When we were still far away from the town, we met a welcoming party that ran out from the town. There were men, women, old, and young. When they were in town, they saw the giant raven approaching quickly from the horizon (it had to be said that Medivh's transformation into a raven god with a wingspan of two to three hundred meters and covered in lightning storms and raging flames was indeed a rather eye-catching landmark. If she flew high enough, you could see her from two hundred kilometers away). They then happily rushed out to welcome her. I believed that the Raven God must have given them the speed of a bird. When we were still in the sky, they had just come out of the town. When we landed, they had already gathered two kilometers away from the town.
Hundreds of men, women, old, and young stood a few hundred meters away. When they saw the group of people jumping down from the back of the Raven God, they were obviously stunned. Obviously, the setting of 'traveling on a god' was not easy for the locals to understand. However, when they saw Vanilla, Liliana, and their sister in the crowd, they were relieved. At least the situation was not too strange. I looked at the welcoming crowd and saw that every face was filled with excitement. It was sincere from the bottom of their hearts. No matter how terrible Liliana's personality was, at least she had brought a good life to these people. The faces of the adults were weather-beaten. They had the marks of working in the mines for many years. The children were basically very shy. Having grown up in the mines, they were not very good at greeting strangers. Some of them were wearing black robes with two ribbons hanging down from the front of the robes. Now, I knew that these two ribbons were the symbol of the Crow God Sect. The color of the ribbons represented the rank of the Crow God Sect. For example, vanilla was the highest level of gold. Of course, Liliana and Little Crow were wearing the same clothes, but the two of them were considered outsiders. One was the spokesperson of EsGod, and the other was the Goddess herself. Why were they joining in the fun?
"Welcome, Goddess!" In the crowd, a white-haired old man who looked very imposing (Why did I have to interact with old men these days?) stepped out of the ranks. He first bowed to Silly Bird who was recovering her human form, and then bowed respectfully to Vanilla. "Your Holiness."
Vanilla took half a step back nervously. Clearly, he was still not used to this new identity. Then, he returned the greeting with a stiff neck. "Oh, well, it's been hard on you these past few days." Well, at least his expression was calm when he said those words.
"Great Sages." The old man turned to Liliana and my sister and bowed politely. He did not miss out on the catgirl whose name was always forgotten. "And Your Highness, Saintess, thank you for your hard work."
Catgirl stood up straight and her ears pricked up. "My name is Raby!" I looked at her in disbelief. Aiya, she's a Saintess? Liliana really knows how to make trouble! Was there any basis for her to come up with all these weird titles?
However, looking at the five Protoss cops, they all seemed normal. Uncle Kenser even nodded slightly. It seemed that Liliana's title was really something. At least it looked quite suitable.
"He is one of the few Archpriests of the Crow God Sect." Liliana introduced the well-mannered old man in front of me through the mental link. He did not look like a mine worker at all. "He used to be a small noble, but he was betrayed and exiled here. He is the most educated person in the town, so he could only be the Archpriest. He is actually quite reliable, but he is a little rigid sometimes. He also cares a lot about etiquette. Even being exiled for seventeen years did not change his bad habits. "
As Liliana introduced me through the mental link, her hands did not stop moving. She pointed at the group of us and introduced me to the old man. "You should bow to him. This is the Crow God's Master recorded in the Holy Bible, the Father of Gods in the Schilling Pantheon." She had a solemn expression when she said that. I was stunned by her serious expression. Shallow Shallow looked at me with deep respect. Then, Liliana continued to introduce the others. "This is the Crow God's Aunt, this is the Crow God's Aunt, this is the Crow God's Second Uncle, Crow God's Third Uncle, Crow God's Sister-In-Law, Crow God's Big Cousin, Crow God's Big Aunt, Crow God's … Ah!"
I should have sensed that something was wrong at the first moment! I was so stunned by the 'Father of Gods' that I couldn't react …
"In short, the situation is like this." Liliana covered her head and looked at me with a wronged expression. Then, she instructed the stunned Crow God believers to head back to the Holy Capital. On the way, she introduced us to the special social environment of the southern region. Of course, she also told us about the development and current situation of the city where the Crow God originated from.
"Holy Capital", this was a name that gradually became known in recent days. It sounded so cool that not many people would associate it with a run-down town that was located near an abandoned mine and had a population of less than a thousand (not long ago). When this name was finalized, even the residents of the town couldn't help but laugh. But in the end, the name still spread. Now, several towns near the Holy Capital knew about the miracles that suddenly appeared in the long-abandoned "Black Sand Mine". The miracles were spread like wildfire. A holy tree that appeared in one day, endless food and wine bestowed by the gods, a holy realm that could cure all diseases as long as one followed the teachings of the Crow God, a daily harvest of food, and a holy barrier that covered the entire mine and could repel all intruders with just a feather. The stories were getting more and more bizarre, and the people who spread these stories were more and more confident than the other: This inevitably attracted more and more people's attention.
In addition to these magical legends, there were also people who spread these stories from the Holy Capital. They were originally residents of the mining town, but now they called themselves missionaries. These miners and farmers who had worked hard for most of their lives now wore strange robes and carried the Bible of the Crow God with them (although most of these novice missionaries did not even know how to write their own names). They ran around the nearby towns, preaching the power of the Crow God, and providing free medicine and food to the poor and homeless. These three things were the least valuable to people who came from the Holy Capital, but they were urgently needed by the nearby run-down towns.
Of course, the miners and farmers who had turned into missionaries looked very strange. Although they wore the robes of scholars and held the classics in their hands, it could not hide their vulgarity and the way of life they were used to. Yes, you would see the novice missionaries of the Crow God squatting on the stones by the roadside with their arms open, dipping hard biscuits in salt shavings for lunch with the poor around them, holding the Bible in their hands upside down when praying for divine power. All of these behaviors were despised by the upper-class people in the north, but they were very familiar to the local people. Perhaps it was a good thing, because the missionaries of the Crow God could better develop believers in the poor society. And their divine power was not just for show: even if they held the Bible upside down, they could still get rid of all kinds of diseases. What was more convincing than a genuine miracle? Their contrasting pauperism served as a better contrast to their strength.
With the dual power of the miracle and the missionaries, the Holy Capital had gained a great reputation. Now there were wanderers from other places coming to this place. Most of them just wanted to try their luck because it was said that the Crow God Sect would provide food for free to the fugitives who passed by (the supply was limited. After that, they would have to rely on labor in exchange for daily necessities. The Crow God Sect could not let the Crow God Sect cultivate thousands of lazy people lying under the holy tree waiting to mold, right?). Others came out of curiosity or out of desperation. No matter what the reason was, 99% of those who came here would eventually choose to stay. Compared to any other place in the south, this God-blessed place was full of incredible hope. At least here, you did not have to starve.
So so far, the small town of the Holy Capital had accommodated almost twice the new population of the original residents. The expansion of the town was already in full swing. New construction sites and open-air workshops could be seen everywhere on the wasteland outside, as well as simple tents set up by outsiders. Generally, no one dared to set up a tent outside the city walls for the night because there were dangerous beasts wandering in the southern wasteland. The territory occupied by the wolves was larger than the area occupied by humans, but here was an exception. The entire mine area was protected by a huge divine shield. Not to mention the beasts, even if the armies of the northern countries attacked, they would be instantly torn to pieces by the storm released by the shield. As long as you were inside the shield and received the teachings of the Crow God, you would be safer than anywhere else.
Such a huge flow of people and even the act of building a city without permission 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 due to the special living environment of the southern region.
The south was a barren and lawless land. Most crops could not be grown here, rivers were scarce, and the largest plain area was the Gobi Desert, which was not suitable for living. The soil was mixed with metals that were harmful to crops and the human body. The only economic source of the entire southern region was a few limited minerals. For hundreds of years, the northern principalities used this place as a mineral production area and a dumping ground for all kinds of waste. The waste here included felons and fallen nobles who had failed in political battles. Of course, it also included slaves who were exiled to mine. Simple towns could be found everywhere here because of the mineral veins. There were also dilapidated and abandoned human settlements everywhere because the mineral veins had dried up. "Exiled," "Slaves," "Untouchables for life," these three systems piled up countless homeless people in the southern region. These people were sent to the mines in large numbers as tools, and their lives were tied to the mineral veins. When the mineral veins dried up, the authorities did not even bother to dismiss these abandoned people. They would only transfer the local supervisors and soldiers, as well as their own belongings, and leave most of the abandoned people behind to fend for themselves. Of course, out of the so-called "benevolence" of the nobles, they would leave behind a year's worth of food and the like. They would also issue a "Mine Free Mining Permit" to the civilians who were left behind, allowing them to freely mine the abandoned mines — if they could find anything else.
This was the ridiculous state of living in the southern region. It could only be said that every world had its own rules.
There was no clear division of sovereignty in the southern region. Nominally, it was managed by the northern principalities. However, this kind of management was only in name. The number of abandoned people in the southern region kept increasing, which indirectly weakened the northern principalities' control over the southern region. This was an awkward situation caused by the accumulation of hundreds of years. Now, the southern region basically had its own king … Err, it didn't have a king, but it was indeed independent. Thus, this chaotic social environment gave Liliana an opportunity to take advantage of. Of course, it also gave the half-dragon race, which was about to rise to power, an opportunity to take advantage of it.
Groups of people came out to greet us. Not only were there the clergy of the Holy Capital (okay, it was a bit awkward to say the two words directly), but there were also ordinary citizens in the city. There were even children who followed the adults around. It could be seen that the organization of the Crow God Religion was not strong. After all, the main members of the religion were concentrated in the farmers and miners — of course, this was not class discrimination, but it was undeniable that such a composition of people was far from enough for the development of a religion. Liliana felt that the top priority now was not only to expand the influence of the Crow God Religion, but more importantly, to attract intellectuals and nobles into the religion. The former could provide great help in the compilation of doctrines and preaching in the upper class, while the latter could give the Crow God Religion the green light in many areas. Now, a group of carefully selected missionaries had gone to the north. According to the information sent back, they were making good progress. The biggest good news was that the Holy Capital would soon have a group of teachers who could teach children to read and write: This was urgently needed here.
Liliana dismissed the noisily following behind us and led us on a tour of the town that was being rapidly built. The current Holy Capital gave me the feeling of an enlarged version of Sentu's Dark Alley District: dilapidated, messy, in disrepair, and unplanned.
The shape of the town looked like a peeled orange peel. Several large areas were separated by wastelands without any pattern. They were only connected in the middle. Other than the square in the center of the town, which had a circle of relatively good buildings, the rest of the places were the so-called "piles of houses". Dilapidated wooden houses and stone houses were built haphazardly everywhere. There were almost no straight roads. Gray and black were the main colors of the town. The houses and roads here were covered with black-gray rock powder from the mines. The gravel used to pave the roads was a by-product of mining. And this was still a relatively good place. Most of the roads had not been treated at all. The exposed soil was full of potholes, and black and greasy sewage was accumulated in them.
"The mining towns in the South are all like this." My sister sighed. "The people who built these towns only asked for one thing: to survive. Anyway, this place didn't receive any more support from the Northern Dukedom. Even if it was built, it wouldn't have much economic value, so it ended up like this. The few big houses in the center of the town were where the overseers and soldiers lived. They were the local tyrants of all the mining towns. They were sent by the Northern Dukedom to escort slaves and exiles and supervise the mining operations. When the mines dried up, they left without hesitation. "
"But it's different now!" Liliana pointed to the side happily. It was a construction site. A large number of houses that had collapsed were being demolished. More than ten strong townspeople were preparing for the construction of new houses. They were cutting huge pieces of wood and stones on the wasteland. They were using … using iron pieces and even their palms?!
I finally noticed this wonderful detail. A shirtless, dark-faced uncle placed a piece of wood on a shelf. Then, he raised his right hand and prayed loudly, "Caw! The supreme and powerful Crow God! Bestow upon your believers the power of steel and the blessing of magical swords! " Then, he slammed his palm down and a cold light flashed. It was really a cold light that flashed. There was a layer of metallic luster floating at the edge of his palm, extending to half a meter away. Under the cutting of the metallic luster, the wood was cut open.
I was speechless.
"This place lacks tools, but the construction speed is faster than any other town," Vanilla said happily. Her face was flushed. She rarely took the initiative to speak, but this time, she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Everyone relies on the blessing of the Crow God to become extremely strong. With the addition of steel, even the sturdiest tool can't compare to the power exchanged for a prayer. The only pity is that not everyone can obtain the power they need. There aren't enough people who can participate in the construction. "
I nodded. "I know. Praying to this silly bird is like buying a lottery ticket. You might get strengthened in some way."
When Little Crow heard me call her silly bird, she immediately pouted. "Caw!" She could still understand what Silly Bird meant.
Everywhere in the town, one could see the scene of labor in full swing. Houses were being rebuilt, roads were being repaired, and tools were being forged. If there was one thing that made this dilapidated town different from other places in the south, it would be the enthusiasm and joy that burst forth from everyone here. They were full of hope, and for the first time, they were so motivated to build their own houses. They believed that they could eventually build a rich home with their own hands. Along the way, almost every person that we met would stop to greet us. Of course, they were greeting Little Crow, Vanilla, and the others. I didn't know how Liliana did it. She was actually able to give Silly Bird and Vanilla such high prestige. If the Crow God was originally a dignified God, it would be easy to explain. However, the current situation was that apart from eating, sleeping, and acting cute, the only thing the Crow God could do was to look for pebbles and gather firewood to build his nest. Could such a person really gather prestige?
At the end of the day, I could only say that Liliana was very good at fooling people.
In the end, we followed the only main road in the town to the central square. This was the town's "holy land". Only the town's natives could approach it. The wanderers who came from other places on a "pilgrimage" could only temporarily stay at the outer edge of the town. Even the food was gathered here by the townspeople. After all, the two most important holy items of the Crow God Sect were stored here: the Holy Tree and the Crow God's feather. No one dared to let people who didn't know the details get close. At the periphery of the square, we saw the first team of "Church Knights" organized by the townspeople. They left a deep impression: the Church Knights holding pitchforks and miners' hoes were definitely unprecedented.
"Their combat power is no weaker than the most powerful Savage Beast Knights in the north. The pitchforks thrown by the Church Knights can penetrate a 15-meter thick stone wall." Liliana nodded at the Crow God warriors in black robes and said softly, "Although it's a little dilapidated now, they will soon be able to make their weapons and equipment. Everything here is being built at a rapid pace. When the time comes, the Crow God Sect's knights will be the most powerful soldiers in the world. Think about it, they are stronger than a mammoth, and they can instantly cast Shadow Bolt and Chain Lightning … The Crow God's power is inclined towards battle. "
Inclined towards battle … I suddenly thought, could the Crow God Sect and Raven …
Just then, an excited shout came from not far away, interrupting my thoughts. Looking towards the source of the sound, I saw a group of children running from the alley in front of us. Then, the cat girl in our group happily welcomed them.
"Teacher Rabi! You're back! "
"Teacher, is the big city fun?"
"Teacher, we've finished writing those words!"
A group of children in ragged clothes shouted and jumped around excitedly. We were stunned for a moment. It was only then that Liliana seemed to suddenly remember something. She came to a realization, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. This cat is one of the only two teachers in the town. She's responsible for teaching the children how to read and write. The other teacher is the old man who has a lot of rules that we saw before."
Lin Xue beamed with joy, "Wow, I really couldn't tell that the cat is quite close to the children. She's usually like a taciturn gourd."
"Only those children can remember her name." The elder sister covered her face and couldn't help but sigh.
Everyone was speechless.
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