Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1398: The Village by the Forest

Pine Forest Village, that is the name of this village located next to a dense forest, far from the city. The name sounds rather elegant, like what a destitute poet might whimsically pick while staying at a roadside inn, lamenting why he has been demoted again with a mouthful of liquor. But in reality, the villagers just thought of it off the top of their head: because there is a pine forest behind the village. If there were a rocky slope behind the village, they wouldn’t have named it so elegantly — I don’t believe they could come up with a name like Stone Family Village.

Although this village is remote, it is not too small or particularly impoverished, perhaps because it is located right on the border between the Hasad Duchy and our country. Travelers occasionally pass through the forest and mountain road here, thus maintaining a certain degree of prosperity in this small village. There seem to be over a hundred households here, with houses distributed nicely along a small river that runs through the village. In front of the village is the forest we just emerged from, and behind the village stands a majestic mountain. The terrain gradually flattens on both sides of this mountain before rising abruptly again, likely forming part of a mountain range. The river that flows through the village runs parallel to the mountain range, making a turn into the mountains in the distance, seemingly fed by melted snow from the mountain above. Backed by towering hills and facing the untamed wilderness, with even the river flowing down from the mountain, this is quite an isolated place. From an economic development standpoint, it’s certainly not an ideal location, but if you were approaching eighty with aching joints looking for a retirement location, there wouldn’t be a better place than here — just look at this environment!

The big guy led us onto the village’s pebbled path, and Dingdang stealthily peeked out from my pocket, along with everyone else, curiously looking around. This village doesn’t even have a surrounding wall, just a circle of fences for warding off wild beasts to mark the boundary, and certainly no village entrance gate. One enters the village just by walking onto the manmade road. Even that circle of fence seems to be of little importance to the villagers; I noticed at least four or five households built their homes outside the fence, over a hundred meters away, living in isolation as though they were reclusive hermits. Judging from the tidiness and specs of those houses, I figure the occupants aren’t exiled from the village for constantly throwing dirty water outside their doors...

Because the village is near a forest, the houses in the village are mostly constructed using local materials, primarily wooden structures. These houses resemble old European wooden cabins; rough thick planks nailed together, tree bark barely cleaned off, forming walls. The gaps are filled with hemp and dark mud to block the wind. The houses are mostly two-story buildings; the roofs are sloped and covered with wooden tiles, with thick wooden pillars raising them half a meter above ground to prevent dampness, accessed by a few wooden steps. Some homes with courtyards might belong to wealthy families, but they are randomly nestled amongst older wooden cabins, giving no indication of any rank or privilege. Almost every household has dry skin and jerky hanging from their eaves, and tools that are obviously related to hunting or leather-making, but not farming, placed under window sills. Hunting seems to be the villagers’ main source of livelihood, given the scarcity of arable land around here. I worry that if the local customs are robust, and if everyone is as capable a hunter as the foolish big guy, whether there are enough unfortunate wild animals in the forest to bully...

The village is so simple and quaint that after walking half a day, I couldn’t tell if there even was a "Village Chief’s House" that served as an administrative hub. At this moment, the sun is setting, and it is time for every household to light the fire for dinner. The village is enveloped in smoke from cooking fires, wafting about with an aroma that, although indiscernible, is rather pleasing. On the road, I see small groups of villagers strolling leisurely, mostly men who have finished a day’s work waiting for dinner. These locals mostly have high noses and deep-set eyes, reflecting slightly Western traits. Seeing them confirms something: the foolish big guy’s physique and muscles are indeed genetic mutations; most people here are regular folks...

The foolish big guy happily greets everyone, seeming to be well-liked in the village. Villagers seeing this brown bear-like strongman dragging a real bear behind him show no surprise. Some respond exaggeratedly, "Foolish big guy, if you get any stronger, you’ll be hunting dragons on the mountain!" Others are delighted, "Hey— this will feed the entire village for days! If you keep this up, the other hunters will forget their skills!" Then, without fail, each villager turns their attention toward us, "Are you travelers?"

"They are traveling scholars from the Imperial City, people of knowledge and status!"

The foolish big guy cheerfully introduces us to everyone in this manner, almost proudly, as if by presenting us this way, he shares in the glow of "knowledge." Subsequently, those villagers gaze at us with eyes full of wonder and admiration, bowing slightly while sighing, "People from the Imperial City always wear different clothes each time, truly the changes in big cities are quicker than in the countryside..."

I wipe the cold sweat from my forehead while returning their greetings, thinking thank goodness these people, weary from daily survival, don’t dwell much beyond filling their stomachs. They are curious, but they harbor no further thoughts about outsiders. Coming to such a quaint village feels much better than being directly teleported to a big city. Speaking of such a simple village, such a peaceful atmosphere, such straightforward people – I nearly forgot right next to this world is the most dangerous powder keg in the Void.

"Y’all wait for me. I’ll go place the hunt in front of the Divine Statue, so the entire village can eat," the foolish big guy turns to us and says gruffly. Hearing him mention the "Goddess," my mind races, and Bingdisi and I shout in unison, "Wait, we’ll go too!"

The foolish big guy flinches from our loud voices, then understands, "Oh, right, everyone must greet the Goddess, especially travelers. I forgot this part."

Divine Statue, Goddess, local world’s beliefs—there’s an eight or nine chance these are somewhat related to the Divine Artifact we’re searching for. Bingdisi used her Divine Race talent but couldn’t sense the aura of the artifact; that thing isn’t simply hiding somewhere on this planet. So, we’ll have to find clues within the local civilization’s beliefs and mythology. The Goddess that the Foolish Big Guy mentioned should be very related.

We followed behind the big guy to the place where the Divine Statue was placed: contrary to expectations, there wasn’t a church or any other special building. This was just the largest open area in the village, seemingly a place for villagers to gather and hold activities. The Goddess Statue was high up on a round stone platform in the middle of the open space. It was a sculpture carved from ordinary mountain rock, life-sized, simple in material yet intricately detailed, obviously crafted with piety and caution by the artisan. The statue depicted a beautiful and transcendent woman with long hair, a benevolent yet dignified expression, dressed in a luxurious female armor. I compared it to the image of a "Star Domain Scout" in my mind and found there were indeed some similarities, however...

Obviously, they weren’t the same person.

But resemblance is secondary; the mortals of this world surely haven’t seen the True God’s appearance. That Goddess has been dead for many years, and this world’s religion is likely nurtured by the Information Disturbance Power left by the Divine Artifact. Even if someone had seen what the True God looked like, they wouldn’t necessarily reproduce God’s image in their works but would make certain beautifications and modifications—in any case, in various Life Goddess Temples, I’ve seen Divine Statues of Dingdang, where the expression of benevolence and majesty to all beings is something Dingdang herself has never shown, and I’m guessing few monks would dare to place the slightly foolish look of Lady Goddess enjoying herself with sugar crumbs at the church entrance for public viewing...

Qianqian gently tapped Bingdisi’s arm, and the rest of us focused on the female hooligan. Her eyes had a faint golden aura slightly circulating, and then she shook her head: "Just a stone statue, can’t feel the divinity...at least not currently. But it doesn’t rule out the possibility that the religion behind this statue is related to the artifact, after all, this is just a small place, perhaps the artifact’s power is insufficient to bless here."

Finally, Bingdisi added: "After all, that thing was probably just an old flash drive used by the reconnaissance soldiers back then..."

Let’s not delve into the topic of even a back scratcher being able to slay dragons, once used by the Divine Race.

The Foolish Big Guy easily placed the giant Bear Monster he had dragged all the way in front of the Goddess Statue, the ground trembled three times. This burly, clumsy-looking brawny man then bowed his head and silently prayed with apparent sincerity: it seems faith in this Goddess has become grassroots culture on this planet, even such a rustic hunter has a reverent heart. I pondered over whether I should also act as if I was praying, to prevent passing villagers from mistaking us for heretics today, and thus silently recited the multiplication table. Beside me, Qianqian mimicked my action and bowed her head: she was reciting a recipe. Bingdisi was the most interesting; she bowed her head muttering: "Hello, old senior, I’m Bingdisi, an archaeological expert sent by the Divine Realm. Beside me is Father God’s pal; he’s mourning here for three minutes, and you should be able to rest in peace. Hurry up and give us your flash drive; the world isn’t very peaceful, there’s a bunch of bastards lurking outside to crash the party. Junior pays respects here, holy f**king light..."

I was very concerned that if that old senior truly sensed it in heaven, would the artifact self-destruct to uphold its integrity due to Bingdisi’s nonsense...

By this time, the Foolish Big Guy had finished his brief prayer, and this giant-like brawny man looked awkward when bowing his head to pray, part scholar, part fierce beast, but he looked much more comfortable after raising his head and turning around. He smiled at us: "So, uh, I’m done now. If you guys don’t mind, come rest at my place; there’s not much, just a big house and several unused rooms. Normally, the Village Chief should arrange people to welcome guests, but a few days ago the Village Chief went to the city and will probably be back tomorrow morning..."

We certainly had no objections and nodded with agreement. Qianqian curiously pointed at the dead bear left openly in front of the Goddess Statue: "So the stuff’s just left on the plaza like that?"

The Foolish Big Guy nodded: "Yes, just leave it there, in front of the Goddess Statue for a night. Otherwise, Black Cub’s meat is too tough to cut. Tomorrow the village’s priest comes to cut the meat and cooks it, and the whole village eats meat at noon. By then the Village Chief will have returned too, just in time for him to take the first bite."

——It seems this is some uniquely peculiar customs, and the so-called "priest" is likely a religious person. I didn’t expect a small village like this to have a "priest," a character that sounds high-end and grand, nor did I expect the priest to be responsible for making large pot meals for the entire village. And of course, I didn’t expect there to be a goddess who even manages the large pot meals in the religious system based on the Star Domain Divine System. But thinking about it, it’s not surprising. The direct connection between the local people’s "goddess" and the Star Domain Divine System has already been reduced to just a USB disk. Strictly speaking, the religion of this world belongs to a native sect and has no relation to any doctrine of the Star Domain. After all, except for Sandora becoming a god in the future, I can’t imagine who would have such a line in their Bible: Priests and their clergy, bishops, wield great ladles, in charge of making large pot meals for believers, and organizing prayer...

Well, strictly speaking, there’s indeed a precedent for religious doctrines stipulating clergy organization of large pot meals, just a more refined term for this would be the "Holy Meal," right? I can only say, it’s the foolish big guy’s way of describing things that makes one constantly feel the "Holy Meal" of this world’s goddess sect doesn’t seem very holy...

We were led by the foolish big guy to his door, a large house with a courtyard near the riverbank. Clearly, with his superior force and the ability to provide meat for the whole village alone, he owns wealth matching his combat power within the village: a large house. The villagers did not treat this big guy as cheap labor despite his straightforwardness (we’ve already seen that normal people in this world should be smarter than the foolish big guy, just as they are generally smaller than him; he is an endearing figure mutated in both intelligence and physique). It might be because they can’t beat him, but I’d rather believe it reflects a simple and honest local character: this world’s geographical setting is tough enough, so let’s retain a bit of goodwill, at least for this village.

This courtyard-equipped mansion has details matching the foolish big guy: its courtyard gate is almost twice as big as other normal houses. When I walked through, it felt like passing through a city gate, watching Pandora quietly beside me and Visca looking around. I wonder if these two young girls are getting a misconception of crossing the South Heavenly Gate. Thinking this, I quickly bent down to remind the two little ones: "This big guy is a good person, you two mustn’t mind his height."

Pandora blankly responded with an "oh," while Visca laughed, "Brother, brother, don’t worry, I’ve been playing in Atlantis every day lately, my resistance is high now!"

Like other houses in the village, this courtyard-like "mansion" is also made of wood. It has a two-story main house and a single-story wooden house opposite the main house, while facing the courtyard gate is a long wooden shed that looks like a warehouse or barn. The courtyard wall is made from heavy logs split into halves hammered into the ground, with the smooth wooden core facing inside, the wooden fence of the courtyard wall wrapped with animal tendons and skins, appearing very solid. In the courtyard, there were many wooden racks where some hides were drying. As a hunter, the foolish big guy not only hunts but also tans hides. After letting us into the courtyard, he immediately went to the gigantic wooden barrel in the corner and scooped out half an iron kettle of water, then hurried to the kitchen: "Wait a moment, I’ll boil some water. You city folks can’t drink raw water. But this water is actually quite clean, it comes down from the mountain and was filtered for a day in the barrel..."

This big guy is really warm-hearted; watching him run around like this makes us all feel bad. Even Qianqian couldn’t help but rush over to help, but the other party was unwilling: "How can guests do the work? Letting people in the village know would be ridiculous!"

Seeing his firm attitude, Qianqian could only retreat. We deliberated for a moment and fiddled with our personal bags (these bags were taken out from our space to cover up before meeting the big guy, as we couldn’t be certain if the worldview here accommodates taking things out of personal space), taking out the rations prepared by Big Sister and Anwina before departure: homemade baked pancakes and muffin snacks. Everyone had plenty of these rations and snacks, imagining Big Sister’s habit of packing; it wasn’t hard to envision that these rations we carried were sufficient to solve a small famine. After Dingdang confirmed these foods were safe for the humans here to consume, we delivered them to the kitchen, saying we’d eat them together for dinner. The big guy was quite delighted with this sharing.

Then we idly waited in the courtyard for nightfall, commenting through our spiritual connection about how unexpectedly bizarre this world on the "fire line" was. After a little while, Lin Xue began playing the childish string flipping game with Visca out of boredom, while Bingdisi discussed tomorrow’s action plan with me. We decided first to gain a general understanding of the customs in this world and how the goddess belief operates within the village, then slightly examine if any divine artifact-caused divinity residue exists on local humans and creatures here, especially the supposed "priest" to see if they’ve been blessed by Star Domain Divine Power.

If we don’t acquire sufficient intelligence here, we plan to head towards the "Imperial City" or the Hasad Duchy, where a clue about the divine artifact might be found.

Of course, all of this relies on not arousing suspicion and not disrupting the locals’ lives. I find losing Sandora’s Mind Interference Power really inconvenient.

Because this world is situated in the perilous "fire line" area, if portable satellites and probes of Ghost Energy equipment can not be used, then we should refrain from using them as much as possible, resulting in our actions appearing restrained. Were it not for this, locating a mere divine artifact would have been much easier.

At this moment, a shadow suddenly darted amidst us; it was the crafty cat named "Little Black" owned by the big guy. This cat, like most of its kind, maintains a lazy, disinterested attitude towards strangers, but now seemed to notice we were spending the night here, curiously scrutinizing everyone. Despite being an animal, the black cat sitting in the yard exuded a hostess-like aura. Qianqian couldn’t help but reach out her paw to shake hands with the black cat...

Let’s disregard how Qianqian’s mind works; the black cat seemingly understood etiquette, stretching its paw to gently touch Qianqian’s hand—this was considered a handshake.

"So smart!" Qianqian joyfully extended a finger before the black cat, "How many is this?"

Ignoring Qianqian’s thought process, the black cat genuinely meowed once.

Qianqian laughed heartily, extended three fingers asking, "How many is this?"

Patiently, the black cat answered, "Meow, meow, meow."

Now, all our attention was directed at that cat, and Qianqian continued to ask without hesitation, "What is three plus two?"

The black cat yawned, somewhat impatiently: "Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!"

Qianqian paused momentarily, then with astonishment asked, "What is two thousand times two?"

Before I could be impressed by Qianqian’s rapid thought shifting speed, that black cat, quite impatiently, glanced at Qianqian: "Four thousand." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit the website (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations, monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)s