Chapter 458: Mao Mao Looking After Children, the Sacred Artifact of Endless Ale

"The third type, meanwhile, are the paranoid ones. They have ability and the drive to act, believing they are doing the right thing, but in reality, they only bring about chaos, causing large-scale damage that the first two types could never bring about in a lifetime. I heard about the situation in the outside world from Luosa; you see, the current war between the nobles of the Southern Province and the neighboring country is just like this. Ah, 'defending the territory of the Holy Kingdom,' 'protecting the land the gods have bestowed upon us'—how attractive these slogans are. But because of this, taxes are increased across the entire province, troops are conscripted, and the forces maintaining order in various places are gathered, leading to the emptiness of villages and towns everywhere, which in turn causes the destruction and abandonment of how many villages? And how many people have become refugees because of this, dying on the road in search of safety? Therefore, how could such people ever think that they would cause trouble? Even if they realized their actions would bring trouble, they would likely only say it is a cold price to pay, wouldn't they?"

Jier did not offer any opinion on this; after all, he still had to participate in the war against the neighboring country, and those he would join afterward would likely be the very high-and-mighty nobles that Priest Feilina was criticizing.

"The last type is the most pathetic category of people. They do good deeds, yet they are not recognized by the masses, who only slander them as bad people doing bad things. And looking back years later, even if the masses realize they made a mistake, there is likely no one left to clear the name of the former who has long since died. Would such a person think they did a bad thing or caused trouble?"

"Sounds like an misunderstood hero performing heroic deeds?" Jier guessed.

Priest Feilina said with a cold expression: "I learned from the books in my teacher's library that, many times, there is no difference between a hero and a great villain criticized by the people. They can be a hero first and then turn into a villain in the eyes of the masses, or they can be a villain first and then be considered a hero by the people. Or perhaps, is he both a villain and a hero? Both a hero and a villain? Everyone's perspective is also very different based on their status; the Nongshen Believer warriors who fight for the interests of the vast farmers are often trouble-makers in the eyes of the local nobles. And when the nobles find ways to punish these Nongshen Believer warriors who stir up trouble, few people dare to stand up and support them..."

Jier took a deep look at Priest Feilina; clearly, this highly capable female priest must have a very unusual background.

Her family might have once suffered oppression from the noble class because they defended the interests of the farmers.

By this point in their conversation, both felt they had delved too deep for such a shallow acquaintance, so they tacitly stopped speaking and instead watched Priest Bata'er comfort the emotionally agitated children one by one, promising them in a sincere tone that he would certainly rescue their families on this trip.

Jier felt that Priest Bata'er's promise was made too early; this was somewhat inappropriate. If he failed to rescue the people, how would he face these children who had lost their parents?

Just as he was about to say something, several children suddenly looked behind Jier, their faces showing excitement as they shouted: "Kitty! Kitty!"

Once one child shouted, the other children looked over, one after another becoming happy and calling out for the kitties.

Priest Bata'er was taken aback, followed their gaze, and could not help but let out a bitter laugh: "Those aren't kitties; they are the alien long-haired lynx Beast-men hired by Warrior Jier. They are an intelligent race and can speak."

"Talking kitties?"

The children were even more excited, one after another leaving Priest Bata'er behind, bypassing Jier and Priest Feilina, and rushing into the courtyard behind Jier.

Jier turned his head to look and discovered that several Mao Mao who had come out to stretch were currently surrounded by children of all sizes. The Mao Mao were terrified and uneasy, using their tails to prop themselves up high, while the children were also a bit timid yet excited, not daring to actually reach out and touch these long-tailed, upright-walking cats.

"Be careful, these Mao Mao are professional alien warriors; ordinary people are no match for them, and it's even more dangerous for children." Jier hurriedly warned, and Priest Feilina asked: "Then what should we do? Will these aliens get startled and hurt the children?"

Priest Bata'er was unconcerned; he walked over and offered a suggestion: "That's nothing to fear. These Mao Mao—oh, that's just the short name for the long-haired lynx Beast-men—they really like metal objects. You can hire them to do things just by taking out some metal items. These little guys have always had very good credit. Hehe, Feilina, do you have any useless metal here? Take a few pieces out; you can totally hire these Mao Mao to help look after the children."

Priest Feilina looked skeptical, but she still walked to the nearby Tool Room and took out a handful of rusty Iron Nails: "Are these enough?"

Jier took a look: "About enough."

Afterward, Priest Bata'er and Priest Feilina went over together, holding the handful of corroded Iron Nails, and communicated something with the Mao Mao surrounded by the children. Yongqi Maomao accepted the Iron Nails without ceremony, then mercilessly designated three unlucky Mao Mao, telling them to go play with the human toddlers.

These three selected Mao Mao looked helpless, having no choice but to flick their tails, making intentionally cute 'mimi' sounds, and hopping around the children.

The children were thrilled; the bold ones wanted to use their hands to touch these fluffy big cats, but the Mao Mao were all experienced warriors; their movements were agile, and the children's short little hands couldn't touch a single hair on them.

Jier watched for a while and discovered that these Mao Mao were actually quite good at entertaining; although they didn't like being touched by human children, they didn't really leave the children aside either.

One hung upside down by its tail from a hanging candle holder on the roof, swaying its body and making unknown alien chants, amusing the children so much that they reached out one after another, trying to reach the hanging Mao Mao.

One picked up several small stones from the ground, and while using its tail to prop up its body to suspend itself in the air, it tossed the small stones into the air with both hands, showing off an agile and dazzling acrobatic performance.

Another was more approachable, playing hide-and-seek with a few older children. The children hid in the courtyard, and the Mao Mao went looking while meowing. Of course, the children's hiding spots basically wouldn't stump these Mao Mao warriors, but since it was just play, the Mao Mao would meow, pretend not to find them, and walk back and forth where the children were hiding. When the children heard the sound and thought it had walked away, it would suddenly appear and gently tap the tops of the children's heads with its tail, making them let out screams of both surprise and excitement.

"Isn't this quite good? These Mao Mao seem to have quite a lot of experience in looking after children," Jier teased.

Unexpectedly, Yongqi Maomao crawled out from who knows where and said to him from the building above Jier's head: "Looking after children, toddlers, is also Mao Mao, warrior, necessary, work. Tribe, migration, female Mao Mao, search, food, Mao Mao warrior, protect toddlers, protect tribe, future."

Jier nodded: "So that's how it is. The warriors with the highest combat power in the tribe are responsible for protecting the tribe's most vital future, right?"

"Yes." After Yongqi Maomao finished speaking, it saw Dashu Bi'ao in the middle of the next courtyard, its eyes lighting up, and relying on the courtyard's architecture, it leaped a few times and landed on the branches of the big tree.

"Big tree, safe, wisdom, guidance."

Yongqi Maomao didn't know what it was saying; the whole Mao Mao climbed up and down on Dashu Bi'ao, finally landing on the ground, kneeling toward the big tree, and meowing something in an alien language.

A warm evening breeze blew, and the branches and leaves of the big tree made a soft rustling sound, which made one feel very relaxed just hearing it.

And Yongqi Maomao boldly came to the roots of the big tree, found a comfortable spot, curled itself into a ball, and just fell asleep right there.

Jier found it somewhat incredible; one had to know that Mao Mao were nocturnal creatures; for them, night was daytime, and daytime was when they slept. In human terms, it would be like waking up in the morning, having slept all night, only to fall asleep again as soon as the sun came up.

But this was the Mao Mao's own business, and Jier couldn't interfere. He walked to the side of the two Nongshen Priests, continued to talk about his experiences during this time, and watched the Mao Mao tease the children and play with them.

Children had limited energy; they had looked excited just a moment ago, but by the time the caravan's meal wasn't even ready yet, most of the children were sleepy, one after another finding Priest Feilina to say they wanted to sleep.

The two priests had no choice but to carry the sleepy little ones away, taking them to a small room in the next courtyard to rest. Jier followed, discovering that Priest Feilina hadn't lied; she had indeed built a small new bed for each of these children.

Before sleeping, the children peed once, then were settled into their own little beds, and soon drifted into dreamland with a 'gulu' sound.

"Shh, both of you keep your voices down."

After Priest Feilina came out, she asked Jier and the other to keep their voices lower. She herself had to go to the front of the Church to call the villagers to evening Prayer, so she left early, while Jier teased Priest Bata'er: "She's gone to pray, don't you, as a priest, need to?"

Unexpectedly, Priest Bata'er shook his head: "There aren't many Nongshen Believers around, so I won't organize a prayer. Besides, the prayers she organizes are so good, with so many people, and the believers' Faith is so devout. Therefore, the Nongshen Divine Power converted is far stronger than mine."

Afterward, Priest Bata'er whispered to Jier: "Besides, I have this."

He took a small object wrapped in three layers of cloth from his pocket, and upon unwrapping it, it turned out to be a slightly glowing, semi-illusory Wooden Bowl.

"This is?" Jier found this thing somewhat familiar, but couldn't recall it for a moment.

Priest Bata'er smiled slightly: "This is a Sacred Artifact personally bestowed upon me by the great Nongshen."

"A Sacred Artifact? A wooden bowl? Just because it was bestowed by Nongshen, it's a Sacred Artifact?" Jier asked back, speechless.

"No, no, no, the reason it is a Sacred Artifact is not just because the great Nongshen used it; the key is that as long as it wants to, it can pour out endless refreshing ale at any time!" Priest Bata'er explained excitedly.

Jier's eyes lit up. Endless refreshing ale? Wasn't that the generous God's Miracle that Nongshen performed during the celebration?

He hadn't expected that this plain-looking wooden bowl left for Priest Bata'er would also retain a portion of the miracle.

Jier was somewhat tempted; the thought of being able to drink a bowl of refreshing ale at any time made him tremble with excitement. Of course, he wasn't a drunkard, and it wasn't that he absolutely had to have that ale, but if this thing existed, it could greatly alleviate the need for drinking water for a squad-sized group of warriors on a long journey.

Being able to drink a bowl of ale wherever you went—this was simply a strategic-level Sacred Artifact, no, a Divine Artifact!

"It's a pity, if only it could be like Nongshen at the time and conveniently conjure up chicken and meat broth as well."

Priest Bata'er rolled his eyes: "This is already a generous gift from the great Nongshen to a small Pastor like me; one cannot be too greedy. What the gods bestow is yours; you must not greedily demand, nor may you rudely refuse."

Jier blinked: "Can you let me hold it and play with it for two days?"

Looking at the 'sincere' eyes revealed after Jier lifted his Faceplate, Priest Bata'er hesitated, but he quickly reacted: "No, what's the difference between the item being with me and it being with you? Warrior Jier, you wouldn't borrow it and not return it to me, would you?"

"How could that be? Am I that kind of person? Hahahaha, I just want to taste whether the refreshing ale poured from this wooden bowl is the same as the ale Nongshen conjured up two days ago or not?"

"Is that so? Then it just so happens that the meal is ready; before eating, do you want to taste the flavor of the ale flowing from this Sacred Artifact?" Priest Bata'er also wanted to show his companion the magic of this Sacred Artifact on a small scale, so he asked tentatively.

Jier rubbed his hands and said impatiently: "Then what are we waiting for, let's go quickly!"

"Shh—" Priest Bata'er raised a finger, signaling Jier to keep his voice down; the children in the house next door had just fallen asleep.

"Oh, look at my mouth, my voice was a bit too loud. Let's go, let's go, my stomach is hungry."

After speaking, the two of them snuck toward the backyard, whispering secretly to each other, occasionally letting out rustling, happy laughter.

In the middle of the night, Jier hiccuped, clutched his stomach, and returned, panting, to the personal tent he had already set up.

He tried to loosen the belt on his armor a bit more to be more comfortable, but after fiddling with it for a long time, he discovered that the belt was already at its widest setting; any wider, and the armor's belt would not be able to stay fastened.

"Just like this then. Ugh, I didn't expect that I'd accidentally drink so much. Ugh, it must be because the environment is safe now, so I drank a little more." Jier muttered to himself. Don't let his state fool you; Bata'er Jiaoshi drank just as much, but because his constitution wasn't as good as Jier's, our Priest of the God of Agriculture had long since passed out from the drink.

Thinking of this, Jier chuckled, reached into the pocket at his waist, and took out the Sacred Wooden Bowl that was emitting a faint glow.

"Hehe, anyway, the Priest is drunk, so keeping the item on him isn't very safe. Ugh, it's only natural that I help him keep it safe until dawn." Jier said with a grin, then actually raised the Wooden Bowl, tilted it slightly, and opened his mouth wide beneath it, not making contact but keeping a certain distance.

As his hand tilted, a stream of cold, refreshing ale poured out of the otherwise empty Wooden Bowl as if from thin air.

Jier opened his mouth wide, took a mouthful of ale, then leveled the bowl, closed his mouth, and gulped down the mouthful of ale.

"Hoo—refreshing!" Jier exclaimed, becoming even more reluctant to part with the small Wooden Bowl in his hand.

He struggled for a moment, but finally sighed, deciding to return it to Bata'er Jiaoshi after dawn. As for tonight, he decided he would hold this wonderful, great Sacred Artifact in his arms to sleep for the night.

Jier, without even taking off his armor, clumsily crawled into his Dog Fur Sleeping Bag and fell into a sweet sleep.

A breeze blew outside the tent, and the branches and leaves of the big tree in the adjacent yard rustled, as if wanting to say something, but no one could understand.

But in Jier's sweet dream, things had changed.

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