Celebration

Lumian only felt a habitual pang of thriftiness; he didn't stop his sister. Once Ava, Raymond, and the others turned around and headed toward the nearby buildings, he deliberately dropped back to the rear and whispered to Aurore, "If a telegram from Novel Weekly arrives, come get me right away." "Don't worry, I wouldn't be careless about something like that." Aurore gave Lumian a reassuring look that said, *Leave it to me.* Filled with cheer and joy, the blessing parade carried its songs through Cordu Village, continuously knocking on the villagers' doors. At last, they arrived at the administrator's mansion. It was converted from a castle dating back to the Sauron royal family's era, situated on a hill at the edge of Cordu Village—dark in color, with two towering turrets. The outer walls surrounding the building had long since been demolished. Lumian and the others walked through the garden specially cultivated by Monsieur and Madame Béost and reached the entrance. The double doors stood four or five meters high, of a brownish-green reminiscent of tree bark, looking immensely heavy. However, they were split into upper and lower sections; unless receiving distinguished guests, there was no need to open them fully, only the lower two-meter portion. As the incarnation of spring and the herald of harvest, the "Spring Spirit" naturally deserved the highest honor. At this moment, the heavy double doors were thrown wide open, and Madame Pualis stood there in a light green corseted dress. Her maid, Cathy, stood to the side holding a wicker basket woven from branches, half a step behind her. Ava stepped forward and sang her song of blessing. A smile playing on her lips, Madame Pualis listened quietly, looking noble and reserved, leaving the youths following the Spring Spirit wanting to look yet hardly daring to. Having "eavesdropped" on her filthy trysts with the parish priest, Lumian let out a silent *heh* at the sight. When the song came to an end, Ava traded tree seeds for a basket of eggs. With that, the blessing parade drew to a close. Lumian, Raymond, and the other youths crowded around Ava, the Spring Spirit, heading toward the mountain stream just outside the village. Next came the second stage of the Lent Festival: The Waterside Ceremony. Arriving at the spot where geese were usually herded, Ava approached the clear river water, performed a simple dance, and repeated the earlier song, while Lumian and the other youths stayed put, seven or eight meters away from the Spring Spirit. Having finished, Ava took out diced turnips given by a villager from the basket at her feet and threw them into the river. As she tossed them, she sang out, "Harvest! Harvest!" Once Ava had thrown hers, Lumian kicked off the ground and dashed over in a few strides, bending down to scoop diced turnips from the basket and hurling them into the river. "Harvest! Harvest!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. The other youths were a full beat or more behind him. Jostling against one another in fear of lagging behind, they rushed toward Ava, grabbed chunks of turnip, radish, and other inexpensive offerings from the basket, hurled them in various directions into the water, and shouted "Harvest!" Raymond hadn't seized the initiative and couldn't outmuscle the others, ending up the last to complete the rite. In the next second, he caught the mischievous, ill-intentioned grins on the faces of Lumian, Little Guillaume, and the others. The youths surged forward and hoisted Raymond into the air. Chanting "Harvest!" in unison, they tossed Raymond into the water. *Splash!* Raymond fell into the river, his clothes and hair soaked in an instant. Meanwhile, the crowd on the bank scooped up clods of dirt and twigs, pelting the water around him. This was a set tradition of the Waterside Ceremony: whoever finished the prayer last would be thrown into the river and forbidden to climb ashore. He had to swim some distance downstream, slip back into the village unnoticed, hide at home, and not step outside until dark. Raymond wiped the water from his face, paddled around for a few seconds, and made his way downstream. Only then did the blessing parade escort Ava toward the Eternal Blazing Sun church at the edge of Cordu Village's square. By now, it was nearing noon, and most of the villagers had gathered here, including Lumian's sister, Aurore. Compared to its counterparts in the city, this church was far from grand, standing only eleven or twelve meters tall at most. Its dome was rounded, resembling an onion from the outside, while gazing up from within revealed a resplendent mural of the sun. Golden tones dominated the entire church, making it appear exceptionally bright and spacious—a hallmark shared by all Eternal Blazing Sun churches. The altar sat on the east side, where various sunflowers surrounded a massive sacred emblem. On the emblem's surface, a golden sphere and segmented lines representing rays of light formed a symbol rich in mystical significance. This was the symbol of the Eternal Blazing Sun. Behind the altar, high on the wall, were two panes of clear glass inlaid with flecks of gold leaf; whenever the sun rose each day, its light would shine through them directly onto the sacred emblem. Mirroring them on the church's western side were two similar glass windows designed to catch the glow of the setting sun. Because this was a folk celebration rather than an official Church liturgy, Parish Priest Guillaume Bénet was nowhere to be seen, and Administrator Béost presided in his stead. Ava, still in her Spring Spirit costume, stood beside him. As pipes, lyres, and other instruments began to play, the villagers burst into songs praising spring and praying for a bountiful harvest. They had never rehearsed, so the singing wasn't in unison—some even danced as they sang, lending the scene a lively, bustling air. Lumian moved his lips without making a sound, clearly just going through the motions. Aurore beside him, on the other hand, sang with great enthusiasm, though she seemed less interested in praying for a harvest than in seizing the chance to have fun and belt out some high notes. Since he was only faking it, Lumian had plenty of leisure to look around. Finding nothing amiss in the villagers' behavior, he instinctively glanced up at the gleaming golden sun mural upon the dome. Suddenly, Lumian realized why something had felt wrong all along. Many people in the village hadn't praised the sun in a long time! For a village that predominantly worshiped the Eternal Blazing Sun, phrases like "Praise the Sun" and "My God, my Father" ought to crop up constantly in daily life. Yet looking back over this recent period, Lumian realized he had barely heard them! As a casual believer, he rarely used such phrases himself, and having offended the parish priest, he hadn't stepped inside the church for any services in quite some time. Thus, he hadn't sensed anything wrong before. Only today, immersed in the solemnity and towering gold of the church, did he abruptly recognize the anomaly. Right after, the contents of the distress letter 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 this moment, Lumian gained a much deeper understanding of—and agreement with—those words. He looked around once more, searching for Lia and the other outlanders. Yet Leyn and his companions didn't appear to have come to watch the Lent Festival celebration. *Honestly, never around when you actually need them...* Lumian grumbled inwardly. Pretending he hadn't noticed anything, he opened his mouth and joined the chorus. When the singing died down and the celebration came to an end, he leaned in to Aurore's ear and whispered, "Go home first. I have something to tell you later." As one of the escorts for the Spring Spirit's parade, he still had to take part in the final stage of the rite and couldn't leave early like the others. Nor did he intend to force his way out of the church; that might trigger the anomaly to erupt prematurely. Aurore nodded thoughtfully. "All right." She asked no questions, departing the church along with Madame Pualis and most of the villagers. Before long, only the youths from the blessing parade and Ava, the vessel of the Spring Spirit, remained. Aside from what had been thrown into the river, all the offerings gathered earlier were laid out beside Ava, along with symbolic items such as pasture grass, an axe, a shovel, a whip, and a goose-herding stick. Next, Lumian and the others only needed to wait for someone from outside to enter and declare the departure of the Spring Spirit. Then they would surround Ava and strip away her laurel wreath, necklace, branches, and leaves. During the process, they had to leave an opening so the Spring Spirit could depart from Ava's body. A mere twenty or thirty seconds later, footsteps echoed from the church doors. Lumian instinctively looked over and saw two figures. One was Pierre Berry, the shepherd who had specifically rushed back for the Lent Festival. Lean with slightly sunken eye sockets, he wore a hooded, dark brown robe cinched at the waist with a rope, and on his feet were brand-new black leather shoes. Unlike before, his greasy black hair seemed to have been washed, looking reasonably clean and smooth, and his scruffy beard had likewise been trimmed, not only shorter but far neater. At the moment, his blue eyes held their customary faint smile. The other was Parish Priest Guillaume Bénet. He still wore the gold-trimmed white robe of the clergy; with his sparse black hair, slightly hooked nose, and imposing demeanor, he easily outshone Pierre Berry beside him despite his short stature—barely reaching one point seven meters. *The parish priest... Why is he coming in?* Lumian felt both astonished and puzzled. As a clergyman of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, he shouldn't be appearing at a folk celebration that lacked any segment to "Praise the Sun." Recalling that the priest's faction was secretly scheming something, and mindful that he had thoroughly offended him, Lumian collected himself and immediately began a slow, discreet, yet resolute retreat toward the stained glass on the side. Since it wasn't yet time to surround Ava, the youths were scattered about, making his movements relatively inconspicuous. Ava was also somewhat surprised to see the parish priest, but reasoning that as the most esteemed figure in the village, no one was better suited than him to proclaim the conclusion of the Lent Festival, she broke into a smile again. Before long, Parish Priest Guillaume Bénet and Pierre Berry the shepherd reached Ava's side. The former said in a deep voice, "Send off the Spring Spirit." The youths other than Lumian prepared to rush toward Ava and encircle her. "Send off the Spring Spirit!" Pierre Berry echoed with a shout, bending over with a grin. *Not good!* At this sight, Lumian's heart leaped; instinctively, he stepped forward with his right foot and leaned forward. Before anyone could react, Pierre Berry seized the axe from the pile of offerings, gripped it with both hands, straightened up, and swung with all his might! *Thwack!* A torrent of blood erupted from Ava's neck, as if a dense crimson mist were swiftly taking shape. *Thud.* Ava's head dropped alone to the floor, rolling several times through the grime and blood before coming to rest faceup. A distinct trace of joy still lingered in her eyes. Having taken two strides in her direction, Lumian felt his heart plunge. He spun around without hesitation and bolted toward the stained glass at the side.