To Four Thousand Years Later

At the altar of the Rock of Zohile, the priest Abiathar performs the last rites.

The altar was U-shaped, with two shoulder-height stones at the opening, where the priests should rest their hands. The bull and the ram had been slaughtered in front of the crowd by the priest Abiathar, and the blood was sprinkled on the two stones in front of the altar.

The hide of the bull is peeled off, the meat of the two sacrifices is cut into pieces, the internal organs and legs are washed with river water, and all are placed in the altar together with the heads of the bull and sheep, and the blood and fat of the bull and sheep are sprinkled on the firewood. salary.

After finishing these tasks alone, the sun was over halfway, and the priest Abiathar was already sweating from exhaustion.

— but at last it was almost over.

Abiathar took a deep breath. For the seventh time, he dipped his hand in the oil of the sacrifice and flicked it to the altar in front of him.

At that moment, a crimson flame suddenly rose from the altar. The flame was like a living thing, and the people who watched were amazed, and the discussions were noisy and mixed together.

"Prince Adonijah, please set up an altar and be anointed as king—"

cried Abiathar the priest.

Suddenly, the sound of trumpets and drums sounded from the crowd. The crowd was moving, wanting to watch Adonijah ascend the altar to be anointed by the priests closer.

But the next moment, a young man suddenly rushed over from the bottom of the mountain, shouting loudly.

"Stop it, stop it—"

His voice pierced through the crowd, and he raised his voice loudly: "Solomon will be anointed as king!"

"catch him!"

Without hesitation, Adonijah ordered the army loudly: "Or kill him!"

The army obeyed the orders and moved over one after another. Suppressing it from all directions, trying to catch that annoying guy who was riding a horse and shouting loudly.

"etc!"

Abiathar panicked, "Wait a minute, Your Highness Adonijah! That's my son, Jonathan!"

"Father, leave the altar!"

The young man Jonathan rode on a horse, swiftly avoiding the capture of the army, and shouted loudly: "Solomon was anointed as king in Gihon, and it was an order from King David! You can see it when you go to the top of the mountain! The prophet Nathan and Zadok are there—”

Jonathan's words shook the crowd.

They were originally unwilling to gather around Adonijah. They didn't understand any profound truths. They only knew that Solomon was friendly to them and that he was King David, while Adonijah scolded them frequently.

After the trumpeter and drummer stopped slowly, there was a dull sound of the trumpet from the other side of the mountain. The cheerful flute sounded, and the faint shouts sounded.

"Long live King Solomon!"

"Long live King Solomon!"

The sound was so loud that it could be faintly heard even to the Rock of Zohile on the other side of the mountain.

"...I seem to hear it."

Someone looked at the people around him hesitantly. The man also nodded vigorously: "Go and see."

Seeing that the people began to hesitate, the young man rode his horse and rushed towards the hillside, shouting at the same time: "I won't lie to you! Follow me! You can see it at the top of the mountain!"

After that, he slowed down a little and ran towards the hill.

At first, only one or two hesitant people ran after him, but in just an instant, everyone moved.

Adonija suddenly panicked.

"Stop! I order you to stop!"

He shouted loudly, but those people ran even faster instead.

They quickly ran up the hill. The young man Jonathan pointed down the mountain: "Look! It's there!"

"...the Priest Zadok really. And Nathan the Prophet."

"The inner guards of the royal city are also there."

"They all only listen to King David."

Someone in the crowd shouted, "It's true! We have been deceived—Adonijah is not king!"

"He's a rebel! I don't want to support him!"

Immediately, one after another voices sounded from the crowd.

The crowd immediately exploded, and there was a lot of discussion. Immediately, under the leadership of Jonathan, the people held the reeds and ran down the mountain cheering.

"Joab, stop them!"

Adonijah scolded angrily.

Marshal Joab was only silent for a while, and couldn't help but ask Adonijah: "Stop? Why?"

"Use the army!"

Without hesitation, Adonijah reached out and grabbed Joab's shoulder, and said anxiously: "As long as they participate in my anointing ceremony, they are my people! It doesn't matter whether Solomon or David will forgive them...they can only Help me!"

"It's useless, Adonijah."

Joab looked at his co-conspirators indifferently, and took a step back: "Wake up, Adonijah. I will not send troops... You have already lost. Facts have proved that Solomon is more qualified to be king than you."

"What do you mean? Do you want to escape?"

Adonija growled: "Stop joking, you will die too! Think of a way, either you stop them for me, or we die together!"

"—No, you are wrong. Only you will die, Adonijah."

Joab just looked at him calmly: "King David swears to me that he will never kill me in this life... Do you know what I mean?"

"...You are betraying, Joab!"

"I have not betrayed. I have always been loyal to King David and to Israel. I am the Marshal, and Solomon will definitely accept me."

Joab said softly, stretching out his hand and breaking Adonijah's hand from his shoulder: "Come on, follow me to King David. I will show you how I live... how you died of."

"No! I'm not going!"

Adonijah took a sudden step back and glared at Joab.

His right hand held by Joab suddenly turned into a crimson flame, and Joab let go of his hand in pain.

Immediately afterwards, Adonijah immediately ran to the altar, cut his hand with a sword, sprinkled blood on the altar, then stretched out his hand to hold the handrail tightly, and whispered the prayer.

The next moment, the crimson flame quickly turned crimson. The sky began to collapse downward, and Adonija was guarded by the invisible willpower.

A low hum of satisfaction came from the flames at the center of the altar. Countless walls of fire rose from the ground, guarding Adonija in the very center.

"You tell Solomon—"

His voice pierced through the flames and became blurred and distorted: "Unless he swears to God, to King David, and to the whole country not to kill me, I will never go down from here!"

"Go as you go, Joab! Make Solomon swear not to kill me, or I'll make Israel a drought for seven years—"

Marshal Joab gritted his teeth, took one last look at the altar swallowed by the demon god, and the still expanding flame field, and he fled here in a hurry.

On the other side, Solomon glanced sideways at the crowd rushing down the mountain, unmoved.

Zadok is still performing the ceremony for him, while the prophet Nathan, whose real name is Floros, stands by.

"You knew they were going to come down?"

Nathan asked Solomon curiously in a low voice, "Including Jonathan, you only sent three people. Do you trust Jonathan that much?"

"It's human nature, Nathan."

Solomon said flatly: "One of the strongest driving forces that trigger human social behavior is 'not to be isolated'. It is normal for individuals to change their actions because of fear of isolation."

"They are susceptible to suggestions because they are dull. They are easily infected because they are afraid of being isolated. And they are heavy because they are too numerous. Before the 'mind' of the crowd begins to think. That is, its 'body' has already moved."

Solomon said softly: "I arranged for two people to take the lead in shouting slogans, which is enough. There are no wise people there, they can only follow what others say."

"Nathan. What I believe in is not Jonathan, nor the two people I arranged to enter. What I believe in is myself, which is 'humanity'..."

He finished speaking, no more words.

Under the gaze of Nathan and the prophet Zadok—and other demon gods, Solomon closed his eyes calmly and accepted the final anointing and blessing.

— Today Solomon was anointed king in Gihon.