Chapter 42 Sacrifice (Part 1) Counting Money, Mysterious Sacrifice
Ray and Neil went home after picking up their clothes.
In the evening, after taking a shower, he began his usual routine after setting up his stall—counting money.
The heavy money box landed on the table with a thud. Ray opened the lid, revealing gleaming white and golden coins inside.
The two divided the work.
Ray was in charge of bundling the copper coins into bundles of fifty on the table, while Neil was responsible for finding the silver coins among the large pile of copper coins and arranging them together.
The clattering sound of counting coins lasted for quite some time before the two of them finally finished counting their earnings for the day.
Lai first wrote down today's date in his notebook, and then wrote the number 875 under the copper coin.
How many silver coins?
Ray asked Neil, and Neil counted again before answering.
"Sixty-eight silver coins!"
Ray added 68 to the list of silver coins, after deducting the costs of hiring goblins, renting the stall, buying lunch, parking the mule cart, and so on. He then recorded 76 silver coins and 68 copper coins as his earnings for the day.
Including what I earned before, I've made at least one gold coin during this period.
After these few days of hard work, Lai once again marveled in his heart at how generous Temuji had been when he casually gave him a gold coin.
Neil had helped a lot during this time, and Ray gave him a silver coin.
“From now on, I will give you a silver coin as pocket money every month. You need to learn how to spend it and how to keep track of your expenses.”
"good!"
After putting away all the coins, since it was still early, Lai and Neil discussed what they needed to buy in advance for the winter.
We currently have enough food at home, but household items such as blankets, pots and pans are getting old.
Having just made some money, Lai wanted to replace them all with new ones.
After these matters were settled, nothing else came up.
Both were exhausted after selling mountain goods all day. They locked the gate and went back to their rooms to sleep.
As dawn broke, Ray and Neil got up early and changed into the altered clothes.
The style is no different from the clothes I usually wear, but the colors are more varied.
Ray's outfit also included a tricolor belt and a fancy tasseled ribbon. According to the tailor shop owner, the ribbon was tied on the left arm, a custom of the harvest festival.
This surprised Ray.
After finishing breakfast, Lamb reported for duty on time.
He was also wearing new clothes, but the ribbon on his arm was missing. Lai assumed Lamb hadn't bothered to wear it, so he didn't ask any further questions.
"Brother, come on, I'll take you to see the excitement."
It was Lai's first festival in this other world, and she was filled with curiosity and anticipation. Judging from everyone's expressions, they all took this festival very seriously.
"Okay, let's go."
Lamb took Ray and Neil to the threshing ground.
A platform more than one meter high has been erected in the threshing ground, with four frames at the four corners supporting braziers for nighttime lighting.
In the very center of the threshing ground stood a large pile of wood, surrounded by smaller piles of wood. Meat would be roasted on these piles at night.
All the necessary items have been set up, and villagers are spreading thick blankets on the platform and hanging colorful ribbons and various decorations.
"The sacrificial ceremony will only begin tonight, and there are already so many people here."
Lamb watched the people coming and going on the gravel road across from the threshing ground and muttered to himself.
"They probably want to get here early to secure a good spot."
"That's what Lei answered."
"Brother, you don't need to come early. I'll save you and Neil some seats this afternoon. They're definitely good spots!"
"Okay, I'll bring you some snacks then."
"Thank you, brother!"
Lamb beamed with joy; the roasted chestnuts and pine nuts his brother had made were absolutely delicious.
He only ate a little of what Neil sent; most of it went to his two younger relatives. This time, Ray said he brought it especially for him, so he could eat his fill!
After visiting the threshing ground, the three of them toured the entire village.
The villagers all put on new clothes, and those who didn't have new clothes wore their best. They were in high spirits, their faces beaming with joy.
Lei invited Lamb to stay for lunch.
I baked two pizzas and fried a lot of potato chips.
Aside from using a lot of oil, fried potato chips taste exceptionally good whether sprinkled with salt and chili powder or simply dipped in ketchup. Lai only made them for Neil once before, when he was rendering lard, and Neil ate them so well he couldn't stop.
After lunch, Neil went to play with Helen and the others, while Lamb went home.
Lei, who rarely gets a break, rested for a while before practicing his basic magic skills again.
He can now skillfully unleash those attack skills.
After accidentally cutting his hand while picking fruit, he tried using a healing spell, which took him about a quarter of his mana to successfully close the wound.
To be honest, the results were somewhat unsatisfactory, but Lai quickly got over it, ultimately because his level was too low.
As night fell, Ray and Neil sat down next to Hagrid's family, not far from the platform, waiting for the sacrificial ceremony to officially begin.
As darkness gradually fell, the two bright moons hung low, not yet fully aligned, while dazzling stars shone in the night sky.
A gentle breeze blew by, bringing a touch of coolness to people.
The campfires around the perimeter have been lit.
The people from the three villages huddled together, surrounding the platform as if waiting for something. Only Lai sat blankly next to Lamb.
Thump, thump, thump.
The drumbeats began, producing a somewhat muffled sound.
The once noisy crowd immediately fell silent.
The villagers who were sitting all stood up and looked at the platform respectfully.
Four people dressed in sacrificial attire walked onto the platform: three men and one woman.
Three men.
A figure dressed in an animal skin skirt, bare-chested, wearing a pair of enormous bull horns, with ancient patterns painted on his body and face. He holds a double-sided cowhide drum in his left hand and a drumstick in his right, standing in the upper left corner.
There was another figure dressed entirely in black, with a shawl made of colorful feathers draped over his shoulders and an ornate hat on his head. His face was obscured, hidden in the tassels hanging from the hat. He held a wooden maracas and stood in the upper right corner.
The last one was also bare-armed, with totems painted on his body. His clothing was shaped like fish scales and was grayish in color, and he wore a pair of antelope horns on his head. He held a stringed instrument that Ray didn't recognize, and his back was to the people.
The three men bowed their heads and bent over towards the woman standing in the center.
She was dressed in pure white, her clothes were gorgeous, and she had many sparkling ornaments that made a tinkling sound with every movement. She wore a pair of beautiful four-pronged deer antlers on her head, and her eyes were covered with a white veil.
Her lips were painted black, with a black line drawn from her lower lip towards her neck. On her left hand, which hung limply, one could faintly see intricate graffiti; while her right hand held an exquisitely crafted wooden staff.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The drums sounded again, and the woman in white, standing at the center, slowly raised her scepter and left hand toward the full moon, her sleeves slipping down to reveal her arms covered in totems. Her head was tilted high toward the night sky.
"oh......."
The male priest wearing bull horns produced an extremely deep voice through the resonance of his vocal cords and chest cavity, and the other two priests echoed him with different tones.
The thumping of the double-sided drums and the rustling of the sand shakers signaled the official start of the sacrificial ceremony.
They sang, called out, and shouted in an ancient language that was incomprehensible to others.
Rough movements, chaotic yet orderly footsteps. A clash between wildness and order.
Everyone present remained silent, devout and respectful.
Ray was also deeply moved by the scene.
That ancient language seemed to penetrate one's soul, as if one had traveled through hundreds of years and witnessed the magnificent events of that time.
The two full moons sank lower and lower until they gradually overlapped.
The music, dance steps, and singing reached their climax, and then suddenly everything came to an abrupt halt.
The central white-clad priestess slammed her scepter down with a loud thud.
A clear and deep female voice rang out, singing and telling a story in a drawn-out tone and ancient language, carrying a sense of mystery and sanctity.
At this moment, she was no longer the same person, but a substitute for God on earth.
The full moon slid to its lowest point, finally merging completely with the earth, its light bathing the earth.
In a daze, Lai saw light flowing from the full moon to the scepter, gathering at the ornament at the top of the scepter.
That didn't seem to be a scepter, but a staff, with the magical elements on the altar swirling around it in an unusually active manner.
Ray frowned and looked around at the people, but none of them seemed to notice anything unusual or had seen this strange phenomenon.
The light on the staff grew stronger and stronger, until finally it burst forth in a great burst of light, scattering into five beams that flew in five different directions.
Ray stared in shock at the scene. These priests weren't mages, so how could they use magic? What was going on?
Vivian noticed that something was wrong with Ray and quietly came up behind him.
The ritual finally ended when the last line of the song faded away.
"You saw it?"
Vivian asked Ray. Only then did Ray notice that someone was standing behind him.
"Yes. You saw it too?"
"Yes. I remember it was like this every year during the festival."
"Haven't you seen this before?"
Vivian asked again.
Ray observed her discreetly and realized that Vivian wasn't testing him out of suspicion, which was why she answered cautiously.
“I don’t remember when I was too young. I’ve been studying at church for the past few years and haven’t had much of a chance to come back.”
"well......"
Life is unpredictable.
Vivian sighed.
"Go for it, Little Lai. I'll always be there for you."
Vivian patted Laiyi on the shoulder encouragingly, and Laiyi nodded.
As the priests stepped down from the altar to change their clothes, Lai realized that the male priest dressed entirely in black was actually the clan elder Barnett.
His usual appearance makes it impossible for anyone to guess that he can jump so high and be so agile.
Noticing Ray's odd behavior, Vivian explained it to him.
"The Barnet elder's ancestors were priests for hundreds of years, and he started learning the priestly dance when he was very young. Of course, there are no high priests now, only the church and nobles. But this tradition has always continued."
"Inheritance".
Lei muttered to himself.
"Was the staff also inherited?"
"Yes, it's been there for a long time. It's said to have been there when the village was first built. You're still young, so it's normal that you don't know these things."
Although Vivian can be a bit eccentric at times, she is a very patient teacher.
"Brother, sister! What are you talking about? Come over here and wait for the barbecue!"
The two looked back and saw that the crowd had dispersed around the campfires, chatting and eating enthusiastically around the gnomes, deer, and goats. Lamb was waving at them with some food in his hand.
"Let's go, Ray, let's go get some barbecue. There are still many activities for the harvest festival that haven't started yet. Let's have some fun and relax."
"Okay, let's go together."
"Um."
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Author's Note: I have my driving test tomorrow, and I was busy practicing today, so I only had time to revise this chapter. I'll add a short skit later as compensation.
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 06:03:06 on July 17, 2023 and 23:44:43 on July 19, 2023!
Thank you to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: Su Mumu (21 bottles); Qiu Qiu Qiu Rua (5 bottles); wisniz (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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