Celebration

Lumian merely felt a habitual pang at the expense and did not stop his sister.

When Ava, Raymond, and the others turned toward the nearby buildings, he deliberately hung back and whispered to Aurora, "If Novel Weekly sends a telegram back, come get me right away."

"Don't worry. I won't be careless about something like this." Aurora gave Lumian a look that said he could count on her.

Brimming with festivity and joy, the Blessing Procession made its way through Cordou Village, knocking on the villagers' doors amid a chorus of song.

Finally, they arrived at the Administrator's residence.

Converted from a castle dating back to the Sauron Royal Family's reign, it stood on a hill at the edge of Cordou Village, dark in color, with two towering turrets.

The outer walls surrounding the building had long since been demolished. Lumian and the others passed through the garden specially laid out by Beaost and his wife and reached the entrance.

The double doors stood four or five meters high. Their woody brown-green color made their weight apparent at a glance.

However, they were divided into upper and lower sections. Unless distinguished guests were being received, only the lower, two-meter-high section needed to be opened.

As the embodiment of spring and the herald of the harvest, the Spring Spirit naturally deserved the most honored welcome. The heavy double doors now stood fully open, with Madame Pualis waiting there in a pale green dress cinched at the waist.

Her maid, Cassie, stood half a step behind her to one side, holding a basket woven from branches.

Ava walked over and began singing the blessing song.

Madame Pualis listened quietly, a smile playing at her lips. She looked noble and reserved, making the young people following the Spring Spirit want to look at her yet not dare to.

Lumian, who had "overheard" her doing filthy things with the Parish Priest, scoffed inwardly at the sight.

When the song ended, Ava exchanged the tree seeds for a basket of eggs.

With that, the Blessing Procession ended. Lumian, Raymond, and the other young people escorted Ava, the Spring Spirit, to the Mountain Stream a short distance outside the village.

Next came the second part of the Lent Festival:

The Riverside Ritual.

Upon reaching their usual gooseherding spot, Ava approached the clear river, performed a simple dance, and repeated the earlier song. Lumian and the other young people remained where they were, seven or eight meters from the Spring Spirit.

Afterward, Ava took pieces of turnip donated by a villager from the basket at her feet and tossed them into the river.

As she threw them, she sang, "A bountiful harvest! A bountiful harvest!"

The moment Ava finished, Lumian pushed off the ground and dashed over in a few strides. He bent down, scooped up pieces of turnip from the basket, and hurled them into the water.

"A bountiful harvest! A bountiful harvest!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs.

The other young people reacted a full beat later, if not more. Afraid of falling behind, they jostled one another as they ran toward Ava, grabbed pieces of turnip, radish, and other inexpensive offerings from the basket, and flung them into different parts of the river while shouting, "A bountiful harvest!"

Raymond had failed to get a head start and could not outmuscle the others. He was the last to complete the ritual.

The next second, he saw the mischievous smiles on the faces of Lumian, young Guillaume, and the others.

The young people swarmed him and lifted Raymond up.

Shouting, "A bountiful harvest!" they tossed Raymond into the water.

With a splash, Raymond landed in the river, his clothes and hair instantly soaked.

The people on the bank even picked up clods of earth and branches and threw them into the water around him.

This was an established part of the Riverside Ritual: the last person to finish praying would be thrown into the river and forbidden to come ashore. He could only swim farther downstream, sneak back to the village, and hide at home, unable to go out until nightfall.

Raymond wiped the water from his face, floundered for a few seconds, and headed downstream.

Only then did the Blessing Procession escort Ava toward the church of the Eternal Blazing Sun at the edge of Cordou Village's square.

By now, it was almost noon, and most of the villagers had gathered there, including Lumian's sister, Aurora.

Compared with its "colleagues" in the cities, this church was far from grand. Even its highest point was only eleven or twelve meters tall.

Its dome was rounded, looking like an onion perched on top from the outside. Looking up from within, however, one saw a magnificent, gleaming mural of the Sun.

Gold was the dominant color throughout the church, making it look exceptionally bright and spacious. This was a style shared by all churches of the Eternal Blazing Sun.

The altar stood to the east, with sunflowers of various kinds surrounding an enormous sacred emblem.

On the emblem, a golden orb and lines representing rays of light formed a symbol rich in mystical significance.

This was the symbol of the Eternal Blazing Sun.

High on the wall behind the altar were two clear glass windows inlaid with a little gold leaf. Every morning, the rising Sun shone through them onto the sacred emblem.

In the corresponding position on the church's western side were two similar glass windows, intended to catch the glow of the setting sun.

Since this was a traditional folk celebration rather than an official church ceremony, Parish Priest Guillaume Béné did not appear. Administrator Beaost presided instead.

Ava, still dressed as the Spring Spirit, stood beside him. Flutes, lyres, and other instruments began to play, and the villagers sang songs praising spring and praying for a bountiful harvest.

They had never rehearsed, so their singing was not synchronized. Some even danced as they sang, making the scene quite lively.

Lumian opened and closed his mouth without making a sound, plainly just going through the motions. Aurora, beside him, sang with enthusiasm, though she seemed less interested in praying for a good harvest than in taking the opportunity to have some fun and belt out high notes.

Since he was only going through the motions, Lumian had plenty of time to look around.

He noticed nothing unusual in the villagers' behavior and instinctively raised his head to glance at the gleaming golden mural of the Sun on the dome.

Suddenly, Lumian realized why he kept feeling that something was wrong.

Many people in the village had not praised the Sun in a long time!

In a village whose main faith was the Eternal Blazing Sun, phrases such as "Praise the Sun" and "My God, my Father" should have been common in everyday life. Yet, thinking back over recent days, Lumian realized he had rarely heard them!

As a casual believer, he seldom said such things himself. Moreover, after offending the Parish Priest, he had not entered the church to attend any activities for quite some time. That was why he had noticed nothing wrong before. Only now, surrounded by the church's solemn atmosphere and the gold gleaming overhead, did he suddenly recognize the anomaly.

Immediately afterward, the contents of the plea for help he had reconstructed surfaced in his mind:

"We need help as soon as possible.

"The people around us are growing stranger and stranger."

The people around us are growing stranger and stranger... At that moment, Lumian understood and agreed with those words on a much deeper level.

He looked around again, searching for Lya and the other foreigners.

But Ryan and his companions did not seem to have come to watch the Lent Festival celebrations.

Seriously, they're nowhere to be found when they're needed... Lumian grumbled inwardly.

Pretending he had noticed nothing, he began making sounds and joined the chorus.

When the singing subsided and the celebration ended, he leaned toward Aurora's ear and whispered, "Go home first. I have something to tell you later."

As one of the Spring Spirit's escorts during the procession, he still had to take part in the final stage of the ritual and could not leave early like the others.

He had no intention of forcing his way out of the church, either. That might well trigger the abnormal events ahead of time.

Aurora nodded thoughtfully.

"All right."

She asked no further questions and left the church with Madame Pualis and most of the villagers.

Before long, only the young people who had participated in the Blessing Procession and Ava, the embodiment of the Spring Spirit, remained.

Apart from those thrown into the river, all the offerings they had received earlier were placed beside Ava. There were also symbolic objects such as pasture grass, an axe, a shovel, a whip, and a gooseherding stick.

Next, Lumian and the others only needed to wait for someone to enter the church and announce the Spring Spirit's departure. Then they could surround Ava and remove her wreath, necklace, branches, and leaves.

During this process, they had to leave a gap through which the Spring Spirit could leave Ava's body.

Only twenty or thirty seconds later, footsteps sounded at the church entrance.

Lumian instinctively looked over and saw two people.

One was Pierre Berri, the shepherd who had returned specifically for the Lent Festival. He was rather thin, with slightly sunken eyes, and wore a dark brown hooded robe tied at the waist with a rope, along with very new black leather shoes.

Unlike before, his greasy black hair seemed to have been washed and looked reasonably clean and smooth. His thick, unruly beard had also been groomed; it was not only shorter but much neater.

As always, a faint smile lingered in his blue eyes.

The other was Parish Priest Guillaume Béné. He still wore the gold-trimmed white robe of the clergy. With his short black hair, slightly hooked nose, and imposing demeanor, he overshadowed Pierre Berri beside him despite being short-not quite even 1.7 meters tall.

The Parish Priest... Why did he come in? Lumian was both surprised and puzzled.

As a clergyman of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, he should not have appeared at a folk celebration that included no "Praise the Sun" ceremony.

Remembering that the Parish Priest and his associates were secretly plotting something, and that he had thoroughly offended him, Lumian immediately regained his senses and began retreating toward the stained-glass windows to the side, slowly and discreetly, but resolutely.

Since it was not yet time to surround Ava, the Spring Spirit, the young people were standing in different places, so his movements did not draw much attention.

Ava was also somewhat surprised to see the Parish Priest. But then she remembered that he was the most respected person in the village, making him more suitable than anyone else to announce the end of the Lent Festival celebration, and her smile returned.

Soon, Parish Priest Guillaume Béné and the shepherd Pierre Berri reached Ava's side.

The former said in a deep voice, "Send the Spring Spirit on her way."

Everyone except Lumian began preparing to rush toward Ava and surround her.

"Send the Spring Spirit on her way!" Pierre Berri, the Shepherd, echoed the shout as he bent down with a smile.

This is bad! At the sight, Lumian's heart jolted. He instinctively stepped forward with his right foot and leaned into motion.

Before anyone could react, Pierre Berri picked up the axe from the pile of objects, gripped it with both hands, straightened, and swung hard!

With a wet spurt, blood sprayed from Ava's neck, as though a thick crimson mist were rapidly taking shape there.

Thud.

Ava's severed head fell to the ground and rolled several times through the blood before finally coming to rest faceup.

There was still unmistakable joy in her eyes.

Lumian, who had run two steps toward her, felt his heart sink. He immediately turned and sprinted toward the stained-glass windows to the side.