Chapter 430: Hidden Letter

Conquer the sea, Natsuki Islands 㹏 Island.

At night, the islanders on Xiashu Island had fallen asleep one after another, and the entire island fell into silence. Except for a few important places on the island, most of the lights in other places had been turned off.

One of the important places is the sacrificial square under the giant tree of Xiashu Island. Although there is no one in this square, the burning lights still illuminate the dim environment around it.

At this time, there was no one in the deserted sacrificial square. In front of the statue of the goddess of fertility in Mu Sheng, a white figure was standing there, facing the statue in front of him, praying devoutly with a strange posture.

Vanya, who was wearing a white nun's uniform, was slightly closing her eyes at this moment, posing in a dignified and elegant posture in front of the statue. Then, between even breathing, Vanya slowly moved. She turned her body, stretched out her arms, and danced gracefully in front of the statue of abundance in peace.

In the silent night, the nun in white danced under the illumination of the flickering firelight. Her dancing was skillful, graceful, beautiful and natural. Every movement was just right and every step was precise. Her soft movements and steps seemed like dancing and worshipping the large statue of Mu Sheng in front of her. Her dancing seemed to be dedicated to the god.

Vanya's dance continued, and her dance style was in perfect harmony with the surrounding sacrificial square, as if this was the stage it should be on. If Vanya changed her clothes at this moment, this place would instantly become the scene of a divine dance sacrifice.

Standing at the edge of the sacrificial field, Amman, the Fengshu priest of Xiashu Island, was staring at the dance in front of him with wide eyes in astonishment. As an old priest who had worked in this sacrificial field for decades, this was the first time he had seen such a dance. However, he had a certain feeling in his heart that Vanya's dance should be performed in this sacrificial field and should be dedicated to the goddess. This was another part of the goddess worship that he had never seen before.

As Vanya's sacrificial dance gradually came to an end, some strange changes occurred in the ancient fertility temple. In front of the altars in the four corners of the temple, the altars engraved with the image of dancers seemed to be surrounded by tiny spots of light, like fireflies. In front of the dancer's altar, some of the flower buds that were originally tightly closed actually showed signs of slightly blooming, just like the flowers in front of the sailor's altar.

"The Altar of Dance... it responded... it actually responded! Incredible... it's really incredible..."

Standing at the edge of the sacrificial site, Amman looked at the scene in front of him, shook his head and murmured that in the decades since he served as the Fengshu priest of the Xiashu Islands, he had never seen such a phenomenon in other altars except the Water Altar.

Although there are four altars in this sacrificial site, Xia Shu's annual sacrifices are only for the Water Altar. The other three altars are just for decoration. Apart from regular cleaning, they don't have any activities targeting them. For thousands of years, neither the priests nor the ordinary people on Xia Shu Island have seen any changes to the three altars other than the Water Altar.

"That nun... is really a follower of the Goddess, a follower of the Goddess just like us... and she is a follower of the Goddess who has inherited the tradition differently from us. She is the inheritor of the Goddess Dance...

"Have the inheritors of the Goddess Dance now exchanged the power to continue under the glory by worshipping the Holy Flood as a goddess?"

Watching the nun's dancing posture fading away in the distance, Amman sighed and said, after seeing the other party's dancing posture and the reaction of the altar, at this moment Amman no longer doubted that the nun in front of him was a follower of the goddess like Xia Shu. Compared with the simple gestures before, such skillful dancing posture could not be practiced casually. It required long-term practice since childhood. The other party was able to resonate with the altar through dancing. Was there any reason for him to continue to doubt it?

After confirming that the nun in front of him was indeed a believer of the Goddess of Fertility, Amman's originally tense vigilance suddenly decreased a lot, and he believed more in what Vanya said before. After seeing Vanya's dance in the distance finally come to an end, he straightened his clothes and walked over with a solemn expression.

"I apologize for my previous salute, my fellow man. You are truly a devout believer of the goddess..."

Amman bowed slightly to Vanya who had just finished dancing and said apologetically. Vanya, who had just stopped dancing, was breathing slightly. After hearing Amman's words, she immediately turned around and answered.

"It's nothing, Your Excellency the Priest. As the priest of Xia Shu, you need to be responsible for all the people of Xia Shu. It's only right that you be cautious."

While talking, Vanya helped Amman up. Amman stood up again, looking at Vanya in front of him and continued speaking.

"I never thought... there would actually be such a method of false worship, treating the Holy Trinity of Radiance as a goddess worship in exchange for survival... Our God needs to be disguised under the name of other gods, it's really sad to think about it..."

Anman said with emotion, and after hearing what Anman said, Yufaniya spoke seriously.

"Although it's sad... but we have succeeded in continuing the faith of the goddess, so that its inheritance will not be completely cut off, and its believers will not be destroyed. In the current situation where the Radiance is strong, this is indeed a practical way of survival. And I think this method is also suitable for Xia Shu. Instead of fighting to the death with the church and letting Xia Shu be burned to ashes, this method can better preserve the goddess's inheritance and the goddess's believers."

"What you said makes sense, but this kind of behavior always feels disrespectful to the goddess..."

Facing Vanya, Aman spoke with a hint of worry in his tone, and Vanya quickly responded.

"The goddess taught us to respect life. Although we cannot understand Her current state, She would not want Xia Shu to suffer. For the sake of everyone's life, the goddess will surely be more tolerant. The goddess hopes that we can live a normal life, not for Her meaningless death..."

With a pious tone, Vanya continued to speak to Amman, and her words finally moved Amman.

"Yes... You are right. The goddess hopes that all things will flourish, that all living things will grow freely, and that life will last forever. If Xia Shu is destroyed by Huiguang's flames, She will definitely be sad... Compared to us who hijacked Huiguang and gambled with Huiguang, your choice is indeed a more feasible path..."

Amman said this to Vanya, and Vanya couldn't help but feel excited when she heard his words. She knew that the priest in front of her was finally persuaded. Then, not only the pilgrims like herself, but all the people of Xiashu might also be saved. This was the outcome she had been expecting the most, and the outcome she had thought was the most impossible to achieve. However, this kind of outcome was actually becoming a reality.

"Ms. Vanya, I want Xia Shu to be like you, and to believe in the Holy Glory as the Goddess in exchange for a chance to live under the Glory. But now I still have some concerns in my heart. Can the Glory really deceive? Can we really hide our belief in the Goddess?

"You know, there are many sacrificial activities related to the goddess in Xia Shu. Some important activities even directly affect many people in Xia Shu. These activities are indispensable to us. Can they really be hidden?"

Amman asked Vanya with a hint of worry, what they wanted was to worship the Holy Basil as the Fertility Goddess and hide the religious activities of the Fertility Goddess under the belief in the Holy Basil. It was not simply self-deception to hypnotize themselves that the Holy Basil was the Fertility Goddess, and then completely abandon any religious activities of the Fertility Goddess from then on.