Standing at the doorway of Uruk facing the northeast, Ananu hugged the smiling Enkidu, and then waved to Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh didn't say anything, he just looked at Ananu with a serious look and nodded lightly.
"Don't worry, I will wait for you to come back." Enkidu shouted to Ananu who was walking away. Ananu also turned around and waved his hand again.
Ananu did not choose to fly over, but chose to walk over step by step with his own feet.
The entrance to the underworld is located on the distant sea and is guarded by Utnapishtim. It is a huge island in the mist above the vast sea. On the island, except for Utnapishtim and his wife,
Outside, there is no life left alive.
Ananu needs to go northeast, cross the Euphrates River, then climb the towering Zagros Mountains, and then make a big circle, turn southeast, and enter the wider sea beyond the Persian Gulf.
Find the island with the gate to the underworld.
This is the path that Ishtar once spent his life on. Only in this way will your experience be recognized by the underworld, and the island in the mist will appear in front of you.
But Ananu's journey...
"Let's go back." Gilgamesh resisted the idea of calling Ananu back and turned back to Uruk. "The only thing left is to believe in Ananu."
This is a journey to express determination and awe to God.
Can Ananu be alone...?
Ananu looked at Nanshe who was smiling awkwardly in front of him, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
"What...are you here for?"
It had been less than a day since he set out. In the afternoon, he saw this goddess beside a creek, who seemed to have been waiting for him for a long time.
"Um, I'm just here to take a look... or something like that?"
Ananu raised his eyebrows, said nothing, pretended not to see Nan She, and walked straight past Nan She.
Nanshe immediately felt aggrieved: "Hey! Don't pretend you didn't see me! Didn't you already say hello to me?"
However, Ananu ignored it and continued walking, and said as he walked: "This hallucination is quite real, and he actually called me..."
Nan She felt that she was probably too used to Ananu.
"Damn it, look at my spring water kick!"
Angrily, Nan She flew up, wrapped her feet in clear spring water, and then kicked Ananu in the waist.
but--
Ananu took Nanshe's flying kick with a calm expression and sighed.
Tsk, we can’t treat it as an illusion now...
"So why are you following me here?"
"Aren't you going to the underworld? I'm a little worried about you, so I'll go with you...can't you?" Nanshe looked at Ananu seriously.
Although her current posture is a bit unsightly.
One foot was grabbed by Ananu, and he was lying upside down on the ground, but he still managed to raise his head and stared at Ananu with a serious expression.
Very fierce!
Ananu almost burst into laughter and quickly put Nan She down.
"I accept your concerns, but... I still can't accept your request to go with me." Ananu crossed his chest and shook his head. Ananu's rejection was serious.
He came out of Uruk with nothing this time, and even his clothes were conjured up by himself.
But the key thing is that this is a journey to show determination and awe to God. On such a journey, Ananu also brings a goddess with him. What is the reason?
Therefore, it is impossible for Ananu to take Nanshe with him.
"Why?" Nan She asked this question with a frown.
She was too lazy to think about those big and empty things. What she thought about was very simple - Ananu would die if she went to the underworld, and she didn't want Ananu to die, that's all.
"I didn't even bring Enkidu with me, how could I bring you with me." Ananu shook his head speechlessly, "Besides, don't follow me, or be careful that I use the Key of Heaven to suppress your divinity.
Then throw it back to Uruk and let Enkidu tie you up."
This is already considered a naked threat.
"Be careful, I will go to my father to complain!" Faced with Ananu's threat, Nanshe took a step back and said warily.
Ananu raised his eyebrows.
He felt that he might have overestimated Nan She's intelligence. After all, he even said the most classic "I'll complain to my mother". This god's IQ...
"Nanshe, listen to me, I really can't go with you." Threats failed, and Ananu had no choice but to use his last weapon.
That is sincerity.
"My journey cannot stop, but I use my feet to walk, so the speed is not destined to be too fast."
"You can go to Uruk, find Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and ask me why I want to make this journey. You can even ask that crazy woman Ishtar, and you will get the answer from them.
."
Ananu believes that Enkidu and Gilgamesh will not tell the core reason why he came to the underworld. As for Ishtar... Ananu thinks that she may not be much smarter than Nanshe and has always been at ease.
Life has worn away too much of the wisdom of these gods.
"Crazy, crazy woman?" Nan She was a little surprised.
This was the first time she heard someone dare to call Ishtar a crazy woman.
Ishtar is one of the seven gods of destiny, in charge of love, fertility, war and the omnipotence of Venus. Her fame and strength are at the top of the Anunnaki, although she has indeed done many things that are despised by other gods.
However, no god dared to say all this openly. As a result, Ananu now called her a "mad woman", which really shocked Nanshe.
"Don't talk about these." Ananu waved his hand, "You should understand what I mean, right?"
"All in all, I'm going to continue on my journey. Regarding your attitude, please make a decision after you understand the meaning of my journey."
"You can wait for me in Uruk as my friend."
After saying that, Ananu turned around and left, leaving Nan She who was still a little confused.
Nanshe was obviously familiar with Ananu's style of leaving as soon as he could without delay. He didn't feel anything was wrong and stood there to think.
She raised her head, glanced at Ananu's pure white back fading away in the forest, and sighed softly.
Do you understand the meaning of journey...?
She shook her head, turned her head, and sighed.
She had no intention of actually going to Uruk to find Enkidu, Gilgamesh or even Ishtar to ask about all this, as Ananu said. She knew that it was meaningless.
Ananu has made it clear that he does not want him to follow.