Chapter 1401 Village Chief and Priest

We followed the silly guy to the dirt road in the village and saw many villagers coming out of each house. ※Friends gathered in one direction, and everyone had a happy look on their face. It seemed that the "village chief" the silly guy called had a very high prestige among the local people. We followed the villagers forward, and finally when we were approaching the village entrance, we saw an old man surrounded by a large group of children: this old man must be the village chief.

I didn't rush over and just watched from behind the crowd. The old man who is called the village chief looks to be in his seventies. He is leaning on a crooked wooden cane. He is slightly hunched. He is neither fat nor thin. He wears a dusty gray cloth robe with a hood hanging over it. Came down, revealing a head of almost white hair. The old man's eye sockets are deep, his face is full of wrinkles, and he has the characteristic leaden color of the skin of the elderly, but he looks very good, and his deep-set eyes are also full of energy, and his eyes seem to have an old age at this age. The unique calmness and open-mindedness of people. The old village chief was surrounded by a group of children, and his robe was stained black and white by the naughty kids in the village. However, he did not look annoyed at all. Instead, he opened the wide front of his robe and looked from inside. He grabbed handfuls of rough candies and distributed them to the dolls. When he smiled, all the wrinkles on his face were squeezed together. The old man was very angry: "They are all there, they are all! Don't grab them, good boy. Don't grab it! Luan! Take care of the children younger than you."

The adults in the village gathered in a circle with a tacit understanding, and no one stepped forward to steal the spotlight from the children. Everyone watched the commotion of the children with cheerful expressions. The children who received the candies finally dispersed. He ran to his parents and received a gentle slap: this was to teach them not to pull the village chief's clothes. Then a bunch of naughty children grabbed the candies and ran away. The villagers greeted the village chief, and some young people who were impatient or liked to join in the fun jumped behind and asked what it was like in a big city. The old village chief responded cheerfully, then he raised his head and saw the most conspicuous stupid guy at a glance...

There was nothing I could do. The stupid big guy stood like an iron tower in the crowd. He was two sizes bigger than the others in terms of length, width and height. The old village chief looked at him standing at the back of the crowd and shouted loudly: "Silly man! Why didn't you push forward this time? Normally you would be at the front even if you were able to fight off several people with one arm, but what happened to you today?"

People moved aside one after another, leaving a clear road between the silly guy and the village chief. The former scratched his hair and replied gruffly: "Hey, I'm leading the distinguished guests. I can't embarrass them."

"Ah, we have guests!" The old man came over in a few steps. He was as agile as a young man. He looked at us in surprise, with confusion in his eyes, "These guests are dressed in strange clothes. Where did they come from? Oh, I am the mayor of Pine Forest Village, Koto." A few of you just arrived in the past two days, right?"

I nodded hurriedly to the old man. Just as he was about to introduce himself, the stupid man introduced himself loudly: "Several distinguished guests are all from the imperial capital. Chen is a traveling scholar and a learned person. The others are his family members - but I didn't remember them. Live by name..."

Only then did I realize that the stupid guy had almost forgotten all our names overnight! He only remembers one word of my name...

"Imperial Capital?" A trace of doubt suddenly flashed across the old village chief's face, and then he looked at our clothes. Lin Xue reacted very quickly, and immediately stepped forward and explained with a smile: "Our hometown is the Imperial Capital. But we have been away from there for a long time. We have been traveling all over the world. We just came back from a very remote place in the south. You see, the clothes we are wearing are from there."

"Oh--" The old village chief was certainly smarter than the stupid guy, but his knowledge was obviously limited to ordinary people. He nodded suddenly, "No wonder. But the clothes on these few people look like they are not ordinary people. This girl's The clothes are more like the eldest lady of some noble family."

I could still see the confusion in his eyes, and the implication of that last sentence was: She looked like a young lady from a noble family, but she certainly didn't look like a traveler. As the head of a village, this old man still subconsciously has some doubts about our group of strangely dressed people.

The old village chief was referring to Bingtis—the only one among the girls around me wearing a long dress. Qian Qian was wearing a set of casual clothes, while Lin Xue was wearing jeans and a fleece jacket. Although in the eyes of the locals, they were both high-end clothes that were not very sharp and gorgeous, but at least they didn't look like they would affect the activities. Only Bingtis went his own way as always. Wearing her gorgeous dress, she doesn’t look like a world-traveling Lord.

In fact, Bingtis's clothes have always been the biggest hidden danger for me when I go around deceiving people that I am a wandering scholar: because except for people who live in martial arts movies and palace fighting dramas, it is difficult for ordinary people to believe that a normal girl can wear a pair of Wearing a skirt below the ankle, you can walk quickly in the wilderness, let alone traveling around the world in this kind of skirt: Normally, Bingtis's dress is only suitable for finding a castle that is more than a hundred years old, where he can walk lightly with all kinds of manners. Shake, I can't walk twenty meters in five minutes. I occasionally go to the castle tower to look at the wheat fields outside, waiting for the artistic young man to play the guitar below or the sexy young man to set up a ladder to hook me up - but do you think this scene is similar to Is there any compatibility with my big brother Bing?

Although I know very well that Bingtis can indeed walk swiftly in any environment wearing this dress, and she can even wear this dress and swing bricks to destroy the world... But I can't let it go when someone questions this matter. Sister Bing performs mountain running in evening dress? I think this is quite interesting, but it can easily cause Sister Bing to get angry and hurt others, and she will definitely beat me first...

Bingtis looked down at the aristocratic clothes she was wearing. She first smiled proudly at me, showing off her "aristocratic temperament", and then casually picked up a fireball in the air. After causing a small stir around her, she followed the village. The chief explained: "I am a senior conjurer. Wearing a robe is a professional requirement. Modifying the robe like this is a requirement for burning..."

She obviously lost her aristocratic temperament in the second half of her sentence, but it seemed that no one paid attention to her lack of temperament: everyone was shocked by the fireball in her hand, and the old village chief subconsciously bent over and said with respect: "So you He’s a conjurer, no wonder.”

"The lice spirit released yesterday got some information," Bingtis explained in the spiritual connection. "I basically understand the clothing habits of people in this world and the characteristics of different classes and professions. I will tell you slowly when I have time."

I nodded subtly. I thought to myself that this female gangster is indeed quite reliable at critical moments.

In fact, the dress she modified from an evening gown is quite suitable for daily wear, and to those who don’t know the truth, she looks a bit like a lady: this female gangster looks like a good girl just by looking at her back when she’s not talking. . It's just that in this world, things like dresses and long skirts still seem too "out of touch with the working class." Of course, there is no need to consider this now. Bingtis, a spellcaster, can take over the village chief, so I don't have to plan how to make her Performance evening dress and mountain running...

"Village Chief, I beat the big guy yesterday, let's eat bear meat together for lunch today," the stupid guy said in response to what just happened. He didn't even feel anything about the instant fireball just now. When he saw that no one spoke, he quickly spoke, "The priest should be waiting in the square."

"Oh, the stupid guy is really capable," the village chief responded. Putting on that cheerful smile, he warmly invited us, "Several guests, please come quickly. This is the custom of our village - two little girls also come. The meat is so stewed that even children can eat it." "

Pandora kept her anger bar silently with a dull expression, while Viska jumped up and down: "I'm not a child! I'm older than you!"

Who would believe it? It would be better if this girl didn't say anything. As soon as she jumped up, everyone around looked at this little girl who was only 1.2 meters in height. They were overjoyed. Viska's truthful words just now were immediately regarded as childish words. If this were on a battlefield or in an enemy-occupied area, a river of blood would have flowed for a hundred miles within two seconds. Pandora and Visca working together could blast all primates within the range to less than 1.2 meters. But they knew they couldn't mess around in this place, so Huesca started to silently accumulate anger bars with Pandora...

The old village chief, Coto, smiled gently at the Pandora sisters, and his eyes stayed silently on the few of us for a moment, but the look in his eyes at this moment was full of meaning. Then he walked toward the square on crutches, surrounded by a group of villagers. The stupid guy greeted us and followed him.

I scratched my hair: What did his last look mean?

Anyway, we want to quickly see who the so-called priest is. By the way, to see if he could learn the details of the church and the belief in the goddess, we followed the crowd towards the square. Lin Xue deliberately slowed down her pace and followed me at the back, and suddenly whispered in a low voice: "Arjun." Did you feel that the old village chief hesitated to speak when he looked at us for the last time?"

"I see," I nodded subtly, "it seems like they have some concerns about us, or maybe they have something to say to the villagers, but they didn't say it in front of us."

I just don’t understand what the old village chief’s concerns are: If you still feel that the identity of our group of strangers who suddenly appeared is suspicious, or you are curious about our strange clothes, then it is really unreasonable - hasn’t Bingtis found a reasonable explanation? Besides, if the old village chief is an old spy guarding a secret base, then it's okay. Such people are born with an occupational disease of doubting everything. If a fly flies in front of them, if it is a little bigger, they will quickly snap it down and see. Is it tied to a camera or something, but how could the head of such a small mountain village be so vigilant? From the outside, the old man looks like the simplest kind of old man from the country. He is respected as a leader by the villagers because of his high moral character. I guess this village is high in the mountains and far away from the emperor. The local village chief is probably not a civil servant. It stands to reason that such an old man is better than ordinary people. The villagers are well-informed and thoughtful, and their hostility is not reflected in external hostility. In theory, there is no need to be so wary of a few passing strangers.

"This village seems to have quite simple folk customs. After contacting the locals, I can confirm that it is indeed very hospitable here." Bingtis also came over to talk about his observations, "We have fought with many people since yesterday. Hello, so we can basically rule out the possibility that this village has always been repulsive to outsiders. So the village chief's doubts about us are not because of our status as 'strangers', but because he suspects something else. Maybe we are just lying in wait. .”

The female gangster said this, but she didn't care at all in her tone. In fact, none of us cared about it - to everyone, this is a trivial matter that is not very important. We are not here just to have a meal in such a small village. Yes, we all have heavy responsibilities on our shoulders. How big can this situation be compared with world peace? We are just guessing here because we are a little confused.

"Did you see something?" At this time, I suddenly realized that Lin Xue had not expressed much opinions. She was a prophet with the team. In addition to seeking good luck and avoiding disaster, she was here to be a guide. How could I not say anything at this time.

"Actually, they are all minor problems. There is no need to worry about them," the eldest lady said without thinking. "Everything will develop smoothly. It will not be too late for me to come back and give advice when things go wrong. I only have one thing to say in advance: Seeing is not necessarily believing, don’t be fooled by the first impression, and don’t be fooled by the second impression.”

The prophet's reminder is still as... half-understandable as ever, but she told us not to act impulsively, and to calmly analyze the situation when encountering it. I understand this point.

At this time we have arrived at the village square. This open space where the goddess statue is enshrined seems to have many functions here. It is not only a "religious place" but also a gathering place for various activities. It is also an open-air restaurant when the village gathers for dinner according to custom.

At this time, the square has been decorated. Large and small wooden tables and chairs and stools of various shapes are distributed in an almost random manner. There are also a group of young people running back and forth to carry more tables, chairs, and household items from a distance. Come here: It seems that not everyone has gone to greet the village chief. There were also many people staying behind to arrange things for the party, which must have followed certain rules. I saw that there were all kinds of tables and chairs, and most of them had some traces of hand-making. There were even some solid logs that were stamped on the ground as stools. These must have been things put together by various households. The big stupid guy is the one who contributes the most here: he catches the prey, and of course he doesn’t need to provide any household items, but I guess no one would use it even if he provided it - this big guy has nothing to offer. After searching the whole house, there were only three wooden chairs, and the remaining ones that could be used as stools were the piles of stone pillars in the yard, each half a ton in size. He and the few young men responsible for carrying tables and chairs did not have the revenge of killing their father...

"Oh... Arjun Arjun. Why did I remember that the temple fair is here?" Qianqian happily wandered around among the large tables, chairs and crowds. When she came back, her face was flushed with excitement, she danced and shouted to me, " It’s so lively! I went to a temple fair in the countryside once when I was a kid. I haven’t seen it since junior high school~!”

I also feel that the battle in front of me is a bit like a temple fair (of course the scale is definitely not big enough, it’s just the atmosphere). It is really difficult to connect the scene with a certain goddess's sect in the Star Territory, and certainly not with the "Holy Communion". In fact, this sect may be high-end and western-style in places like the imperial capital. Before eating, an old man in a god's robe will stand in front and give a five-minute ideological report to the crowd, and then all the diners must bow their heads and follow the god for five minutes. At the end of the thought report, you should neatly say "Praise my Lord" to the goddess statue. The implication is to say to the goddess "I will eat first, you can do as you like", and then after the meal, have five minutes of thought with the goddess. Report or dining experience: Anyway, I guess places like religious centers should be serious like this. However, in this small pine forest village, everything is simplified to the scene in front of us: a group of children and a Qianqian running around among the crowds of tables and chairs, and the villagers happily sit down casually with their family and make friends. The crowd was abuzz, and people were constantly bringing out wine from home or snacks made by various families to put on the table. In the middle of the square, in front of the statue of the goddess, an unprecedentedly huge pot has been set up. The thick soup inside is boiling and the aroma of meat is overflowing. A fat black man wearing a priest's robe as an apron is digging into the pot with a shovel. Stir, this uncle still had a golden goddess badge hanging around his neck. While he was stewing the meat, he held something that looked like a Bible and muttered: "Thank the goddess for the food! Thank the goddess for the peace! Thank the goddess for the peppercorns." The ingredients are also old soup base...Jon! Chop up the remaining half of the bear paw and throw it into the pot - thank the goddess for the bear paw! Goddess, I put too much salt..."

I:"……"

Bingtis stared dumbfounded at the big black man who used the priest's robe as an apron, wiped his hands on the robe, and randomly changed the words in the Bible. He murmured to himself: "...Is this the priest in the village?"

I immediately felt that I might not be able to get much out of this uncle's mouth - he might not have read the Bible carefully. To ask him about the legend of the goddess, I might as well steal his book...

Lin Xue grabbed Bingtis's arm, with a bit of laughter and laughter on her face: "What about that, Sister Bing, don't take it too seriously. After all, this is a religion created with a USB drive as its core. Their teachings are not the same as those of Star Territory." It’s definitely not in tune…”

The eldest lady wanted to calm down Sister Bing and prevent her from killing the black uncle on the spot in front of the statue to show his dignity. However, Sister Bing’s next words were beyond everyone’s expectations: “This believer is too suitable for me. ! There was a pope in my past who had almost the same temperament as him - it’s a pity that the child died of old age when I was sealed. I haven’t met such a compatible believer in the past two years..."

I:"……"

Now I understand. Sister Bing’s standard for recruiting believers is that she has a similar temperament. I secretly looked at the high-spirited female gangster and tried to figure out what kind of pope she must have been in order to make this gangster leader feel very appetizing. Finally, I came up with an idea. Conclusion: If a believer under Sister Bing who has a high enough status is thrown into any church with normal views, dragging him out of the church and killing him on the spot would be considered beneficial to the country and the people...

But I looked around again, looking at the happy children and smiling villagers, as well as the black uncle who was still chattering to the statue of the goddess as if it were normal, with a complaint in his three prayers, and suddenly I felt that it was something like this Believers are not bad either: the maverick "priest" may not be very educated, but I believe he is sincere to the goddess he believes in.

Bingtis seemed to sense what I was thinking, and spoke leisurely: "A believer who crawls in front of the statue and prays and trembles day and night may not be sincere. He may have a guilty conscience or may have selfish desires, but a believer may have a guilty conscience or have selfish desires. The believers who sit in front of the statue and complain to the statue for a long time about any grievances are definitely sincere. I prefer to treat the second type of believers as children. But sometimes they are too upset, and I also send an incarnation to follow them. The gods popped out of the statues and told them: How old are they and they are still crying in the confessional..."

I opened my mouth but said nothing: It's hard to imagine what kind of people were in Sister Bing's sect back then!