Wearing a gray, green, and blue coarse robe, Thale first untied the leather pouch hanging on his waist and splashed the saltwater on the heads of the fourteen iron citizens who were participating in the finger dance. Then, he raised the driftwood stick he carried with him, faced the sea, and shouted:
"The Supreme God who is drowning for us, please open your eyes that can see through all things. We will sacrifice our loyalty and courage to you!"
As Thale's voice fell, Asha, whose hair was wet from the saltwater, was the first to throw the hatchet in her hand. The hatchet spun into a circle of bright wheels, and the blade of the hatchet whistled in the air.
Perhaps due to the lack of food during the long night, she rarely had a full meal and rarely saw alcohol. Iron Seed knew that he was going to play the finger dance later, but he still drank until his face was red and his eyes were blurry.
Facing the flying hatchet wheel, he was stunned for a moment. Then he hesitated and stretched out his right hand. With a "chi" sound, the hatchet blade slashed across and blood splattered. Half of his hand fell on the beach.
"Ahhh, my hand!" The intense pain woke him up from his drunken stupor. He hugged his severed hand and howled at the top of his lungs.
"Hahaha …" Asha laughed proudly.
The drowning song became louder and louder.
Thale frowned and waved his hand. He even used his eyes to signal Tiemin whose hand was severed: Don't embarrass Iron Seed in front of the Dragon Queen.
The other twelve people only glanced over and continued their game, but their mental strength was unprecedentedly focused.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh …" The hatchets flew back and forth above the bonfire. As the rounds passed, Tie Min was like a fanatical fan who saw Maradola, Pelé, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Best, Ronaldinho, Messi and the rest of the gods competing together. They were all extremely excited and cheered loudly.
The contestants' emotions were also stirred up. As the alcohol in their stomachs began to ferment, every time they swung the hatchet, they would shout and curse loudly. Their faces were fierce. The hatchet spun into a wheel of blades in the air, faster and faster. Even the flames of the bonfire below were swaying left and right along with the wheel.
"Chi chi chi –"
"Ahhh, my finger!" Finally, after more than ten rounds, someone lost his hand. He wanted to grab the handle of the hatchet, but accidentally touched the shiny blade of the hatchet.
It was as easy as a streamer cutting meat with a knife. The hatchet blade sliced off a third of his hand. a large piece of flesh from his thumb and index finger fell to the sand.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk … Aooo, aooo, aooo …" Then came the third, fourth, and fifth.
Not to mention the Iron Seeds who were watching, even Dani felt her blood boiling, and wanted to cheer with them.
"Could it be that I also have the potential to become an Iron Seed?" She quickly regained her senses and focused on gathering the power of sacrifice.
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"Roar!" Old Dunstan raised his hands and roared towards the sky.
Earl Stonehouse, who was in the same group as him, was unlucky. He was hit in the forehead by the hatchet and became the first contestant to lose his life tonight.
"How is it?", Thale asked in a low voice.
"It's barely enough.", Danny nodded.
Thale let out a sigh of relief and nodded to the other eleven contestants. The crowd immediately cheered.
The basic rule of the Finger Dance was to stand in place. The body could dodge or catch the hatchet, but the legs could not move.
Therefore, the Finger Dance did not necessarily end when the fingers were chopped off. If the fingers were chopped off, the hand could still be used. If the hand was crippled, the other hand could still be used.
The key was what rules were chosen before the game, whether it was a life and death match or just a bet on the winner.
Danny only wanted to gather enough power of sacrifice to open the channel of faith.
Since the channel had already been opened by chopping off six hands and killing one person, there was no need for her to let the Iron Seed continue to die.
"Hey hey, what are you doing?" Danny pointed at a pale-faced Iron Seed and shouted.
That was Earl Gubler's youngest son, Glen.
The guy was wrapping his right hand in linen and kicking his frozen fingers into the fire with his right foot.
"Don't burn it, what's the use of keeping it?" Sir Glen said in a hurry.
"Quickly pick it up, it can still be used.", Danny said.
Everyone still didn't understand what he meant. Ah Sha shuddered and hurriedly ran into the fire. She used her long leather boot to scoop out the severed hand, which had been roasted to the point that it was oozing oil.
"Her Majesty can even save the dead, how can she heal a severed hand?" she said.
The severed hands looked expectantly at the Dragon Queen.
Danny did not waste any time and let the Iron Seed with the severed hand and finger put the severed hand back together.
Although the beach had already frozen at minus ten degrees Celsius, it slowly regained its vitality under the warm Holy Light and then reconnected.
"Inami above, this is a miracle!" One of the Tiemin clenched his fist and shouted in disbelief, "It is as flexible and strong as before, as if it has never been broken."
"No wonder everyone says that although Holy Healing is not omnipotent, it is especially effective for sword wounds." Priest Taleb was both shocked and envious.
If Yanren also knew [Holy Healing], then the Iron Seeds would be able to play with their fingers without worry.
Finger Dance was not a simple game.
Just imagine, if the other navies and Iron Seed battled, and each of the Iron Seed had two short axes at their waist, the scene …
The Iron Seed could roar in the four seas, it was not by luck.
"Ah, my hand hurts, it's all cooked!" Glen raised his right hand and wailed, a faint barbecue aroma wafting from his fingers.
"The surface is charred, but the inside is still good. Rest for a few days and wait for it to molt." Danny held back her laughter.
It was like a pig's foot that had just been taken out of the freezer and placed directly on the gas stove. Even if the surface was charred, the ice inside had not melted.
"What should we do now?" Priest Taleb asked.
"I need a guide. How do you usually communicate with the Inami?"
Just like the last time when she broke into the Cloud Hall, Danny also needed a stable coordinate similar to Yolun Of Silla to ensure that she would not get lost while traveling through time and space.
A simple line of faith could not be used as a coordinate.
Danny breaking into the Flowing Water Palace was a bit like Huo Dou breaking into the Tomb of the Living Dead in The Return of the Condor Heroes.
It was easy to communicate with Lolidragon in the Tomb of the Living Dead. Just stand at the back of Mount Zhongnan and shout, and Lolidragon would definitely hear you.
But if you wanted to listen to her location (the line of faith) and enter the Tomb of the Living Dead to catch Lolidragon, it was wishful thinking.
Because there were traps near the Tomb of the Living Dead, and there were countless mechanisms and secret passages in the tomb (there were traps set by the gods near the Kingdom of God).
But if you let Grandma Sun go and followed her, you would definitely be able to break into the tomb.
Earl Stonehouse, who had died in the finger dance competition, might not be able to go to the Flowing Water Garden, so he could not be a "navigator."
Danny was a bit regretful. Back then, she had cut off the head of "Wet Magic" Irén, but she did not imprison his soul.
But she did not regret it, just as she would not forcibly detain the souls of the believers of the Old Gods in the North. Inami and the Storm God were both of the Old Gods' lineage, so she could not mess with "her own little brother."
"If I want to communicate with the Inami, I will go to the beach, stand in the shallows, and pray to the depths of the sea," Thale said.
"Have you ever succeeded?" Danny asked.
Thale's expression was awkward. He glanced at Tiemin around him and nodded slightly.
"Tell me the truth," Danny said in a low voice.
Thale still nodded slightly, but his mouth said in a weak voice, "I don't think so."
Danny said helplessly, "Have you ever received a response from the Inami in your life?"
"Of course, I am the Three Drowned People. Every time I am drowned, I enter the Flowing Water Palace." This time, the old priest's tone was very firm.
Iron Seed had a ritual similar to Christian baptism called "drowning."
For an ordinary Tiemin, they only needed to pour seawater on their head, and it was not a complete drowning.
But to become a drowned person, they had to go through at least one complete drowning. They had to be pressed into the sea by another drowned person until they were no longer breathing. Then, the drowned person would fall into a state of suspended animation (?) The drowned believer was dragged to the beach and revived with CPR.
The reason why "Wet Magic" Irén could become the leader of the Drowned People was that he never failed when he was drowned.
Thale's title of "Three Drowned People" was also because he had been baptized three times. And he could become Irén's successor because he was the drowned person who had the least number of failures besides You Lun.
In Tiemin's mind, when they were drowned, they had already died once. Their souls went to the Flowing Water Palace and were revived after receiving the Inami's blessing.
"Why don't you be drowned again?" Danny suggested.
If the old priest was not lying, then following his soul would definitely lead them to the Flowing Water Palace.
"This …" Thale was a little hesitant.
If Irén was still alive, he would not mind being drowned again. But if it was someone else, he would not be so assured.
Asha saw something and urged in a low voice, "Priest Thale, we don't have much time."
Seeing the Dragon Queen and the rest of the Tiemin looking at him, Thale sighed helplessly and nodded in agreement.
"Priest Norkin, help me be drowned."
Norkin was Irén's assistant, and now he was Thale's assistant.
"Burp, okay." The bearded Norkin burped, rolled up his sleeves, and walked forward drunkenly.
"Are you drunk?" Smelling the strong smell of alcohol on his underling, Thale's expression turned sour.
"I haven't had a good drink in years." Norkin grinned. "Don't worry, my lord, I'm good at it. I have a seventy percent success rate!"
Thale's expression turned even worse. He forced a smile and said to the Dragon Queen, "The weather … the water is a little cold."
"Is your head itchy?" Danny asked blankly.
Thale picked at his messy seaweed-like hair with a puzzled expression. "It is a little itchy. I have lice on my head."
Danny raised her chin towards the sea. "Since it's itchy, then go wash it."
"It can't be washed clean."
"It can be washed clean." Danny said.
— — When a person dies, the lice will not survive.
Thale walked into the sea helplessly and stopped in the waist-deep water.
He was so cold that he was shivering.
"Supreme God, please let your servant be reborn from the sea like you! Give him the blessing of sea salt, give him the blessing of rock, give him the blessing of steel. "Norkin placed his right hand on his head and chanted loudly.
Thale took a deep breath, and said loudly, "The dead will not die."
Norkin burped again. He grabbed Thale's hair and pressed it down.
"Glug, glug …"
— — F * ck, the water is really cold!
After a full fifteen minutes, Danny finally saw a light gray shadow floating out of Thale's corpse.
"As expected of Sanyama!" Danny exclaimed. She tapped the fishbone staff in her right hand forward.
"Hum!"
After consuming a third of her God Power, a light blue dotted line finally appeared. It pulled open, revealing an oval-shaped door.
"The winner of the finger dance can enter. Hurry!"
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