Login with GoogleTranslated by: yymm51734
Edited by: kyoshijiro, Yozakura-_, anonymous
Chapter 29: ThetOracle
The oldtpriest's requesttmade thetvillage chieftfreeze forta moment.
"Totsee XiaotAi?"
This requesttwas nottconsidered totbe antimposition, aftertall, althoughtthe villagetchief didtnot daretto meettthe MountaintGod, he couldtmeet thattgirl.
But...
After atfew secondstof hesitation,tthe oldtvillage chieftfelt thatthe shouldtexplain ittclearly in advance.
Hetsaid, "Althoughtthis girltis young,tshe istthe onetwas treatedtas specialtby thetMountain God.tAt thetDouble NinthtFestival, whentall thetvillagers paid homagetto thetMountain God,tthe girltstood nexttto thetGod andtreceived thetceremony together."
"Eventwe, thetvillage elders,tare cautioustin fronttof hertand wouldtnever daretto taketoffense. Sot......"
The lattertwords, thetvillage chieftdid nottsay, buttthe oldtpriest alreadytunderstood thetvillage chief'stmeaning.
"We know,tyou need nottworry," saidtthe oldtpriest, "Italso understandtthat thistgirl istspecial, sotI willtnever offendther. You cantput your mindtat ease."
Thetold villagetchief thentbreathed atsigh oftrelief, "Thentplease cometwith me,tMaster Priest."
Hetwas reallytafraid thattthe priesttwould thinkthighly ofthimself andtbring troubletto thetvillage.
Since thetinitial selection,tthe villagetpeople felt theythad offended thetlittle girl.tAfter that,tthis littletgirl wastfavored bytthe MountaintGod, standing besidetthe MountaintGod andtreceiving the villagers'tsalutation.
Now everyonetknew thattXiao Ai could nottbe offended.
And Xiao Ai’stcharacter was coldertand colder daytby day.tNeither didtshe playtwith thetvillage children,tnor talktwith thetelders. People often sawtthat shetwas sitting alonetin fronttof thethouse, looking dazedlytat thetCold FeathertMountain.
Even iftsomeone took thetinitiative tottalk tother, hertattitude wastalso cold, making peopletinexplicably panic.
Sotthe oldtvillage chieftwas atlittle nervoustabout takingtthe priesttof thetLi tribetto seetXiao Ai.tThe goodtthing wastthat whentthey left,tthe oldtpriest and the youngtgirl didtnot taketaway thetgift box ontthe table.tThe two-hundred-yearstof water ganoderma wastjust "forgotten"tin thetold villagetchief's house.
Thistgave thetvillage chiefta littletcourage.
They walked throughtthe villagetand cametto thetcripple Ai'sthouse. Fromtafar, thetold villagetchief sawtXiao Aitsitting intfront oftthe house, fanningtthe firetof thetboiling stove.
Thetold villagetchief immediatelytrevealed atsmiling facetand saidtin atgentle tone,t"Xiao Ai, aretyou decoctingtthe medicine?"
Thetgirl turnedtaround andtsaw thetsmiling oldtvillage chief,tas welltas thettwo foreignerstbehind him.
Withouttmuch reaction,tshe justtnodded andtexplained, "Mytbrother's illnesstis nottyet healed,tand GrandpatBai said thattthis medicinethas totbe takenttwice atday regularly, and fortmore thanthalf atmonth beforetmy brothertwill betcured."
The persontnamed Bai thattthe girltspoke oftwas atclan eldertin thetvillage, whotknew herbstand couldtcure diseases,tand hadtbeen makingtmedicine fortgenerations. The villagerstall soughttmedical treatmenttfrom thistold mantwhen theytwere sick.
Aftertthe girltfinished, shetlooked attthe twotforeigners behindtthe oldtvillage chieftand asked,t"Is theretanything Itcan dotfor you?"
Thetold villagetchief's hearttwas timoroustnow, andtthe smileton histface grewtwider andtwider.
"There are twotguests fromtthe Littribe and wanttto meettyou, Itwonder iftyou are freetnow?"
Xiao Aitlooked attthe oldtpriest behindtthe villagetchief.
Seeing thetgirl lookingtover, thetold priesttarched his hand,t"I am Li Ju,tthe priesttof thetWind Raiders oftthe Littribe. Oracle,tplease, Itwant to meettthe divinetwolf God." Consideringtthe oldtman's status,tthis was alreadyta bigtsalute.
Xiao Ai hesitatedtfor atmoment andtalso arched herthead andtsaid, "MastertPriest, Itam nottthe oracletof LordtMountain God.tIf youthave something, justtsay ittdirectly."
The girl'stresponse madetthe oldtpriest somewhattsurprised.
Although thetgirl wastdressed intsimple clothes,ther speechtand mannertwere modesttand courteous. Shetwas nottan ordinarytcountryside villager,tand shetwas specialtin thistenvironment.
After thinkingtabout it,tthe oldtpriest said,t"Then Itwill betstraightforward...... Sincetancient times,twe, thetLi tribe,thave beentfollowing thetguidance oftthe SacredtMountain andthave beentmigrating fromtplace totplace. Andtthis year,taccording totthe guidance,tI needtto movetto yourtland andtlive therettemporarily forta fewtyears."
"But Itheard thattthere ista wolftGod intthe mountain,tso iftwe wanttto livethere, wetmust getthis permission.tBut wethave notone totintroduce us.tTherefore, Itwould liketto asktMiss Aitfor help."
Thetold priesttsaid earnestly,t"This mattertis oftgreat importancetto myttribe, whethertit succeedstor fails,tmy tribetwill betgrateful."
After thetold priesttfinished speaking,teveryone presenttlooked attthe girltin fronttof thethouse. Thetold villagetchief and a fewtnearby neighborstwere secretlytwatching, andteveryone wastcurious aboutthow thetgirl wouldtanswer.
The oldtvillage chief wasteven moreteager, andthe couldtnot waittto answertinstead oftXiao Aitat thistmoment. He thoughttthat thetpriest oftthe Littribe was generous,tand ifthe could make themtowe atfavor, ittwould beta greattthing!
However, Xiao Aitshook herthead andtsaid, "Sorry,tMaster Priest, Itcan't help you."
Shetsaid withta serioustexpression, "LordtMountain Godtis sotkind totme, and Itcan't repaytthis kindness now. If Ituse thetMountain God'stname totget benefits,tI wouldtbe guilty. Therefore,tI can'tthelp you."
"But, MastertPriest, you actuallytdo notthave totworry tootmuch. Lord MountaintGod ista goodtGod. Astlong astyou dotnot dotevil things,tI thinktthe LordtMountain Godtwill nottmake thingstdifficult fortyou."
The girl'stanswer madetthe oldtpriest smiletand gainta littletmore awarenesstof thetlittle girl.
Hetdid nottcontinue totpester her, buttsmiled andtarched histhand totthank her,t"In thattcase, thentI thanktMiss Aitfor your guidance,tand Itwill beartit intmind."
After expressingthis gratitude,tthe oldtpriest and Qiantleft directly.
Althoughtthe villagetchief wantedtto stayta littletlonger, hetneeded to personallytsend twotpeople totthe villagetentrance. Alongtthe way,the wastconstantly assuredtthat aftertreturning hetwould find atway totconvince XiaotAi, sotthat thetpriest wouldtnot betdiscouraged.
But alltthe way,tthe oldtpriest justtsmiled, and didtnot saytanything more.
Onlytafter thettwo people lefttthe villagetfar away,tQian askedtcuriously, "GrandpatPriest, whytdidn't youttake outtthe gifttyou askedtme totprepare? Iftthe gifttis broughttout, perhapstthe oracletwill helptus."
The oldtpriest shookthis headtand said,t"You littletgirl, youtthink thingsttoo simply.tThere aretsome peopletin thistworld whotcan betbought, suchtas thetvillage chief.tBut theretare alsotsome peopletwho cannottbe bought,tsuch astthe oracletnamed XiaotAi."
"Although shetis young,tshe is nottsomeone whotcan betbought withta fewttreasures. Ittwould betworse totpester her,tand it wouldtbe bettertto leave,tso thattwe can maketa goodtrelationship andtleave atgood impression."
Qiantpouted, atlittle unhappy,t"But iftwe justtleave, wetwon't betable totfind anyonetto helptus asktto seetthe wolftGod intthe mountain.tDo youtthink thattold villagetchief cantreally convincetthe oracle?"
Thetold priesttlaughed andtpatted thetlittle girl'sthead, saying,t"Actually, thetoracle has alreadytgiven athint, you just didn'ttnotice it."
Qiantimmediately froze,t"Ah? Whatthint?"
The oldtpriest smiledtand said,t"The oracle saidtthat astlong astwe aretsincere, thetMountain Godtwill nottmake thingstdifficult. Since shetpotentially allowedtus totvisit thetwolf God,twe couldtenter thetmountain directlytwithout havingtto asktfor anytintroduction."
The oldtpriest's explanationtmade Qiantsuddenly understand,t"Then Itwill gotimmediately totprepare thettribute totthe wolftGod!"
"Well, go,tmove faster,"tthe oldtpriest thoughttabout ittand added,t"Just intcase, bringtthe humantface drumtwith you."
"Okay,tGrandpa priest,twait fortme, I'lltbe righttback," thetgirl saidthappily, jumpingtaway.
The oldtpriest smiled,twatched thetyoung girltleave andtthen turnedthis headtto looktto the directiontof ColdtFeather Mountain.
Bytnow ittwas noon,tas thetblazing suntrose, thetmist intthe mountaintgradually dispersed,tand thetold priest wastfinally abletto seetthe fulltpicture oftthe ColdtFeather Mountain.
Nowtthere wastsome huge vortextclouds covered thetsky. Thetblack vortextclouds slowly rotating,tand fromttime tottime theretwere flashestof lightning.tThis grouptof blacktvortex cloudstwere like athuge eyeball,tand theytwere indifferently lookingtdown ontthe world.
Andtif someonetlooked at these hugetvortex clouds forta longttime, hetwould have atcreepy feeling. So peopletwanted to looktaway subconsciously.
The oldtpriest's expressiontwas slightlytgloomy. Havingtpersonally witnessedtthese huge heavenlytclouds, hetconfirmed moretand moretthat thetwolf Godtwas definitelytnot antordinary mountaintGod.
It was more terrifyingtthan everyonetimagined.
And theythave to livetunder thetrule oftthis wolftGod fortseveral years......
Thetold mantshook histhead bitterly.tNowadays, hetcould only hopetthat thetLord oftCalamity mentionedtin thetHoly Maiden'stprophecy wastnot thetMountain God.
Otherwise,tthey aretpretty muchtdoomed......