Chapter 1,398 A Small Village by the Forest

Songlin Village is the name of this village located next to the dense forest and far away from the city. The name sounds a bit elegant, much like a passing poet who was sighing about me while he was staying in a roadside inn while smelling of wine. Why was it relegated to a casual name? But in fact, this village was just something the villagers thought of: because there is a pine forest behind the village. ※Behind the village is a stone slope. Do you think they can come up with such an elegant name? I don’t believe they can come up with the three characters for Shijiazhuang.

Although this village is remote, it is not too small and does not look very poor. It may be located right on the border between the Principality of Hassad and the home country. Occasionally travelers will pass by here through dense forests and mountain roads. The small villages also maintain a healthy level of prosperity. There seem to be about a hundred households here, and the houses are scattered on both sides of a small river that runs through the village. In front of the village is the forest we just walked out of, and behind the village stands an imposing-looking mountain. . The terrain on both sides of the mountain gradually eases, and then rises suddenly. It should be part of a mountain range, and the small river that runs through the village is parallel to the mountain range, making a bend in the distance and leading to the mountain. It seems that it is starting from Snow water flowing down from the mountains. With its back to the mountains and facing the jungle, even the river flowing through the village comes down from the mountains. It can be said that this is a quite closed place. From the perspective of economic development, this is definitely not a good place, but if you want I am nearly eighty years old, my back is weak, my legs are aching, and I want to find a place to retire. I can’t find any better place than here: look at the environment here!

The silly guy led us onto the gravel road in the village. Dingdang sneakily poked his little head out of my pocket and looked around curiously with everyone else. This village doesn't even have a wall. There is only a fence outside to prevent wild animals. Of course, there is no village gate. Walking on the man-made road means entering the village. Even the fence. It seems that the villagers don't take it seriously: I saw at least four or five families who built their houses hundreds of meters away from the fence outside the village. Specifications, I judge that their owners were not kicked out of the village by their neighbors because they splashed dirty water at the door all day long...

Because it is close to the woods, most of the houses in the village are made of local materials, and are basically all wooden structures. These houses look a bit like old wooden houses in Europe. The rough thick wooden boards are nailed together to form walls without even cleaning the bark. Hemp rope and black mud are stuffed in the middle to keep out the wind. Most of the houses are two stories. The top is a sloping roof paved with wooden tiles, and the bottom is supported by thick wooden piles. It is about half a meter above the ground to prevent moisture. There are several wooden stairs to enter and exit the house. Some of the houses with courtyards should belong to large families, but they are also casually squeezed together with the old wooden houses around them. There is no distinction between high and low. Dried skins and dried meats can be seen hanging on the front eaves of almost every house. You can also see some tools with no obvious function, but obviously not related to farm work, placed under the window sill. I guess they are related to hunting or leatherworking: There is not much land around this village that can be used for farming, so hunting should be the main source of livelihood for the villagers. I'm very worried that if the people are so tough and everyone is a stupid hunter, will the unlucky beasts in the forest be enough for them to bully...

The village is so rustic and simple. So much so that I walked around for a long time and couldn't tell whether they had a place that could be called the "Village Chief's House" as an administrative center. At this time, the sun was setting on the horizon, and it was the time for every household to set fire to cook. Smoke from cooking stoves in the village was floating everywhere... Although I couldn't tell what it was, the smell of rice was pretty good. Villagers in twos and threes can be seen wandering around on the road. Most of them are men waiting for dinner at home after a busy day. Most of these locals have high nose bridges and deep eye sockets, with slightly Western characteristics. After seeing them, I was sure of one thing: their stupid big bodies and muscles are indeed the result of genetic mutations, and most of the people in this place are still normal. …

The silly guy greeted everyone cheerfully. He seemed to be quite popular in the village. The villagers saw this brown bear-like man dragging a real bear behind him. There was no look of surprise at all. Some people responded in an exaggerated manner: "Silly man, if you are stronger now, you should go to the mountains to slay the dragon, right?" Some looked happy: "Hey - enough to feed the whole village for a few days." Oh! If you keep doing this, the other hunters in the village will have forgotten all their skills!" Then 100% of the villagers will focus on us: "Are they travelers?"

"They are wandering scholars from the imperial capital. They are all knowledgeable and distinguished people!"

The silly guy took the trouble to introduce everyone in this way, with an almost proud look on his face, as if he had done such an introduction for us, and he had also gained the glory of "knowledge". Then the villagers would look at us with surprise and admiration, bowing slightly and sighing: "People from the imperial capital wear different clothes every time. The changes in big cities are indeed faster than those in the countryside..."

I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead while returning the greetings, thinking that fortunately these people who are struggling to make ends meet don’t think about too many trivial matters besides filling their stomachs. They don’t have many thoughts about outsiders except being curious about them. Such a small village is much better than teleporting directly to a big city. Speaking of such a simple village, such a peaceful atmosphere, such simple people - I almost forgot that this world is right next to the most deadly powder keg in the void.

"You guys wait for me, I'll put the prey in front of the statue so that the whole village can eat it." The big fool turned his head and said in a rough voice. I heard the word "goddess" in his mouth, and instantly With a thought in his heart, he and Bingtis shouted in unison: "Wait a minute, let's go too!"

The stupid guy was startled by our voices, and then he showed a clear look: "Oh, yes, everyone has to say hello to the goddess, especially those of you who are traveling. I forgot about this."

Statues of gods, goddesses, the beliefs of the local world—nine times out of ten, these have something to do with the artifact we are looking for. Bingtis failed to sense the breath of the artifact with his divine talent. That thing should not be simply hidden somewhere on the planet, so he could only find clues from the beliefs and myths of the local civilization. The goddess mentioned by the silly guy now should have something to do with it.

We followed the big man and came to the place where the statue of the god was placed: there was no church or other special building as expected. This was the largest open space in the village. It seemed to be a place where villagers gathered and held activities. The statue of the goddess is placed high on a circular stone platform in the middle of the open space. It was a statue carved from ordinary mountain stone. It looked as tall as a real person. Although the material was simple, it was very fine and meticulous. It was obvious that the craftsman who carved it had a pious and cautious heart when cutting it. The statue is a beautiful and refined woman with long hair shawl, a loving and majestic expression, wearing a gorgeous female armor. I compared it with the image of the "Star Scout" I had seen in my mind, and found that the two are indeed two or three points similar, however...

Obviously not the same person.

But the appearance is second to none. Mortals in this world must have never seen the face of the true god. The goddess has been dead for many years. The religion of this world was probably born out of the information disturbance left behind by the artifact. And even if someone has seen what the real God looks like, they will not necessarily copy the image of God 100% into their own works, but will make certain beautification and modifications - anyway, I have seen it in the temples of the Goddess of Life everywhere. I have been to the statue of Dingdang, and the expression of grace and power that protects all sentient beings has never been shown by Dingdang himself, and I guess there are not many monks who dare to make the goddess look like she is smiling with sugar on her face. Hang it at the door of the church for people to visit...

Qian Qian lightly touched Bingtis's arm, and the rest of us also focused our attention on the female gangster, who had a faint golden halo in her eyes. Then she shook her head: "It's just a stone statue. I can't feel the divinity...at least I can't feel it now. But I can't rule out that the religion behind this statue is related to the artifact. After all, this is just a small place. Maybe the power of the artifact is not enough to be a blessing. to here."

Finally, Bingtis added: "After all, that thing should be just the USB flash drive used by the scouts back then..."

We will not discuss the topic that even the tickles used by the Protoss can be used to slay dragons.

The stupid man easily placed the giant furbolg that he had dragged all the way in front of the statue of the goddess. The ground shook three times, and then this sturdy and clumsy-looking man lowered his head and prayed silently. He looked quite pious: it seemed that belief in this goddess had become the basic culture on this planet, even for such a crude person. All the hunters have a pious heart. I thought about it. It seemed that he should also look like he was praying, to prevent the passing villagers from mistakenly thinking that the people who came today were pagans or something. So she lowered her head and memorized the multiplication table silently. Next to her, Qian Qian also lowered her head in the same manner: she was memorizing recipes. Bingtis was the most interesting. She lowered her head and muttered: "Hello, senior, I am Bingtis, an archaeological expert sent by the God Realm. The person next to me is a friend of Father God. He will observe three minutes of silence with you. It’s time for you to rest in peace, so hurry up and give us your USB drive. This world is not always peaceful, and there are a bunch of bastards waiting to cause trouble outside. This junior should be polite here, and it’s a blessing to her mother..."

I'm very worried that if that old man really has a spirit in heaven, will he let the artifact self-destruct to prove his integrity because of Bingtis's nonsense...

At this time, the silly big man had finished his short prayer. When he lowered his head to pray, this giant-like strong man looked nondescript, part gentle and part beast, but when he raised his head and turned around, he looked much more comfortable. , he smiled at us: "Well, I'm done. If you don't mind, come and rest at my house. There is nothing in my house, but the house is big and there are several empty rooms that are not needed. Originally The village chief should have arranged for people to entertain the guests, but the village chief went to the city two days ago and will probably come back tomorrow morning..."

Of course we had no objections and nodded one after another. Qianqian curiously pointed to the dead bear placed in front of the statue of the goddess: "Is this something left in the square like this?"

The silly guy nodded: "Yeah, just leave it. Leave it in front of the statue of the goddess overnight, otherwise the black boy's meat won't be cut. Tomorrow the village priest will come and cut the meat and cook it, and the whole village will eat the meat at noon. .The village chief also came back at that time, just in time to let him take the first bite."

——It seems that this is a unique custom. The so-called priest should be a religious person. I didn’t expect that such a small village would have such a high-end and majestic-sounding person as a “priest”. I didn’t expect that the priest would be responsible for cooking a big pot of rice for the whole village. Of course, I didn’t expect that the priest would be based on the star domain god system. There is also a goddess in the religious system who can even take care of the big pot. But it doesn’t matter if you think about it. The only direct connection between the “goddess” that the local people believe in and the Star Territory God System is a USB flash drive. Strictly speaking, the religion of this world belongs to the original sect and has nothing to do with any doctrine in the Star Territory. Anyway, except for Sandora becoming a god in the future. I really can’t imagine that there is such a sentence in anyone’s Bible: Priests, priests, and bishops hold the ladle, cook a big pot of rice for the believers, and organize prayers...

Of course, strictly speaking, it is not unprecedented for clergy to organize a big pot meal in the doctrine. Isn't this thing called "Holy Communion" in a polite way? All I can say is that the stupid way of describing it makes people always feel that the "Holy Supper" of the Goddess Church in this world cannot be holy...

We were led by the silly guy to the door of his house. It was a big house with a courtyard, right on the river bank. Apparently. He has superior military strength and can feed the whole village by himself. He has wealth in the village that matches his combat power: a big house. The villagers did not regard this big man as a cheap coolie because of his honesty (we have already seen that normal people in this world should be smarter than stupid people, just as they are generally thinner than stupid people, and the latter is a person with higher intelligence. and a cute guy with genetic mutations in both body and body), although it may be because he can't beat him. But I would rather think that this is a manifestation of the simple folk customs: the geographical location of this world is hard enough, let us retain a good vision for it, at least a good vision for this village.

This big house with a courtyard has details that match the big stupid one: its courtyard door is almost twice as big as other normal houses. When I walked over, I felt like I was passing through a city gate. I looked at the people around me silently. Pandora, who was making noises, and Viska, who was looking around, wondered if these two little girls had the illusion of passing through the Nantianmen. Thinking of this, I quickly bent down and reminded the two little guys: "This big man is a good man. You two are not allowed to have any objections to his height."

Pandora said with a dull expression. Viska laughed happily: "Brother, don't worry, I've been going to Atlantis every day for a while, and my resistance has already risen!"

Like other houses in the village, this "mansion" with a small courtyard is also built of wood. It has a two-story main house and a single-story wooden house built opposite the main house. Directly opposite the courtyard gate is a long wooden shed that looks like a warehouse or firewood shed. The courtyard walls are made of heavy logs. It was cut in half and smashed into the ground, with the smooth wooden core facing inwards. The wooden fences on the courtyard wall were wrapped with animal tendons, which looked very strong. There are many wooden shelves in the yard. You can see some leathers being dried in the yard. It seems that as a hunter, Silly Big Man can not only hunt but also make leather. After letting us into the courtyard, he immediately went to fill a half-kettle of water from the huge wooden barrel in the corner, and then hurriedly ran to the kitchen: "Wait a minute, I'll boil the water. You people from the city are not used to drinking it." Raw water. But this water is actually quite clean. After coming down from the mountain, it was left to settle in a bucket for a whole day..."

This big man is really warm-hearted. We couldn’t get over it when we saw him running around like this. Even Qian Qian couldn’t help it. This girl ran over to help, but the other party was not happy: "How can I let you help me?" The guests are doing it! If the villagers know about it, they will be laughed at!"

Seeing his resolute attitude, Qianqian had no choice but to move back. We took it all together and rummaged through our bags one after another (these packages were taken out from the space before meeting the big man to hide from others. After all, we were not sure about the local people’s world view. Is there a setting for taking things out of the portable space?), and took out the dry food that my sister and Anweina prepared for everyone before departure: home-made scones and muffin snacks. Each of us has a lot of these dry foods and snacks. Based on my sister’s habit of packing luggage, it is not difficult to imagine that the dry food brought by the few of us is actually enough to solve a small famine. After Dingdang helped confirm that these foods could also be eaten by local humans, we sent these things to the kitchen and said we would eat them when we ate together in the evening. Faced with this kind of sharing, the big man was very happy to accept it.

Then we sat idle in the yard waiting for dark, while sighing in our spiritual connection how unexpected this world on the "line of fire" was. After a while, Lin Xue was bored and started playing a very childish trick with Huesca, while Bingtis began to discuss with me the action plan starting tomorrow. We decided to first have a general understanding of the world in the village. What are the local customs and belief in the goddess, and then do a little check to see if the locals and local creatures have any residual divinity caused by the artifact, especially focusing on whether the so-called "priest" has been blessed by the divine power of the star field.

If they can't find enough information here, the group will prepare to head to the "Imperial Capital" or the Principality of Hassad, where they should be able to find clues to the artifact.

Of course, all this is based on not arousing suspicion and not damaging the lives of local people. I found it quite inconvenient to lose Sandora's mind interference power.

Because this world is in a dangerous "line of fire" zone, we should try not to use psionic devices such as portable satellites and probes unless we can. Therefore, our actions seem to be constrained. If this is not the case, we are looking for a mere artifact. It should be easier.

At this time, a dark shadow suddenly ran among us. It turned out to be the clever kitten named "Xiao Hei" raised by the big man. This cat, like most of its kind, always has a lazy and indifferent attitude towards strangers, but now it probably realized that we were going to spend the night at this house, so it came over to look at us curiously. Get the crowd together. Although it is an animal, the black cat is squatting on the ground and looking around, but it looks like the mistress of the house. Qian Qian can't hold it anymore at the first sight, and stretches out her paw to shake hands with the black cat...

Let's not consider how Qian Qian's brain works. Anyway, the black cat seemed to really understand etiquette. He stretched out his cat's paw and touched Qian Qian's hand lightly: this was considered a handshake.

"So clever!" Qianqian became happy and stretched out a finger in front of the black cat, "What is this?"

Let's ignore Qian Qian's way of thinking, the black cat really meowed.

Qian Qian was overjoyed and stretched out three fingers: "What is this?"

The black cat answered patiently: "Meow, meow, meow."

This time, all of our eyes were focused on the cat. Qianqian continued to ask without hesitation: "What is three plus two?"

The black cat yawned and seemed a little impatient: "Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!"

I was stunned for a moment, and then my mind opened up: "What is twenty thousand times two?"

Before I had time to be impressed by Qian Qian's thinking speed, the black cat glanced at Qian Qian impatiently: "Forty thousand."