Chapter 413: Let Us Celebrate! (Part 5)

Hearing the call of Bata'er Jiaoshi, Jier could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

They were, after all, on this trip to handle matters for the Agricultural God Church; now that the Agricultural God had appeared, surely he would offer some protection to everyone, right?

Especially against that overbearing Dwarf Strength God right in front of them—hurry, drive him away just like the Great Bird God was driven away!

"Welcome, great Agricultural God!" Jier was also fired up; no sooner had the Strength God placed him on the ground than he began cheering for the Agricultural God, who was gradually replacing the divine power on the campfire.

Once Jier shouted, the other people present, especially the Nongshen Believers who had always worshipped the Agricultural God, all followed suit: "Welcome, great Agricultural God!"

"The Agricultural God has come in person!"

"Praise be to you!"

"Thank you for bestowing grain upon us all this time, so that we would not suffer from famine and pain."

Once the Agricultural God arrived, the atmosphere of the entire Yingdi shifted drastically from the previous tension and panic; everyone wore smiles, and the Nongshen Believers knelt on the ground in droves toward the campfire, shouting respectful words and performing kowtows.

Extremely devout.

But at this moment, the image on the campfire was still mostly the bronze-colored divine power giant, the Dwarf Strength God.

He was clearly losing face; after all, although he had used words to guide some humans to worship and yearn for him upon his arrival, how could that compare to the scene right now, with hundreds of people kneeling toward the human Agricultural God—who hadn't even officially appeared yet—with such sincere respect and full-hearted devotion?

The bronze-colored divine power giant, currently being replaced by divine power, narrowed his eyes. Taking advantage of the fact that he hadn't been completely replaced yet, he pointed a finger at the human Knight who stood before him with a relaxed smile and said: "My strength, two of the three have already obtained it, with one remaining. Since I spoke of three, then it shall be three..."

As soon as the words fell, the divine power giant, half-replaced, suddenly transformed his entire remaining upper body into a massive fist, violently swinging down to smash directly at Jier.

Jier had no way to react; his hair stood on end from fright, and he hurriedly gripped the Yueshui Skull Two-Handed Axe to resist. But who could have known that the incoming giant fist was merely a phantom of divine power? The axe blocked nothing at all, and the immense divine power of the Strength God surged directly into Jier's body in the form of tiny torrents of divine power.

"Ugh—" Jier instantly felt so sick that he vomited; the food he had just eaten surged out from his mouth, but it was not over yet.

The massive, unreasonable divine power of the Strength God rampaged through his body, trying to find a suitable place to 'settle down.' However, other powers were already entrenched in various parts of Jier's body, and every time the two powers belonging to different gods collided within him, it made Jier feel so miserable he wanted to vomit blood.

He soon actually vomited blood.

Jier collapsed on his side in his own vomit, tiny amounts of blood flowing from his mouth and nose amidst his constant gasping; this blood even carried a faint bronze shimmer of divine power.

The first person to run over to check on Jier was, surprisingly, the Wild Priest of the Strength God.

This middle-aged Dwarf with a reluctant expression angrily set down the Metal Box he had been holding, and turned the front opening of the Metal Box toward the fallen human Knight. At this moment, the Statue of the God of Strength inside the box had glowing eyes, and the metal sculpture even wore a distinct look of amusement.

The Wild Priest knelt on one knee, spread his hands, and gestured toward the fallen, suffering Jier, muttering: "Calm, calm, when strength surges, there is a time for rest. Calm, calm, lie dormant and store power, for the future shall see another surge. Calm, calm, the balance of offense and defense is the beauty of strength."

The Wild Priest chanted this three times, and the divine power within Jier finally stopped trying to seize 'territory' from the other powers; they randomly found places where no power existed within Jier's body and settled down.

Because of this change, even Jier's hair color shifted slightly; his golden-brown hair began to transition slightly toward a uniform brown.

The Dwarf Strength God had sent most of his divine power into the human Knight's body before being replaced, so without any obstruction, the Agricultural God completed the replacement faster.

From one campfire after another, one cyan figure after another with different appearances emerged.

They were not very tall, and included men, women, the old, and the young; there were simple farmers, shrewd and sharp-tongued farm wives, aged old peasants, dark-skinned and sturdy youths, women holding children, fruit farmers holding baskets of apples, young children carrying chickens, and butchers with fleshy faces holding sharp knives, among others.

What they had in common was that every one of them wore a faint smile on their face at this moment, a smile that made one feel at ease and peaceful just by looking at it.

Bata'er Jiaoshi was not surprised by the many images of the Agricultural God, because when he was studying in the diocese, he knew that the number of human professions was over ten thousand; therefore, using only these dozen or so campfires to display the images of the Agricultural God in representing the human cause of agriculture was actually quite few.

It was only because there were only so many campfires in the Yingdi at the moment.

And when the Agricultural God arrived in a place, his images were usually ever-changing; he would manifest different appearances when facing different believers.

There had been believers who saw the great Agricultural God in the image of their long-deceased father, who then spoke to admonish them. There were also farm wives who had seen the Agricultural God in the image of their children who had died young, speaking to comfort their emotions and encourage them not to give up on their labor.

After the Agricultural God appeared this time, he did not speak to everyone; each image simply revealed a look of pity and an encouraging smile, then one after another reached out and pointed at the wooden skewers nearby that had previously been used to roast fat chickens. With a flash of divine power and a 'poof' sound, roasted fat chickens emitting a cyan glow appeared once again on the meat skewers.

They were even steaming with heat.

The people watched, dumbfounded, while the Agricultural God in the image of a butcher let out bursts of self-satisfied laughter.

The various images of the Agricultural God pointed again at the various iron pots that had already been emptied of food. With a flash of divine power and a 'poof' sound, they were filled with rich meat soup emitting a cyan glow.

Large chunks of fat meat floated on the fragrant soup, which also contained finely shredded vegetable leaves and small pieces of root vegetables; it was steaming hot, and the scent of grease quickly wafted through the air.

The aroma made the many people who had already eaten want to eat again, because the grease was plentiful, and for people who had long lacked intake of grease, just smelling the aroma made them feel hungry.

An Agricultural God in the image of a Cook waved his hand proudly at everyone.

An elderly man with a kind face and a staff saw Jier collapsed by the campfire; his eyes first showed confusion, then he tapped his cane, and the 'Grass and Wood Source' blessing Divine Art on Jier was immediately activated, replenishing Jier with endless energy converted from the Agricultural God's divine power.

Jier instantly regained consciousness; although he felt dull pain all over his body, when he clenched his fists, his strength had increased significantly.

Looking up at the many images of the Agricultural God on the campfire before him, especially one who was looking down at him, Jier raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corners of his mouth and nose, thanking the Agricultural God: "Thank you for your help."

The Agricultural God said nothing, only nodding.

"I helped you too, human Knight, why don't you thank me?"

The Dwarf Wild Priest retracted his hand, stopped his Prayer to soothe the divine power of strength, and complained to Jier, the human outsider who had received quite a bit of the Strength God's divine power.

Jier rolled his eyes, barely stopping himself from saying something unpleasant, but he held back and nodded to the Wild Priest: "Then thank you too, Priest, thank you for your help and support just now."

The Wild Priest also sighed and complained: "I didn't expect the God to choose you for a blessing; you and I were opponents just yesterday."

Jier took a cloth from his body and carefully wiped the vomit and bloodstains off himself, replying: "Yesterday's enemy, today's friend—heh, I didn't expect it either. Since I have also received the personal blessing of the Strength God, could you please not pursue my previous disrespect toward the God? After all, the Strength God himself was quite satisfied with my impudent act."

The Wild Priest didn't know how to refute this; encountering a capricious god, he had no choice, so he had to bid farewell to Jier. With the area surrounded by Nongshen Believers, he quickly woke up the Dwarf Soldier Squad Leader and invited the other human Warrior who had received the Strength God's blessing to go with him.

This young Warrior, a Squad Leader of an Armed Squad, hesitated and felt lost when faced with the invitation, but Jier said nothing, only waving his hand to let him leave: "The path you take from now on will certainly be different from everyone else's. You must find it yourself, and experience it yourself. Go, do not come back, and there is no need to come back. Your strength should be enough to protect yourself."

The young Warrior clenched his palm, felt the change in his strength, and with a face full of excitement and confidence, he picked up his sword and shield without needing any preparation and followed the Dwarf Wild Priest away.

The old Dwarf also left; with the surrounding human populace becoming increasingly fanatical, it was clearly inappropriate for him to stay here any longer. Before leaving, he loudly asked Jier: "And what about the captives?"

Jier waved his hand at him: "I will have the villagers release them; you just go back and wait."

The old Dwarf said no more, and left with his subordinates and the young human Warrior who had newly become a Dwarf Strength God Believer.

When that young human Warrior left, members of the Armed Squad ran over to ask Jier what was going on, and why he had let their Squad Leader go with the Dwarves.

Jier sighed: "He has already offered his loyalty to the Dwarf Strength God and has gained the strength to survive on his own. In short, he is no longer on the same path as you all. He will join the Dwarf Strength God's church and act alongside that Priest of the Strength God's church; that is the path he chose for himself."

"Then, Knight Jier, are you on the same path as us?"

A villager asked Jier with concern.

Jier looked up at the images of the Agricultural God, who were conjuring mellow ale for everyone, and said hesitantly: "I, perhaps, am not on the same path as you all either. It is a pity to say, but after this celebration, you will stay here to settle down, while I must set off with Bata'er Jiaoshi to continue our journey and rescue the Changmai Village Villagers who were abducted."

He paused and added: "And I am actually not on the same path as Bata'er Jiaoshi either; after rescuing the Changmai Village Villagers, he and I will also part ways. He will rebuild the destroyed Changmai Village with the villagers and perhaps join you all to live together. As for me, I will continue on my journey to catch up with our Kendall army. Because there is still a war waiting for me."

Many of the people near Jier felt a bit regretful when they heard what he said, even though they had endless fragrant ale in the wooden bowls in their hands at this moment, and even though the great God of Agriculture had arrived in person, providing them with endless meat broth and inexhaustible bread.

Jier, meanwhile, stretched his body, swung his fists, and kicked his legs, familiarizing himself with this body whose strength had doubled.

Seeing that the people around him who were close to him were not in high spirits, he spoke to comfort them: "Partners and friends who gather together to act will always separate and scatter one day. However, everyone will always meet new partners and friends to act with again. So there is no need to be sad or sorrowful. As long as you keep moving forward on the journey of life, you will encounter new things. And the old things will not disappear; they are either also moving forward on different journeys, and everyone may meet again, or they are firmly kept in everyone's memories, and even if a long time passes, the memories will remain clear."

"Think more about happy and joyful things; after all, compared to just a moment ago, now there is endless ale to drink! Thank the great God of Agriculture; compared to before, you truly seem exceptionally great at this moment!"

Jier took a wooden bowl and raised it toward the great God of Agriculture, and the wooden bowl was automatically filled with fragrant ale. Jier was extremely satisfied, drank a large gulp, and when he clinked glasses with the people around him who were smiling again, the liquor would automatically refill.

Ah, praise the great God of Agriculture, you are exceptionally generous today, bringing a wonderful end to this journey and this celebration of ours.

"Praise the God of Agriculture!" Jier raised his cup and shouted.

People recovered from the shock brought by the Dwarf God of Strength just now, and under the kind gaze of the Humans' own God of Agriculture, regardless of gender, age, or youth, they all raised their cups, drank the fragrant fine wine, and ate the delicious food to their hearts' content. The fine wine was composed of Divine Power, with a wonderful taste but it would not make one drunk; even women and children who could not drink could drink until their bellies were full.

The taste of the food was even more wonderful, and it was quite salty, which was especially suitable for the Refugee people who lacked salt intake and had to travel long distances every day. Everyone had never eaten such delicious food before.

After Priest Bata'er had piously led the believers in praying to the God of Agriculture in person, he also joined the celebration. He smiled through tears, his whole body leaning against a carriage, crying while drinking the liquor mixed with tears.

"What's wrong? Are you crying because you're happy, or are you crying out of grievance after seeing the God of Agriculture after suffering so much these days?"

Jier clinked glasses with the people all the way, and only after much difficulty did he reach Priest Bata'er's side and jokingly said to him.

Priest Bata'er, who was ten years older than Jier, wiped his face with the sleeve of his pale red Robe and explained: "No, it's not that. I just suddenly understood that bringing such smiles to everyone today is perhaps the meaning of the existence of my God and the church."

Jier was about to talk to the Priest, but after a warm spring breeze blew by, he did not expect that a 'person' had walked over from the side. This person's whole body was emitting a faint green light, and he was also a young man in his twenties. Looking at his face and figure, he was quite similar to Priest Bata'er.

A flash of lightning seemed to cross Jier's mind, and he immediately stroked his chest and bowed to show respect.

The young man emitting a faint light raised his hand to signal that there was no need for this, and he spoke to Priest Bata'er: "You are not wrong. Although the meaning of my existence is far more than this, this thought of yours is very correct."

"Who are you?" Priest Bata'er was a bit hesitant; his eyes widened, somewhat confirming, but he dared not confirm the other party's identity.

Jier patted the Priest on the shoulder: "You fool, the great God of Agriculture has arrived in person and is even talking to you, and all you can say is 'Who are you?'."

"Oh oh oh, I, I..." The Priest was extremely nervous.

Although he had seen the descent of the God of Agriculture in the Montoka Diocese and had received revelations from the God of Agriculture in his dreams after the incident at Changmai Village, as in the legends, for Him to take human form and speak to him was something he had never dared to imagine.

The God of Agriculture, who had transformed into a young man resembling Priest Bata'er, just smiled, picked up a wooden bowl from who knows where, which was filled with liquor, and took the initiative to clink it against the wooden bowl filled with liquor mixed with tears in Priest Bata'er's hand.

"Don't be nervous, this is a time worth celebrating, drink this bowl of liquor to the bottom, it is exceptionally precious."

After the young man finished speaking, he drank the liquor in his bowl in one breath, while Priest Bata'er was so excited that his face turned red, and it was only after much difficulty that he drank the liquor in his own bowl.

Subsequently, the ale in the wooden bowls on both sides was filled again.

"Do you know where the liquor comes from?" the young man asked.

Jier raised his hand and interjected: "I know, I know, it's what you created using Divine Power."

The young man looked at Jier with dissatisfaction; Jier shrank his neck and immediately slipped away to find Xueya Site to drink.

After walking far away, Jier discovered that, unlike the images on other campfires, the feet of the God of Agriculture images on other campfires were connected to the flames of the campfires. But this young man, who was emitting a faint green light all over his body, had appeared here abruptly, was not one of the Refugees, and his feet were not connected to a campfire; he was just standing on the ground like that.

At this time, Priest Bata'er answered hesitantly, and the young man had been waiting for him to answer.

"It is brewed using grain and water." The Priest answered very cautiously.

The young man nodded, held the wooden bowl high with one hand, and let the wooden bowl filled with liquor face the afternoon sun: "Water is everywhere; the key is grain. Only in places where grain is abundant will people use the surplus grain to brew wine. Therefore, places where one can drink liquor are all good places that can keep people full."

Priest Bata'er nodded excitedly.

The young man finally said: "Little Luosa, can you make the diocese under your rule in the future prosperous enough for everyone to have wine to drink?"

Priest Luosa-Bata'er answered loudly: "I can! I will definitely be able to let everyone drink liquor, eat their fill, wear warm clothes, and live in sturdy houses!"

"Good, I will be watching you."

When he came back to his senses, the young man in front of the Priest, the God of Agriculture who looked like the father he had seen in his childhood, had already disappeared. Only a 'wooden bowl' was left on the ground. Priest Bata'er picked up the 'wooden bowl' and discovered that this 'wooden bowl' was actually a 'wooden bowl' constructed from the rich Divine Power of the God of Agriculture.

Was this left for him by the God of Agriculture?

He could not be sure, but the Priest still carefully put the 'wooden bowl' back into his waist pocket.

And all around, although the young man had disappeared, the other God of Agriculture images originating from the campfires still existed.

Like an unreal dream, the Priest gulped down the liquor in his bowl, then touched the 'wooden bowl' in his pocket, feeling a bit lost, but also seeming to have understood something.

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? (End of this chapter)