Half Elf Ranger

Chapter 231 The Ceremony Begins

The sky in the middle of the night was as black as ink, and a round of bright and clear full moon emerged from a few thin and jagged clouds, and sprinkled the ground in the small village with clear light, as if covered with frost and snow.

"Flapping!"

At this time, a black owl flapped its wings and emerged from the night sky, and went directly into the thatched cottage of the village.

Thorn, who was dozing on the woodpile, opened his eyes suddenly when he heard the movement, and immediately sat up straight.Then he stretched out his arms, and the owl that flew into the house gave a strange cry, circled above his head, and landed on it.

Thorne gently stroked the owl's chubby head, communicated with it using the "animal conversation technique" for a while, then nodded slightly, then put it on his shoulder, checked his whole body's equipment again, got up and disappeared through the door with the help of the shadow. outside.

"Huh?" The moment Thorne walked out of the room, he saw a group of people holding torches and weapons rushing towards him.

"What do you mean?" Thorne comforted the owl who was standing on his shoulder and hummed a little, moved his right hand to the position of the sword hilt, and asked.

"We have no malicious intentions, we just want you to rest here for a night, half-elf ranger from the wilderness." A human man in light armor walked out of the crowd, glanced at the bright full moon in the sky, and looked He said calmly: "You have to understand, I am thinking about your safety."

I was careless, I didn't expect that the reason why they had been secretly monitoring me turned out to be this reason.

Thorn immediately understood the purpose of the group's visit. When he was arranged to rest in the woodshed, he realized that someone was watching him secretly, but he was not surprised. Stranger, there is nothing wrong with being careful.

Obviously, these small villages that can take root in the Barren Skull Mountains naturally have their own advantages, and they must know a lot about the hunting rituals held by Mara worshipers.

The reason they prevented them from going out was nothing more than not wanting to cause trouble to the village.

"Then what if I have to go out?" Thorn's expression hidden in the hood did not fluctuate at all, and his tone of speech did not fluctuate at all. The only change was that the position of touching the sword hilt was changed to a tight grip, as if he would be at any time. From the unpretentious scabbard, a sharp blade was pulled out.

"Zheng!"

"Then give it a try!" The human man in light armor pulled out the long sword from his waist in an instant as soon as he finished speaking. On the elf rune, a dazzling light radiates.

"Such a tough attitude." Thorn met the human man's cold gaze, and suddenly realized that it was impossible to break in by force, and he didn't want to quarrel with these kind people who took him in.

So he prepared to return to the house, and then thought of other ways to sneak out.

After all, he mastered the moves of the Shadow Hand School, and it was not impossible for him to slip away from everyone's vigilant eyes.

"Elbe, let this half-elf ranger go." Just as Thorne was about to retreat to the house, an old voice floated over from the cold night, and everyone turned to look at it.

Thorne also stopped, looked over curiously, and found that an old man with a stooped back appeared in the crowd.

Under the cold moonlight, he raised his head with difficulty, his pale disheveled hair half-hid a gully face, his deep-set eyes revealed an undisguised vicissitudes, a gust of cold wind blew by, and his ragged clothes Fluttering with the wind, hunting sound.

There was also a young human woman who followed the old man. When Thorn noticed the other party's curious eyes looking at him, he was stunned, and immediately felt an inexplicable meaning, and realized that the human woman was very serious. It is possible to be a player like him.

"A quaint little village."

Thorn muttered something in his heart, pulled down his hood, blocked the unscrupulous and curious eyes of the human woman, walked towards the old man who had just appeared under everyone's vigilance, gave a slight salute, and turned to leave the village. go.

"Wizard?" When Thorn passed by the human woman, he paused involuntarily, and uttered a question without any emotion.

Then he raised his head slightly, and from the corner of his eyes, he immediately noticed a trace of surprise flashing in the other party's curious eyes, and instantly got the answer in his heart.

Facing the cold wind and the falling silver light, he disappeared from everyone's sight without stopping.

"Young man, remember to do what you can. This wild mountain village welcomes you again." The old man looked at Thorn's leaving back, and his old voice drifted along with the cold wind.

"Old village chief, why did you let him go? The bloodiest hunting ceremony of the year is being held in the Wild Skull Mountain Range. There must be something wrong with the half-elf ranger leaving now. Aren't you afraid that he will cause unwarranted disasters?" The human man put the long sword into its sheath. Although his expression was dissatisfied, his tone of voice seemed very respectful.

"If that's the case, then why did you take him in?" The old village head looked at Thorn's leaving figure, and stayed for a moment, with a smile on his wrinkled face.

"I saw him wandering alone in the wilderness, and he didn't look like a villain, so I took him in out of kindness." The human man said.

"Then it's over. Since you know he doesn't look like a villain, why worry about it. Besides, if he wants to sneak away, you can't stop him." After the old village chief finished speaking, he leaned on his crutches, Trembling away.

"Notify everyone, strengthen all precautions tonight!" The human man saw the old village chief leave, and ordered everyone with a solemn expression.

……

In the depths of a canyon washed by rapids somewhere in the Huangkuan Mountains, rows of ferocious fang-like stones curved inwards formed a large circle, forming a simple temple of Mara.

In the circle surrounded by stones, a beast sculpture with black fur and antlers, which looks like a feline animal, stands in the center. Although this is only a sculpture, the fangs and claws of this terrifying beast are in the center The blood dripped non-stop, and the thick blood filled the depths of the canyon.

Around the statue, there are more than 100 believers with faces mixed with madness and devoutness, such as black-maned gnolls, sturdy wild boars, drow rangers with withered white hair, and human hunters with hideous faces, etc. All gathered here.

Facing the bright moonlight, they prostrated themselves on the silvery gravel ground, singing loudly the most terrifying 'song of blood' of the Church of Mara.

Around these crazy believers, there are densely packed simple cages made of thick wooden branches and hemp ropes, and there are also many cages reinforced with iron sheets.

Inside each cage are huge beasts, fretted by the frenzied chanting of church hymns by Mara worshipers.

A dragon-like beast with a long back and wings lay quietly in the cage, staring at all the Mara believers outside the cage with predator eyes.

A wolf-like beast howled uncomfortably and kept hitting the railing.

A beast with the head of a stag and the body of an eagle flapped its wide wings uneasily, licking its sharp claws.

……

"Jie Jie Jie!"

At this time, a large group of dark clouds suddenly floated above the beast sculpture, and a pair of huge and wild red eyes flashed, and a deep, low roar-like laughter emanated from the cloud group.

All Mara worshipers stopped their crazy shouts and looked at the dark clouds respectfully.

"boom!"

The dark cloud suddenly exploded, and two figures, one large and one small, emerged from it. A fallen druid in blood dripping beast fur armor stood firmly beside the statue holding a withered staff.

"Roar!"

Immediately afterwards, a ferocious lion skeleton whose flesh and blood had been removed from its body, leaving only a clean white skeleton, with scarlet ghostly flames shining in its eye sockets, shrouded in a strong evil spirit, stood on a high platform, and its violent roar echoed in the canyon deep.

"The Claw of Malar!"

A werewolf wearing armor made of living animal skins and covered with beast claws and teeth stood up and roared like crazy.

"The Claw of Malar!"

The shouts spread quickly, and everyone was boiling, all shouting 'Malla's Claw', the most noble title for Mara worshipers.

"Survival of the fittest and survival of the fittest are the gifts left by our Lord. Cruel and bloody death is of great significance. Longevity is a shame to us... Let those unbelievers respect the Lord of Beasts out of fear!"

The fallen druid knelt down on one knee and began to pray, with a devout and crazy smile on his face.

The moment the crazy shouts disappeared, all the cages holding all the wild beasts around were opened, and accompanied by all kinds of strange howls, all the liberated beasts soon disappeared into the barren skull mountain range.

Mara worshipers also flew out in the form of vigorous figures.

The hunting ceremony of the 'Deer Feast' began under the bright moonlight!

…………

(End of this chapter)