Chapter 2178: Truly Interesting
The temple in Purple Lake City was built as a replica of the Holy Land temple. From the outside, aside from being slightly smaller in scale, there was no major difference—except for the puzzling patterns on the temple gates and the holy maidens performing circumambulation rituals around the temple.
They arrived just in time for the holy maidens' circumambulation. Many people were watching nearby. The ritual was not short, and while there was no requirement for silence, the crowd instinctively lowered their voices. Quite a few people followed the holy maidens around the temple, praying for the goddess's protection.
Unlike the typical religious directions of "prayer" and "sin," the followers of the Goddess Cult seemed to understand their place well. They neither fantasized about the goddess fulfilling their greedy desires nor excessively blamed themselves and repented. From a certain perspective, they were almost too peaceful. Besides recognizing themselves as ordinary people with limited abilities and wisdom, they would also offer blessings to the goddess.
"That sounds so inspiring," the yellow-haired man said in surprise. "They don't ask the goddess to bless them with wealth, but instead ask her to affirm their hard work and then reward them."
"And not many people bring valuable items as offerings."
The believers brought only fresh flowers and fruits, and even these weren't entirely for the goddess—they were also for the holy maidens, divine envoys, and other followers in the temple.
"If she's really that divine, why set the rule of 'five in, one out' to make things difficult?" an outer zone player sneered. "Since the goddess treats everyone equally, does it really matter whether you enter the five satellite cities?"
This remark drew angry glares from the crowd. A believer said, "How can genuine pilgrims be compared to people like you who come with ulterior motives? I warn you, don't try to cause trouble in the temple, or the divine envoy won't let you off!"
The player disdained to argue with an ordinary person, gave them a "you're out of your mind" look, and walked away.
"This probably has to do with the district's development history," Xu Huo finally picked up on the yellow-haired man's words. "Judging from the legends and the origins of this religion, this district suffered a severe blow a long time ago. Combined with the physical peculiarities of the people here, not only did the economy fail to develop, but they even faced the danger of extinction at one point."
"The ancestors struggled to survive in desperate circumstances. It took a long time to reach today's situation. Besides the support of religious faith, it also took the blood, sweat, and effort of every person in this district. This process shaped their mindset."
Positive feedback leads to positive thinking. This is both a result and a form of self-affirmation.
"Simply put, they were too poor before. Now they have a little money and are satisfied with life. They don't have other demands—getting rich or not doesn't matter anymore," the yellow-haired man summarized in one sentence.
"You could say that," Xu Huo said with a smile. The slight difference here was that the "goddess" wasn't an ordinary religious deity but something that could directly affect reality.
They waited at the entrance for a while. After the circumambulation ritual ended, the holy maidens returned to the temple, and others could line up to enter.
Residents with nothing better to do had already formed a long queue. Xu Huo and the other two were pushed far back. It looked like it would take at least an hour just to get through the line.
The line moved slowly. Before long, the yellow-haired man lost patience. He asked Xu Huo and Ahai what they wanted to eat, offering to run errands and stretch his legs.
Ahai kindly shared some of his own dry rations with him.
The yellow-haired man took them with a grimace and handed them to Xu Huo. "I've been eating dry rations for almost two months now. Just looking at this stuff makes me sick. I'm going to get some real food. What do you two want? My treat."
Ahai immediately tried to refuse, but Xu Huo stopped him. "I'd like to try some local specialties too."
"Then thank you very much," Ahai said cheerfully.
The yellow-haired man shook his head, waved, and left.
"He's so strange," Ahai said, watching his back. "He's different from all the other players I've seen since entering the city."
"People can't all be the same," Xu Huo said, waving over a young man selling fruit. He bought some to quench their thirst. Ahai took one, rubbed it on his clothes, and bit into it. "Sweet. We don't have many fruit trees where I'm from. Most of the time, we only get to eat fruit a few times when the trucks come to town. I wish our place could be like Purple Lake City someday, with everything we need."
The line continued to move, but before long, commotion broke out near the temple entrance. A player suddenly started having headaches and vomiting as he passed through the gate, causing quite a stir.
Just like when they stamped documents at the government building, the temple staff and local residents looked on coldly, losing the warmth they had shown to out-of-town visitors earlier.
"That's someone with evil intentions," Ahai said quietly. "He must have come to the temple with bad intentions, so the temple won't let him in."
"What did you say!" the player, who had recovered after being dragged away from the gate, angrily demanded of those around him who were whispering.
The crowd fell silent. No one wanted to court trouble. But when he tried to enter the temple again, the temple staff came out to block him.
"You can't enter the temple today. Come back tomorrow."
The one stopping him was an ordinary person, but even facing a player, he showed no fear. Instead, he spoke in an advisory tone, "The temple won't let you in for a reason. Unless you change your thoughts, it will be the same tomorrow."
The player raised an eyebrow, a fierce look on his face. "What did you say?"
The temple staff quickly stepped back to the temple entrance and said no more. The player, refusing to believe it, took two more steps forward. But the next second, he uncontrollably clutched his head again.
This time, the headache was more intense than before. He retched twice and collapsed to the ground.
The temple staff sighed, dragged him aside, and laid him down.
With this example, the players behind him also dropped their arrogance. Fortunately, no one else was turned away. Those who successfully entered looked slightly puzzled but said nothing.
"As long as you're not a bad person, the goddess usually won't refuse you," Ahai said to Xu Huo.
From a certain perspective, Xu Huo was indeed likely to be stopped.
After a while, the yellow-haired man returned, beaming. He was carrying packed meals for them and had even brought out a portable table and chairs.
"Good thing the Goddess Cult doesn't forbid meat. The meat dishes here are really well-made. You two eat. I'll hold the spot in line."
By the time Xu Huo and the others finished eating, the line was almost at the entrance.
When they reached the gate, the yellow-haired man went in first. He walked in without any psychological burden. But when Ahai pushed Xu Huo in, Xu Huo also felt pressure. For a moment, the chaotic patterns on the temple gates seemed to turn into countless eyes. Under their heavy gaze, he instinctively became alert.
But nothing happened. The gaze of the eyes vanished in an instant, as if he had imagined it. When he looked a second time, they were still chaotic and unrecognizable patterns.
"Truly interesting."