Chapter 888: The Maze Tribe

Everything that happened on Tian Jiang Dao subsequently stirred up a massive uproar in the Lingjie.

The scope of the great upheaval was extremely broad; almost no tribe was left unaffected, because every existing tribe worshipped some deity, and ninety-nine percent of these deities had fallen in this great war.

However, this impact remained temporarily at a relatively high level—that is, among the powerful upper echelons such as the high priests, governing officials, and military generals. They received the news quickly and could not help but panic for a time. Yet, relying on years of experience and at least passable political instinct, they unanimously suppressed the spread of the news to the lower-level Lingjie commoners and believers.

Although it was likely impossible to keep it hidden forever, as long as they could keep it under wraps for a day, the upper echelons would have a day to respond. Only after strategies were discussed would they let the wind blow downward bit by bit.

Of course, that was how they thought, and the strategy was certainly not wrong. However, it also required the permission of others.

"A Jing, A Jing! Have you heard?"

A young girl with deer antlers on her head and a round nose, looking like a fawn, ran to the edge of the village in a panic.

This village of several hundred households was built in the forest, and the village was filled with tall trees, looking like a scene of pure natural beauty.

Around the village, there was a small house with a thatched roof and wooden walls; the roof was decorated with fresh leaves and flowers, looking no different from the average house in the village. It was at most a bit smaller and a bit more crude. Unlike those large houses that had weathered many storms, this house looked very new, as if it were a snail-shell dwelling that had just been put together.

Following her loud shouting, another young girl came out from the house. She was about the same age, also had deer antlers on her head, and her appearance was more dignified and serene.

The dignified girl, A Jing, was holding a large tray of fresh fruit—each one a small, green, cute triangular fruit, still covered in water droplets—and said, "Arong, you've come? Taste the new Green Pepper fruit."

The girl who had arrived, Arong, said hurriedly, "Oh, when can't you eat fruit? Don't you know? The outside world is about to turn upside down."

A Jing looked up slightly and could see the thick clouds filling the sky. The weather was gloomier than usual; even though it was noon, it was as dim as dusk, but other than that, there was nothing else. She said, "Turned upside down? I don't see that at all; the sky hasn't fallen yet."

Arong said repeatedly, "It hasn't fallen yet, but it's about the same. Have you heard? Our god—Lord Rong Shen has fallen."

A Jing froze for a moment and said hurriedly, "Nonsense, you're talking nonsense! How can you speak recklessly about such things? How could a god fall? Gods are eternal and indestructible!"

Arong said with a trembling voice, "Don't talk about eternity. The matter has happened clearly and plainly. At the Pantheon Assembly last month, Lord Rong Shen truly fell. No matter how good or reasonable the logic the Priest Grandpa speaks sounds, it cannot make a god resurrect. Gods can truly die! I also heard that it's not just our god, but the gods of other tribes as well. Those great gods, those supreme gods with boundless magic power, all vanished overnight; they all died!"

A Jing was somewhat flustered and said, "Ah, is it true? How could such a thing happen? Oh, what should we do? I haven't received the divine bestowal yet, and I haven't become an adult deer-antler Martial Artist. What will I do in the future?"

Arong froze for a moment. She had been preoccupied with shock and fear and hadn't thought of the more realistic problems. A Jing was right; the most important major event for their Jungle Maze tribe members was to receive the bestowal of Rong Shen upon reaching adulthood at twenty, gaining Divine Power and vitality. Whether they became a Martial Artist or a healer, they would formally have an identity and a future, and only then would they consider marriage or going to the battlefield to seek status, and then look for a partner to start a family.

She and A Jing were both not yet adult tribe members, but they would turn twenty this year and would soon be able to receive the blessing. If the god had fallen, they would never have another chance.

Arong also became anxious and said, "What to do? The god didn't fall early or late, but happened to fall this year. It's simply too..."

Then she heard a voice sternly shout, "Arong, what nonsense are you spouting?!"

The two turned their heads and saw a middle-aged female tribe member walking over. The antlers on her head were much more complex than those of the two girls, and they were dark gold, marking that she possessed powerful strength and was an outstanding deer-antler warrior.

Arong said hurriedly, "Wen Guma, I am not talking nonsense, the god really..."

The aunt shouted, "I'm not talking about the god, I'm talking about you! What 'true' or 'false'? At a time like this, nothing you say is right; the most important thing is to shut your mouth!"

She walked over and whispered a stern reprimand: "Do you know what the Elder Council's first order today was? It is to strictly investigate rumors! To investigate why such an absurd rumor spread across the six major tribes overnight? Even a little brat like you knew it in an instant; isn't this some malicious villain causing trouble? Tell me, where did you hear it from?"

Arong was intimidated and answered with almost no hesitation, "I heard it from Cousin Afei; he was chatting with a few friends. Why don't you go ask him?"

Wen Guma sighed and said, "So it was him. I don't need to ask him; he has already been arrested. The knights are interrogating him; if he doesn't spit out the truth, I'm afraid his life is over."

Arong's face changed drastically and she said, "How could it be like this..."

Wen Guma glared at her and said, "You only just realized the severity? If it weren't for the fact that only the two of you are here, if there were any other tribe member present, I would have to arrest you too! Don't talk about you; I heard the source of the rumor is the Qiu tribe. The Elder Council has already sent a knight squad over and surrounded them. Not a single person in their tribe, old or young, can be let go; they must all be held accountable. If you still want to live in peace, then shut your mouth for me."

Arong was already trembling and said, "I won't say it anymore, I will never say it again."

Wen Guma then nodded and said, "I also heard you are worried about the adulthood ceremony. You certainly can't worry about it now, but after this period passes, there will always be a way. Is it possible the tribe won't develop? There must be a plan. You children shouldn't worry about major affairs, and don't add to the chaos. A Jing..."

She looked at A Jing and whispered, "Your mother told you to bring the token and property back to our Xia tribe, and you are also a member of our Xia tribe now. No matter how you look at it, you are a member of the Xia tribe, and you... are my niece. So you must not tell anyone that you escaped back from the Qiu tribe, you know? And Arong, you are not allowed to say it either!"

A Jing and Arong nodded repeatedly. Arong said, "I will never tell other tribe members. A Jing is clearly a good friend who grew up with me since childhood; what does she have to do with outside tribes?"

Wen Guma nodded and said again, "If you hear any rumors, and... if deceivers from other races try to tempt you to convert, you must not be fooled! You must notify me immediately!" Having said this, she hurried away.

A Jing looked at her back and sighed faintly, saying, "Aunt is a good person, and you are a good person too. You are all good people."

Arong said, "What does this little matter count for? You are originally of our tribe's bloodline, and it's not fake. Sigh, although we aren't allowed to talk about it, you said Aunt even mentioned that the adulthood ceremony would be figured out later. Does that mean... the god really has fallen? It can't look after us anymore? So that really wasn't a rumor?"

A Jing said, "Perhaps..." She lowered her voice and said, "Actually, if it were a completely baseless rumor, then there would be no need to make such a big fuss; they could just refute the rumor with righteous indignation. Making such a big scene instead makes it seem like..."

Arong said, "Guilty conscience?"

A Jing pressed her finger to her lips and said, "If it were me, I wouldn't use such a hard-handed suppression method. The more the officials oppose something, the more likely it is to be true. Ah... I've said too much."

Arong looked thoughtful.

The two girls changed the subject. Arong ate the fruit and wanted to chat about daily trivialities as usual, but in the end, she lost the heart for it and also hurried away.

A Jing also watched her leave and said to herself secretly: My apologies, Arong. This is not a rumor, and it is a good thing for you to know early.

She gently touched her hair, actually pressing on the deer antlers on her head to keep them from falling off.

Suddenly, A Jing felt something and returned directly to her small house. This small house of hers had just been built, and although it looked crude, it had a hidden mystery inside.

"Hidden mystery inside" did not mean there were any exquisite mechanisms; in fact, there was only a transparent film almost pressed against the wall. It only took one thought from A Jing to retract it, but it could isolate the inside from the outside, mute sound, and create an illusion of a peaceful daily life. It even had decent defensive functions. When outside enemies attacked, it could buy the people inside a breath or two of time, enough to activate spatial displacement and escape.

Yes, being in a foreign land and engaged in dangerous work, how could one not be prepared to escape at all times?

A Jing sat on a chair. The chair was positioned in the shadows, just enough to monitor the door without letting outsiders see her the first moment they entered.

After she was settled, she didn't take anything out and just sat there quietly, her expression different from how it was outside.

If her expression could be called dignified before, now it could be considered dull, even with a round deer nose, it didn't add any playfulness.

This was her daily appearance.

A flash of extremely subtle blue light passed through one of her eyes.

Outsiders would never notice that she was wearing a thin lens on her eyeball, which was now flashing with lines of characters.

Every time she used this Dharma Artifact, she felt some emotion: current technology was truly becoming more and more powerful, and the people who developed the technology were also too imaginative.

Wearing a lens over the eye to see information and send and receive messages—how exactly was this thought of? And how was it realized?

She issued a command in a low voice—limited by the volume and what they called the Rune Formula computing power, this lens could not yet be controlled by thought and could only be commanded by voice. However, there was a special secret code that did not express meaning, so even if outsiders eavesdropped, they wouldn't be able to hear anything.

"Mission—"

A panel appeared on the glasses, which read: "Spread the news of the fall of the gods among the tribes where you are located. The wider the spread, the better. Pay attention to concealment and safety."

"Marked. Completed. Spread range: six tribes of the Jungle Maze, two tribes of the surrounding Lake Cat, one tribe of the Western Li-Armor. Effect: temporarily triggered suppression..."

"Waiting for instructions. Tiger's Den Project, Group Three, Shoujing."

"Send."