Paltrow once again walked through the long corridor and front hall where light and shadow were intertwined, and headed towards the main hall where the candlelight was flickering.
He still bowed his head slightly respectfully, holding a white porcelain tray in his hand, which was filled with fragrant mutton stew, soft bread and fresh fruits, all of which the oracle priest loved to eat.
But this time, before Paltrow even stepped into the main hall, she found that Mu Cai was not the only one present. In front of the statue of gold and ivory, the young and handsome city-state monarch was holding the thin shoulders of the pure and beautiful priest. His voice was full of pain and struggle: "Caicai, do you have to do this?!"
The face of the person he held was calm, and his two thin white hands were placed on the arms of the tall and strong man. He looked up at the other person with a look that even contained a little compassion: "My Lord, I must do this for the sake of the city. "
"The drought has been going on for a long time, and the poor people have almost no food to eat, and they have to endure the scorching sun. There are huge gaps in the land, and evil locusts are ready to move in the soil. In the near future, they will hatch. Crossing the border, they gnawed away the little fields we had left until not even a blade of grass grew."
The young monarch's eyes were red: "We are offering sacrifices! We have offered cattle, sheep, fruits and vegetables, and clean water to the gods! The gods will help us! We don't need you at all, we don't need you..."
Before he could finish speaking, a pair of cool and soft hands cupped his cheeks. The man who was almost in his arms looked at the young king tenderly: "We have been offering sacrifices to the gods for two full months, and the drought has still not been relieved. Don't waste any more food, share all the sacrifices Give it to the people. I think the gods want something a little different."
The monarch's hand subconsciously clenched and then loosened again, for fear of hurting the person in his arms. He almost broke his tooth crown: "What kind of god is a god who needs people as sacrifices? He is simply..."
A thin white finger touched his lips. The beautiful and pure priest's face turned cold and he scolded: "Your Majesty, be careful what you say."
The young monarch's aura, which had just been like a rainbow, suddenly dropped a bit. He almost pressed against the priest in front of him: "But, Cai Cai, even if I need someone as a sacrifice, I don't need you..."
Paltrow walked into the main hall carrying a white porcelain tray, and interrupted the atmosphere in the hall with a very ignorant voice: "Master Oracle, your food is here."
The monarch's words came to an abrupt end, and then he turned his head with a sullen look on his face, looking over fiercely with a pair of eyes like a young wolf king on the grassland.
However, the only people who responded to him were the Purifier's lowered head and the food he held respectfully.
Only then did the monarch belatedly realize that it was time for Caicai to eat. His oracle priest is thin and his back is even more slender than the beautiful girls in the city-state. He cannot delay eating for a moment.
Thinking of this, Cross's resentment towards this ignorant Purifier who interrupted his conversation with Cai Cai became less resentful. The young monarch immediately stopped talking and changed his words: "Caicai, you should eat first."
Mu Caiguang Guo's feet were snow-white and graceful in shape, making no sound when stepping on the ground. Wearing a white robe that symbolized purity, he walked over as lightly as a cat. He glanced at the tray in Paltrow's hand and sighed softly, with a sad look on his face: "It's such a season, but I can still eat such good food."
As he spoke, his moving eyes turned to the monarch beside him, and his bright black eyes seemed to be washed with water: "Look, monarch, I am not engaged in production, but I am loved and worshiped by the people all year round. They eat hard bread and drink widow's wine. The broth was light, while the sour fruits and leaves were nibbling, but the soft bread made of the finest sifted wheat flour, the fragrant stewed mutton from the best parts, and the sweetest and juiciest fruits were all offered to me. "
"I have received such preferential treatment all year round. If I do not come on stage as a sacrifice at such a critical moment, will the hard-working people of God be allowed to sacrifice their lives? As an oracle priest, if I cannot protect my son People, what’s the point of my staying in this world?”
When Cross heard this, he became excited: "You have many meanings of existence! You are in charge of astrology, making calendars, restraining the congregation, and being in charge of buildings..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the oracle priest in front of him: "My student Themis is very talented. She has studied with me for four or five years and has basically mastered the key points of astrology. The rest. He has also dabbled in many things, and I believe he will be able to understand them properly through the books of his predecessors and my notes."
"After I dedicate myself to the gods, Themis will take my place. The Lords of the Senate have agreed to this."
After Mu Cai finished speaking, his eyes like the Milky Way at night were stained with determination. His voice became lowered and he said without any doubt: "Please come back, my lord."
When Cross heard this, he looked into the eyes of the person opposite and knew that the matter was irreversible. He resented Mu Cai and the elders of the Senate for hiding this from him, and also hated his own powerlessness at the moment.
He was standing here now, unable to say a word or make an expression. In the end, he could only turn around and leave in a hurry.
Mu Cai watched the young monarch escape. He didn't sit back on his cushion calmly until the tall and strong figure disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Paltrow stepped forward in time, placed the tray in her hand on the small table in front of the cushion, and then stood aside silently.
Mu Cai stretched out his thin white hand, took the soft wheat-flavored bread and took a bite. With a slight touch of his rose-red lips, a small piece of the thick and long bread disappeared, leaving only a shallow and thin tooth mark.
He slowly chewed the bread and swallowed it, then raised his bright black eyes to look at the Purifier standing silently aside, and said softly: "Thank you for saving me, Paltrow."
Mu Cai has been a priest for seven or eight years since he entered his teacher's home to study. Although he is not very understanding of the world, he still understands the Purifier who has been following him quite well.
The other person is loyal to the gods and is usually taciturn. He does more than he talks and almost never says a superfluous word. When Paltrow spoke out deliberately just now, she must have realized that he was being controlled by Kloss, so she specifically spoke out to save him.
Although the priests are not under the jurisdiction of the king, the two usually complement each other, and they inevitably have constraints on each other, and sometimes they even restrict each other. Patroken offended the monarch by speaking out for him, and Mu Cai was naturally grateful.
The candlelight illuminated the somewhat dim main hall, dyeing the oracle priest's pure white robe and long black hair a warm yellow color. There were two small clusters of smart fires flashing in his eyes, and he looked at himself with a very gentle and grateful expression.
Paltrow's throat rolled.
In fact, he was not as good as the pure and beautiful priest in front of him thought. The reason why he spoke out to stop the monarch's behavior was because the scene of the two almost embracing hurt Paltrow's eyes.
As a purifier who serves the gods and oracle priests, he is not as desireless as he appears on the surface. Paltrow knew very well that the desires in her heart were raging, even worse than those of ordinary believers.
He longed for the eyes of the Oracle Priest, even if it was just a gentle glance when the other person faced all living beings. He also longed for the care of the Oracle Priest, even if it was just the normal way he faced the people around him.
What he longed for most was the body under the pure white robe of the Oracle Priest.
Whenever Mu Tsai takes a bath, no one knows what kind of picture appears in the mind of Paltrow, who is standing outside the curtain with a towel. He thought that if the priest in front of him could see the scene in his mind for even a moment, he would probably be all pink from his snow-white face to his round toes.
So Paltrow won't just watch her beloved oracle take to the altar. Of course, he would not be as stupid as Cross and directly request the priest who cared about the world to stop the sacrifice.
When Paltrow thought of this, his eyes deepened a little as he watched Mu Cai eating the mutton stew.
Everything will be revealed at the sacrificial ceremony a few days later.
…
A few days later.
The hot sun is scorching the earth, and the strong sunshine makes people almost unable to open their eyes, burning like a flame on people's bodies. However, even in such a hot weather, there were still countless people gathering under the sun, kneeling on the hot ground and worshiping in one place, not caring even if their palms and knees were burned red.
Because they know that the oracle priest who has always been loved and worshiped by them will use his body as a sacrifice today to pray for life-saving rain for them on the altar.
When they heard the news, all the people were shocked.
Since the establishment of this city-state, no matter how great the disaster was, there has never been a priest in history offering himself as a sacrifice to the gods. The sacrifices were all the boys and girls in the city-state.
People who originally had children of school age in the city-state saw that the drought lasted for more than two months and was likely to continue for more than two years in the future, so they were all prepared to sacrifice their children. In the end, no one expected that it would be their beloved oracle priest who did this in the end.
They originally wanted to cry, but the long-term shortage of water and food made them almost unable to shed tears. They could only crawl on the ground to express their gratitude and reluctance to this noble priest.
After the senate released the news, before today's sacrifice, a girl who had lost her parents and was fostered in someone else's home wanted to go to the altar in place of her beloved oracle priest in order to save the life of her beloved priest. In the end, she failed Mu Cai stroked his head and persuaded him to go home. No one knew what the oracle priest told her. Only the people of the city-state watched the girl return home crying under the escort of the clergy.
Mu Cai wore a wreath of vines on his head and a white robe symbolizing purity. This time he did not take the scepter that symbolized the power of the oracle priest, but calmly walked onto the altar exposed to the sun under the gaze of the people around him.
There were several priests sitting around the altar. There are old people and young people among them.
And Paltrow is also one of them.
Moutse lay down on the altar surrounded by clergy. To his surprise, even though it had been exposed to the scorching sun for so long, the surface of the altar was still warm. For his skin, it was only slightly hot without any burning sensation.
Maybe this is a gift from the gods.
The Oracle Priest thought this, and then thought about what would happen next. He had more confidence that the gods would help them overcome the difficulties, and he couldn't help but smile a little.
The clergy who were presiding over this sacrifice couldn't bear to see their beloved priest smiling at this moment, and couldn't bear to turn their heads and announced with a trembling voice:
"start!"
Neat, buzzing voices suddenly sounded around the altar. The priests sitting around began to whisper incantations to summon the gods.
The sacrifice has already begun and cannot be stopped midway, otherwise the purpose of the sacrifice will not be achieved and the gods may be offended.
Therefore, no matter how helpless the people around you are, they can only let it all go.
Except Paltrow.
The Silent Purifier usually has a solemn expression, works carefully and rigorously, and rarely makes any mistakes. However, at this moment, the look on his face became more and more fanatical, and the voice of the mantra in his mouth became louder and louder.
The priest sitting next to him even heard his incantation that was completely different from everyone else!
The people sitting around the altar were so disturbed by the completely inconsistent voices that they stopped reciting the incantation for a moment. With this mistake, followed by the huge mistake before, everyone on the altar suddenly felt a thump in their hearts!
At this moment, the change suddenly increased. The scorching sun gradually disappeared behind the dark clouds, and lightning flashed and thundered in the center of the clouds. Suddenly, strong winds blew up in the city, causing sand and rocks to fly.
Like a rainstorm is coming.
Mu Cai didn't know what happened.
The altar was very big, the people sitting under the altar were a little far away from him, and the voice of the incantation was low, so he could only detect that the collective voice seemed to be interrupted for a moment. Just as Mu Cai was about to take a look, he saw a strange change in the sky.
However, as a sacrifice, he did not feel any abnormality. He just felt that the surface of the altar seemed to be gradually getting warmer, which made Mu Cai feel very warm as he was trembling unconsciously due to the strong wind.
If something changes in the middle of the sacrifice, the celestial phenomena caused by this may not be the result they want. Maybe the gods will punish them and turn the drought into a flood.
Now that the sacrifice had failed and the celestial phenomena had changed, Mu Cai was anxious to stand up and called on everyone to go home quickly to take precautions. But as soon as he stood up, he felt a white mist suddenly rise from the altar, blocking his sight.
In the distance, there seemed to be screams and shouts, but Mu Cai had no intention of listening.
Strong arms tightly circled his waist, and the sound of flapping wings echoed around Mu Cai. A plush head touched his shoulder from behind, and a low and magnetic voice sounded in his ears: "Are you the sacrifice given to me?"
Immediately, Mu Cai felt a moist touch on his cheek: "It's so beautiful. I like it."
The author has something to say: This side story is not very long, it is probably about four or five chapters =w=
This is the interesting little world of the little white rabbit spirit and the carrot spirit. You can guess who is the attacker and how many attackers there are=w=
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution between 2020-03-12 22:03:15~2020-03-14 23:45:13~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the grenade: 41482852 1;
Thanks to the little angel who threw the mines: 1 warming;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigates the nutrient solution: 30 bottles of Ranbaobao; 1 bottle of Xiaoyi with crayons;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!