It's not that hard to open a hospital in another world, right?

Chapter 1184 The rising and never setting... black sun in the holy lake? (Push up the update! Ask for a monthly pass!)
In the mood of watching the excitement, Gretel slept until the sacrificial ceremony was about to begin.However, long before he got up, someone was already busy.

In the temple, the “chosen women”—priestesses and reserves of sun virgins—rise early.Under the guidance of the elder priestess, they began to prepare meals for the gods:

"Monte Patasca", a corn soup with chilli and herbs;

"Locro", a stew of fish, potatoes, vegetables and peppers;
Cornbread carefully baked with corn planted in the temple's sacrificial fields;
And a variety of foods that have special meaning and need to be completed with special techniques.All the soups, staple foods and dishes must be prepared against the clock and before the fish belly is exposed in the sky.

When the first ray of sunlight passed through the stone lintel engraved with the sun pattern and entered the temple, the sacrifice officially began.Gretel stood in the queue of priests, looked at the temple with his head, and gave a soft "wow":
A ray of sunlight passed through the hole in the lintel and penetrated straight into the deep temple hall, illuminating the face of the statue of the sun god without any difference.

"All year round, only in the early morning of a dark day, the sun will pass through the hole and directly shine on the statue." Beside Gretel, the middle-aged priest who accompanied him explained to him with pride:

"This is a miracle and gift from the Sun God. Only the power of my God can do this."

Awesome... Gretel gave him a thumbs up.Not to him, but to the first generation, the designers and builders of the temple:
How much knowledge of astronomy, astrology, and geography is needed to calculate it just right, so that the morning sun happens to be so accurate!
This kind of thing, modern people with supercomputers may not be able to do it!
The first ray of morning sun fell on the statue of the sun god, and the golden statue instantly bathed the entire temple in golden light. The "women chosen by the gods" immediately filed forward and placed the food they had prepared in front of the statue.

Music followed.Amidst the sound of music, the smoke of various spices and herbs curled upwards. The virgins of the sun who presided over the ceremony, and the goddess of the sun who led them, looked up at the statue and chanted repeatedly, with a soft and long voice:
"Sun, please enjoy the food your wives have prepared for you!"

Synchronized with them, priests who serve other gods also offer prepared food to their gods.For example, the thick porridge made of potatoes, corn and pumpkins dedicated to Pachamama, the goddess of the earth, was dug up by priests in brown robes and buried in the ground;
Dedicated to Kiria, the lord of the mountains, the golden holy wine brewed from corn was lifted high by the priests in white robes and poured into the icy lake;
Dedicated to the mother of the ocean, Mamakocha, the fish caught from the holy lake is roasted on the fire until it is crispy and golden...

Gretel turned his head left and right, looking at it so dizzyingly that he wished he could throw a hundred arcane eyes at the same time, open a hundred camera positions, and record it and store it in the mobile tower to watch it a hundred times.

Although most people who travel abroad will not watch these videos repeatedly after returning home, this does not prevent them from holding up their mobile phones and recording each one with great interest...

Gretel and the others watched happily.Although the great mage Baierbo has roamed the southern continent, he has never stood in such a good position to watch the important festivals of the Sun Kingdom at close range. At this moment, he is concentrating and feeling the energy changes on the field;
Cerilla looked around, with a pair of bright silver-blue eyes, turning back and forth on those gold plates, gold bowls, gold pots, gold cups, silver plates, silver bowls, silver pots, and silver cups, the pupils almost turned into gold and silver. ;

Bernard and Apa focused more on the food, seeing them being poured into the ground and into the lake, Gretel heard clearly, Bernard swallowed;
As for Yudian, this half-step legend who was sent by Elder Fahim to ensure Gretel's safety, leaned lazily against Apa, chewing a piece of green grass in his mouth.

But Gretel felt an intriguing but sharp aura from him:

Is it dangerous around here?
It should be dangerous.Whether it is according to the Sun God or Elder Fahim's estimation, the legend of the Radiance God Cult wants to attack, and the winter solstice, when the sun's power weakens to the lowest point, is the best time to make a move——

In a place that Grete couldn't see or perceive, on the top of the distant snow peak, there were indeed two legends standing side by side.

Governor Sanecco Martínez of the Governorate of Pellew stood with his sword in his hand, wearing a scarlet velvet cape, hunting and flying on the top of the snow-capped mountain.He lowered his head slightly, and looked down at the complicated sacrificial ceremony with cold eyes:

"A false god is indeed a false god, and needs so many messy sacrifices. And there are living sacrifices, it's ridiculous... They don't know that living sacrifices can only add to the sins of false gods?"

"This is the duty we have been given." Archbishop Bartolome bowed his head and prayed, raised his right hand, and said nine points smoothly on his chest:
"Destroy the devil and lead the lost lamb back to the embrace of the Lord. For this reason, we will not hesitate to fight and sacrifice, so as to spread the glory of the Lord on this land."

The two prayed in a low voice, then fell silent again, overlooking the sacrificial ceremony below.The sun gradually rose, and after the offerings to the gods, the ritual finally reached the most important part:
Everyone took off the king's fine clothes, lifted the jar, and poured a thick layer of ointment on him.Then, seven or eight priests surrounded the king, blowing gold powder on him through thin reed pipes...

"What is this for?!"

Gretel was startled.Beside him, the priest responsible for accompanying him whispered:
"The king is the most noble person, and cannot be touched by the hands of mortals... Therefore, this method is the only way to paint him with gold powder..."

You... as long as you are happy...

Gretel was momentarily unable to complain.The only consolation is that even if you accidentally inhale something like gold powder, it shouldn't be a serious problem... right...

After the king's whole body was covered with glittering gold powder, everyone put on a golden breastplate (Grete thought of the cold and hard texture of gold, and sincerely sympathized with the king) a golden crown, and a glittering golden crown. Earrings and a gold nose ring.

Then, the king stepped onto the straw raft by the lake and sat down on a small boat in the center of the straw raft. The nobles and priests took turns walking past the boat, each holding various gold and precious stones and gently placing them on the boat. to the feet of the king.

"Hey!"

Gretel whispered:
"Put too much... this raft won't sink... it won't sink... it won't sink..."

"It shouldn't sink. This boat has a good load capacity." Cerilla replied in a low voice, staring at the golden gems without turning her eyes:

Why put these things in the boat?

Why put it in the boat? !
Before they could come up with Ziwu Yinmao, the attendants pushed the straw raft away from the shore and rowed far to the center of the lake.Then, one, two, three, pushed the king and the boat he was sitting on into the lake, and rowed back directly...

Under the blue sky, except for the waterline left by the straw raft, there is only a lake, a boat, and a king.

... Not even an oar was left for the king.

"Hey, why is the king coming back later?" Cerilla asked in a low voice during the telepathic connection.Gretel's conjecture was even wilder:
"Will he never come back? Look at him dressed up like this... Could it be that he is just a sacrifice?"

"No way?" Archmage Bairbo didn't know much about the customs of the Sun Kingdom.However, the Archmage has another angle:

"Change a king every year? Then this king is changed too often... Even if the king can be changed, what about the king's harem? The successor will inherit directly? Or choose a group every year?"

No matter how you think about it, it doesn't look right...

Amidst the discussion, the sun rose gradually, and the golden glow had already filled the lake.Thousands of nobles and priests stood around the lake, chanting poems praising the sun god in a low voice;
The full-time priests played the Antara pan flute made of clay, the Gaina flute made of monster leg bones, and the five-string Charango.Low and melodious, rough and bright, light and cheerful music rang from the edge of the lake to the center of the lake.

And when the golden figure of the king overlapped with the shadow cast by the sun on him, the solemn and sacred sound of conch shells sounded.Amid the sound of conch shells, the king raised his arms to the sun on the boat and sang the sacrificial oration sonorously and forcefully.

"This voice! This breath!" Gretel sincerely admired in the telepathic connection.Although he couldn't understand a single word of this sacrificial oration, he thought of Pavarotti's "My Sun" from the bottom of his heart—well, it fits the occasion, doesn't it?
After a sacrificial oration was sung, the king held up the golden crown on his head, raised his hands high, and threw it vigorously.The golden crown draws an arc in the sun and falls into the center of the lake.Next, gold earrings, gold nose rings, gold breastplates...

Next, there are flowers, gold ornaments and precious stones piled on the ship.One by one, one after another, they were thrown into the holy lake.

"Hey... this lake throws so much gold and jewelry every year..."

In the telepathic connection, as expected, Cerilla's voice came.Gretel looked back, while quickly counting in his mind:

Just the gold wares I saw today, thirty or forty pieces, one kilogram...two kilograms...ten kilograms maybe?Ten years is one hundred kilograms, and 100 years is one ton...

How many years has this kingdom lasted by the holy lake?

In other words, how many years did this sacrificial ceremony of throwing gold, silver and jewelry into the holy lake last on the shore of the holy lake?

While mentally calculating, while looking back.I saw the silver dragon girl staring at the lake, her ears trembling a little:

"I really want to go down to fish... I really want to go down... Gretel, how deep is this lake... When they are all gone, I will secretly go down to fish, can I get it up..."

"...Cerilla, don't!"

Gretel was sweating profusely, and hurriedly dissuaded him.He snapped his fingers and counted to Cerilla one by one:

"This lake is very deep! It can reflect such a clear blue color. It is absolutely impossible for this lake to be only 20 meters and [-] meters deep!

Moreover, it is a holy lake made of snow water, the water is very cold, and there are no monsters or gods in it, so it will be dangerous to go down!

Besides, you can't guarantee that every time the king throws gold, he throws it in a fixed place; you can't guarantee that the gold ornaments will sink straight when they enter the water!It must have been pushed away by the current!
And for so many years, the silt at the bottom of the lake has been layered layer by layer, layer after layer, and I don't know how many layers have been covered up!Cerilla, why do you want to pan for gold in such a thick mud!
If we want gold, we have other ways!Don't do such dirty and dangerous work! "

"That……"

Cerilla's beautiful silver-blue eyes blinked, blinked, still reluctant to give up so much gold.Gretel was sweating and tried his best to dissuade, Archmage Bilbo smiled and said nothing, Bernard wisely defended himself.

None of the three people knew that on the high snow peak, someone was also thinking:
"Throwing gold directly into the lake! Extravagance! Waste!"

"These golds should add luster to the glory of our Lord!"

"Is there a way to fish out the gold in this lake?"

"Let's talk about it. ... After the false gods are destroyed, we have enough time to try various methods. At worst, let the water in this lake be drained!"

Governor Martinez raised his palm like a knife and slashed downward, as if trying to split the shore of the lake and let the lake water pour down from the side of the valley.After simulating this for a while, I still stopped and continued to watch:
The side of the boat rose little by little.The last piece of gold and the last jewel were thrown into the lake. The king stood up straight and suddenly jumped down with a splash!
"He He……"

Gretel was really surprised this time.No way, no way, this king, can't really be part of the sacrifice?
This is too fierce!Change a king every year!

The middle-aged priest who was by his side couldn't help but sigh.Looking at the strange eyes of the distinguished guests, he can probably imagine what these distinguished guests have gone into -

If it was another outsider, and he didn't need to make a sound, the priests next to him would probably drive them away.However, this is an absolute honored guest, an honored guest that the Sun God should treat with courtesy, so he can only bite the bullet and try to explain:
"Our king is a noble 'golden man'. The gold powder on his body is also a sacrifice to the sun god and the goddess of the holy lake..."

Wouldn't he be too?

Gretel looked at him in astonishment.The middle-aged priest knew what he was thinking without even asking, and sighed tiredly:

"Whenever the sun god feels tired, he will sink into the holy lake to take a bath and recuperate. And the man of gold shoulders the heavy responsibility of awakening the sun god... Every year on dark days, he must swim until all the gold powder is scattered, Symbolizes the awakening of the sun from the holy lake..."

"What if I'm frozen and can't swim?"

Gretel blurted out.

The lake water formed by melting snow from the snow-capped mountains!

Winter Solstice, the coldest day of the year!

Naked, throwing all the gold and precious stones on the lake, and then jumping into the lake, the gold powder that swam to the body was washed away!
This is replaced by a slightly weaker person, who is afraid that if he does not jump down, he will have cramps, and then he will freeze to death in the lake!
Anyway, even if Gretel has [cold and heat resistance], [underwater breathing], [wave blessing], and a full set of magic protection, he would not dare to challenge this crop...

"how can that be possible?"

The smile on the middle-aged priest's face froze.He turned his head, gestured to the king in the lake with his eyes—the one who was still swimming around the cattail boat—and continued to explain:
"Our king, with the blood of the sun god, has the blessings of all the gods. He is as comfortable in the holy lake as he is in his own palace, frozen...can't swim or anything..."

It doesn't exist at all!

Oh……

Gretel pouted silently.Well, well, if you have a bloodline inheritance, you are strong, maybe this king is a high-level fighter or something...

So, if it really froze, couldn't swim, and sank, it meant that the king had lost the blessings of the sun god, and also the blessings of other gods, so he deserved to die, he deserved to change the king, right?
By the way, I just wiped my whole body greasy, can I wash it in cold water?Would you like to support some soap or something?

The sounds of pan flutes, clarinets, banjos and conch shells on the shore stopped at some point.The nobles and priests lined up along the shore of the lake, silently watching the king's strokes.

The sun gradually rose, and then, suddenly, the entire golden holy lake began to dim...

Exclaimed everywhere.Gretel was pulled backwards, staggered, and retreated between Cerilla and Udian.After finally standing still, I looked up——

The world is dark.The sun hanging high in the sky began to be swallowed by the huge black shadow little by little.

...what's so surprising about that?Isn't it just a solar eclipse?Speaking of which, your country's astronomy is a bit inferior, and you can't even calculate a solar eclipse... However, the winter solstice catches up with the solar eclipse, this luck...

Before he could finish his thought, a huge pressure suddenly fell down in the air.Gretel felt a tightness in his chest, and his knees almost bent straight down.

A black shadow flashed in the corner of his eyes, and Yu Dian directly blocked the front, looking up with a stern expression.

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(End of this chapter)