The second day after entering the Land of Rules.
Xia Chuhe didn't go to the blacksmith, but the blacksmith's wife came to his door first.
Last night, without divine protection, the blacksmith's house was easily breached by an evil beast. It did not harm anyone, but instead took all of the blacksmith's food.
Blacksmithing is hard work, and one can't go without food. The blacksmith wanted to exchange his forging of farm tools for some grain, but many people in the village were unwilling to do so.
The blacksmith's wife walked halfway through the village, all the way to Xia Chuhe's house, before she could exchange her money for a little bit of food.
Xia Chuhe scooped half a bag of grain from the kitchen and gave it to her with a smile, saying, "My family doesn't lack farm tools, but we do lack a decoration. Could you please make a crown for me, brother? I want one shaped like thorns."
The woman readily agreed, telling Xia Chuhe to come and collect the grain the next day, and then left with the grain.
However, a moment later, the woman returned with the grain, followed by a worried-looking blacksmith and an old man who walked unsteadily.
The woman said, “It’s strange. The bag was clearly full of grain, but when I carried it home, it turned into pebbles. When I came out with the bag, the pebbles turned back into grain. I… I would like to trouble you, sister, if we could borrow your stove so that my husband and I can have a meal before we leave.”
Xia Chuhe glanced at the maid, then quickly looked away.
The maid smiled and said, "It's alright, please enjoy."
The blacksmith's family is in the same situation as the maid described yesterday, having lost their clothes. Perhaps what the blacksmith's family has lost is not just food, but the possibility that they will never have food again.
Without help from others, this family would probably starve to death soon.
Why would the villagers rather watch this family starve to death than lend them food? The villagers worship seven virtuous gods, including those of humility and kindness.
After finishing their meal, the blacksmith and his family left, expressing their deepest gratitude.
When Dong Huimiao asked her about it, Xia Chuhe told her his new guess about divine will.
The two did not stop their sacrifice. Although the sacrifice to the second god was stalled, they could complete the third one first.
Dong Huimiao felt she had no ability to be returned by the gods and that she should continue to perform the sacrifices. She wondered what strange things the gods would give her, so she decided to let Xia Chuhe perform the sacrifices this time.
Xia Chuhe silently recited the name of the gentle god before the statue and received divine guidance: "Brand the blood mark on your forehead with a broken sword, and bind the bones with fiery vines to form an unbreakable vow."
The first half of the sentence is easy to understand: stab your forehead with a broken sword to draw blood. However, the second half, "unbreakable oath," is somewhat difficult to comprehend.
In addition to divine will, the gods also gave you a small pebble: "Offer a feather and horn as a sacrifice, and I will grant you the power to burn the world."
Feathers; horns...
What the gods wanted were all things that Xia Chuhe's family had; the only things in the house with horns were the poor cattle and sheep in the backyard.
Offering livestock such as chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep to the gods will grant Xia Chuhe the ability to set fires.
Since things had come to this, Xia Chuhe simply called out the names of the gods one by one, wanting to see in advance how he would have to make sacrifices to the gods to regain his lost abilities.
However, no matter how she called out, no god other than the God of Gentleness appeared, and Dong Huimiao could only summon the God of Compassion.
The other deities will not appear until the two have completed their current ritual.
Xia Chuhe picked up his sword: "I'll find a way to break it."
"Then what should I do?" Dong Huimiao asked stupidly.
Xia Chuhe: "I'll stay with your daughter."
Winter destroyed seedlings: "..."
She should go to the blacksmith's house and supervise his work so that the Crown of Thorns can be made quickly, so that the next step of the sacrifice can be carried out.
The technology in the Land of Rules is not advanced, and the iron swords forged there are not considered good swords. If Xia Chuhe were to use his superpowers normally, a single full-force bend would probably break them.
But now, with his limbs weak, Xia Chuhe can only break the sword using skillful means, such as breaking it by chopping rocks, using leverage to snap it, or burning it and then rapidly cooling it to make the blade brittle...
Stones are not hard to find, but it's hard to swing the sword a hundred times. As soon as a small nick appears on the sword, Xia Chuhe is so tired that he has to do the splits.
Using the lever principle, but unable to find a sufficiently rigid gap.
After a busy morning, Xia Chuhe and Dong Huimiao still managed to meet at the blacksmith's house.
Xia Chuhe made her request, and although the blacksmith didn't understand why she wanted to break the perfectly good sword, he still picked up his heavy hammer and hit the sword several times, successfully breaking it in two.
To obtain the broken sword, Xia Chuhe still needs burning vines, which is much simpler.
【Flaming vines entwine bones to form an unbreakable vow】The first four characters are easy to understand, but as for the unbreakable vow, Xia Chuhe decided to ignore it for the time being.
So when Dong Huimiao returned home, he saw Xia Chuhe standing in front of the statue, her forehead was slashed, her broken sword was dripping blood, burning vines were wrapped around her body, and her coarse linen clothes were burned to pieces.
Flames left wounds on her body, blood splattered on her face, yet she smiled brightly at Dong Huimiao: "I got it back."
Flames—this was the first thing Xia Chuhe brought back.
Fourth, the god of diligence.
Your niece is a seed of rust; return to my furnace and forge her into a plowshare of morning stars.
The new pebble is engraved with the words: "Trade laziness for strength."
"What is a lazybones?" Dong Huimiao asked curiously, playing with a pebble.
“Your daughter,” Xia Chuhe said coldly.
The pebble slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. Dong Huimiao's face turned extremely ugly: "I disagree."
Xia Chuhe ignored her opinion and instead brought up the matter of the blacksmith's family's missing grain, saying, "Later, find the blacksmith to change your clothes and verify what the maid said. While it's still early, let's walk through the village again and look for anyone who has made a complete sacrifice to the seven gods."
Dong Huimiao, suspicious and paranoid, asked, "You're not planning to send me away so you can secretly sacrifice my daughter, are you?"
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