Chapter 116: Gold Caster
◎How can such a small child be heavier than a pig——◎
Boom, boom, boom.
The tent shook with the sound of powerful drums in the distance. Melia opened the door curtain and rode with Sonny.
The horse assigned to her was fully tacked and could be firmly seated with a simple push of the foot. Sonny did not bring many people with him, only a hundred at most.
The men's arms and upper bodies were exposed, their skin covered in red paint, with totems of clouds, the sun, and eagles. The female warriors had symbols painted on their noses, cheeks, and fingers, mostly with upward-pointing triangles.
There was not a single slave among these people; they were all "old men," that is, the sons of nobles who followed Attila.
Apparently, the ceremony they were about to attend was a grand one, so grand that Melia felt a little guilty: her fakes were glowing, was she really going? Ugh, she might as well just hide in the tent and play cards with Taffy.
"Meow." The kitten in her arms seemed to sense her emotions and nudged in confusion. It was as if saying, "I don't know why, but I'll comfort you first."
Melia slowly relaxed as she was being gently nudged. "Who cares? Sunny isn't afraid, so why should I be afraid?" Regardless of the Huns' misunderstanding, her position as Rome's richest man wasn't fake.
The drumbeats were getting closer and closer. Looking up, I saw the Huns beating the ancient animal hide drums.
The Huns responsible for striking the drumheads were all tall and muscular, their average height surely exceeding 1.8 meters. They evidently ate meat and exercised regularly. They wielded wolf leg bones as hammers, gnashing their teeth and bouncing their legs as they struck.
"Sunny, what are you doing?" I heard the Huns loved to perform human sacrifices. Could this be the scene...
"A divination ritual," Sonny said succinctly.
After the horses rode side by side for a while, she explained quietly, fearing Melia wouldn't understand, "The Great Wizard doesn't want the succession of thrones to turn into a bloody war, so he has asked us to gather here in the name of Heaven for a divination."
The Huns believed in "Heaven," which in this world did not refer to the Eternal Heaven but rather to the mighty forces of nature. They particularly believed in the sun, which brought light and heat, and believed it had both the power of creation and destruction.
According to the stories passed down orally by the Huns, the Golden King's golden blood came from the sun.
The great witches and priests are all agents of Heaven. They enjoy extremely high prestige among the Huns and can occupy a large amount of resources without working or fighting.
However, the succession of witches is very strict. Each generation of great witches will designate the next great witch before their death, or predict their own reincarnation. Therefore, the number of witches is very small and they will not be a burden to the tribe.
But then again, even the Great Shamans couldn't share the Golden King's authority. Despite their transcendent status, if their powers were truly that effective, why would these royal families be fighting over them? Wouldn't it be easier to just "divine" them?
If the divination results cannot convince the people, war will still happen.
For a moment, Melia felt a sense of empathy: she hoped that the divination would go smoothly, and that the witch could come up with a reason to convince everyone.
Boom, boom, boom.
The drumbeats suddenly stopped. It turned out that all the royal family members arrived at the center of the grassland almost at the same time: Hulun rubbed his cheekbones nervously, and Obera, who was not far away, looked much calmer, with only his right hand holding the hilt of the knife revealing a hint of emotion.
Sunny didn't seem to be at all embarrassed. She stretched her body and lightly kicked the horse's belly: "Everyone is here. Please ask the witch to tell the divination."
Melia followed her gaze and looked towards the platform on the right:
The Huns used furs to circle out an open space about twenty meters long and wide, and piled white jade stones and animal bones inside to form a platform about five meters above the ground.
The Great Wizard was standing in the center of the platform. It was impossible to tell whether he was a man or a woman. He wore a wooden mask on his face and his entire body was covered in snow-white fur.
The Great Wizard also moved his legs like the drummers. Judging from his exposed hands and feet and his clumsy movements, he was not young.
Ding-dang~Ding-dang~~The ancient silver bell in his hand was the bell with the longest sound Melia had ever heard. Every time it was shaken, it would bring long aftershocks.
Tap, click.
The royal family lost their previous agitation; they seemed to be infected by the atmosphere and gradually calmed down. Everyone near the platform naturally sat down on the ground, clapping their hands to the rhythm of the dance.
Rising, rising, although I can't see the fog, I can feel something invisible rising above the grassland.
Melia rubbed her eyes, and there seemed to be a layer of golden double image?
"Meow." The kitten called out to the sky, pointed at the witch with its whiskers, and then boredly retracted its head into its mother's arms, closed its eyes and rested.
Could it be that Nini could see something special? Perhaps one of the two visions in Athens was Nini's?
Melia glanced at Sunny, who, like the other royals, had a solemn expression on her face, kneeling cross-legged. From time to time, she would raise her hands and beat the drums vigorously, muttering something to herself.
But I always feel that this kid is an actor with great acting skills, and he just says what he means.
Seeing that the people around her looked very pious, Melia also followed the local customs and slowly tapped her palms.
Ta-da, ta-da, ta-da.
This happened three times, and then the drumbeats stopped again, and the bells jingled and struck a pure gold royal sword.
This golden sword, only slightly longer than a dagger, seemed to have suddenly appeared on the platform. The Huns were not surprised. Regardless of distance, they all lowered their hands, prostrated themselves on the ground, and knocked their foreheads on the ground to worship the royal sword.
The royals did not prostrate themselves, but they also placed their hands on their chests and bowed deeply.
Melia quickly bent down and almost dropped the baby. Fortunately, the kitten just smacked its lips and didn't meow loudly.
Finally, the Great Wizard picked up the royal sword in the dead silence, and blood gushed out from his fingertips, dripping onto the stage, outlining bloody patterns similar to hieroglyphs.
The two assistants on the left and right dressed up as the wise kings with wooden masks and wooden crowns, and held up the royal sword on behalf of the left and right wise kings: the golden sword body was spotless, and although it was stained with blood, there was not a trace of blood.
After the "wise kings" walked down from the platform, the great witch used animal skin to imprint the blood patterns and displayed them to the people below.
A masked man, acting as the chief witch, shouted in a loud voice, "Golden man, forge a golden man! Exchange gold for gold, blood for blood, blood for gold!"
It sounded like a prophecy, but every royal family member revealed an expression of "as expected".
It seemed not a prophecy, but some kind of established rule. The Great Shaman had gathered them together through divination and chosen a "relatively fair" rule.
“Yes, yes!”
“Yes, yes!”
They slapped the ground and knees in unison, swearing an oath to the heavens. Meanwhile, a priest dragged a long-haired ox, hooked a chain around its horns, and tore off its head in front of everyone.
The cow's blood splashed all over the ground, staining the lawn and outlining a totem similar to the blood pattern on animal skin.
"Auspicious! Auspicious!"
From the first person who saw the blood pattern, auspicious slogans spread one after another, and everyone congratulated the auspiciousness. At least at this moment, these royal families seemed to have reconciled and accepted the great witch's proposal.
Blood can be shed, but it must bring gold. If it can bring gold, the blade should not be pointed at the tribesmen around you.
The priest filled a ceramic bowl with ox blood and walked over to Hulun. Hulun, almost flattered, dipped his finger in the blood and smeared it on his face, expressing his approval of the divination result. Afterward, he took a sip and drank it.
It was passed down one by one in order of age, and finally came to Sonny.
Sonny's expression was solemn. He dipped his hand into the cow's blood and drank a mouthful, just like his brothers and sisters. Then he handed the bowl to Melia and whispered, "You should drink it too. My brothers and sisters didn't bring their wives with them..."
Uh. Melia choked. I want to drink too?
The priest's hand stopped right in front of her, and she couldn't react rudely by pushing the bowl away. Considering that not drinking the toast at the banquet could result in being buried alive by the Huns, she gritted her teeth and drank the blood.
It's actually a bit sweet. Real cow blood definitely doesn't taste like this...
The ceremony was a great success, and the priests were very pleased. They surrounded the witch and walked down the platform. A priest below was cutting beef with a blade, ready for use in tonight's feast.
I finally got through it. I'll ask Sonny what a gold caster is tonight.
Melia breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest. Pat, pat, pat, pat, where's my cat?!
"Nini?" she called out sharply.
Snap, clack, clack, clack~ The cheerful sound of paws came from far away, and a little white cat was seen dragging a piece of fresh beef bigger than herself, rushing back with a snapping sound.
Judging from the blood dripping on the ground, this piece of beef was torn from a long-haired cow.
This little kitten took advantage of its silent claws to steal the priests' beef!
"Hahaha, she's really good at picking." Sunny smiled and touched the cat's head. Melia looked closely and saw that the beef dragged back was still a piece of beef brisket. The guy took away the best piece!
The Huns, who were far away, hadn't noticed it yet, but the princes and princesses all heard this little dispute and had different expressions on their faces.
Hulun wanted to say something, something like ["Throw the cat into a sack and smash it to death."], but his subordinates tried their best to stop him, and even mentioned the alien species after some persuasion.
When he heard the word "alien", Hulun was like a popped balloon. He turned his face away and pretended that he said nothing: What's the matter? Can you kill my nephew?
It’s okay if children don’t learn other things, but they must not learn bad things!
Melia slapped the kitten's teeth, letting the beef fall onto the plate, then with an aggrieved expression on her face, she picked up the skin by the scruff of the neck and carried it all the way to the priests.
"I'm so sorry. I will compensate you with a few cows or the equivalent in gold." Melia pressed the cat's head and apologized on behalf of the child.
After all, Nini was only a month old and couldn't speak.
The priests looked at each other and then turned to look at the chief witch.
The Great Shaman made a brief gesture and shook the bell rhythmically. The strong man next to him saluted Melia after hearing the bell ringing. "It's okay. The Great Shaman said it's okay. He won't argue with the younger generation, let alone blame the baby."
At such a close distance, Melia could see the Great Wizard's golden eyes: he must also be of the Golden Royal Family's bloodline.
Her cheeks flushed as she lowered her head and slowly backed away with the kitten in her arms: "Thank you."
That being said, she still had to pay compensation. She was not the daughter-in-law of the Golden Royal Family. Even if she was, she had to pay compensation for the sake of educating her child.
"Meow..." The kitten lowered her ears in confusion. Perhaps in her eyes, beef or any other delicious food was born for her, and of course she could eat it at will.
Children who are too young have no concept of "self" and "others" and do not understand what private property is.
Melia sighed and rubbed the kitten gently: "Nini, follow your mother's example and don't touch other people's things - unless they belong to bad people."
She hastened to add, thinking of the day when the temple would be emptied.
"Meow~?" Nini's eyes sparkled, clearer than a pair of sapphires, reflecting the light and shadow of the sky.
"call……"
Educating children is such a long and arduous task. Melia rubbed the cat's head helplessly: "If only you could speak..." If it were a human baby, it could communicate with words, which would definitely be easier.
“…”
The little white cat lowered its head silently, and after a moment, its fur began to tremble slightly.
"Hey? Don't cry. If you know you're wrong... Wow!" Melia waved her hands helplessly, and the kitten slowly turned into a three or four-year-old child in front of her.
Her blonde hair was slightly curled, and her eyes were a golden-green color with blue and green overlapping. Her eyes and eyelashes were similar to Elena's, but the line of her lips was like the red velvet on a dagger, slightly restraining its sharp edge.
"Ah, ah." Menia opened her little mouth, tried the sound lightly, then took a deep breath and said clearly: "Mom."
"Wow~~~" Melia instantly threw the beef, the ceremony and the golden man behind her mind and raised the child high above her head: "Nini can say mommy——"
Click.
"My waist, my waist, my waist..." She suddenly fell down in pain. Finally, Sonny and Menea each dragged her to one side and put her on the horse.
"Nini."
"Um?"
"You're so heavy..."
"It's because Mom is too light."
On horseback, Melia burst into tears. How could such a small child be heavier than a pig?
The author has something to say:
Thanks to nanaya_scarlet's Lei Lei~
Thanks to Qi Shengxiao and Yun Zhong Feixiang for their support~
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