Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1402: Dark Moon War and Legends (Part 1)

The feast that the whole village can participate in doesn’t seem to have any rules, probably our initial attempt to associate it with religion was a mistake: perhaps it’s just some local custom, and coincidentally the belief in the Goddess has permeated every corner of this world, thus there’s a "priest distributing meat" segment with a slight hint of divine authority—because aside from this segment, we can hardly find anything related to religious belief at the scene...

In fact, similar customs exist in many places, quite common on Earth, and the more economically backward and socially primitive the place, the more these customs can flourish and spread in various forms. People, during harvest season, or when a lot of prey is caught, or any other special day, get everyone in the village to organize such grand activities. This primitive and pure celebration is often very simple, just gathering together for a nice meal, without dazzling performances, and without any leaders delivering opening or closing speeches; every household instinctively brings out food and other items to share with everyone, those with more surplus can bring more, and those with little just bringing out a table and three or four chairs is fine. The materially not-so-rich villagers enjoy what they see as "prosperous days" in this way, as long as it’s lively, even if they’re eating from a big pot of rice in the wind outside, they’re cheerful—this is the kind of activity we’re looking at, not some religious ceremony or a statutory holiday, just that the Foolish Big Guy hunted a bear large enough for the whole village to eat, so everyone gathered for a meat feast.

Perhaps in the Otherworld we are usually too busy, having encountered too many complicated plots and formal situations, suddenly thrown into a place where everyone’s motives are so pure, at first we thought too much about it, but once we put aside those trivial matters, everyone joyfully joined this bustling group of villagers. Qianqian is gone in a blink of an eye: ten to one she’s hanging around with a group of kids playing the leader; Visca disappeared while wandering around beside me, that girl’s curiosity and liveliness are second only to Qianqian, she’s probably studying someone’s simple snacks on their table, or perhaps investigating the foundation of someone’s house; Pandora is quite obedient, she sat beside me, expressionlessly gnawing on a meat bone, her little head nodding like a Little Dog focused on eating. I casually rubbed the little girl’s head, she raised her head and spat out two words: "Brother, salty."

"Well, too much salt was added." I pushed the porridge bowl in front of her: this porridge was also cooked by the Priest Ron who ties the Priest Robe around his waist. In fact, the village feast only consists of two foods: stewed meat and white porridge, everything else is self-prepared, everyone brings out their snacks or dry food prepared the night before and places it on the central big table for free access. Our family even contributed ten pounds of Sliced Cake—which gained considerable goodwill among the villagers, and Pandora thus received a much higher stool than the others...

I looked around and found this is basically an unprecedented scale buffet, and that Priest Ron has now relaxed, squatting in an inconspicuous spot outside the crowd, cheerfully watching the happening scene, Priest Robe still tied like an apron around his waist, seemingly not planning to join the villagers for the feast. I had Lin Xue stay here with Pandora, while Bingdisi and I went over to this unbelievable "clergy" beside me.

"Mind if we talk for a bit?" I directly plopped down on a stone by the roadside, greeting this "Village Priest."

"No problem at all, I’m just idling," the black stout uncle smiled, nodding as he pointed to the Goddess Pendant hanging on his chest, "The Goddess said, enjoy listening to others talk, seems pretty right to me."

Bingdisi sat on the other side of me, couldn’t help but mutter to herself upon hearing this: "That predecessor has been dead for countless years, this doctrine might have been made up by some middle schooler stuck alone on an island for seven or eight years borrowing God’s name."

I quickly coughed twice to cover for this female hooligan’s voice: "Ahem... haven’t asked yet, how to address you?"

"Oh, just call me Ron, the church name is too convoluted, I couldn’t even remember it myself," the black stout uncle raised his Priest Robe to fan himself, though it’s deep autumn and the weather is cold, perhaps the heat from cooking the big pot dishes beforehand hasn’t subsided, Ron’s face still had some light sweat, he looked at both Bingdisi and me who were sitting directly on the ground, smiling broadly, "Heard you two are scholars and sorcerers from the Imperial City, but your conversation is quite engaging, I interacted with those big shots in the Imperial City too, talking with them is exhausting, can’t be too high or too low in tone."

Seems he’s an easy-going chatterbox, such people aren’t hard to get along with if you match their temperament, so I felt assured. I then had the chance to take a good look at Priest Ron’s appearance: he’s a tall middle-aged man, with a face bearing some resemblance to North American Afro-descent. This priest’s physique is robust, muscles can be seen under the clothes, his belly showing a bit of fatness, skin is dark, head in the middle somewhat bald, with unkempt dark brown hair forming a circular mountain around his head, and his chin showing stubble from several days without shaving. This look differs greatly from the expected kind and benevolent Monk, instead, he looks like someone wrongly reformed and just released after two years—such appearance on Earth would draw the police out even without doing anything, and scare timid taxi drivers from picking him up past eight o’clock heading anywhere beyond the fourth ring...

"You don’t really look like a priest," I couldn’t help saying, and to prevent this world’s custom is muscle equals faith quickly added, "not my internal image of priesthood."

Ron seemed quite accustomed to hearing this, his face showing particularly calm expression: "Hmm, you’re quite right, I also feel like I’m not suited for this—but I actually studied at a proper Divine Academy, spending two years at the Imperial City, count myself as the most ’capable’ the village has produced. Staying a couple more years could have gotten me an Assistant Bishop position in a small city, but since I’m not ambitious enough, couldn’t stand their heap of rules and returned to the village as a priest, haha..."

"Yeah, fits my temper," Bingdisi, full of gangster spirit, gave her evaluation of a church member who dared drop out of Divine Academy, "I would have avoided being tortured so long if I’d had such dropout courage back then."

Ron blinked in confusion at Bingdisi, I bet it’s his first time encountering someone self-proclaiming as "old lady" in a noble gown, no need for him to be surprised, because it’s also my first time seeing someone who ties Priest Robe as an apron...

"Speaking of, years spent traveling around the world researching wildlife, nearly disconnected from human society," seizing the moment, I put forth the traveling around the world cover: after a day’s patching and perfecting, this guise is now adaptable enough to deceive without exposing flaws, "now my wife is a bit dissatisfied with such wandering days, we’re planning to settle down some, and I also intend to study theology and local cultural legends. After so many years out there I’ve found little interest in wildlife, studying human affairs has more prospects..."

I endeavored to create the image of a scholar doomed to failure after years of toil, seeking to settle down and switch projects, hoping to pivot the conversation towards topics of theology and folklore, while scanning the crowd with eyes both weary and searching for Qianqian’s silhouette: after all, I casually implicated her when I whimsically rambled, typically when men lament family hardships they should be gazing towards their spouse, and Lin Xue was blocked from view where she sat. As soon as I caught sight of Qianqian, that girl joyfully approached me eagerly shaking my arm: "Ah Jun, Ah Jun, I heard there’s dragon activity on the nearby mountain, when are we going to take a look?"

I: "..."

While stunned, Qianqian trotted off again, and I contorted my face to continue my conversation with Ron: "Uh, the stability I mentioned was actually for someone else..."

Thankfully Miss Lin didn’t timely jump out to stir trouble and even more thankfully Ron had little interest in others’ family matters, he showed a comprehending expression nodding at me: "Oh, I understand, after being out for long, people need to settle down, and I noticed you have two kids with you..."

"That’s my sister. The older one is called Pandora, the younger one is Visca. They’re actually grown women now, but because they took the wrong medicine when they were young, they didn’t grow tall—so it’s best not to provoke them about this."

The moment I casually made up that lie, I felt as if there were two heat sources about 1.2 meters tall in the crowd, silently building up anger gauges again: Was it just an illusion?

"Oh, so that’s how it is. Your family sure is lively," Ron, who had no idea there were two shorties in his imagination destroying the world, actually felt closer because of my domestic banter. "What you said earlier is also true. The outside world is not peaceful. How many good things can you find in the wilderness? Even if there are good things, you might not survive to study them. Nowadays, a few major countries have finally signed treaties, but the Dark Moon is becoming increasingly unstable. It’s rumored that Black Army gatherings are already appearing outside, whether it’s demons or some other kind of monsters, or Dark Moon people like demon beasts. Regular people can’t hide fast enough; who would be interested in these things? Now, other than mercenaries and adventurers, no one goes to those places anymore. It’s still reliable to study the academic knowledge in books. Little brother, you seem sincere and different from typical nobles, but I still have to say, your status, like others, is best suited for researching those things left by the ancestors: Someone has to take care of that stuff, right? After five Dark Moon Wars, even the Goddess’s name is only half left. What kind of situation is this!"

I was moved, and it seemed that getting close to this priest was a right decision. Even Foolish Big Guy might have heard of the widely known legends of this world, but the Ron in front of me was clearly more of an expert, despite his appearance not reminding anyone of a scholar. However, those two years at Divine Academy weren’t wasted after all...

I pretended to speak casually: "Every great war leaves devastation in its wake, and for common people, there is no beneficiary in war. But I’ve never really studied history much before; how about we talk about the Dark Moon Wars? Of course, if you’re not interested, we can switch topics."

I wasn’t entirely sure if this black, fat guy, who appeared three parts like a cook and seven parts like a prison cook, would be interested in such scholarly topics. So I purposely used this sentence to keep it at bay. I just couldn’t believe he would really nod and say: Yes, let’s change the subject then...

Fortunately, Ron wasn’t opposed at all and instead nodded happily: "I’m good at talking about that. Back then, I majored in the Divine History related to Dark Moon Wars, but people in the village aren’t interested in these things. It’s been years since I’ve talked about it; I don’t even know if I’ve forgotten everything I learned back then—Which part do you want to hear about?"

I thought for a moment: "How about this, since you’re the expert, you can treat me like a student waiting to be taught, and start from the First Dark Moon War, telling it in the way you would spread religious stories and preach. That’s something you should be good at."

Ron laughed happily. It seemed that he hadn’t done work as a missionary for a long time, and he appeared particularly cheerful. He took a Bible that smelled like roast meat from his coat, and solemnly placed his hand on the cover: "Goddess, I’m going to speak about the Dark Moon Wars to someone. According to the doctrine, I swear by the Holy Scripture here, to balance thoughts with loyal faith, to tell others the truth, to mention Your name with reverence, and to silently recite Your name when the Dark Moon Lord is mentioned to protect the trainee’s mind."

I quickly sat up straight: I didn’t expect "Dark Moon" to be such a solemn topic in the Goddess’s doctrine.

"The Dark Moon is another world above us Surface People—of course, you should all know this," Ron completed the oath, extending his hand to point at the sky; the "world" he referred to was obviously limited to the planet itself: local people didn’t conceive the world as extending to the universe. "The Goddess told us, far, far back in the Ancient Era, there was a Long Bridge connecting the Earth and the Moon. At that time, the Moon wasn’t like this; it was smooth and bright, with a land and a clear ocean as vibrant as those in our Haisenwood world. The Dark Moon and the Earth were like twins, carrying all things created by the Goddess advancing together in chaos. During that period, there was no distinction between Surface People and Dark Moon People. All Races were freely distributed over the Earth and Moon, and the Long Bridge allowed commuting between the Moon and Earth to be as simple as returning home. Those peaceful days were described in the Holy Scripture as the First Heavenly Age."

Ron paused: "By the way, parts of this are considered basic knowledge, and I’m delivering it according to the entire Holy Scripture. If you find it tedious, we can skip over it—anyway, back in class, whenever the creation Chapter was discussed, I would fall asleep."

I quickly waved my hand: "No, it’s fine, academic work must start from basics, you continue."

Ron nodded: "So let’s continue. It’s impossible to verify how long the First Heavenly Age lasted; in any case, it was the best time in this world. Although there were conflicts among the races, all people generally remembered that they were God’s people, the Goddess secretly watching over everything. Humans built the initial temple to worship the Goddess, temples you can still find now as the Holy Residence, although only on Earth. According to information left by those who have ventured to the Dark Moon, all the Holy Residences there have been completely dismantled—those bastards... Oh, forgive me, Goddess, I must calm down, must maintain decorum."

The First Heavenly Age ended in warfare, and there are several accounts of the events leading to this. The version acknowledged by the Divine Canon is this: The Original Sinners, that is, the Mountain Barbarians, suddenly attacked the Ancient Human Kingdom of the time, sparking the first real secessionist racial war. There had long been friction between the Mountain Barbarians and Humans in the Ancient Era. The Mountain Barbarians were brutal, ruthless, and would do anything; born with Black Witchcraft and Divine Power. They were few in number but leveraged the element of surprise, catching the Human Kingdom off-guard and leaving behind a trail of scorched earth. But the Humans reacted quickly and soon allied with the Elves, Black Wood People, Dwarfs, and several other races to form an Alliance Army for a counterattack. The Mountain Barbarian Leader was a cunning individual; realizing he was no match for so many foes, he falsely proposed peace, inviting the leaders of the Allied Races to discuss peace talks. To show sincerity and assuage the leaders’ concerns, he agreed to meet on neutral territory outside of the conflict zones. They chose the Demon Beast Tribe Territory—a loosely organized multi-racial tribe that didn’t participate in any racial matters back then—everyone assumed this would be an open and fair negotiation."

No need to say, I could guess the Demon Beast Tribe was the problem: whenever "everyone assumed" appears in such events, a twist is bound to follow.

Sure enough, Ron followed up with: "However, the Demon Beast Tribe had long been beguiled by the Mountain Barbarians with Black Witchcraft—what happened then is lost to history, and the Divine Canon doesn’t record whether it was the Mountain Barbarian Leader or the Demon Beast Tribe who acted; in any case, the leaders of all the races of the Allied Army met untimely deaths."

Upon receiving this news, the Allied Army suffered a major setback, but what the Mountain Barbarian Tribe did not expect was that not only did the Alliance not collapse, they quickly appointed new leaders. The Elf Clan and Human Kings even joined the frontlines as Allied Generals themselves. Shortly and with greater morale, the Alliance resumed the offensive, and the Demon Beast Tribe soon became a target of the Alliance’s attacks. The war then expanded beyond anyone’s imagination: when Human Races believed that the Mountain Barbarians and Demon Beast Tribe were about to be defeated, other Races on the Earth and the Moon suddenly declared their participation in the war—and astonishingly, they joined the Mountain Barbarians’ side. This became the Original Sinners Alliance."

Nightmares, Half-orcs, Beastmen, Giants all joined the Original Sinners at the time. After forming another Allied Army, the war quickly spread across all places on Earth and the Moon. The Original Sinners’ army was especially brutal, plundering any country that wasn’t in their own camp, leaving no small neutral races unscathed, all facing extinction. Moreover, as the Alliance fought, they discovered one thing: The Mountain Barbarian Leader possessed an Undead Body!" (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to give recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)