Chapter 60: Night in Banjiu Cunzi, Light from Beyond the Sky, On the Subject of Faith

That night, the night was silent.

Although the parasitic monsters held no hatred for animals other than humans, they clearly did not like the noisy, various small animals moving about them.

It was unknown whether they had eaten the various animals in the village or driven them away. In any case, Banjiu Cunzi at night was very quiet, apart from the humans.

But at this moment, the entire village was actually packed with people. Hundreds of villagers who had transferred from outside the town during the day had finally returned to their own village after being away for months. Although no one had cleaned the houses for many days, it was clear that everyone did not care about this. After arranging enough night watch patrols, most people went to sleep early in their own homes.

Even some villagers who were not from Banjiu Cunzi were forcibly squeezed into the returning group. They had no houses to live in, so they were temporarily placed in unoccupied village houses to stay for the time being.

Occasionally, one could hear the crying of some villagers, either loud or soft, in the quiet village.

These were tears of joy; many people had clearly suffered too much in that hellish place outside the town. To say nothing else, just the constant price hikes of various survival supplies in the town had plundered the various wealth the villagers had accumulated over these years.

Although the biggest assets, land and property, were still in the hands of the villagers and had not been lost, the villagers of Banjiu Cunzi had no extra money in their pockets at this time.

But merely losing wealth made most villagers feel somewhat lucky. After all, fights between villagers from various villages had occurred frequently some time ago, and many people, including villagers from Banjiu Cunzi, had died on that crowded land outside the town.

Some female villagers were violated to death by young men from neighboring villages who could not suppress their desires; most were strangled or smothered to death to prevent them from screaming. And once people died, the subsequent retaliatory acts between villages were the main source of casualties.

Cunzi A wanted revenge and gathered men to attack, while Cunzi B protected its own and naturally also gathered men to defend and counterattack.

Back and forth, many people died in the large-scale brawls.

Don't ask why the Town Guards of Yemei Town didn't come to manage public order; their manpower was truly insufficient. A total of two hundred to nearly three hundred Town Guards was already the maximum security force that Yemei Town, a small town of nearly three thousand people, could temporarily conscript.

Even then, most of them had to be placed in the town, responsible for the order and stability within the town, because this was very important for the rule of the Sasi Family.

The remaining people had to have half of them stationed on the circular stone walls of Yemei Town, and the other half needed to maintain the safety of the massive trench project outside the town to ensure the project could be completed as planned.

The Town Guards really did not have enough people to be responsible for the security of the tens of thousands of temporarily gathered villagers; they didn't even have the chance to rest and rotate. Therefore, they could only watch as the villagers outside the town fought each other due to conflicts and revenge, leaving casualties everywhere.

Finally, they would notify the Priests of the Church of the God of the Dead to come and collect the bodies.

And for the villagers of Banjiu Cunzi who were entering their dreams at this moment, they had finally escaped the nightmare-like environment outside the town and returned to their own homeland.

Although Banjiu Cunzi was not safe at this time, even if the worst-case scenario happened, wouldn't it be better to die in one's own homeland than to die elsewhere?

At least most of the villagers thought so.

In the open space in the center of the village.

The Warriors under Jier's command lay down on the ground one after another around several campfires to rest. On a muggy summer night, it was acceptable to occasionally not sleep in tents but to lie directly on the flat ground to spend the night.

The dirt ground had been illuminated by the scorching sun for an entire day, and one could still feel the lingering warmth when lying down at this time. Following Jier's suggestion, everyone just took off their boots and shoes and rested on the ground, either lying or sitting, while their armor and equipment were uniformly kept on. This way, even if monsters suddenly launched an attack or harassment tonight, everyone could pack up as quickly as possible and form up in time to meet the enemy.

But at this moment, Jier himself was standing on the platform atop the north gate of the village, looking toward the northeast of Banjiu Cunzi. The accompanying Priests of the Agricultural God were also gathered here, looking over there together and whispering in discussion.

What were they looking at?

To the northeast of Banjiu Cunzi, which was the north side of Yemei Town, unlike Banjiu Cunzi which had entered the night, it was currently bright as day!

And it was nighttime right now!!!

A beam of light projected downward from the place of the Sun God Emblem in the sky onto the north side of Yemei Town. This unnatural Divine Power illumination from outer space actually made the land, which should have been pitch black, brighter than during the day.

The ground looked like it was made of gold, reflecting the bright light from the sky. And the small group of humans staying there, like a group of moving ants, were the only black dots on the golden, whitish land.

"Like a God's Miracle! No, this is a God's Miracle!" Jier exclaimed continuously. He stood straight, gazing at the grand scene in the distance.

That scene was not like the military illumination flares from his previous life, which at least always had a descent and maintenance time. But on the north side of Yemei Town, it had been that bright since the night began.

Such an abnormal scene could be easily seen even from Banjiu Cunzi, over ten kilometers away, not to mention that if one were closer or right there, the shocking scene would likely be even clearer and more obvious.

Jier had the thought of running over there overnight, not for anything else, but just to experience and feel this scene that was like a God's Miracle.

At the beginning of spring this year, during the spring floods in Kendall County, he could only regretfully watch the miracle Divine Art of the two Priestesses of the God of Lakes and Rivers from afar in Kendall City, and he had not been able to observe and feel that scene at close range, which had made him quite regretful at the time.

And now, seeing such a spectacular scene again, Jier felt very regretful because he could not leave as he still had to protect the villagers of Banjiu Cunzi who had just returned to the village.

"That is not any God's Miracle."

The middle-aged Priest of the Agricultural God accompanying the team said in a deep voice. He saw the longing and the thought of running over in Jier's eyes, so he immediately spoke to interrupt the thoughts of the warrior Jier at this moment.

"Oh? But such a spectacular scene, if not called a God's Miracle, is really hard to justify, right?" Jier turned his head and asked in confusion.

This local Vice Dean explained to him carefully: "That should just be a Large-scale Divine Art cast by the Priests of the Sun God Church after collective Prayer to avoid being ambushed by parasitic monsters at night. I have seen something similar before; it is after collective Prayer, gathering the Divine Power of the Priests into a glowing, bright Divine Power Light Ball, which rises above the heads of the army and is maintained to provide long-term, widespread temporary illumination."

"This kind of Divine Art of the Sun God Church can prevent the army from being ambushed at night and also allow Warriors to march and fight at night—the Divine Power Light Ball will follow the Priests who cast it. However, to have the light cover an army, there must be at least ten Priests of the Sun God Church present to have enough manpower to perform the lowest level of Prayer for a Large-scale Divine Art."

The Vice Dean looked up at the emblem representing the human Sun God in the sky and sighed deeply: "I guess it's just because the Sun God has become a powerful deity, so similar Divine Arts have had new changes, which is why it looks so spectacular and powerful now."

Then he looked at Jier with worry: "Warrior Jier, our God also has grand and mighty power that does not lose to the Sun God, so please do not envy them. It is just that our Agricultural God Church in Yemei Town has fewer people and is not as effective. In fact, we successfully held a large-scale Prayer ceremony with ten thousand believers participating a few years ago, making the land in the entire Northern Sasi County that was originally resting due to crop rotation produce enough fertility because of that ceremony."

Speaking of this, he became somewhat proud; clearly, being able to successfully participate in organizing a large-scale ceremony at the ten-thousand-person level made him feel extremely proud.

But Jier just curled his lips in secret and didn't think it was anything remarkable. After all, a ceremony where the Agricultural God Church gathered ten thousand believers to participate collectively only replenished the fertility of the local fallow land. Perhaps it was remarkable in agricultural production, but he dared to say that in terms of spectacle, it was definitely not as grand as what the Sun God Church was doing right now.

After all, when the earth entered the night, the sky was covered with stars, and the whole world fell into pitch-black darkness, the Sun God Church only needed ten Priests to beg for a beam of scorching white light from the Sun God's Divine Kingdom in outer space to descend from the sky, illuminating a large area as if it were daytime.

Even from over ten kilometers away, one could easily see such a spectacular scene; it was really hard to make a correct comparison between the two.

Therefore, Jier could not help but recall the bold plan proposed by the Priests of the Sun God Church at the discussion banquet of the Sasi Family two days ago:

They planned to have the over ten thousand villagers in the town collectively participate in a large-scale ceremony hosted by the Sun God Church. The Priests claimed that they could use the ceremony to summon fire from the sky and clear away the parasitic plant monsters ravaging the entire Sasi County in one go.

At that time, most of the people present felt that the other party was bragging and talking nonsense. Compared to whether they could solve the monsters, the other party's goal was likely the ten thousand villagers participating in the ceremony.

After all, it was hard to say whether they could drive away or kill the parasitic monsters, but the villagers participating in the ceremony would clearly be drawn into the Faith of the Sun God by the Priests of the Sun God Church through various means, whether obvious or secret, during the entire process of participating in the ceremony.

Now that Jier thought about it, the Sun God Priest who gave this plan at the time might not have been lying!

They were likely truly capable of doing what they said, and they also had the confidence to do it.

After all, they had 'someone' above, no, they had a God above!

After the Sun God's Divine Kingdom and holy land ascended beyond the sky, the human Sun God, who had been promoted to a powerful deity, finally started to gradually show his strength after two years of silence and contraction?

Jier thought that if other human gods did not do something in the future, the overall proportion of Faith in human society would likely undergo huge changes in the next hundred years or so.

The first to bear the brunt would be the Faith of the Agricultural God, which had the most and widest number of believers.

If the Agricultural God did not have other tricks, then in the future, His believers would only be pried away bit by bit by the Sun God Church and converted to the Faith of the Sun God.

Just like now, Jier dared to pat his chest and guarantee that the villagers who returned home along the path followed by the Priests of the Sun God Church would definitely convert to the Faith of the Sun God after feeling the strength and mighty power of the Sun God at close range.

"You don't seem to be very worried about the future? I just had the urge to go over and take a look overnight; those villagers there must have felt it even more deeply on the spot."

Jier withdrew his gaze from the northeast and turned to ask the middle-aged Priest beside him.

"What is there to worry about? People whose Faith is not firm were always going to be hard-pressed to do anything for the gods and the Church. If they see the power of other gods and change their Faith because of it, there is no guarantee that one day in the future, they won't change their Faith again upon seeing the power of yet another god."

"True Faith is not such a superficial thing. It is not something that can be changed by a mere thought from an ordinary believer. Warrior Jier, Faith is the 'one' that runs through the entirety of life, and it is also the 'circle' that encompasses the whole of countless people's lives."

This Vice Dean was different from Jier; at this moment, he was still watching the spectacular scene to the northeast of Banjiu Cunzi without blinking.

He spoke as he watched, sounding as if he were speaking to Jier, as if he were speaking to the four young Agriculture Priests around him, and even more so as if he were simply speaking to himself, his words firming and reinforcing his own Faith: "Faith is the first safe companion that protects your safe birth into this world when you are born."

"Faith is the first initial understanding of the world that you learn and imitate from your elders at home."

"Faith is the gentle words and Healing Divine Art from a Priest when you are young, playful, and injured."

"Faith is the skill and ability you learn to help you work when you first participate in family production."

"Faith is the important antidote you can seek help from when you are sick and suffering."

"Faith is the important channel for meeting the opposite sex when you are young, restless, and participating in group activities."

"Faith is the greeting and blessing that congratulates and protects you when you start a family."

"Faith is the best path to answer your questions and resolve your doubts when you are full of confusion."

"Faith is the excellent harbor that provides peace of mind when you tell of your pain while troubled by the hardships of life."

"Faith is the only and final security guarantee that can help you turn your life around when you are poor and destitute."

"Faith is the comforting companion that stays by your side when your family members pass away."

"Faith is the guiding light for dealing with death when you are old and decaying."

"Faith gives you Yongqi, it gives you wisdom, it gives you strength, and it also gives you tenderness."

"Faith will not forsake you, unless you forsake it first."

"Faith soothes a person's entire life, starting from the wailing infant to the old and slow time of impending death, and it will even transcend death to accompany you for lifetimes."

"Faith permeates every aspect of a person's life and existence, infiltrating and influencing the entirety of a person's life."

"Faith, please rely on it, rather than distance yourself from it."

"Faith, please accept it, rather than fear it."

"Faith, please firmly believe in it, rather than doubt it."

"Faith is a brilliant Gem, the essence of Human civilization, and the sharp sword of our race. It allows us to unite together to face the darkness and beasts of the outside world."

"It is fire, it is food, it is water, it is air, it is the clothing that covers the body; it is an important part of life that no one can leave behind."

The middle-aged Priest was generous and heroic, his tone confident and firm.

The four young Priests around him also had flushed faces, their hands clenched tightly, seemingly having firmed their Faith beyond compare.

Jier, however, remained silent.

Because looking at the Vice Dean's words, these were all one-sided good things about Faith; he only spoke of the various benefits of Faith, so what about the downsides?

Why don't you mention those?

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