Chapter 284: Chapter 284: The Price of Harvest
Chapter 284: The Price of Harvest
Stealing vegetables?
Would I, a noble count, come to steal your vegetables, even in a dream?
Hastur suppressed the urge to twitch his mouth and couldn't help but think of a certain penguin's vegetable-stealing game. Back then, it was a nationwide craze, with some even setting alarms to wake up in the middle of the night to steal vegetables. It was truly crazy.
"I was just curious why your vegetables grow so well."
"Of course, it's because we have the goddess's blessing!" the girl answered matter-of-factly.
Feigning ignorance, Hastur continued to ask, "Which goddess?"
"The Grain Goddess, the Goddess of Spring's Breath. That's what we call her. She has always protected this land and is our guardian deity." Mentioning her deity, the girl unconsciously puffed out her chest and raised her voice.
"Oh, I've heard of her. It's said that every year a priestess is needed to preside over the sacrificial ceremony."
The girl beamed with a bright smile, "I am this year's priestess for the Harvest Festival."
Hastur also smiled, "That's impressive. I also heard that the priestess changes every year. Is she personally chosen by the goddess?"
"Of course not. My father specifically bought the position from the mayor to help me build a reputation."
The girl's words surprised Hastur, but upon reflection, it seemed quite worldly and normal.
No wonder the priestess changes every year. It turns out their tradition has long since declined, and the current priestess is merely a symbolic puppet pushed forward by the mayor.
The girl worriedly said, "You mustn't tell anyone. I only told you because you seem nice. If others find out, my father will surely punish me."
Hastur had to promise her he wouldn't leak the secret and praised her for being capable of handling the priestess role at such a young age.
When the girl was in a good mood, Hastur took the opportunity to ask her about other secrets.
For example, the origin of the Harvest Festival, the types of offerings made during the sacrifices, and whether any unusual events had occurred in the town.
After a series of questions and answers, Hastur was about to leave the dream.
"Will we meet again?"
"If there's a chance."
Faced with the girl's reluctance, Hastur only gave a somewhat uncertain reply with a smile.
The girl's eyes lit up, and she smiled happily, "I have a feeling we will meet again, very soon."
When Hastur left the dream, the girl's eyes lost their light, and she stood there blankly, not knowing what to do, as if she had lost her soul.
Hastur left Miss Liv's room and returned to the street, heading towards the mayor's residence with a heavy heart.
According to Miss Liv, the origin of the Harvest Festival was indeed to sacrifice a girl who once lived in the town. However, the girl was not willing to sacrifice herself for the town's harvest.
She was the first chosen offering. For the people at that time, exchanging one life for a bountiful harvest was a no-brainer.
But for some reason, over time, the sacrificed girl gradually replaced the blessing deity and was posthumously honored as the Grain Goddess, the Goddess of Spring's Breath.
She became the deity who now enjoys the offerings.
Every year during the Harvest Festival, the offerings are not the priestesses but young couples.
The girl did not reveal the specifics.
The fact that she knew so much already made Hastur feel strange. Such secrets shouldn't be known by a little girl like her.
Arriving at the mayor's house, Hastur used his dream-entering ability to enter the mayor's dream.
This time it went smoothly. The mayor's dream was divided into two halves: one half was a bountiful field, and the other half was a bizarre world of spider webs.
In the dream, the mayor's feet were entangled in spider silk, and he looked dazed and foolish, fitting the description of a nightmare.
Faced with Hastur's questions, the mayor, like a responding machine, revealed everything he knew.
The mayor didn't know how the first sacrificed girl became the Goddess of Spring's Breath worshipped during the Harvest Festival.
He only knew that to ensure the town's annual harvest, the Harvest Festival must be held, or disaster would strike.
This was something every mayor was told upon taking office.
In the beginning, the priestess was indeed the chosen offering.
But later, it gradually evolved into couples, who had to procreate in front of the deity's statue.
From one couple initially, it increased to five couples now. The deity's appetite grew, but for the sake of the harvest, the Harvest Festival had to continue.
So, in recent years, the town secretly bought couples from other places to serve as offerings to please the deity and ensure a bountiful harvest.
As for the selection of the priestess, it started as a random draw. But as former priestesses found it easier to marry and fetch higher dowries, some eager parents began bribing the mayor to buy the annual priestess position.
This year's priestess position was bought by old Jeff for 50 gold pounds.
"What happens to the couples who become offerings for the Harvest Festival?"
When Hastur asked this, the mayor's face showed a strange smile, and he sinisterly said, "Of course, they are eaten by the deity!"
"Where is this deity you speak of?"
"Hehe, right here on this land..."
Before the mayor could finish, the spider silk that had only entangled his feet suddenly surged, wrapping him into a white spider cocoon and suspending him in mid-air.
The golden fields in the dream world were completely swallowed by the spider web world.
In the depths of the white spider web, white spider cocoons began to crack open, revealing adult-sized spiders with white abdomens, red spots on their backs, and black bodies.
"Has it sensed danger and is exerting influence from afar?"
Hastur didn't hesitate and immediately left the mayor's dream.
In reality, the mayor, who was sleeping soundly, was also completely wrapped in spider silk, becoming a white cocoon.
The white spider silk spread from the mayor's body to the edges of the room.
The culprits were thumb-sized spiders emerging from the mayor's navel, which had split open. More and more spiders crawled out, weaving webs.
Soon, the entire room became a white spider cave.
The eerie scene made Hastur retreat to the window. As the spider silk spread, he left through the window.
Strangely, when the spider web covered the entire room, all the spiders crawled back into the mayor's body through his navel.
Hastur watched from a nearby house until he heard suppressed exclamations from the room.
The mayor's family, seeing the bizarre scene, was panicked but didn't scream as expected. Instead, they took advantage of the late hour to carry the cocooned mayor's body downstairs, placing it on a straw-covered cart, and covered it with thick straw and other vegetables.
Seeing such strange behavior, Hastur naturally followed. The cart moved slowly, and Hastur managed to keep up.
Occasionally losing sight of the cart, he used fate's guidance to find the direction and continue the pursuit.
The cart left the town gate, traveled along the main road for a while, then turned onto a small path leading to the growing fields.
At the end of the flat fields was a 200-meter-high hill, where the cart stopped.
Without the cart to speed them up, Hastur quickly caught up. Four people were in the group: one leading with a lantern, two carrying the cocooned mayor, and one guarding the rear.
Their skilled division of labor suggested this wasn't their first time doing such things.
Hastur thought of the five young couples from last night's sacrifice. After the ceremony, they disappeared.
It seemed they were also cocooned by spider silk and secretly brought here.
To feed the deity?
Hastur followed them to the hilltop.
Tonight, the crimson moon was temporarily covered by dark clouds, and the dim sky and cold wind made the night feel even colder.
At the hilltop, through a dense forest path, they reached a deep cave. The two carrying the mayor carefully approached and threw the cocooned body into the cave.
Afterward, the four knelt and prayed for forgiveness from the deity.
When faint dragging sounds came from the cave, they quickly left without looking back.
After they left, Hastur emerged from the shadows and approached the cave.
The deep cave descended vertically, and the dim moonlight couldn't reveal its contents.
The cave was filled with spider webs, blocking the view.
Hastur observed for a while but didn't venture in.
He had no desire to risk his life without knowing the situation.
Instead, he waited to see if anything else would happen.
After about an hour, Hastur brought a large stone and threw it into the cave.
Judging by the time it took for the stone to hit the bottom, the cave was about 130 meters deep.
Based on the hill's height, the cave's bottom should be the spider nest.
Soon, faint dragging sounds came from below.
Hastur threw another large stone, and when the dragging sounds resumed, he threw a second stone.
A piercing sound followed, as many spiders emerged from the cave.
"Tsk, can't take a joke."
Hastur left the cave and climbed a three-meter-high tree, watching the cave from above.
In the faint moonlight, pairs of blood-red eyes appeared in the dark cave.
(End of Chapter)
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