On the Seven Towers

"Is it Selinda?" Xiao Chen looked at Li Jia seriously. This guy's eyes were flickering now, and he looked like he had a ghost in his heart.

"She didn't propose it on her own initiative. I wanted to help him ask," Li Jia said.

Xiao Chen stood there with his hands folded in front of his chest, staring at Li Jia with wide eyes. Li Jia seemed to be suppressed by his gaze, her head lowered lower and lower, and her back became more and more bent, as if she was carrying a heavy thing on her back, and she was almost lying on the table.

He originally thought that Xiao Chen would scold him severely or make sarcastic remarks, and he was prepared for these situations. But now, Xiao Chen didn't say a word and just stared at him, which made him restless.

Within a short time, fine beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, as if the coolness of the autumn day had been driven away by Xiao Chen's imminent anger.

"You...don't talk about me?" Li Jiawei raised his eyebrows and glanced at Xiao Chen like a child who had done something wrong secretly looking at the teacher. He noticed that there was no trace of emotion on the other person's rigid face.

"Alas..." Xiao Chen sighed, and his sullen face relaxed, "As for me, I originally wanted to scold you severely. But then I thought about it, who are you? Li Jia! You know the truth? Don’t you understand? Woman, will you give up? So, I don’t know what to say.”

"I know, I know, wasn't I hesitant? If you hadn't pulled me in and asked me three times, I, I might not have asked you for it." Li Jia raised his head half an inch again.

"Hehe, I'll give you ninety-nine points for kicking the ball, and I'll deduct one point for your exaggerated performance."

"I know I'm wrong. First, the "Shadow Scroll of the Sea of ​​​​Consciousness" is very important to us. It is our secret weapon for training mages and should not be known to outsiders. Second, the Natural Temple and other interested people may be watching the Seven Towers. Heir, if they find out about this, they will be in big trouble. Thirdly, if the news of this treasure is leaked, someone might come to snatch it. Fourthly, there seems to be no fourth. "

Xiao Chen almost laughed out of anger. He cursed at the top of his lungs: "It seems like all the hormones in your head are hormones?"

Li Jia's voice was extremely dry. He lowered his head and said, "I know all this, but I think Selinda is trustworthy. Sooner or later, she will know a lot about us."

"Sooner or later? That means it's too early to talk about this now, and it won't be too late to talk about it in ten or eight years." Xiao Chen couldn't help but push Li Jia's head, causing the other party to stagger, "Don't compare school friends and I used my life as a bet to test whether your woman is reliable! I really regret it now that I shouldn’t have helped you facilitate this from the beginning!”

"No, I didn't take everyone as a bet! She will become my wife. If the wife is not trustworthy, then who can we trust?" Li Jia argued, "Besides, I am not coveting the "Shadow of the Sea of ​​Knowledge" Power. I just think she is very pitiful. If you have watched Selinda practice martial arts, you know how hard she works. But her dream is not to become a magic swordsman, but to be a magician since she was a child. She studied magic at the Magic Tower in the capital, but due to her limited talent, she could only use some low-level magic. She consulted several magicians and tried different meditation methods, but the effect was still very limited. The inheritance is different, this is likely to change her life! What's more, after she becomes the descendant of the Dream Tower, she has no reason to betray us. This is better than her always guessing and spying on me. The source of power should be stronger.”

Xiao Chen shook his head helplessly and said: "Have you ever thought that "Shadow Volume of the Sea of ​​Knowledge" is ultimately very dangerous? The lower the talent, the greater the danger. Maybe you will lose her the moment she opens the book. ”

Li Jia raised her head, looked into Xiao Chen's eyes and said, "The final decision is in her hands. I think if you like someone, you should create opportunities for her to gain greater freedom, instead of being a miser guarding treasures."

"Even if it's possible to lose her forever?"

"Yes. Because it's me who's in pain, not her."

Xiao Chen chuckled lightly, "I was almost moved by you. However, the answer is still: 'No!'. The reason is: 'She will die'. Master Icasa told me that middle and low-level people who have succeeded in concentration Master, reading "Shadow of the Sea of ​​Consciousness" will reshape your consciousness, which is simply suicide."

Li Jia's face suddenly fell. He knew that Xiao Chen would never lie to him about this kind of thing. It seemed that there was really no hope. He stood up dejectedly and moved towards the door.

"Be patient... We are modern people. The problems they can't solve doesn't mean we can't do it." Xiao Chen said behind him at this time.

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“You are the master of nature and nature itself.

You are the creator of all things and the source of all things.

You are the vast sky, giving us air and sunshine.

You are the solid earth that gives us food and shelter.

You are the endless river that gives us water and wealth.

We are your people, like all things.

We follow your path and coexist with the spiritual things of this world..."

More than a dozen men and women wearing linen camp work clothes stood in two arc-shaped rows in front of a big tree, reciting these words in a melodious tone. They were old and young, the oldest was over forty years old, and the youngest were two children about seven or eight years old.

The tree was as thick as three people hugging it, with lush branches and leaves, and its crown could cover half of a football field. It was one of the tallest ancient trees around Camp Three.

The crowd of worshipers was led by a slightly fat middle-aged woman. She stood at the front of the crowd, with her hands spread downward and her palms forward, sitting in a gesture similar to a hug. This is the etiquette of the natural temple. The woman chanted the prayer, her voice calm. The people behind him did the same thing and read sentence after sentence.

Morey had left at this time, while Ji Yijun and Catalina were hiding behind the bushes not far away. From here, they could clearly hear the words of the praying people and see their movements clearly.

Catalina held the branches with her hands and observed the behavior of those people. After a while, she said: "It looks normal. The person who leads the prayer is Aunt Carla, who is responsible for cooking in the camp. She always likes to force people to lick clean plates. , nothing special. The other people I saw were very ordinary. They belonged to different camps. I knew several of them, including hunters, fishermen, and children in elementary school. They were not like the people we were looking for. ”

"Hmph, children should stay in school. Don't these adults know how rare the opportunity to learn is in this world?" Ji Yijun was beside Catalina, also holding on to the branches and observing.

"For some people, worshiping the God of Nature is also very important. What's more, there are not enough teachers now, and they only have half-day classes."

"Tch!" Ji Yijun was too lazy to dwell on this issue.

"Are we still waiting? I think this is a very ordinary sacrifice."

"Wait a minute." He took out a few chocolate beans from his pocket and threw them into his mouth, then threw two more to Catalina. He chewed it over and over again and said vaguely: "It's hard to find the right tree. At least you can watch it completely. Just treat it as a surprise."

Caterina received the beans but did not eat them. Instead, she took out a piece of cloth, carefully wrapped them up, and placed them close to her body in her clothes.

"It will change." Ji Yijun said.

Catalina blushed, took out the cloth bag and stuffed it into the bag hanging at her waist.

Ji Yijun chuckled, "If you really treat him as a younger brother, you don't know if he appreciates it or not."

He took out the bag of chocolate beans, stuffed a few more into his mouth, and threw the rest to Catalina.

After everyone finished praying, Kara began to ask people to sit down in a circle, then picked up a one-meter-long branch from the ground and held it in his hands like a sword.

Kara walked around the crowd, outside the circle where everyone was sitting. Her walking pace was uneven, sometimes faster and sometimes slower, and her body swayed slightly from side to side. This was a dance that followed a certain rhythm, like grass in the air. Swaying in the wind, like a leopard pacing in the forest. Although she is just a middle-aged woman who looks very ordinary, such a ceremony gives people a sense of sanctity.

After walking a few times, she began to speak: "The God of Nature knows the world well! He is always paying attention to our every move. Whenever we make a mistake, he already knows it. But he takes pity on us and does not punish us immediately. Give us a chance to find the right path for ourselves.”

"The God of Nature has insight into the world!" Others echoed.

"Today it's Duke's turn to judge the blame," Kara said.

A bearded man in his thirties sitting among the crowd nodded when he heard this.

"Let me start the discussion," Carla announced.

"I met more than twenty people who wasted food this week. I only corrected ten of them. For the remaining people, I failed to make them realize that wasting food is a blasphemy against the God of Nature." Carla said in a tone of voice Some are angry, not knowing whether it is at myself or those who disobey, "The God of Nature teaches us that food is a sacrifice made by other living beings. To waste food is to disrespect the creation of the God of Nature, so I and these ignorant people Just as guilty. Duke, judge me."

"Ten marks." The man named Duke said succinctly.

"Do you think it's fair?" Kara asked.

"fair."

"Fair!" Others expressed their opinions one after another.

Kara handed the branch in her hand to a young woman next to her, then lifted up her clothes to expose her back. The woman took the branch and began to beat Kara's back hard. And Duke started counting: "One, two, three..."

Ji Yijun could clearly see that there were many old scars on Kara's back. Although they were not deep, they were densely packed and shocking. It seems that such punishment is common. He turned to Katarina and asked: "Are all the believers of the God of Nature so perverted?"

Catalina was also surprised. She said: "These people are not ordinary believers of the God of Nature. I am afraid they are people from the Ascetic Order of the Sons of Nature. I heard that most members of the Ascetic Order go through some painful rituals, such as using branches to punish them." Their behavior of deviating from the teachings seems to be called 'natural teaching', but many people from other sects do not like them and think that they are asking for trouble."

Ji Yijun saw the red marks on Kara being pulled out by the branches, and said with a cold face: "It seems that they are developing well. In just a few days, they have gathered such a group of masochists."

While the two were talking, the beating was over, and the woman helped Kara pull down her clothes to cover her back, which was beginning to bleed. Kara put her hands on the ground, panted for a while, then took the branch from the woman's hand, and then said to everyone: "Next, Victor."