Looking at the scene in the distance, Neveu let out a long sigh and spoke.
"Finally... That must be the Heart of Buserite, Bastis! Finally, finally I can go into the city tonight and spend the night! There must be water in such a big lake there for bathing! I must bathe!"
Neveu said this with obvious excitement on her face, but beside her, Dorothy did not show much excitement. She looked into the distance with a slightly frown on her face, and murmured softly in response to Neveu.
"I'm afraid that may not be the case..."
…
At the head of the delegation, on another sand dune separated from the main body of the team, Vanya, wearing a church-style robe, was standing here, looking at the oasis city in the distance with her escort. After a long journey, they finally arrived at their destination, but there was no joy on their faces. Instead, each of them looked more solemn than the other.
Through the extraordinary vision of the "light", Vanya and her companions were able to see the appearance of the city in the distance accurately and clearly, and it was this clear observation that made their expressions at this moment not as excited as the team behind them.
Under the farsightedness of the "lamp", Vanya could clearly see what kind of scene was appearing in front of the gate of the ancient oasis city in the distance. It was not the desolate and deserted scene caused by the plague as they had expected. On the contrary, they saw a large group of people gathering there.
In front of the gate of the ancient city, countless people wearing traditional Beiwu robes and headscarves, who seemed to be residents of the ancient city, gathered there. There were more than a thousand of them. They lined up in several rows holding all kinds of tools in their hands, including farm tools, wooden sticks, and weapons. It seemed that everyone was an armed warrior.
For some unknown reason, these residents, armed with various weapons, gathered in front of the city gate, looking warily in the direction of the distant diplomatic camel caravan. Each of them showed obvious hostility, as if they were looking at an enemy.
And above the wind-beaten city gate, another tragic scene was unfolding at this moment. Many figures were hanging there. A closer look revealed that most of them were cruelly nailed to the wall with thick nails piercing their limbs.
These figures were all wearing white and yellow robes. Although they looked awful and stained with blood and other stains, one could still tell that they were made with exquisite craftsmanship and luxurious materials. They were not something that ordinary people could afford. These robes were similar in style to the uniforms of church clergy, but they were also very different. Compared to church uniforms, they had been modified to be more suitable for the desert environment.
Vanya recognized these robes. She had seen them in Addis when she first went there. They were the robes of the Salvationists! Those nailed to the wall were the clergy of the Salvationists!
"Sister Vanya...it seems that something is wrong over there. The people of Bastis seem to be hostile to us. This is not right. According to the intelligence we received before, Bastis should be a city with developed commerce and trade, and it shouldn't be so xenophobic..." A nun beside Vanya said uneasily, while on the other side, Sipare, who was wearing a robe over his armor, also spoke with a frown.
"Those guys nailed to the wall... are heretics of the Surrender Sect! I heard that they have a lot of influence in Buserit, especially in Bastis. How could this happen?"
Sipare spoke with a serious expression, while Vanya looked into the distance twice and spoke in a serious tone.
"It seems that the situation is somewhat different from what we expected. Phil, you go and have everyone rest and be on guard on the spot. Spare, you take the people with me to go over there to contact them and see what's going on."
"Yes." Following Vanya's instructions, the nun named Phil and Sipare immediately went to carry out the order, while Vanya remained on the ground, looking solemnly at the ancient oasis city, Bastis, in the distance.
…
After arranging the camel caravan of the envoys to be on alert, Vanya left the team with an important elite guard team and set out for Bastis first. In order to show her sincerity, when they were still some distance away from the city gate, Vanya ordered her team to put away their weapons, get off the camels, and approach the city gate on foot.
Just as they were approaching the gate of Bastis, a large group of civilians armed with crude weapons gathered there couldn't help but get nervous, and the team suddenly became a little chaotic. Among them, a bearded man holding a curved sword and leading the team shouted loudly at the approaching Vanya team.
"Stop! You bunch of strangers! Right there, don't come any closer now!"
Hearing the bearded man's shout, Vanya slowed down her pace, and then Vanya also responded in Northern Ukrainian.
"You are all residents of Bastis, right? Please don't panic. I am a doctor from the north. I heard that there was a serious plague here, so I came here to help you. Please put down your weapons. We have no hostility."
Vanya stretched out her hands holding weapons and advised the residents in front of the city gate, but the effect did not seem to be very good. Not many people put down their weapons directly because of her words.
"Don't listen to that girl!"
Suddenly, a loud voice was heard from the crowd in front of the city gate. As the voice sounded, the crowd moved to make way for a passage, and a figure slowly walked out of the passage.
The figure was a dark-skinned, bald, bloated man with mysterious face paint and a long robe with numerous wooden pendants. He held a wooden staff in his hand, with leaves blooming on the tip of the staff, and many fleshy, round "fruits" hanging from it. When the man appeared, everyone at the scene bowed to him in a respectful manner.
"Don't listen to that girl's nonsense. She is not a doctor. She is just like those guys nailed on the city wall. She is a lackey of the Evil Light God! The Evil Light God is not happy that this city has been saved from his clutches, so he has sent his minions here again!
"Children of Changsheng Zun, don't listen to any of her slanders. She came here with a mission from the Evil Light Evil God, and wants to bring people inside into endless torture and pain. She wants to destroy the gift given by Changsheng Zun and make all wills submit to the authority of the Evil Light Evil God! We can't let her succeed!"
Waving the wooden stick in his hand, the man shouted to Vanya in the distance. Looking at the scene in front of her, Vanya's face darkened.
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