Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 959: Is there a more suitable candidate?

"Do you think he can succeed, Lady Ayina?"

After all the strangers left the tent, Chief Wilhelm looked at Elder Aina who was sitting in the main seat and asked in a deep voice. Although the chief and the elders were essentially equal, his tone was still respectful, and this respect was not only based on age, but also on experience. Elder Aina had been in this position for eighty-nine years, and had witnessed the arrival and departure of three generations of chiefs. It was said that the meeting between Solomon and the previous generation of great spiritual envoys of the Mist Mountain Hermitage was coordinated by her.

Over the long years, Elder Aina has always relied on her wisdom and experience to guide the Wusu tribe forward, avoiding countless natural and man-made disasters, and is therefore deeply trusted by everyone. Even other mountain tribes sometimes travel thousands of miles to Osor Mountain to seek advice from the wise elder and respectfully call her "Grandmother."

As a tribesman who had grown up under the grandmother's teachings and eventually took over the position of leader, Wilhelm Dart naturally believed in her vision. Therefore, he wanted to know what the grandmother thought of these uninvited outsiders, and whether their lofty words of trying to replicate the deeds of the saints could really succeed?

"hehe."

Elder Aina picked up the bowl of broth that had not been touched from beginning to end, took a sip, and then answered slowly: "If it is him, it may be difficult; but if it is them, it may not be possible."

Chief Wilhelm understood the difference between him and them. He recalled the conversation just now and realized that he had been focusing on the young man and ignored his companions. Perhaps the owner of Sun Snow was worth paying attention to, but as for the others, was there anything special about them?
He shook his head and said, "That being said, the path to heaven is extremely difficult. Only wise and resolute people can see the way. I'm afraid it won't be effective just by having a large number of people."

"Don't underestimate the emotions between people, Wilhelm. They are one of the cornerstones of destiny." Elder Aina put down the bowl and looked at the door of the tent, the direction where the strangers left. Her eyes were so deep that they seemed to penetrate the wind and snow outside the tent and see a place farther away. "The fate of that young man no longer belongs to himself, but is deeply connected with many people. This connection sometimes troubles him, but there is no doubt that it is the key to his repeated creation of miracles."

"Repeatedly create miracles..."

Chief Wilhelm couldn't help but think of the various legends in the outside world: he had confronted the constructed mecha Scarlet Gate of the Balance of Order head-on, faced the ruthless power of the Grand Inquisitor on the burning night of the Virtual Root Swamp, penetrated into the city of Renwitin, the stronghold of the Cult Union, to steal intelligence, and successfully escaped from the siege of the Night Watch, the Balance of Order, the Dragoon Regiment and even the Wingsuit Mobile Force... For ordinary people, it would be a feat if they could do one of these, and he, who has accomplished all the feats in one person, perhaps can only be described as a miracle.

If Lingge heard his inner voice, he would definitely be surprised that Chief Wilhelm knew so much about his experience.

Outsiders all think that the mountain tribes have lived in the mountains for a long time and know nothing about the outside world. However, this is a stereotype, especially the Mountain Guards. Their organizational form is closer to a resistance organization than a religious organization. Although they are dormant now, they are just waiting for the right time to act. They have never stopped collecting intelligence from the outside world, including the secular world and the mysterious world.

The most widely spread rumors in the mysterious world today are naturally those about Lingge and others, although they are all specious and spread by word of mouth. Some people say that they represent an ancient mysterious church, and because of the "Religious Decree", they decided to resist the union of the cults, and made those arrogant silver mad dogs suffer several losses; some people say that they hold the secrets of the union of the cults, which is very likely to change the pattern of today's world, so they are hunted down; even more, they swear that this is actually an internal struggle of the same secret force, and the winner will determine the new order of the world. It used to be a victory for the union of the cults, so the world entered the era of their rule, which lasted for 800 years, and now everything will change...

Chief Wilhelm felt that these claims were nonsense, but their deeds could not be false. After all, the Battle of Salia Field involved the Holy Spring Monastic Order and the three conceptual gods. The magnitude of the commotion attracted the attention of almost all animist believers who remained in the Western Continent. Although the fire in the Void Root Swamp was fierce, it was impossible to burn all traces. There would always be some lucky ones who escaped and released news to the outside world, letting them know what happened on that night when the flames shot up into the sky.

As for sneaking into the headquarters of the cult alliance to steal intelligence and get away with it, it goes without saying that the last person who did this was named Solomon, but he did it as a traitor to the association. In terms of nature, it is not a deed that can be publicized openly.

For a long time, whether it was the extraordinary people, magicians, aliens, secret societies or religious people, they were always defeated in the confrontation with the united cult, and were forced to give up many living spaces, and even retreated to the distant western continent. Whether it was the Thirteen Hermits founded by Solomon, or the animist believers' persistence in the ritual of summoning gods, they were all the struggles of the adversaries to survive in this war.

However, these unknown outsiders repeatedly caused the cult to suffer losses, although they were only minor wounds that were insignificant and might have healed before the cult itself could react. However, did they finally give those people a glimmer of hope? Therefore, the rumors about them spread more and more widely, becoming more and more exaggerated, and finally even spread to the remote North Ashka Mountains, and were known by the mountain people who had always lived in the snowy mountains.

Only the young man himself seemed unaware of the rumors surrounding him, because he was a very special person. Although he had already set foot in this world, he was always wandering on the edge of it, seeming to be fundamentally different from those people who, once exposed to supernatural powers, would become addicted to them and whose minds were full of thoughts of becoming stronger.

Chief Wilhelm was not sure what this difference meant, but this specialness was the reason why the chief was willing to invest in him. Just like when the ancestors of the Chattoto people were willing to help Saint Tomi, wasn't it because they thought that man was special?

This reason alone is enough.

"So," Chief Wilhelm suddenly whispered, as if he was asking his grandmother, or as if he was asking himself, "Sending Sontaya to him must be the right choice, right?"

"Whether it is right or wrong is not decided by us, but by Songtaya." Elder Aina sighed softly: "I am indeed looking forward to her making a choice, but what is right and what is wrong is not entirely clear. I just think that no matter what, the future of the Xiatoto people should not be placed on a child. It is too heavy a responsibility for her, and it is a shame for the proud mountain people."

Hearing this, Chief Wilhelm subconsciously clenched his fists, then slowly loosened them after a while. He squeezed out a low reply from his throat: "If Sontaya decides to leave, I will take her place. Perhaps, I am not as devout as her to the Mountain Father, but my strength should be enough to make up for the difference in faith."

"But what does this change?"

Elder Aina glanced at him, her eyes filled with helpless sadness: "Even if you are the leader and Songtaya is just a child who has not yet grown up, the essence of this matter is that we put our hopes on a certain person, expecting the sacrifice of an individual in exchange for the collective benefit - mountain people should not be like this. We are proud and united, just like these mountains that stretch for thousands of miles. They seem to be separated, but in fact their roots are all connected together, under the earth." The old grandmother said meaningfully: "Rochelle did not understand this truth, so he made a mistake and dragged many innocent people into this disaster, but mountain people should not make the same mistake a second time."

Hearing the familiar name from Elder Aina, Chief Wilhelm fell silent.

Rochelle, the walker of the Fertile Earth Sect, was not from the Chatotot people, but he was also a mountain dweller, coming from the mountains of the northern highlands. He believed in Titan, the Earth Mother Spirit God, who shared the power of the earth with the Mountain Father. The god-inviting ceremony he held in the Salia Wilderness caused a huge disaster, which was also the most serious blow to animism since the promulgation of the "Religious Decree". After that incident, even the Heidebrusburg Diocese, which had never cared about the mountain guards, strengthened the comprehensive martial law in the Eastern Alps and even mobilized the troops of the Balance of Order, seemingly wanting to take this opportunity to completely eradicate them.

Fortunately, it was the snow season at that time, and with the blessing of the gods of the snow mountains, the blizzard was particularly severe. On the one hand, it caused extremely heavy losses to the mountain tribes, and on the other hand, it prevented the combined forces of the sect from entering the mountains to search, indirectly preserving the inheritance of the mountain guards.

Wind and snow are cruel things in the world, but since they are blessed by the snow-capped mountains, they should offer due tributes.

But how long can such blessing last?

If we are satisfied with just the glory of the gods, how should we choose what we can do as human beings? Saint Tumi, who ascended to heaven with his own will and later taught the ancestors of the Xiatoto people the skills of hunting and gathering, did he want to see this kind of scene? In any case, the mountain people should find a way out for themselves.

So, see your own path, Sontaya, and then see the path of the mountain people.

Leader Wilhelm slowly closed his eyes and sank into deep darkness.

The last thing I heard was Elder Aina's slightly emotional voice: "Once the tribe settles down in Mount Osor, we should contact the people of the Mist Mountain Hermitage as soon as possible."

"Since I have been entrusted with a task, I should do my best to do it."

"This is the style of mountain people like us."

……

At this time, Songtaya still didn't know what kind of high hopes the chief and the elders had placed on her. Although Lingge and others repeatedly said that they didn't need it, the girl Xia Toto still sent these guests all the way back to the valley where the Cloud Whale Sky Island was located, and then waved goodbye to them: "Goodbye, everyone, and Miss Xino and Brandi, let's play together next time! Ah, I said play with me, not with others!"

At the end, he deliberately emphasized that he was obviously very dissatisfied with the friends in the tribe, because they also rode Brandi, which made him lose the capital to show off. But it doesn't matter, they can only ride once, but I can ride it a second time, a third time... even hundreds of times. When I tell them about it, they will still be envious to death!
The girl didn't realize that she was the one who betrayed her friends first, and she didn't even reflect on it. This made everyone laugh and feel helpless, but they didn't say anything. Although she is very smart and always pretends to be mature, Songtaya is just a 14 or 15-year-old girl in the end.

After saying goodbye to the friend she had just met, Songtaya turned around and set out on the road back to the tribe. It was already dusk, and a blood-red setting sun was gradually sinking to the west, half of which was swallowed up by the Eastern Alps. The gorgeous dusk came from the end of the Ishmir Sea of ​​Trees, gradually submerging every corner of the North Ashok Mountains, dyeing the foggy sea and forests with deep twilight. The snow on the top of the mountain seemed to be burning, and the fire spread between the mountains. The whole white world was suddenly covered with orange and orange-gold, which was the last bright color before nightfall.

The little figure of the Xia Toto girl faced the sunset with the dusk on her back. She moved as swiftly as a young animal eager to return to its nest. She crossed the snow pit, climbed over the mountain pass, and soon disappeared from everyone's sight. Ling Ge then withdrew his gaze and asked Saint Xia Liya beside him in a low voice: "What do you think of her?"

"A very lively and lovely child." The shepherdess whispered, "But he smells like a god, just like--"

She wanted to say a name, but stopped because of Lingge's mood. The young man understood and shook his head slowly: "I'm afraid it's not the same. She herself doesn't seem to have this awareness yet."

"Do you want to help her?" Saint Shalia asked.

"I don't know what Chief Wilhelm and Elder Aina are thinking. It's not right for a guest to intervene in other people's affairs..." The young man paused for a moment, then changed his words after a little hesitation: "I'll find a chance to remind her, but it doesn't seem very convincing for me to say this. I know there's someone on the island who's more suitable than me."

Saint Xia Liya was thoughtful and already understood who Ling Ge was talking about.

If it was her, it would be very convincing indeed.

Give me some meow