Chapter 299 Food
Xia Shumin couldn't help asking, "Don't they grow crops?"
Maien sent her words.
"Crops? What's this?"
"Huh? It's rice and wheat, which are grown in the ground and can be eaten when they mature."
"In the field? What grows in the field? I don't know, we don't know these things."
Cassian's answer Xia Shumin was stunned, and asked again.
Only then did he realize that his village didn't even have a blade of grass, it was bare.
Chen Ji had a bad feeling and continued to ask him.
It turns out that Cassian’s village not only has no plants, but also the sun, moon and stars, rain and wind, singing birds and fragrant flowers, seasonal changes, and everything!
The village is made of iron houses, surrounded by pitch black, no wind, no rain, nothing, only the guardian, and what is called spar dug out from the river bed outside the village.
Cassien knows the concepts of the sun, the moon, the stars, plants and animals, but he has never seen them, only heard them in the stories of the old people in the village.
For him, there are only the guardian, the village, his family, and the ore on the river bed outside the village, and his cognition of other things is very vague.
Even the concept of water on the river bed was told by the guardians.
This led to Cassian being a 12-year-old child with sharp thinking and clear logic, but it was difficult for Chen Ji to communicate with him.
He lacks the concept of too many things in the normal world. Many things are told by the old people in the village, and the old people in the village listen to them from the guardians.
"What kind of world is this?!" Mu Xiaoxiao frowned, "It's like a dead place that was deliberately blocked."
Astana also guessed: "Maybe it is a land abandoned by gods, and outsiders cannot reach it."
But these are just guesses.
Zhou Wan said to Ma Yien: "Ask him, do they eat crystals? Or what?"
If he ate spar, then there is a high probability that Cassien would not be able to eat the food on earth.
"No, we put the spar into the altar, and food, iron, clothes, medicine, toys, etc. will appear from the altar. All of our things are obtained from the altar with spar."
Change directly?
Cassien's words made Chen Ji and the others look at each other again.
Even in the Grace Continent, Astana has never heard of such a strange thing:
The altar gave them everything, and only the altar can give them things.
"Is that so..."
Chen Ji sat on the sofa, touched his chin with his hand, frowned and thought, surrounded by a group of beautiful girls.
"So, the spar, the guardian, and the altar are the most important things in Cassian's world!"
Chen Ji looked at them, analyzed and said: "According to what he said, most of the crystals are gray, with occasional blue, the earth and the world you are in should not be able to find such things, and there is no way to give them to him.
Mayen, ask him, who is the guardian? What is the state of the people in the village now? "
The girl nodded and sent the message.
"The guardian is the guardian. He is the same as us, but he will not age or die. I heard the old people say that he knows everything in the world, but he never said it... By the way, he would teach it before. We play games and now it's like this, we're all sad."
"Everyone in the village is kneeling and begging the guardian to get out of the altar, but the guardian will not let us leave the village. If I come to the Tongtian altar, the villagers will scold me if they know."
After reading his words, Chen Ji began to think again.
Obviously, the guardian is different from Cassian and the others. I don't know if he is a strong person after training.
He should know the truth of the world, but he doesn't tell others, even information about the altar, spar, and the outside world, deliberately concealing it from the people in the village.
"What is the Tongtian Altar?"
Astana asked.
She is very concerned about things related to gods, and Cassian said before that the altar will give them many things, which are very similar to gods.
"The altar is a huge gray-white column. The old man in the village said that the guardian once looked up at it. The altar leads to other towns. Many places are connected by this column. At the top of the sky, there is a Gods, and our ancestors lived there!
I'm at the altar right now. "
Cassien's words made Chen Ji and the others think again.
The altar is like the trunk of the world tree?
However, it can lead to other towns, which proves that there are not only people like them in the world where Cassian lives, but Cassian has never seen outsiders, and before he guessed that Chen Ji was from another town.
Chen Ji still wanted to continue chatting with him, but Cassian suddenly said in a panic: "I saw a light, and it was people from the village who came here!"
After saying this, Cassian stopped sending messages, making Chen Ji a little worried about whether he was being scolded, and he was not allowed to come to the Tongtian Altar again.
Waiting until noon, he still didn't show up. After having lunch here, Astana returned to the Divine Grace Continent.
Mu Xiaoxiao originally wanted to go back to Jiuyu, but Xia Shumin pulled her and said that he wanted to go to Peony in Green City with her.
The empress did not refuse.
Looking at her expression, Chen Ji thinks that she is quite happy to stay on Earth? I am also very happy to go out with Shumin to do house decoration.
The two Zhou Wan went to work, and by the way, the younger Zhou Wan asked the secretary to go to the supermarket to buy some food and send it home in case Cassian needed it—she seemed to remember the scene of Zhou Wan in the wine storage room, so she prepared it in advance.
Chen Ji stayed in the living room, Maien and Xiao Ke were by his side, continuing to wait for the news from Cassian.
…
Far beyond the world.
"Cassien!"
A ray of light appeared in the darkness, and an urgent voice came from afar. Cassien, who was staying by the Tongtian Altar, heard it and hurriedly shouted to answer them.
Soon, a few people wearing thick clothes and holding a small dim lamp rushed over at a slow pace, and saw that Cassian was safe and sound. They were handsome and thin, with thick and tired faces. relieved.
Immediately afterwards, there was scolding:
"Cassien, what are you doing here?! Do you know how worried the people in the village are about you!"
"In order to find you, the village chief deliberately took out a few pieces of lamp oil, but in the end you... well, you go back and apologize to everyone, do you hear me?"
"Cassien, don't go out of the village again! You have already gone out of the village three times!"
The words of reproach and concern from relatives made the thin and thin Cassian shrink his shoulders, and after they all calmed down, he whispered:
"I...I...Master Guardian...It has become like this, our food is almost finished, I, I don't want to see everyone starve to death..."
Several people were silent for a while.
Cassian looked at his father Santos, and saw that his father's eye sockets were sunken and his face was very thin. He hadn't had enough food for many days and left most of the food to him.
As for his mother, she starved to death not long ago and was sent back to the altar, and he ate half of the food she got.
"Don't worry, Cassian!"
Santos patted his shoulder lightly with the palm of six fingers, and said in a hoarse voice: "Master Guardian taught us everything, he won't watch us die, he must be..."
"Father!"
Cassien became excited, "Master Guardian has gone crazy, he has watched many of us die, even mother...!"
"Cassien!"
Santos gasped and stopped him, saying: "You are not allowed to say that the guardian is crazy, but he is not crazy, he just..."
"No, he's just crazy, he took away his sister, took away Amber, took away the newborn little Auston, he killed the children in the village..."
"Snapped!"
Santos slapped him, gasped, his chest heaved violently, and his body shook for a while.
Cassian, who was beaten, became nervous instead, and hurried forward to support his father.
His father is too weak, and he is still struggling to find him, and his energy is consumed faster. If this continues, his father will also return to the altar...
However, he didn't have any food on him, nor did anyone else, and no one in the village could eat for several days.
"Father, I found someone from another town!"
The thin Cassian ran back to the Babel Altar, touched its gray-black wall with both hands, and looked up at the pitch-black sky.
In his hands, the dust on the gray-black wall fell one after another, and the Tongtian Altar looked like an old and dead tree, the trunk of which had been decayed for many years.
I don't know if it was because he was too excited, but he didn't get any response from the person named Chen Ji, and the surroundings were quiet and dark.
"People from other towns?"
Santos sat on the ground to rest, and looked at Cassian with the others, not too excited.
In fact, they didn't see anything appear either.
The so-called other towns are just things that the guardians have said, but they have never seen.
The Tongtian Altar stands there quietly, not knowing how high it leads to.
"Cassien, let's go back... You have to be obedient and stop talking about the guardian going crazy."
Father spoke weakly, forcing Cassian to come back and help him up.
He also planned to tell everyone about that Chen Ji, but it was not easy for everyone to find him outside the village, and they didn't want to stay outside in the cold at all.
Helpless, Cassian could only turn his head three times at a step, kept looking at the Tongtian Altar, and walked towards the village.
A group of people lit a small lamp, followed the route in memory, and moved forward in the dark and cold.
Cassian's father was even weaker.
He walked almost staggeringly, his thin body trembling constantly.
Cassian wanted to carry him, but his father refused.
but.
Father finally fell to the ground, and after being helped up by the panicked Cassian, he tremblingly said to him with gray lips:
"Cassien, you carry me back and put me in the altar... In this way, there will be food in this way, you must live, live well!"
"Santos!"
The rest of the people knelt down sadly to see him off.
Only Cassian, he kept shaking his head, without saying a word, spread his legs, and ran quickly towards the village.
Facing the cold, in the darkness, he saw a glimmer of light emanating from the village gate.
The village chief Ogar, who lived more than a hundred years old, is waiting for their return.
"Village chief, me! Me!"
"Don't worry, kid, speak slowly, and you'll be fine."
…
The last bit of food in the village was eaten by Cassian's father, Santos.
night.
The people in the village who could stand up gathered in front of the altar, and kneeled in front of the silver-white gate of the altar as usual.
They are praying for the guardian in the altar to open the door, reappear in front of them, distribute ore to them, and let them use the altar to obtain food.
They didn't speak, just kneeling was already consuming the little energy left in their bodies.
for a long time.
Cassian raised his head and looked at the kneeling man.
A few fewer than last night, Grandma Granda who lived next door to him did not show up, and his uncle Tosi, who, maybe...
"Master Guardian is still blaming us."
Village Chief Ogar's deep and hoarse voice sounded, echoing in the quiet village.
Cassien looked at him, and then at the round altar in front of him. The two silver-white doors were firmly closed, and the guardian still did not appear.
"Put the dead in the altar."
Ogar calmly ordered.
Soon, two people stood up, silently went to a house, and recited the dead inside.
Cassian's hand is tightly held, it's Grandma Granda!
He was very sad, and there seemed to be something in his eyes that wanted to flow out, but a certain will in his mind suppressed his emotion and made him hold back.
He could only watch Grandma Granda being placed on a platform in front of the altar, and he could only recite the farewell poem for Grandma Granda with everyone, the poem taught to them by the guardian:
"Your great life has come to an end, and eternal darkness covers you. May you have a long rest. Maien is with you!"
"Mayen!"
"Mayen!"
After chanting three times in a row, the dead person on the platform gradually turned into a warm light, which slowly melted away her body. The light floated up like stars and merged into the altar, making the round altar emit a faint glow. shine.
Everyone in the village stared at the warm light in a daze. The power of the light restored some of their physical strength, and those who were unable to walk before also walked out of the house at this time.
All the living people knelt in front of the altar gate, their grief was forcibly suppressed, and no one shed tears.
"We want food."
Village chief Ogar whispered, a ray of light appeared, fell into a thin metal plate in front of him, and turned into light blue, almost transparent liquid.
This is their food.
According to the convention, the relatives of the deceased will get half of the food, and the rest will be distributed by the village chief.
"Katia, who is pregnant, wants one more, and keep five more. Let's share the rest."
O'Gar quickly made the assignment, and everyone had no objections, so they waited quietly.
Only Cassien stood up, straightened his thin body, and looked at everyone with stubborn eyes: "Sister Katia is pregnant and will give birth soon, but the guardian will also come out of the door and take the child with you." Let's go, exactly the same as before!"
In front of the altar, everyone was silent.
After a while, someone hesitated and said, "Perhaps, the guardian wants to protect our children..."
"But why didn't you tell us?!"
No one can answer this question.
Since a few years ago, the guardian has refused all communication and is doing things in silence. All the ores dedicated to the altar will no longer have food and items.
Whenever a child is born, the guardian will come out from the door and take the child away.
"I'm going to keep going out of the village!"
Cassien stated his decision, and said loudly that he saw people in other towns, his name was Chen Ji, and he lived on Earth.
People don't know where the earth is, they have never been to other towns, and they have never seen people in other towns.
They have reason to question Cassian.
"Let him go."
Village chief O'Gar had a rare smile on his face: "Cassien didn't lie, even though I haven't met anyone from other towns."
The village head has almost the prestige of a guardian.
He was the first group of people to grow up, and was raised by the guardian himself.
"Cassien, take the lamp with you. The lamp oil is enough for you to go a few times, but you have to promise me that you will not go out of the village again after you run out of lamp oil."
"Okay, village chief!"
Cassian nodded heavily.
He is going to set off after waking up, waiting by the Tongtian Altar, and must contact Chen Ji from Earth Town again!
Village Chief O'Gar said again: "Cassien eats an extra portion. He is working hard and is one of our hopes for survival."
hope?
Everyone raised their heads blankly, they rarely came into contact with this word.
hope.
…
Earth, night.
Zhou Wan knocked on Chen Ji's door, and after a while, Chen Ji was awakened.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Ji was only wearing a pair of shorts, and his handsome figure was displayed in front of Zhou Wan.
It was Zhou Wan who didn't completely become a couple with him.
She was only wearing a nightdress, and her hair was a little messy, obviously she had just woken up.
"Mayen."
Zhou Wan whispered: "I wanted to go to the living room to drink some water, but I saw her sitting quietly by the window. Was she like this before?"
before?
In the past, Ma Yien used to stand in front of Chen Ji's bed, staring at him all the time, without moving her eyes for a whole night, and even surprised Chen Ji once.
"I gonna go see."
Chen Ji went back to the room, put on a short sleeve, and came to the living room with Zhou Wan. Sure enough, she saw a girl in a white dress, sitting on the sofa by the window, her slender and fair body bathed in bright eyes, quietly Looking at the Yellow River Bridge late at night.
Although the girl didn't say a word and her expression was calm, both Chen Ji and Zhou Wan could feel an inexplicable sadness in her.
It was as if she was watching Cassian's world, and from that world, she saw things she was familiar with.
(end of this chapter)