Chapter 277

The next trial? Don't rush, I haven't made it up yet.

"......"

What a "Lord Baldy"!

Cheng Shi clasped his hands behind his back and pinched his own waist hard to keep from laughing out loud, but within two seconds, another hand appeared on his waist, and this hand pinched much harder than his own!

"Hiss——

This trial... um, I haven't...

I haven't made it clear to you yet. His trials can only be completed one per day. Today's trial has already ended.

You will have to wait until tomorrow to receive the oracle.

For five consecutive days, when all the trials are passed, I will relay His oracle to you all.

Do not be overly impatient."

Upon hearing this, the old patriarch immediately bowed in fear: "So that is how it is. No rush, no rush. Our tribe has waited for hundreds of years; we will certainly not be in a hurry for a moment. As long as He has not averted His gaze, as long as He is still willing to forgive us, even if we drink dry the waters of the River of Time, the Mushroom-Foot people will wait forever!"

"Very good, I have noted your piety. Since today's trial is over, then, Old Patriarch, tell me about yourselves in the time remaining. Whether it is history or the present, I need to know your truest feelings.

Once I understand the suffering you have endured, I can put in a good word for you before Him."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Mushroom-Foot people inside and outside the house prostrated themselves once more.

"Praise 【Prosperity】! Praise Lord Baldy!"

Listening to this mountain-shaking praise, Cheng Shi was almost moved to tears.

But in reality:

Don't move, don't move! Sister, stop pinching, my waist is going to break.

"......"

Cheng Shi didn't care about the Mushroom-Foot people's feelings; he only cared about two questions: one was what the "Epuska" the old patriarch mentioned was, and the other was why the Wumen could open on the Mushroom-Foot people's altar.

He felt these might be related to the current trial, so he threw out a vague question.

After hearing this, in order to prove the piety of the Mushroom-Foot tribe, the old patriarch began to speak slowly from the very beginning of the tribe's history.

Historically, after this Mushroom-Foot tribe was exiled here, they did not possess this sunny area where they could live peacefully from the start. Their ancestors had no support when they first arrived in the Sighing Forest and could only struggle to survive in the fog.

Calling it "survival" was actually gilding the lily, because the Sighing Forest was full of crises, especially after nightfall when countless monsters ran rampant. The Mushroom-Foot people had no other fate than becoming food for monsters or targets for slaughter, so they weren't surviving; they were just waiting for death in a struggle they couldn't win.

But this situation suddenly changed one day. The first patriarch who was chosen was unwilling to become a plaything of 【Decay】, so to prove his piety to his clansmen and to let 【Prosperity】 have pity on the Mushroom-Foot people again, he chose to leave the tribe alone and go to the place where the power of 【Decay】 was thickest to preach the name of 【Prosperity】.

It was precisely this bold and pious act that moved 【Prosperity】, so 【Prosperity】 granted His pity and bestowed upon the Mushroom-Foot people a small piece of land, which is where they live now.

Here, there is no fog, and they are not affected by the Sighing Tide. Even at night, none of the 【Decay】 monsters can break through the barrier to rush in. The Mushroom-Foot people had a safe dwelling, and thus they stabilized and began the tribe's era of prosperity.

But they still faced a thorny problem: there was no sufficient nutrition in this land that had been overly eroded by 【Decay】. The Mushroom-Foot people could no longer rely on their root systems to draw nutrients from the soil, so the first patriarch once again prayed for pity from their benefactor with "pious preaching and chanting."

【Prosperity】 responded once more. He bestowed a tool, and this tool was both pity and a trial!

Yes, He had already given the Mushroom-Foot people a trial, so when Cheng Shi said he had brought five trials, the Mushroom-Foot people believed him without hesitation.

This tool was the "Lamp of the Wilderness that Never Disappears" that Zuo Qiu was holding.

"Never disappears?" Zuo Qiu frowned slightly, muttered a word, and took out the lamp again, placing it before everyone's eyes.

The old patriarch sighed and continued:

"It is this Lamp of the Wilderness. You lords should know that this is a holy artifact bestowed by His own hand; it is the begging lamp that belongs only to us Mushroom-Foot people.

When the Mushroom-Foot people in the tribe use the power of their bloodline to activate it, it generates a Wumen in the tribe, which is the gate you, Lord Baldy, came through.

The other side of the Wumen is a random location. The clansmen only need to carry the lamp to safely pass through the Wumen, reach the other end of the Sighing Forest, and then search for and collect food in the endless forest, bringing it back to share with the tribe.

This is how we eke out a living. Now, other than rooting in the soil when we sleep at night, we have long since lost the qualification to kiss Mother Earth and receive nourishment......"

Hearing this, Cheng Shi's doubts grew even deeper, but his current identity was the Divine Messenger of 【Prosperity】, and many questions were inconvenient to ask, so he could only smile and signal for the old patriarch to continue.

"As for the trials I mentioned, we are terrified; this was just our dull speculation of our benefactor's intentions and does not count. I ask Lord Baldy to enlighten us."

"......"

Cheng Shi froze. He never expected the old patriarch to kick the ball back to him.

Honglin sneered behind his back, her eyes full of amusement.

Laugh all you want. If I can't answer, everyone is going to suffer. What good does it do to watch me make a fool of myself?

The others also watched Cheng Shi with great interest, wanting to see how this Fate Weaver who didn't tell the truth could "patch up" his lies.

Fine, fine, fine, you're all counting on me, right? Then I'll hold a class on the spot today and teach you a thing or two about Tai Chi.

Cheng Shi thought quickly for a moment and seemed to have a way to deal with it, so he said unhurriedly:

"No matter. Your understanding and realization of these trials are also part of what we came to learn.

Faith does not lie in simple piety alone; it should also have resonant insight. This is also a trial He has set for you."

The old patriarch lowered his head and repeated the Divine Messenger's words several times in his mouth, then nodded with some realization:

"Good, then I will report the tribe's realization truthfully.

This Lamp of the Wilderness that Never Disappears has another function, which is to convert the power of 【Prosperity】 within us into the power of 【Decay】, and these 【Decay】 powers are the key to guarding... guarding us as we forage.

Although this seems like a great disrespect to Him, it is precisely because this tool was bestowed by His own hand that we feel this is Him testing our loyalty, testing whether the Mushroom-Foot people would abandon Him because 【Decay】 is useful.

Furthermore, the 【Decay】 power emitted by this lamp attracts a monster in the Sighing Forest called an Epuska. It feeds on 【Decay】 and constantly hunts our clansmen. This is probably also a trial from my Lord. Perhaps He is testing our... courage?

Fortunately, even if clansmen die outside while foraging, and even if this lamp is damaged and tattered, His gift still returns to the tribe's altar every night and becomes intact again. So, in this trial of loyalty and courage that has lasted for years, we have steadfastly held on until now!

And we have finally waited for His forgiveness and the Divine Messenger!

Lord Baldy, am I right?"