Chapter 220 - The Secret Of The Temple (1/2)

Indeed, there was a cost to protect the village. The warriors of the Uvandidi tribe would only send their warriors to protect the villages if the villages paid up with a certain number of cows and sheep. The number increased year by year, and finally, Barbarto Village was on the brink of collapsing. The other four neighboring villages were in no better shape either.

The situation was bleak. Tang Ling did not know why the Stardust Council would use a similar tactic as they did with Safety Sector No. 17 to indirectly occupy the grassland. He got carried away by his thoughts.

Valencia wiped her tears dry and continued, “We can no longer endure the payment this year, but the wolves continue harming us. At first, all six villages in the grasslands helped each other and lived in harmony, but three years ago, the Uvandidi tribe grew stronger year after year. They got greedier as well. This time, they demanded a huge number of cows and sheep, but the villagers could no longer pay up.

“Bartu’s family is the one who calls the shots, and they will try and stir up something tomorrow. I have a bad feeling that they’ll succeed tomorrow.”

“Bartu?” Tang Ling raised a brow. The buff young man? Isn’t he trying to marry Valencia?

“Yeah, Bartu. I don’t know what changed him. We grew up together and were engaged. He used to be an honest young man, but three years ago, when the Uvandidi tribe exited the Grassland Alliance, Bartu visited the tribe and returned a changed man. He gave up the pride, honor and dignity that he used to have and became someone else’s lapdog.” Valencia was filled with an obvious grudge when she talked about Bartu while tugging at the grass angrily.

Oh, so the two of them had history? Tang Ling spat the grass out and asked Valencia a strange question, “Do the six villages of the grassland, including that Uvandidi tribe, have some big secret?”

“Secret? What kind of secret?” Valencia felt like she did not understand Tang Ling.

“Well, you can’t really say it’s a secret. Hmm, how should I put it? Is there anything different from the usual?” Tang Ling tried to express his thought to Valencia.

“Different? Like the annual ceremony?” Valencia was a simple girl, so she thought Tang Ling must have grown bored about the lousy political matters between the villages, hence his question about some other strange things.

Adventurers were curious anyway. Besides, other than showing his sympathy, what else could he possibly do for the villages? He was just an outsider who was passing by.

“The ceremony? Do you mean the offering? Hmm, tell me about it, how different is it?” Tang Ling displayed his curiosity, but his heart was already calculating. He wanted to know why the Stardust Council was so interested in the grassland. He had a feeling that there was an unseen question waiting for an answer.

Why would the Stardust Council try to control Safety Sector No. 17 in the first place? Because of him? No, his identity had remained hidden until recently.

Was the Stardust Council searching for something when they sent the horde of zombies to attack the settlement? No, judging from Aber’s confession, they had achieved what they were trying to do there.

Was it their pure ambition to try and rule the world? No, no, no! Only idiots would form such a plan. Occupying a secluded grassland might not be as easy as it seems, even if they successfully occupied the grassland, they were not doing anything against the other forces in the world, they were threatening no one by occupying a grassland with only six villages.

If they were really ambitious, they would have gone for the next weak safety sector so that they could further expand their influence easily. After all, the Stardust Council had what it took to achieve it.

Tang Ling was latching on to the clues as he slowly expanded his thoughts. He would never let go of his enemy until he figured out the bottom of this! This time, the clue that he was analyzing was the distance. Safety Sector No. 17 and the grassland were rather close.

It was indeed close even on the map. In fact, the villages of the grassland were probably the closest safety villages to Safety Sector No. 17.

Valencia did not suspect anything after Tang Ling asked that question. The ceremony was not really a huge secret anyway. She took a deep breath and said, “At first, all six villages in the grassland weren’t on friendly terms, but each year before winter, we still come together to hold an offering. You’ve also been to the offering venue earlier today.”

“Huh? Where is that?” Tang Ling scratched his head as he tried to recall anything that had been out of the blue along the way, but when one was being chased by a flock of purple Udy crows, one would be rather busy to size up the surroundings.

The purple Udy crows? Tang Ling scratched his head again and suddenly sat up with a start. He covered Valencia’s mouth and said nervously, “Hold on. I have something to show you.”

Valencia’s heart raced when Tang Ling’s hand suddenly touched her face while her cheeks also boiled. She could smell the scent from his hand. His shirt had the refreshing, green fragrance of the grass. Upon deeper thought, she and Tang Ling had known each other for less than a day, yet she somehow liked his scent. She was further embarrassed by her shy thoughts.

She lowered her head. Thankfully, it was late and it was raining, so Tang Ling did not see her blushing. When she looked up, he was already sneaking further away into the tent.

“What a crook!” Valencia grumbled. As she thought of her encounter with Tang Ling earlier in the day when he had been chased by a flock of purple Udy crows, the funny encounter made her chuckle.

Two minutes later, Tang Ling came back with a bird’s nest in his hand.

Valencia was rendered speechless by the bird’s nest. How shameless is this guy to steal the purple Udy crow’s nest? No, wait, did he take the whole thing back?!

Even though the purple Udy crows were thieves that would steal anything, they were known for their perverted side. They liked to steal intimate stuff such as items that should not be taken out of the bedroom like women’s intimate wear or the particular thing a girl would use every month, especially when it was soiled.

Shame! Shame! Why is Tang Nee trying to show me those things?! Valencia was nervous and agitated. She made up her mind to beat him up if he showed her something shameful or teased her.

He brought the nest back to Valencia and removed the cloth that covered the nest. In an excited tone, he told her to look.

“What!? No, I’m not looking!” Valencia quickly turned around, reluctant to even have a peek.

Her reaction raised a question in Tang Ling’s mind. Why is this girl so resistant to the crow’s nest? From the moment she saw the crow’s nest this afternoon, she’s been shooting me a disdainful look. I thought we were a lot closer, but she’s still reacting this way. Is the purple Udy crow Barbarto Village’s holy bird?

Fortunately, Tang Ling did not voice his mind. Otherwise, Valencia would have fought him with tooth and nail if she knew that he assumed the perverted crows were the holy bird of the village.