history grow more obscure. But now, with us bound for the missing face of the god-warrior, I have no choice but to continue.

大石匠察觉出我的犹豫。“你都做过功课吧？”

The Arch-Mason catches my hesitation. “You have studied this, yes?”

“当然，”我回答说，“但我们现有的卷轴许多都是不完整的，或者是故意闪烁其辞，记录的故事明显有夸大，甚至可能是凭空捏造的。”

“I have,” I assure her, “but many of our scrolls are incomplete, or wilfully opaque, filled with stories that are clearly exaggerated, or possibly entirely fabricated.”

“但讲无妨。”

“Tell me anyway.”

我点点头，把我知道的碎片拼凑成一整套连贯的叙事。但我不用猜也知道，她一定不会满意。

I nod and try to piece what fragments I have been able to gather into a coherent narrative, but I already know I will disappoint her.

“相传，后来发生了一场大战。由于没有了鹰隼皇帝阿兹尔的引导，飞升之主各部之间爆发了剧烈的争斗。据多份古卷记录，这场大战几乎撕裂了整个世界。”

“It is said there was a war. That without the Hawk Emperor, Azir, to guide them, a great conflict erupted between the Ascended Host—one the scrolls say almost tore the world apart.”

“你信吗？”

“Do you believe that?”

“我不知道。”我坦白地说，“历史记载的战争，动辄就要毁灭世界。虽然乱世之中肯定民不聊生，但要说每一次战争都是毁天灭地的灾难，就感觉难免有些……夸大。”

“I do not know,” I say, honestly. “History is full of conflicts that speak of world-ending threats, and while I am sure they would have been terrible to live through, the idea of them all being so cataclysmic feels... unlikely.”

“你说的有道理，但悠长的年岁可能会让战争的烈火在记忆中黯淡。佐兰妮在那场大战中做了什么呢？”

“You may be right, but the long passage of the years has a tendency to dim the fires of such wars in the memory. What part did Xolaani play in this conflict?”

“并无定论。”我回答说，“在那些战争的记录中几乎找不到她的事迹，交战的都是其他天神战士，还有后世所称的暗裔。有一些含糊的印证，提到曾一个名叫塔亚纳利的生物曾经恳求佐兰妮，让她介入纷争，拯救陨落的生命。在一些记录中，她拒绝了，但也有一些记录说她将自己的疗愈之力赐给了那些她认为有资格的人。在她的最终传说里，她激怒了最狠毒的暗裔，最终遭到对方的致命一击，令她销声匿迹了几百年。”

“Nothing certain,” I reply. “I have found little mention of her taking part in the wars between the god-warriors and those who would become known and feared as Darkin. There are veiled references to a being known as Ta’anari begging her to intervene and save the lives of the fallen. In some tellings she refuses, but others say she chose to bestow her healing gifts on those she deemed worthy, that she knew the innermost secrets of blood so deeply she could even return the dead to life. A final tale speaks of how she angered the most vicious of the Darkin, who struck her a fateful blow that laid her low for many centuries.”

对于佐兰妮的历史，诺瑞娅了解得比我透彻，她只是喜欢听我讲述，可能多次的重复会让那些事更加深刻地烙印在她脑海里。

Nouria knows much more of Xolaani than I, but likes to hear me tell the stories, as though being reminded helps carve them deeper into her memory.

事实上，我有点怀疑她的心智已经衰退到了一定地步，我每天的复述对她来说都是新的……她可能渐渐开始老糊涂了。

In truth, I wonder if her mind has reached the point where these retellings are new to her each day... if she has begun the slow descent into her dotage.

升降台抵达了我们的目的地，我终于不用回答问题了。

I am spared further questions when the lift arrives at our destination.

我把绳索系牢，把限位杆扳到一边。我们二人小心迈出吊台，踏上石栈道。现在我们就站在无面之神的肩膀上。

Locking the ropes in place and hauling the restraining bar into position, we carefully step out onto the rocky ledge that runs around the colossal shoulders of the faceless god-warrior.

全部完工后，这里的石栈道会被凿除，打磨平整。但现在这里是我们的落脚点。我向下望去，巨大的落差并没有令我恐惧。

When the work is finally complete, the ledge will be hacked away and smoothed off, but for now it serves as our vantage point. I look down, unfazed by the dizzying drop.

我在想象，当清水再次流淌，佐兰会是何番景象。

I imagine what Xolan would look like were the waters to flow again.

一位石匠长老的书里有一张被岁月冲淡的图画，上面是清水从悬崖顶端泻下，在空中形成两道优雅的弧线，从神像的两侧滑落。在那张图画里，镇中心的湖水丰若月满，湛如穹庐，向远方延伸收细，最后成为一条河流奔入恕瑞玛大地。

A faded illustration in one of the elder stonemasons’ books shows water tumbling from the top of the cliff and falling in graceful arcs to either side of the great statue. In that picture, the small lake at the heart of our community is wide and full, its waters a wondrous shade of cerulean blue that narrows until it becomes a river flowing out into Shurima.

我暗自希望，如果我们能够参透佐兰妮的真容，这条河就将再次流淌。

It is my hope that if we can divine the true face of Xolaani, that river will live again.

我希望能赶快看到那奔流之水。

I hope to see the water soon.

我对大石匠诺瑞娅的心智可能存有一些担忧，但她操弄了一辈子的手艺可是一点都没丢。虽然她的双手被晒得黝黑，因常年的捶打而变得像粗皮厚革，但只要挨上石料，这双手就优雅娴熟，无与伦比。

Whatever fears I might harbor regarding Arch-Mason Nouria’s mind, she has lost none of her skill with the tools of her trade. Her hands may be tanned and leather-tough from years of practicing her craft, but they are graceful like no others when it comes to working the stone.

我们要对石像的衣领进行最后的修饰，开出更深的褶皱，就能利用光线的角度，让人从地面上看到起伏的阴影。这是一种视觉上的欺骗，是一位老石匠想出来的手法。我到石崖上开工的第一天，她就把这一招教给了我。

We are applying the last touches to the collar, layering in deeper folds that will cast a shadow that can be seen from the ground. It is an illusion, an old stonemason’s trick she taught me the first day I worked the rock of the cliff.

今天的工作计划但凡是刚出徒的熟练工匠都能胜任，没必要让诺瑞娅这样的大师上手。不过我感觉她今天需要动动手，要摸一摸石头。

Today’s labors are more suited to that of a journeyman than a skilled mason like Nouria—but I sense that she needs to be working with her hands today, to be close to the stone.

这座雕像只差面部就完工了，但她究竟该是什么样的面相，佐兰的石匠始终无法统一意见。有瀑布的那幅画是我们唯一的参考，但佐兰妮的面目被水雾遮挡，难以辨认。村镇里的每个石匠都想方设法探究她的真容，借助梦境、酒醉，或者祈祷，但一直没能达成全员共识。

All that remains to be carved is the statue’s face, but what features she should possess is a question upon which none of the stonemasons of Xolan can agree. The illustration depicting the waterfall is the only guide we have, and the face behind it is indistinct, hidden by the spray of water. Every mason within the village has sought to bring forth the truth of her visage in dreams, in drink, in prayer, but no consensus has yet been reached.

午后时分，我们已经不剩下多少活要干了，于是我们坐在石栈道边上，望着天边起伏的沙海。天空是浓烈的蔚蓝，太阳像一面铜盘在西边渐沉。沙丘在热气中泛起波纹，就像是有什么东西在地底翻涌。

By mid-afternoon, there is little left for us to do, so we sit on the lip of the ledge, looking out over the undulant horizon. The sky is now a lush azure, the sun a copper disc descending in the west. The dunes ripple in the heat, as if disturbed from below.

在沙漠腹地，潜沙兽经过的地方会留下塌陷的沟壑。但这一带基岩表层的浮沙太浅，不适合它们行动，因此我们也很少看到它们在路途中换气时的喷沙景象。

In the deepest desert, sandswimmers leave hissing grooves in their wake—but here the bedrock is too close to the surface for them, so we rarely see the sand spouts that mark their passing.

“你觉得今晚的会议能有结果吗？”大石匠的提问打断了我的神游。

“How do you think the meeting will go tonight?” asks the Arch-Mason, breaking my train of thought.

“我估计，跟之前的会议一样吧。”

“Much like the others, I suspect.”

“我听说伯来长老对自己的方案比较有把握，只要稍加修改就能让所有人满意。”

“I hear that Elder Bourai believes he is close to a likeness we may all agree upon.”

“上个月乌兰托师父提方案之前你也是这么说的。”

“You said that about Mason Ulantor’s proposal last month.”

“是吗？”

“I did?”

“是啊，再之前的瑞高玛师父你也是这么说的。”

“Yes, and Master Regouma’s the time before that.”

“啊，对，是有这么回事。”她难过地说，“那今晚的会议就更应该有些不一样了。”

“Ah, yes, I did, didn’t I?” she says sadly. “All the more reason for this night’s meeting to be different.”

“您的意思是？”

“What do you mean?”

“我今晚要把这个呈给长老们。”诺瑞娅说着，从长袍里抽出一根卷轴递给我。

“I will present this to the elders tonight,” says Nouria, pulling a folded scroll from her robes and holding it out to me.

“这是什么？”我几乎有点不愿意接过来。

“What is that?” I ask, almost reluctant to take it.

“打开看看，”她催促道，“看了就知道了。”

“Look,” she urges. “Then you’ll see.”

我接过卷轴，慢吞吞地展开。随着她的炭笔素描映入眼帘，我目瞪口呆。若不是受到了石匠技艺的召唤，她必可成为恕瑞玛最伟大的画家之一。

Taking the scroll, I hesitantly unfold it. My eyes widen as I see the charcoal sketch she has drawn. Had she not been called to the stone, Nouria could almost certainly have become one of Shurima’s greatest artists.

她画出了一张脸，令任何人都望尘莫及，恰到好处地融合了神性与壮美。眉目半睁半闭，眼神深邃睿智，透着无限的慈悲，同时也融入了每个天神战士与生俱来的凌厉杀气。

She has drawn a face, one that is beyond compare, a chimeric blend of the inhuman and the sublime. There is deep wisdom in the dark pools of its hooded eyes, infinite compassion, but also the capacity for lethal violence inherent in each of the god-warriors.

“简直……不可置信。 你怎么画出来的？”

“It’s... incredible. How did you do this?”

“它出现在我的梦里。”她露出调皮的笑容，顿时好像年轻了几十岁。“和你的瑟塔卡雕塑一样，还记得吗？”

“It came to me in a dream,” she says, with an impish grin that takes decades from her wind-worn face. “Just as you did with your sculpture of Setaka, remember?”

“可我当时说的是假话。 这个，真的是飞升者佐兰妮吗？”

“But I was lying. Is this really the Ascended Xolaani?”

诺瑞娅耸耸肩，“它可以是。”

Nouria shrugs. “It might as well be.”

“这话又是什么意思？”

“What does that mean?”

她叹了口气。此刻，我在这位才华横溢的女人身上看到了岁月的重量。指尖的钝涩、骨子里的疲惫、还有——现在当我看清了——她眼眸中愈发浓重的雾霭。她扭过头向上看着那块被切削的岩壁，神像的面孔所在的地方。

She sighs, and I see the toll the years have taken on this brilliant woman. The stiffness in her fingers, the weariness deep in her bones, and—yes, now that I look harder—the growing mist in her eyes. She twists her head to look up at the scarred rock where the face of the Ascended should be.

“这将是我的最后一座雕塑。”诺瑞娅说，“我的心脏有一种病。我的母亲就曾患有，我母亲的母亲也是。现在的我已经比她们活得长久了，所以如果我能活到今年年末，已经算是大幸。但我不想在死的时候无缘见到我最伟大的作品完成时的模样。”

“This will be my last sculpture,” says Nouria. “There is a sickness in my heart. My mother had it, as did hers before her. I am older now than when they died, so I will count myself fortunate if I live to see the year’s end. I do not wish to pass before seeing my greatest work completed.”

“可这是真实的样子吗？” 我问她，“如果长老们同意了，我们也雕出来了，到那时，这就是她真实的样子吗？”

“But is it real?” I ask. “If the elders accept this and we carve it, will it be real?”

她拿回了那张图，表情出卖了她对我的失望。她低头望向那池棕灰色的湖水。

She takes back the picture, her face betraying her disappointment in me, and looks down at the gray-brown lake.

“我只是想再次看见蓝色的河水流动起来。”她说，“一次就好。”

“I just want to see the blue waters flow,” she says. “One last time.”

我躺在床上，辗转难眠。我的视线随着月光缓缓移过母亲的地布，在我独自熬过寂夜的同时，长老们的讨论没有迎来结果。石匠大厅里回荡着激烈的声音，和我第一次听到时一样嚣噪，但我好像已经知道结果了。

I lay on my bed, but sleep eludes me. I watch the moonlight move across my mother’s rug as the lonely hours of the night pass without the elders coming to a decision. The voices echoing from the Mason’s Hall are as strident as when they first began, but I suspect I already know what the outcome will be.

大石匠诺瑞娅德高望重，在我们这群人里说话很有分量，而且她的草图比之前呈给长老们的任何一幅都更有冲击力。

Respect for Arch-Mason Nouria holds powerful sway in our community, and her drawing is more magnificent than any yet presented to the elders.

我确信他们会接受这个方案作为她的真容，单纯是因为画作本身的神妙。

I believe they will accept it as a true likeness, because it is miraculous.

他们会接受的，因为他们已经受够了那种一头雾水的煎熬。

They will accept it because they are tired of not knowing.

我们都想在有生之年看到大作完工，让心里的巨石落地，想保证眷顾我们这些年的天神的面容能够最终完成。

We all want the work to be completed in our lifetimes, to know that the face of the god who has watched over us for all these years will finally be finished.

我们都想看到河水再次奔流。

We all want to see the waters flow once more.

几十年来，无数次商议、探讨、争论，可是我们对佐兰妮真容的每一种设想，都受制于我们如此平庸俗常的感受。

For decades, we have bickered and debated, but every interpretation we have attempted to place upon Xolaani is hamstrung by our so-very-mortal sensibilities.

我们，在飞升者早已远去的这个当下，怎么可能妄想着去了解他们，去想象他们的容貌？他们是由太阳的力量铸造的生灵，古老而神圣的力量赋予他们神性。

How can we, beings so far removed from the time of the Ascended, ever hope to know them, or imagine their likenesses? They are beings wrought by the power of the sun, raised up to godhood by powers both ancient and divine.

我们这群凡夫俗子居然要决定他们的形象，简直没有比这更狂妄无稽的了。所以当我再想到诺瑞娅构想的容貌，我便感到心口腾起一股灼热的恨意。我的手紧紧抓住床沿，情绪的风暴在我肚子里翻涌。

To imagine that any of us could set down their form is arrogant beyond words, and I feel a simmering resentment knot my gut at Nouria’s presumption. I am gripping the edge of my bed, a turbulent storm of emotions churning in my gut.

担忧和害怕令我口干舌燥。

My mouth is dry with fear and unease.

有那么一刻，我热切盼望大石匠的草图是真的，但我要怎样证明呢？

For a moment, I dearly want the Arch-Mason’s drawing to be real, but how can I be sure?

我从水罐里舀出一捧水，拍到脸上。味道有点陈，还有砂砾硌到了我的牙。我用舌头刮了一圈牙龈，朝地面的沙尘中吐了一口泥水。

I scoop up a handful of water from the ewer and splash it over my face. It tastes old and the flecks of stone dust wear at my teeth. I run my tongue over my gums and spit a gritty mouthful back onto the dusty floor.

兢兢业业这么多年，却在最后关头松散懈怠，只是为了贪图便利，我觉得这是错的。我能理解诺瑞娅盼望在有生之年见证完工的心情，但她不能因此就把自己看到的幻象认定为真实吧？

To have spent so long working the stone only to falter at the last for the sake of convenience seems inherently wrong to me. I understand Nouria’s desire to see the work completed before she dies, but to present her vision as truth...?

万一我们的完工是建立在谎言之上怎么办？我不敢继续往下想，于是我站了起来，抓起一条毛绒斗篷抵挡夜间的寒风。

What if we finish the great work on a lie? I do not like where this thought will lead, and so I stand, pulling on a woolen cloak to keep the night’s chill at bay.

我的脚踩到了什么东西。

Something crunches beneath my foot.

那条密齿的蠕虫被我踩死了。

The frond-mouthed sandworm is dead beneath my sandal.

它的身体被我的鞋底踩扁，断成了好几节，在月光下微微反光。我的泪水突然涌上眼眶。虽然它只是一条小虫，但它本可避免的死亡却让我痛心。

Its flattened, segmented body is faintly luminous in the moonlight, and my eyes fill with tears. It is only a tiny worm, but I feel an aching sadness at its needless death.

我骂自己没出息，居然为了一条小虫的死而伤心，这时突然一股温吞的气息钻进我的窗户，一起飘进来的还有一种久违的声音，自从离开肯内瑟就在没听过的声音。

I chide myself for mourning the passing of a worm, when a whisper of warm breath sighs through my window, bearing a sound I have not heard since leaving Kenethet.

我不是很确定，但这个声音听着像矮种夜枭。它们通常栖息在可哈丽塞边缘的夜树林里，用咯哒咯哒的叫声引诱昆虫出没。我顺着梯子爬到屋顶，打开活板门闩。寒夜的冷风打透了我的斗篷，吹得我汗毛直立。

I cannot be certain, but it sounds like the pygmy owls that used to nest in the night-woods at the edge of the Sai Kahleek, luring insects with their clicking chirps. I climb the ladder to the roof of my home and open the bolted shutter, feeling the cool night air chill my skin, even through my cloak.

我站到平整的屋顶上，虽然明知道不可能看到矮种夜枭，但依然还是扫视了一圈。

Standing on the flat roof, knowing I will surely not see a pygmy owl, I search the night sky all the same.

果然没有看到任何鸟类。但我把视线放低以后，却看到了更加奇怪的景象。

There is no owl of course, but lowering my gaze, I see something far stranger.

小镇中心的湖不见了。

The lake at the center of our community is gone.

湖水的水位会随着季节涨落，但从未干涸。

Its levels rise and fall with the seasons, yes, but there is always water.

现在水已经彻底消失，只剩下空空荡荡、铺满碎石的盆地。暴露在外的湖岸和湖床上出现了一个奇怪的螺旋图案，仿佛是湖水陷进泥地，然后消失不见。

Now it is gone, simply an empty, rocky basin, its exposed banks and lakebed patterned with a curious spiral, as though the water had carved the mud before vanishing.

一股热气从湖床的方向涌来。我抬头看了一眼石崖上的无面之神。

The warm wind emanates from where the lake once lay, and I look up at the faceless god carved in the cliff.

“佐兰妮，请指引我。”我低声说道，从屋顶跳下沙地，走向干涸的湖床。

“Xolaani, show me the way,” I whisper as I drop from the roof to the sand and make my way toward the vanished lake.

赤裸的河床让我毛骨悚然，并不是因为我们没有了水源，而是因为它消失的时间刚好是我们可能要决定佐兰妮的面容的这一夜，感觉很不吉利。

It chills me to see the lakebed emptied, not because we relied upon it for our water, but because to see it vanished on the very night we may finally know the face of Xolaani feels portentous.

我走到岸边，单膝跪地，触探坡岸上的湖泥。我以为应该摸到一手湿哒哒软趴趴的泥巴，但指尖传来的却是坚硬光滑的玻璃触感——就像是在砖窑里烧过的陶土。

Kneeling at the edge, I run my fingers over the mud on its sloping banks. I expect it to be moist and pliant, but it is hard and glassy—like glazed clay after being fired in a kiln.

“怎么会这样？”我低声说。整个湖床都变成了质地均一的珐琅琉璃。

“What could have done this?” I whisper. The entirety of the lakebed has been vitrified to the same enameled consistency.

我又听到了那个奇怪的声音，那个把我从家里吸引出来、像是棕榈树顶端鸟鸣的声音。听上去像是从河床中心发出来的，于是我循着坑洼，小心翼翼地往下走。

Once again, I hear the strange sound that drew me from my house, like chattering birds in the high branches of palm trees. It seems to be coming from the center of the lakebed, and I carefully make my way down the ridged slopes.

湖底是平的，散落了许多碎石，都是工匠们随手扔下来的。我看到一只石雕的手，少了两根指头，还有一只脚，磕掉了脚后跟。

The bottom is flat, filled with broken shards of stone, fragments carelessly discarded by the craftsmen above. I see a stone-cut hand with two of its fingers missing, a foot with the heel broken off.

我还看到了许多张脸。一些半埋进琉璃的河床中，一些从额头裂到下巴，还有一些像是从湖底被挤上来的。那些脸上的表情都恐怖诡异，个个龇牙咧嘴，痛苦扭曲。我想不出佐兰镇上哪个石匠能雕出这么可怕的东西，但我理解它们为什么会被丢弃到湖底。

I see faces too. Some are half-sunk into the strangeness of the glassy lakebed, some split open down their length, others looking like they are pressing up from beneath the surface. Their faces are grotesque horrors, their mouths stretched in contorted grimaces. I cannot imagine any of the stonemasons of Xolan having carved such monstrous things, but understand why they would wish to be rid of them.

我没有再靠近那些石雕的面孔。

I give these ghastly things a wide berth.

月光在波浪一样的琉璃上跃动，在我四周反射出破碎的倒影。今晚的满月让我难以分辨：眼前是我的错觉，还是湖床的表面正在自己发出柔光？但随后飘来一朵云，遮住了月亮，让我突然看清了。我脚下的确有一股微弱的光在搏动。

Moonlight skitters over the rippled glass beneath my feet, sending fractured reflections all around me. Is it my imagination, or is the surface of the lakebed glowing with a soft, inner radiance? The full moon makes it hard to be sure, but then a cloud passes over its face and I am suddenly certain; there is a faint light pulsing from the ground.

我过了一阵才意识到，这股光的搏动和我心跳的节律是同步的。

It takes a moment for me to realize it is precisely in sync with the beating of my heart.

我的脚步把我带向湖床中央，现在我看到微光和异响的源头了。在螺旋图案的中心，地面龟裂破碎，还略微下沉。细若发丝的裂缝向外放散，突然风向一变，我又闻到了早晨那股腐臭的气味，不禁一阵反胃。

My steps carry me towards the center of the lakebed, which I now see is the source of the light and the whispering, chattering birds. The ground at the center of the spiral is cracked, split open, and ever so slightly sunken. Hairline cracks radiate outward, and when the wind changes, my stomach heaves as I catch the same rancid smell from earlier this morning.

这是曝尸场的恶臭，是腐肉和烂水果在烈日下变质的气味。

It is the stench of an opened grave, of meat and fruit left to rot in the sun.

我向后退了一步，两步。

I take a single step back, then another.

还没等我退第三步，突然感到不对劲：我看到一块又长又扁的石板，远看像是给巨人戴的面具。

Before I can take a third, my eyes narrow as I see a long flat shard of stone, like a mask made for a giant.

云散月清，月光下石板的表面宛若精美的陶瓷。雕刻在石料上的俊秀面庞让我忘记了呼吸，它既融入了超越人类的气概，又充满慈祥的睿智，那是一种失落已久的风采。

The moon emerges from behind the clouds, and the exposed stone’s surface shines like polished porcelain. The beauty of the face carved into the stone takes my breath away, blended as it is with an inhuman, but alluringly wise mien of something atavistic.

那双如炬的眼神带着一种我无法参透的智慧，我只能尽力记住每一处的轮廓线条，我知道一定是佐兰妮亲自引导我发现了这里。我不知道也不在乎这块石板为何会沉在小镇中心的湖底，我只知道今晚我发现了它，这就足够了。

Its eyes seem to glimmer with a wisdom far beyond anything I could conceive, and I try to memorize its every contour, knowing that Xolaani herself has guided me to this revelation. I neither know nor care how this thing came to be submerged beneath our lake, that it is here and has been revealed to me on this singular night is enough for me.

我单膝跪倒发光的石板旁，伸出颤抖的手指。

I kneel beside the softly glowing stone, reaching to touch it with trembling fingertips.

多年前，信仰让我来到佐兰，现在，我的信念迎来了回报。

Faith brought me to Xolan all those years ago, and now my faith has been rewarded.

我必须让长老们看到这奇迹……

I must bring the elders to see this miracle...

这个念头刚出现，湖床中央的地面突然随着一声脆响裂开，就像石砖被榔头干净利落地敲碎。湖床的一部分向内陷落，被越来越大的陷坑向下拖拽。

No sooner has the thought formed in my mind than the ground at the center of the lake breaks apart with a splintering crack like the clean hammer-cut of a block. Portions of the lakebed fall inwards, drawn down into the growing sinkhole.

我慌乱后撤，而裂缝迅速向外蔓延。

I scramble backward as the cracks spread wider and wider.

那股尸臭从裂口下方涌上来，我感觉整个黑夜都凝滞了，风戛然而止，群星屏住呼吸。

The charnel stench billows up from below, and I feel the night grow still, the wind dropping away and the stars holding their breath.

有东西从河床中心的地洞下出现了，一条颜色惨白、纺锤粗细的肢体钻出来，有点让我想起家里那条头吻布满密齿的虫子。紧随其后又是一条同样的肢体，随后两条肢体撑起一团搏动着的、分节段的躯体，一个东西爬了上来。

Something emerges from the hole at the center of the lakebed, a pale, spindle-thin appendage that reminds me of the frond-mouthed worm in my home. It is swiftly followed by another and, together, they haul the pulsating, segmented body of a... a thing from below.

它的身体跟一条猎犬差不多大，蛆虫模样的身躯呈圆锥形，潮湿的体表油光锃亮。

It is the size of a hound, its soft grub-like body tapered, wet, and glistening.

我眼睛看到它，嘴里泛起一股苦味。

Just looking at it leaves a bilious taste in my mouth.

它头部表面泛起波纹，浮出许许多多黑色的球状物，同时它的表皮裂开一道口子，一张圆形的大嘴挣破了唇吻，嘴里排列了一圈长牙。黑色的汁水从那张嘴里淌出来，那颗看不出形状的头歪向我，恐惧让我的血管里结出了冰。

A multitude of black orbs ripple into existence on the surface of its head, and its skin splits apart as a circular, fang-rimmed mouth rips open. Black ichor drips from the toothed orifice. As it turns its misshapen head towards me, terror fills my veins with ice.

又一个怪物钻出地面，它的身体像一只巨大的昆虫，外形和第一只一样可怕，刀剑般的肢体、流涎的长牙和几丁质的外壳诡异地组合到一起。后面不断有更多怪物跟着出现，我的心在惊恐地嘶吼。

Another creature hauls its insect-like bulk to the surface, its form just as horrible as the first, an unnatural assembly of bladed limbs, dripping teeth, and chitinous armor. More are following, and my mind screams in terror.

但他们发出的声音足以融化我血管里的寒冰。

But the sound they make is enough to melt the ice in my veins.

我双手撑地爬起来，掉头逃跑，心里只剩下一个炽热的念头——逃生。我听到它们就在我身后，无数利爪刮擦琉璃的声音汇聚到一起直击耳膜。它们的嘶嚎在巨大的石盆地中回荡，变得愈发怪异。

Pushing myself upright, I turn and run, no thought but escape burning in my mind. I hear them behind me, a skittering cacophony of sharp claws on the glassy lakebed. Their hissing, rasping cries echo strangely from the rock.

这种声音不属于这个世界。

It is a sound not of this world.

恐惧让我上气不接下气，沿着湖床的斜坡向上爬，我摸索寻找牢靠的落脚点，可是地面都是光滑的琉璃，没有泥土，而我的手上又挂满了冷汗。我蹬掉脚上的便鞋，光脚踩地面的力道刚好足够让我爬到湖岸上。

Breathless with terror, I climb the slopes of the empty lake, scrabbling for purchase and finding none. The ground is glass, not mud, and my fingers are slick with fear-sweat. I kick off my sandals, and the bare skin of my feet gives enough grip to haul myself over the lip of the banks.

我踉跄跪地，冒险回头瞄了一眼。

I scramble onto my knees, risking a swift glance over my shoulder.

整片湖床都挤满了那种可怕的怪兽，现在已经能有好几百只了。他们聚集在一起，不长眼睛、不长脑子的东西，像沸水的气泡一样浮出地表，叫嚷着、喷吐着。越来越大的陷坑中，每一秒都有几十只怪物钻出来。

The lakebed is filled with the hideous, chittering beasts, hundreds of them now. They swarm together—blind, idiot things, hooting and braying, hissing and spitting as they boil up from the ground. Dozens more emerge from the widening sinkhole with every passing second.

我看到那副白瓷的面孔被怪物彻底掩盖，不禁流下泪水，那块石板像白蜡一样流淌，似乎这些怪物的存在，就是在诅咒它的美。

I weep as I see the porcelain face obscured by their monstrous forms, the stone flowing like wax, as though their very presence is anathema to its beauty.

我含着泪水忍着啜泣，转身奔向石匠大厅，用最足的气息大喊。

With tears in my eyes and sobs wracking my chest, I turn and run for the Mason’s Hall, screaming a warning at the top of my lungs.

“有怪兽！快跑！”

“Monsters! Flee!”

我不知道他们有没有听见，但一股愚蠢的冲动让我回头看了一眼，并因此付出了巨大的代价。

I cannot tell if I have been heard, but my foolish urge to look back has cost me dear.

我的大腿后侧被某种锋利的钩状物体划开了，然后我摔倒在地，四肢狼狈地扑腾。我翻过身，感觉一股暖流从伤口处扩散，鲜血顺着我的腿往下淌。我想站起来，但那条腿已经废了。

Something sharp and hooked slashes over the back of my thigh, and I fall, going down in a graceless tangle of limbs. I roll, feeling a terrible burning heat spread from the wound as blood pours down my leg. I try to stand, but the leg is useless beneath me.

我听到了叫喊声，惊恐、慌乱的尖叫，佐兰的石匠们看到成百上千的怪物涌向他们。

I hear voices—panicked, terrified cries as the stonemasons of Xolan see the hundreds of terrible things swarming toward them.

有人敲响了警铃，但帮不上什么忙。

Someone rings a warning bell, but it will do no good.

我翻身躺倒，一只怪兽摸了上来。它的胸口竖着裂开一道口子，露出里边肉红色的空腔，伸出带刺的触手和倒钩的长牙。它的身体压下来，纵贯身躯的血盆大口紧贴我的肚子，随后牙齿翻飞，在我身上大快朵颐。

I roll onto my back as one of the creatures rears over me. Its chest splits open down its length, revealing a fleshy red cavity of toothed tentacles and barbed fangs. It falls on me, the gaping maw of its body fastening on my stomach and devouring me in a frenzy of ripping teeth.

我被活生生吃掉，这种疼痛超出想象。

It is agony beyond imagining as the thing eats me alive.

但我不能死在这噩梦中，于是我用最后一丝力气，扭过头看向飞升者佐兰妮。

But I cannot die looking at this nightmarish creature, and so with the last of my strength, I turn my head to look up at Ascended Xolaani.

“都说你在眷顾我们……”

“They said you watched over us...”

我真的想听她回答，但她没有面容，所以她没有开口。

I almost expect her to reply, but she has no face and so she says nothing.