Chapter 155: Green Banyan Customs (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Night.

Inside a café.

Liliyat sat in her seat, her face full of unease.

She was not disguised and was using her original appearance; after all, the people from the Investigation Bureau had become like mad dogs, and conducting secret activities would only make it easier to be exposed, so it was better to meet and talk openly, disguised as a gathering of friends.

This was also the requirement of the God's Messenger.

Thinking that the God's Messenger would meet her using his original appearance made Liliyat feel very happy, as this meant she had gained more trust.

Aaron pondered in his heart, and incidentally called the waiter to order a hot cocoa.

"So that's how it is..." Aaron pressed a banknote under the glazed porcelain cup and stood up: "Let's go for a walk!"

"Sir, buy an item blessed by the Green Banyan Tree; it will protect you."

"Thank you, kind sir."

Liliyat made a gesture that Aaron recognized; it was a ritual from ancient times when sacrificing to the Green Banyan Tree.

Liliyat's expression was grave: "Could it be... that something bad is about to happen?"

Liliyat tried hard to make her demeanor appear natural, as if chatting with a friend: "I am truly sorry, but the item you needed last time was not something my father had..."

"There have been new developments now... Speaking of which, have you heard about the terrible things that happened at the Witch's House?"

"Everything will be fine, may the Green Banyan protect you!"

He pondered for a while, intuiting that what Liliyat said was true; she dared not lie to him, and as long as her father cherished his daughter, he would not care about a piece of Secrecy knowledge.

"Five, no, just three pennies!"

Aaron noticed a vendor pushing a small handcart; he was about fifty years old, with graying hair and a plain appearance, yet the goods he sold were quite interesting—they were handicrafts such as statues and crowns made from the branches of banyan trees.

'More channels? The Doran Family has already declined, and apart from that Green Banyan Council, there are no other channels to be found, right?'

"Also... about the matter of delivering the letter last time..."

"Later, although with the spread of the Holy Spirit Church, the Great Ancestor was distorted into the Green Angel, this custom had to be preserved. Now, Green Forest City takes the last day of September as the Green Banyan Birthday, and even if people do not attend the celebration, they often buy a few Green Banyan Tree products to place in their homes..."

Yet those bankrupts and the poor had to pawn the coats they used to keep out the cold, shivering in the cold wind, and had to keep stomping their feet to maintain their body temperature.

Liliyat wore glasses, appearing quite delicate, and her appearance was considered above average, attracting the gazes of many men.

"I understand, keep working hard."

Most of them were streetwalkers and some itinerant vendors.

"There is nothing to say about it; the business my husband invested in collapsed, and my family went bankrupt because of it..." The old lady sighed: "Fortunately, after selling the original house, we paid off the debts. Although it is a bit crowded to live in now, once Old Cowles graduates from university and finds a good job, everything will be fine."

Aaron was silent for a moment, took out five Copper Coins, handed them to her, and while the other party expressed her gratitude, he fiddled with the headband in his hand.

Walking on the street, one could see small vendors selling Green Banyan products from time to time.

Liliyat cryptically mentioned the matter regarding the intelligence and the Investigation Bureau from last time.

"I have heard of it... and have also conducted some investigations, discovering that similar incidents seem to have occurred many times in the slums of Green Forest City, and there is a trend of them becoming increasingly intense."

This was something the entire Green Forest City knew about, a matter discussed extensively in the newspapers; even rumors about the appearance of a large number of insects were flying everywhere, and discussing it in public would not attract any attention.

The thing referred to here was, naturally, the Dream Realm Positioning Technology that Aaron wanted.

However, she still put on her coat, wore a hat with a veil, and followed behind Aaron.

At the end of September in Green Forest City, the weather had become extremely cold.

She really could not figure out how that Roberts, after completing his promotion, still dared not run away and instead stayed in the Green Forest Region to stir up trouble!

But thinking that the task she had been entrusted with last time was not completed, she could not help but feel uneasy again.

The old lady thanked her repeatedly, appearing very polite, which made Liliyat ask out of curiosity: "Madam, you look very well-bred, why have you fallen to... I'm sorry..."

Aaron stopped in front of an old woman wearing a thin garment with half-white hair, looked at the simple items in her basket, picked out a headband woven from Green Banyan twigs at random, and asked casually.

This old lady looked at Aaron with expectant eyes.

Therefore, the Doran Family indeed did not have the technology related to Dream Realm positioning.

"It's almost time for the Green Banyan Festival..."

The café was brightly lit, and through the window, one could see the street outside where gas street lamps were lit.

"I'm afraid so..."

Aaron sighed, looking out the window.

Liliyat inexplicably felt that this Mr. Yasuo seemed a bit sad, which made her eyes ache, and she felt very strange in her heart.

"This one... what is the price?"

Aaron asked calmly.

By the end of September, even at night, there was still some flow of people under the gas street lamps.

"This folk custom has been studied by many Scholars, and in the Mysterious world, it is widely believed to have some connection with that Green Forest Earl..."

She endured her discomfort and waited for another ten minutes, when she suddenly saw a man in his thirties with an ordinary appearance and azure eyes push open the door of the café, scan the room slightly, and walk toward her seat.

And the Green Banyan Council behind them must be very suspicious of his existence; in the short term, there was a high probability that he would not be able to get his hands on it.

Although Aaron did not use the Raven Mask, he wore Benjamin's Human Skin Mask, sat opposite Liliyat, and lowered his voice: "You can call me Mr. Yasuo!"

Liliyat was about to follow Aaron to leave when she suddenly heard a muffled sound behind her.

Hearing this, his brow could not help but furrow.

"Mr. Yasuo..."

Liliyat hurriedly added a sentence: "However, my father guarantees that he will pursue it through more channels!"

Aaron picked up the exquisite glazed porcelain cup and tasted a sip of the fragrant and sweet cocoa.

"May the Great Ancestor protect you." The old lady's eyes lit up, and she replied the same way.

"Hello, White Dove..."

Liliyat watched this scene, yet she was very familiar with it: "In winters past, Green Forest City would hold grand celebrations to offer sacrifices to the Green Banyan Tree Grandmother. This is a custom left over from the Fabri Dynasty, or even the earlier Green Forest Period, and it has already merged into the blood of all Green Forest City citizens..."

She turned around and saw that old woman collapsed on the ground, having fainted; her abdomen was swelling rapidly, as if something were about to burst out from within her body!

"This is..."

Liliyat's pupils constricted as she thought of those terrifying rumors that had occurred at the Witch's House and in the slums!

(End of this chapter)