Despite having some doubts, Xia Chuhe still picked up a wooden stick and took away the tin can containing salt.
She split a cross groove at the top of the stick, inserted a tin can, secured it with wire, then spiraled a strip of cloth around the top of the stick and poured oil onto the cloth, letting it soak up the oil.
And just like that, a simple torch is made.
As for the ashes, it's even simpler: the maid was cooking over a fire, and the bottom of the stove was full of ashes.
Having prepared these two items, Dong Huimiao returned with thorns. She ran all the way outside the village before finding a thicket of thorns.
Winter destroyed the seedlings and placed thorns, torches, ashes, and swords before the idol, then pricked his index finger and squeezed out a drop of blood.
The five things were all prepared, but the gods still refused.
Winter Destroyer muttered to himself, repeating, "I kneel and offer the crown forged from thorns, and where your blood burns like a torch, I will forge the ashes into a sword... Everything is there, so what's wrong?"
The thorns that had been broken off during the winter's destruction of the seedlings were long strips. Xia Chuhe reminded her, "Try breaking the thorns into a crown."
Upon hearing this, the winter-damaged seedlings, undeterred by the pain, directly bent the thorns into a circle, about the size of a person's head circumference.
Unfortunately, the gods still did not accept it.
Xia Chuhe, preoccupied with the maid's words, asked absentmindedly, "Did you see any other believers when you went out?"
"I didn't notice." Dong Huimiao carefully pondered the god's meaning, completely on a different wavelength from Xia Chuhe.
Xia Chuhe relayed the maid's words and asked for her opinion on the winter destruction of seedlings.
Dong Huimiao scoffed, "You've gone mad from trying to be a good Samaritan. We'll take the rules and leave. What those who stay wear and live in is none of our business!"
"Don't you think the maid is a bit pitiful? If she ends up homeless, poorly clothed, and starving, won't you feel heartbroken?" Xia Chuhe was somewhat surprised to say such a thing.
"I don't think so. She just looks like you... me. How beautiful can she be?"
The thought of sharing a face with Xia Chuhe still made Dong Huimiao feel a little awkward. In her eyes, the maid's face bore a striking resemblance to her own.
Xia Chuhe: "..."
Something's not right; the face she and Dong Huimiao saw might not be the same.
Strangely, Xia Chuhe couldn't describe exactly what the maid's face looked like. In his memory, her eyes, nose, lips… every feature was blurry, leaving only the impression of “beauty.”
Winter Destroys Seedlings: "You don't need to believe what she says. Who knows if she's a good person or a bad person? But I hope my daughter won't end up like your maid. I can't bear that. Hey, do you have any way to take the NPC out of the Rules Zone? I want to raise my daughter. I miss her. Her chubby little face is so cute. I'm going to go see her..."
After saying a lot of things, Dong Huimiao abandoned her clueless thoughts and went to see her daughter.
Xia Chuhe: "..."
That little radish head is so short, it's not even as cute as Bao'er. What's so interesting about it?
Since the winter seedlings were unreliable, Xia Chuhe decided to go out and check for himself to verify the maid's words.
The village in the Land of Rules is small, with only a few dozen households. Each house has a similar layout, consisting of several rooms with front and back yards. Only the house on the far east side is unique, being built as a three-story villa.
To the south of the house are large tracts of farmland planted with wheat.
One can roughly determine the religious beliefs of each household simply by looking at the condition of their yard and wheat field.
Within roughly the same area, some families have lush backyards with abundant water and grass, and their cattle and sheep are robust, while others have barren land, and their cattle and sheep are thin and bony.
In the adjacent wheat fields, some ears of wheat, when pinched, are plump and delightful, while others are empty and shriveled.
As a new resident, Xia Chuhe naturally wanted to find a few other families in similar situations to inquire about their circumstances.
She found a family with a poor backyard, and coincidentally, the man of the house was a blacksmith.
The lady of the house was washing rice and cooking in the yard, while the gentleman was forging iron in the side room.
Xia Chuhe started by mentioning that the family had just moved in, and began chatting with them.
As the conversation was in full swing, Xia Chuhe said, "I heard that there are evil beasts attacking tonight. My family just performed a sacrifice to the gods. I don't know if it will help."
Blacksmith: "I don't believe in that, I only believe in the hammer in my hand."
The woman said, "My husband is not only strong, but also very skilled. The wheat is almost ready for harvest, so if you need any farm tools, remember to come to us!"
"No problem, no problem." Xia Chuhe exchanged a few more pleasantries with the family before taking his leave.
On her way home, she thought of asking her neighbors who believed in gods. But for some reason, the believers were not as kind as the non-believers and didn't want to talk to her at all.
Seeing that it was getting late, Xia Chuhe had been turned away and had no choice but to go home first.
That evening, after dinner, none of the four members of Xia Chuhe's family rested; they all huddled around the stove in the kitchen, waiting for the evil beast to attack.
Time passed by, and the little girl yawned, nestled in Dong Huimiao's arms, half asleep and half awake.
Dong Huimiao said softly, "Nannan, go back to your room and sleep. I'll watch over you."
Nannan shook her head, her little hand grabbing Dong Huimiao's collar, looking like no one could persuade her to leave.
In the silence, a loud bang came from outside.
In winter, the seedlings were destroyed, and the girl's ears were covered. In summer, the hoeing of the rice plants led him to peek through the narrow window.
A huge black gorilla pounded its chest and roared, stretching out six arms from behind, reaching towards six families at the same time, one of which was heading towards Xia Chuhe.
"Boom——"
Just as the long black arm was about to strike, a golden barrier flashed in the sky outside the courtyard gate, blocking the chimpanzee's attack.
The other five households also experienced similar situations in several other households.
It seems that God's protection was in effect.
Seeing the evil beast's attack blocked, Xia Chuhe and the other three felt much more at ease and sat together by the furnace, waiting for the evil beast's invasion to end.
About half an hour later, the village returned to peace. Apart from a few faint, sporadic cries, there was no further movement.
"Go and rest." Xia Chuhe propped herself up on her knees and went back to the bedroom first.
Dong Huimiao picked up the little girl and chuckled softly, "Go to sleep."
...
God's protection is effective; you are safe for now.
If the second ritual is completed, Winter Destroyer will gain the ability to transfer souls. If the rituals continue, Summer Hoeing will be able to reclaim the farm and other supernatural abilities.
Xia Chuhe lay on the bed, recalling the divine will once again—"Kneel and offer the crown forged from thorns, where your blood burns like a torch, I will temper the ashes into a sword."
Thorns, forging, swords...
Thorns, casting...
Melting and casting...
The gods do not need ordinary crowns, but crowns forged from metal. Thinking of forging, Xia Chuhe immediately thought of blacksmiths.
The gods would melt down crowns made of thorns into swords, so what the gods wanted were thorns, and not just any thorns, but thorns that could be melted down and forged.
Then it can only be iron thorns!
Xia Chuhe decided that tomorrow during the day, he must have the blacksmith forge a crown in the shape of thorns.
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