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This was the first thought that came to Hastur's mind. He looked at it carefully for a while, but did not find the key element of desire, only pure reproduction.
It is also possible to reproduce and use it on crops, but hiding in red cloth and gathering people like this... is still a bit inappropriate after all.
In one's own territory, it is better to have fewer such things.
Hastur began to think about how to change the concept of the small town residents holding the Valley Festival. If they believed in the festival held by the Mother Earth God, he would ignore it.
Because there will be no uncontrollable events if you believe in the Mother Goddess of the Earth.
But this town believes in reproduction, not the Earth Mother Goddess. If it continues to develop like this, it will be dominated by reproduction, and sooner or later it will fall into the arms of the Mother Tree of Desire or the Fallen Mother Goddess.
This is something he will never allow.
"It should be windy here, strong wind!"
Hastur whispered softly, preparing to set off a gust of wind to overturn the red cloth, revealing the true face of the so-called Breath of Spring Goddess to everyone.
But when the wind blew in the distance, the corners of the red cloth were lifted, but the red cloth in the middle seemed to be held down by something, allowing it to be blown by the strong wind.
There is a situation.
Hasta turned on his spiritual vision and looked in the direction of the red cloth. He vaguely saw an illusory figure lying on the red cloth, admiring the art of reproduction between the five couples inside.
The figure looked like a spider, but it didn't have that many spider legs, and it didn't have any hair on its body. Its abdomen was round, as if it were pregnant, but its upper body was slender and long, like a person planted in a flower bed. Inside, then stand up and drag the flower bed like walking.
Maybe he felt the gaze, and the figure looked back. It should be a human face, but there were no facial features on the face.
Spider with a human face? Is this the true face of the so-called Breath of Spring Goddess?
Hastur did not interrupt, and still chose to watch quietly. The human-faced spider did not make any other move, and still lay on the red cloth, admiring the great things that were multiplying inside the red cloth.
When the sun cast its rays from the sky, the slightly illusory human-faced spider disappeared in the sunlight, leaving no trace behind.
With waves of cheers ringing out, this year’s Grain Sacrifice Festival has come to an end.
Under the instructions of the priestess, some strong young men brought the firewood that had been prepared nearby, piled it around the red cloth, and then lit it.
During the entire process, the red cloth was never lifted, and the statue was burned with the flames.
According to the residents of the town, all living things eventually return to the soil and turn into nutrients that nourish the growth of all things.
The same is true for the Breath of Spring Goddess. When she turns into ashes and blends into the soil with the blessings of believers, she will nourish the crops and usher in a joyful harvest.
This statement is well-founded and convincing, and it is difficult to find fault with it.
But Hastur still didn't want to let the Breath of Spring goddess exist. He didn't believe in the mercy of the gods.
Everything is equal, what you gain is what you lose.
This kind of protection never comes without a price.
Silver City, the gift of the earth formed by the remains of the giant queen Omibella after her death, allows people living here to have the black-faced grass, a
Food allows them to survive in this harsh and dangerous God-forsaken land.
The price the residents of Silver City have to pay for this is: they will have to bear the fate of being cursed. Only those killed by immediate family members will not turn into terrible evil spirits.
A good harvest comes at a price.
Hastur did not act immediately, but went to the bathroom to wash up, then went downstairs to have breakfast, and then went out to hang out.
Although the sacrifices have ended, the festival still continues, and this excitement usually lasts for a week.
Every household will display the fruits and vegetables produced by their own family during this festival.
The quality of the fruits and vegetables here is indeed better than the crops produced in other areas. The fruits and vegetables that Hasta's castle needs on weekdays are purchased from this town.
Firstly, it’s because it’s close, and secondly, it’s because the quality is really good.
Hastur walked around, intentionally or unintentionally asking about things about the priestess. In such remote villages and towns, what a respected priest said was often more useful than a mayor.
The priestess in the town of Moira is not fixed, but changes every year. As for why it happens so frequently, the residents here give the same answer.
A good harvest needs to be brewed, just as women always need a certain amount of time to recover after giving birth to a child.
The same is true for worshiping the goddess of the breath of spring. After a good harvest one year, a new priest is needed to brew the harvest again.
This statement made some sense, but it did not convince Hastur. He specifically asked the priestess who held the annual sacrifice if he could still see her in the coming year.
The answer I heard is that it can be seen, and it is more popular when marrying, because many people believe that the priestess who presides over the sacrifice is also conducive to the reproduction of offspring.
This made Hastur realize that something was wrong. In his impression, priests had a lofty status. In order to maintain their sanctity, most of them were not allowed to marry and have children, and they needed to remain single for life.
But according to the custom here, not only can priestesses get married and have children, but they are also very popular.
Not only that, Hastur also discovered that the town residents attach great importance to reproduction.
Some families gave birth to seven or eight children and continued to have more children. The tallest family had twenty-three children!
"You must be a foreigner. We here all know that the more offspring you have, the easier it is to receive blessings from the God of Ceramics, and the easier it is for your family's fields to have a bumper harvest, and you can even avoid bugs all year round. "A drunkard who was a little drunk mocked Hastur's ignorance with the strength of his drink.
Some people thought that Hastur came to their town specifically to find a girl suitable for marriage.
This is nothing new. There are always many outsiders who value the blessings of good harvests here and want to marry a daughter-in-law here so that their fields can have good harvests.
But in the end, they often fail. A lot of children are born, but the fields will still be barren if they should have a bad harvest, and they will still be barren.
People came to the conclusion that only an area around the town could enjoy the blessings of Ceres' harvest.
Hastur didn't agree with this, but he still took the opportunity to say that he was indeed here to find a suitable wife to marry.
woman, and successfully obtained the home address of this year's priestess.
"It's not that easy to marry the daughter of Old Jeff's family. You have to prepare at least 100 gold pounds as a bride price and a field big enough for ten cows to cultivate, to have a chance to marry his daughter." Someone shouted loudly. .
"I think you have no hope. Although you are very good-looking, old Jeff's daughter is only fourteen years old this year. He is reluctant to let his precious daughter marry far away."
"Young man, let me teach you a way. Take out 500 gold pounds and slap it on the table at Old Jeff's house. I guarantee that Old Jeff will not say a word of objection, but will happily accept you as his son-in-law."
When these discussions faded away, Hastur did not go to Old Jeff's house immediately. Instead, he returned to the hotel to rest and wait until night before going out for action.
After all, he wasn't here to covet other people's girls, and he was only fourteen years old; he didn't have such a bad habit.
At around ten o'clock at night, Hasta arrived near old Jeff's house according to the information he had obtained during the day.
Old Jeff's house is located northwest of the town's central square. It is a two-story townhouse and belongs to a relatively wealthy family in the town.
Old Jeff has two sons and a daughter. The eldest son is married and has moved out. The second son currently lives on the farm and is responsible for taking care of the crops. Only he, his wife and his fourteen-year-old daughter are left at home.
Hastur was really surprised by this. When he observed the priestess last night, he couldn't tell that she was only fourteen years old. It must be because she was wearing too much makeup.
When the family turned off the lights and went to rest, Hastur appeared in old Jeff's daughter's room.
Liv, a fairly easy name to remember.
In order to find out the priest problem in this small town, Hastur used his nightmare power to enter Liv's dream.
I don’t know if it was because she had just experienced the sacrifice last night and was deeply impressed by it, or if there were other reasons.
In the dream, there was a field of brilliant harvest, with golden ears of rice hanging down, covered with drops of sparkling dew.
Corn, pumpkin, carrots, cabbage and other crops are growing exceptionally lush and pleasing to the eye, with abundant fruits, and even the sky is exceptionally blue.
There was just one thing that made Hasta suspicious. There were white silk threads wrapped around the roots of every crop here, extending deep into the ground.
These silk threads are very thin, and some are covered by soil. If you don't lie down, it is difficult to see the problem clearly.
Silk threads, spiders with human faces... could this really be a blessing from the goddess of spring breathing?
Is He sleeping deep in this land?
Hastur couldn't help but have such doubts in his mind. He walked straight into the depths of the field and finally saw the protagonist of this dream.
She was carrying a bamboo basket in her right hand and picking fresh fruits in the field. Her young, tender, and pretty face was filled with the joy of the harvest. She picked the bright red tomatoes neatly and put them into the bamboo basket.
Soon the bottom of the bamboo basket was full, and she began picking cucumbers, cabbages and other things.
It seemed like she could keep picking like this if no one disturbed her.
Hastur looked for a while and found nothing unusual, so he finally spoke to break the silence.
The little girl seemed to be frightened and subconsciously took a few steps back and hid behind the cucumber rack.
When she saw who was coming clearly, her eyes lit up slightly and a hint of red appeared on both cheeks.
Her eyes shyly dodged for a while, then she slowly walked out from behind the cucumber rack and whispered, "Who are you? How did you get into our field?"
This made Hasta frown slightly, and he looked at the girl seriously again.
According to Nightmare's ability, she should be in a daze, not very conscious, and can only simply answer your questions.
Could it be that the blessing from the Goddess of Spring's Breathing had not completely dissipated, allowing her to temporarily resist the nightmare's ability to enter her dreams?
Perhaps because Hastur was silent for too long, the girl pouted unhappily and said, "You really have no manners at all. I took the initiative to ask you a question."
"I am a foreigner who came to your place by chance. I found that the crops here are very beautiful and I was attracted to it unconsciously."
"Oh, you want to steal our vegetables!" The girl showed a look of sudden enlightenment.
Chapter 284 The Price of Harvest
Stealing food?
Will I, a great lord, come to steal your food, or is this just a dream?
Hastur suppressed the corner of his mouth that wanted to twitch, and couldn't help but think of a certain penguin's food-stealing game. At that time, everyone was really stealing food, and some even set alarm clocks and got out of bed in the middle of the night. It was really crazy.
"I'm just curious about why your vegetables look so good."
"Of course it's because we have the blessing of the goddess!" The girl answered matter-of-factly.
Hastur pretended to be ignorant and continued to ask: "Which goddess?"
"The God of Ceres, the goddess of the breath of spring, that's what we call him. He has always protected our land and is our patron saint." When she mentioned the gods she believed in, the girl unconsciously puffed up her chest and raised her tone.
"Oh, I have heard that a female priest is required to preside over the sacrificial ceremony every year."
The girl's face was filled with a bright smile, "I am the priest of this year's Grain Sacrifice Festival."
Hasta also had a smile on his face, "That's awesome. I also heard that the priestess of the Grain Sacrifice Festival will be changed every year. Is this also chosen by the goddess herself?"
"Of course not. This is a place my father bought specifically from the mayor of the town, saying it would help me gain some fame."
The girl said something that surprised Hastur, but if you think about it carefully, this is very mundane and normal.
No wonder the priestesses are changed every year. It turns out that their heritage has long since declined, and the current priestesses are just symbolic dolls pushed out by the mayor.