When we were still far away from the town, we encountered a welcome team running out of the town, men, women, old and young, mighty and mighty. They saw a giant crow rapidly approaching from the sky in the town (it has to be said that after Medivh turned into a crow god with a wingspan of two or three hundred meters and was covered with lightning storms and flames, it was indeed quite a cool thing. signpost, she flies high enough that you can see it from two hundred kilometers away), and then rushes out joyfully to meet her. I believe that the crow god must have given them the speed of flying birds: they had just come out of the town when we were still in the sky, and when we landed, these people had assembled two kilometers outside the town.
Hundreds of people, men, women, and children stood still a few hundred meters away. When they saw a group of people jumping off the back of the Crow God, they were obviously stunned for a moment. Obviously, the setting of "traveling on a god" is very important to the locals. It's still not easy to understand, but after seeing Vanilla, Lilina and Sister in the crowd, the expressions on their faces were relieved: at least the situation is not too bizarre. I looked at the welcoming crowd and saw every face was filled with excitement and emotion, it was sincere feelings from the heart, no matter how bad Lilina's character was, at least she really brought good days to these people . The adults among these people have weather-beaten faces, with the marks left by years of working in the mines and the marks left by life, while the children are basically very shy: born and raised in the mines, they are not yet How to be good at greeting strangers. Some of them wore black robes. There are two hanging sashes on the chest of the robe. Now I know that these two sashes are the marks of the Crow God Sect. The color of the sash represents the rank in the church, like vanilla, which is the highest level of gold . Of course, Lilina and Little Crow also have the same clothes, but the two of them should be counted out of the discussion: one is the image spokesperson of the Ability God, and the other is simply the goddess herself. What do you think they are doing to join in the fun...
"Welcome to the goddess!" A grey-haired old man who looked very imposing in the crowd (speaking of how he has never dealt with old men these days) stepped out of the line, first bowed to the silly bird who was recovering its human form, and then to vanilla He bowed respectfully, "Your Majesty the Pope."
Vanilla took a small step back nervously, apparently still not used to this status, and then bowed back with a stiff neck: "Oh, hey. I've worked hard these days." Well, at least when I said these few words The expression on his face was quite calm.
"You two great sages." The old man turned his head to Lilina and sister again. Still bowing politely, and not even missing the catwoman whose name is always forgotten, "And Your Highness the Holy Maiden, it's been a hard journey."
Catwoman stood up straight with her ears straight: "My name is Rabbi!" I looked at her incredulously: Oh, is this still a saint? Lilina knows how to toss! Is there any reason for her to get this bunch of titles
But looking at the group of five Protoss Tiaozi, each of them seemed to be normal, and Uncle Kenser even nodded slightly. It seems that the set of things that Lilina is tossing about is really the same thing, at least it seems to be quite suitable.
"He's one of the chief priests of the Crow God Sect." Lilina introduced to me the well-mannered old man in front of me with a spiritual connection, who didn't look much like a mine worker. "I used to be a small nobleman, but later he was framed and exiled here. He is the most educated person in the town, so I can only let him be the chief priest. In fact, it is quite reliable, but sometimes it is a bit rigid, and it is special. Caring about etiquette: Seventeen years of exile haven't cured this bunch of problems."
When Lilina introduced me with a spiritual connection, she didn't have idle hands, pointing at us to introduce to the old man, and I was the first to introduce: "You should give him a salute, this time It is the lord of the Crow God recorded in the God's Code, the father of the gods of the Xiling gods." When she said this, she had a very airy face, and I was almost overwhelmed by the seriousness of her expression. Everyone looked at me with awe, and then Lilina continued to introduce others, "This is the aunt of the Crow God, this is the aunt of the Crow God, this is the second uncle of the Crow God, the third uncle of the Crow God, and the younger sister-in-law of the Crow God , Crow God's eldest cousin, Crow God's great aunt, Crow God's... ah!"
I TM should have noticed something was wrong right away! Just now, this girl was stunned by saying "Father of the Gods", but she didn't react...
"In any case, the situation is so ugly." Lilina covered her head and gave me a wronged look, then ordered the stunned believers of the Crow God to go back to the "Holy Capital". On the way, she introduced us to the special society in this southern region In terms of environment, of course, there is also the development and current situation of the city where the Crow God originated.
"Sacred Capital", this is a name that has only gradually become known in recent days. ) of the dilapidated town, when the name was finalized, even the residents of the town felt a little dumbfounded, but after all, the name was passed on, and now, several Everyone in the town knows that a miracle suddenly appeared in the long-abandoned "Black Sand Mine". The holy land that can get rid of all kinds of diseases, the food that can be harvested overnight, and the sacred barrier that covers the entire mine and can disperse all intruders with just a single feather. The stories are more and more bizarre, and the people who tell these things But one by one vowed more and more: This must have attracted more and more people's attention.
In addition to these miraculous legends, there are of course people who spread these stories from the "holy capital". They were originally residents of mining towns, but now they call themselves missionaries. These miners and farmers who have done rough work for most of their lives are now Putting on strange robes and carrying the Bible of the Raven God with them (although most of these novice missionaries can't even write their own names), they ran around in nearby towns, preaching the power of the Raven God, and serving the poor and the helpless. The homeless provide free medical medicine and food: these three things are the least valuable to those coming from the holy capital. But it is something that the nearby run-down town desperately needs.
The missionaries transformed from miners and farmers certainly seem to be full of disobedience. Although they wear scholar's robes and hold classics in their hands, this cannot conceal their vulgarity and accustomed life. Way, yes, you will see the novice missionaries of the Crow God Sect squatting with open arms on the stones on the roadside to read out the teachings, eating hard biscuits with salt crumbs for lunch with the poor around, and holding hands when praying for divine power. He held the Bible in his house backwards—a behavior that made people from the upper class of the North spit on their noses. But it makes the local civilians extremely friendly, and perhaps this is a good thing, so the missionaries of the Crow God Sect can better develop believers in the poor society. And their divine power is not covered: Even if they hold the Bible upside down, they can still cure all kinds of diseases and possess divine powers. What could be more convincing than genuine miracles? Their contrasting pauper style is a better reflection of their own strength.
Under the dual power of miracles and missionaries, the holy capital has already gained a huge reputation. Now there are wanderers from other places coming to this place one after another, most of them just want to try their luck. Because it is said that the Crow God Sect will provide free food to the passing deserters (limited supply. After that, they will have to rely on labor in exchange for living supplies, and the Crow God Sect must not let the Crow God Sect cultivate thousands of people lying under the holy tree waiting to moldy slob, right?), while others are out of curiosity or have nowhere else to turn. No matter what the reason is, 99% of the people who come here will choose to stay: Compared with any other place in the south, this place blessed by God is full of incredible hope. At least here, you don’t have to go hungry Stomach.
So far. The small town of the holy capital has already accommodated a new population that is almost twice as large as that of the aborigines, and the expansion of the town has been carried out in a hurry. New construction sites and open-air workshops can be seen everywhere on the wasteland outside, as well as simple tents built by outsiders. Generally, no one dares to pitch a tent outside the city walls to spend the night in other places. Because there are dangerous beasts wandering in the southern wilderness, and the territory occupied by wolves is larger than the area where humans are active. Only here is an exception. The entire mining area is protected by a huge shield of divine power. When the armies of various countries attack, I am afraid that they will be torn to pieces by the storm released by the shield in an instant. As long as you are inside the shield and accept the teachings of the Crow God, you will be safer than anywhere.
However, such a huge flow of people, even the private construction of the city, did not attract the attention of any local official department. Of course, this made me very curious. After some inquiries, I found out that this was caused by the special living environment in the southern region.
The south is a wild and lawless land. Most food cannot be grown here, and rivers are scarce. The largest plain area is the Gobi area, which is not suitable for living. The soil is mixed with metals that are harmful to crops and humans. The entire southern region has only The source of the economy is a limited number of minerals. For hundreds of years, the northern principalities have used this place as a mineral production site and a dumping ground for various wastes-the wastes here include felons and down-and-out nobles who have failed in political struggles , Of course, it also includes the slaves who were exiled to mine all beings. Here and there, you can find rough towns gathered overnight because of mineral veins, and there are dilapidated and abandoned human settlements everywhere where mineral veins have dried up. "Exile", "slave", and "untouchable for life", the three systems have accumulated countless homeless people in the southern region. These people are sent to the mines in large numbers as tools, and their fate is tied to the mines. At the same time, when the minerals were exhausted, the authorities didn't even bother to dismiss these abandoned people. They would only transfer the local overseers and soldiers, as well as their belongings, leaving most of the abandoned people to fend for themselves. Of course, out of the "kindness" of the so-called nobles, they will leave food for a year, and issue a "Mine Free Mining License" to the civilians who are left behind, allowing those who stay to freely mine abandoned mines what's in it: if they find anything else.
This is the absurd living situation in the southern region. It can only be said that a world has its own rules.
There is no clear division of sovereignty in the southern region. It is nominally managed by the principality in the north, but this management has become useless. There are more and more abandoned people in the south, which has also weakened the control of the principality in the north in disguise. The embarrassing situation caused by the accumulation of a hundred years, until now, this place has basically become a king on its own... Well, there is no king, but it is indeed self-reliant. So this messy social environment gave Lilina an opportunity to take advantage of. Of course, it also gave the upcoming half-dragon race an opportunity to take advantage of.
Not only the clergy from the holy capital (well, sure enough, it’s a bit awkward to say these two words directly) came out to greet us in groups (… even more awkward when saying these four words!), but also ordinary people from the city Residents, even children running around with adults, it can be seen that the organization of the Crow God Sect is not strong after all. After all, the main members of this sect are concentrated in the peasants and miners. Not class discrimination. It is just undeniable that such a personnel composition is far from enough for the development of a sect. Lilina feels that the most urgent task now is not only to expand the influence of the Crow God, but more importantly, to attract intellectuals and nobles to join the sect. Compiling and preaching in the upper class provided great help, and the latter could give the Crow God Sect a green light in many fields. Now a group of carefully selected missionaries have gone to the north. According to the information sent back, their progress is not bad. The best news is that Shengdu will soon have more teachers who can teach children to read and write: this is urgently needed here.
Lilina dismissed the believers and commoners who followed behind them noisily. Lead us to visit this rapidly-constructed town. The current Shengdu feels to me like an enlarged version of the Sentu dark alley area: dilapidated, messy, in disrepair, and unplanned.
The shape of the entire town looks like peeled orange peels. Several large areas are separated by stretches of wasteland, with no rules and only connected in the middle. Except for a circle of better buildings around the square in the center of the town, everything else is what is called a "pile of houses." Dilapidated wooden houses and stone houses are built here and there in a haphazard manner, and few straight roads can be seen. Gray and black are the main colors of this town. The houses and roads here are covered with black-gray rock powder from the mine. The gravel used for paving the ground is the slag that is a by-product of mining. The roads in many places have not been treated at all, the mud is full of potholes, and there is black and greasy sewage inside.
"The mining towns in the south are all like this," my sister sighed. "The people who build these towns only ask for one thing: they can survive. Anyway, here won't get more support from the northern principalities, and even if they are built There is no more economic value, so it became like this. The big houses in the center of the town were lived by the overseers and soldiers. They were the emperors of all mining towns, and they were sent by the northern principality to escort slaves and exiles. Supervised mining operations and left without hesitation when the mines dried up."
"But now it's not the same as before!" Lilina pointed happily to the side. It was a construction site, a large area of severely collapsed houses were being torn down, and a dozen strong townspeople were preparing for the construction of new houses. , they cut huge logs and stones on the spot in the wasteland, using... iron sheets or even palms? !
I finally noticed this wonderful detail. A shirtless black-faced uncle put a piece of wood on the shelf, then raised his right hand and prayed loudly: "Gah! The supreme and powerful Crow God! Give your believers steel-like Power and magical sword blessing!" Then he slashed his palm, and a cold light flashed, it was really a cold light flashed, and there was a layer of metallic luster floating on the edge of his palm, extending half a meter away. Under the cutting of the metal cold light, the wood was cut.
I:"… "
"There is a lack of tools here, but the construction speed is faster than any other town," Vanilla said happily, with a flushed brilliance on her face, she rarely took the initiative to speak, but this time she couldn't help it, "Everyone relies on the Crow God Blessings, becoming infinitely powerful, adding steel to the body, no matter how strong the tool is, it can't compare to the strength gained through prayer. The only pity is that not everyone can get the power they need, and those who can participate in the construction are still Not quite enough."
I nodded: "I know, praying to this stupid bird is a bit like buying a lottery ticket. Maybe you have been strengthened."
The little crow immediately pursed her mouth when I called her Sha Niao: "Gah!" She could still hear what Sha Niao meant.
Everywhere in the town, you can see the scenes of labor in full swing, rebuilding houses, repairing roads, and making tools. If there is anything in this dilapidated abandoned town that is completely different from other places in the south, it is that everyone here bursts out from the inside out. With enthusiasm and joy, they are full of hope. For the first time, they are so motivated to build their own house, and they firmly believe that they will eventually be able to build a rich home with their own hands. Along the way, almost every person we met stopped to greet our group: of course, their greetings were Little Crow and Vanilla, I don’t know how Lilina did it, she can really make silly Bird and vanilla have gained such a high prestige, it would be easy to explain if the Crow God himself is a majestic god, but the current situation is that the only thing the Crow God usually does is to bow his head on the ground besides eating, sleeping and acting cute Looking for pebbles and collecting firewood sticks to build a nest for himself, can such a guy really gather prestige
In the final analysis, it can only be said that Lilina is quite good at fooling people.
Finally, we came to the central square along the only main road in the town. This is the "sacred place" of the town. Only the aborigines of the town can approach it. The reason is to stay, even if the food is collected by the townspeople from here, after all, the two most important sacred objects of the Crow God Sect are stored here: the holy tree and the feathers of the Crow God. near. Around the square, we saw the first "Ecclesiastical Knights" team organized by the townspeople, which was impressive: the Church Knights holding a pitchfork and a miner's hoe were absolutely unprecedented.
"Their fighting power is not inferior to the most powerful beast knights in the north. The pitchfork thrown by the church knight leader can penetrate a fifteen-meter-thick boulder wall," Lilina nodded to the crow warriors in black robes. , while whispering, "Although it is a bit dilapidated now, their weapons and equipment will be made soon. Everything here is under construction at a rapid pace. By then, the Knights of the Crow God Sect will be the most powerful in the world." Soldiers, think about it, they are stronger than a mammoth, and they can instantly shoot shadow arrows and chain lightning... The power of the Crow God is inclined to fight."
Tend to fight... I suddenly thought, can the Crow God sect be able to fight the raven...
At this moment, a burst of excited shouts from not far away interrupted my thinking. Looking around, I saw a group of children running from the alley in front, and then the catgirls in our team cheered happily. went up to welcome.
"Teacher Rabbi! You are back!"
"Teacher, is the big city fun?"
"Teacher, we have finished writing those words!"
A group of children dressed in tatters but with exceptionally cheerful expressions were jumping up and down and yelling, and we were a little dazed for a moment. At this time, Lilina seemed to suddenly remember, and suddenly realized: "Oh, I forgot to mention, this cat is one of the only two teachers in the town, responsible for teaching children to read and write, and the other teacher is The old man with a lot of rules we saw before."
Lin Xue smiled brightly: "Wow, I really can't tell, that cat is quite close to children, but usually looks like a boring gourd."
"Only those children can remember her name." My sister covered her face and couldn't help sighing.
Everyone: "..." (to be continued) RQ