The town mayor, however, made no attempt to hide anything, instead displaying a proud expression: "To this day, every household still worships the Peacock King, giving thanks day and night for his blessings!"
This is obviously not a secret, otherwise how could they possibly make money from tourism using this?
On the other hand, these days, tourism that brings wealth to a local area is generally either a solo trip by the upper-class gods or a company-organized employee trip as a perk. Especially the former—even if only one or two gods come to a town like this, their spending could probably support the entire town!
Otherwise, how could the entire town have become so agitated and enthusiastic just because of two tourists? Besides, these days there's practically no such thing as an "ordinary tourist." Those who travel are all wealthy people.
The juice shops and other services offered in this town are all geared towards the upper class, even if these things are only considered average by them.
The capitalist gods and capitalist deities are able to so easily influence the rise and fall of ordinary people's lives.
...But then again, if that's the case, why has this town become so lifeless? Why were they so excited when Hayden and Angela came to the door?
Of course, they probably mistook Hayden and Angela for Protoss tourists passing by, which isn't surprising. But even so, this reaction was still a bit too much.
It's clear that the people in this small town are not lacking in ability. While we don't know how skilled they are, they should at least have some technical skills, some savings, and seem quite intelligent. Why are they stuck in such a declining town? Why not leave and go to a big city?
Is it because it's hard to leave one's homeland?
So Hayden suddenly sensed something was wrong. He walked towards the serpent dragon skull on the pedestal in the center of town, touched the pedestal, and finally discovered the town's current problem and secret:
This pedestal is built on a tributary of a river that flows through the town.
However, as a tributary of the ley lines, unlike the New Yatu Industrial Zone which is a node of the ley lines, its power is much weaker, and it has also been depleted, probably since the minerals and soil resources of the northern mountains were exhausted two hundred years ago.
Seventeen years ago, this small town placed the skull of a serpent dragon at a key point, offering it as a way to energize the earth's veins and protect the town from the harsh natural environment, which probably helped it barely survive for a while.
However, judging from the poisonous gas and filth constantly emanating from the skull, the offering is likely unable to survive due to severe environmental pollution.
This phenomenon can only mean one thing: the environment in the wasteland has deteriorated, pollution has become more severe, and even the sunset you see when you look up is murky.
But why is this? The environment in cities has clearly improved, and even the air pollution in slums has decreased, so why is it that nature in the countryside is suffering?
This is unreasonable!
It's impossible that the Mitra Group dumped all the pollution from the city into the wild, right?
In terms of morality, large corporations are certainly capable of doing this, but the problem is that capitalists need a reason to be bad! Releasing pollution from urban slums outside is a waste of energy and doesn't generate profit, so what's the point of them doing this?
Hayden became increasingly puzzled by what was going on, and felt even more confused.
Finally, Angela spoke first to remind him: "Master, please don't forget the old questions as soon as you see a new one."
That was certainly true. Hayden slapped his forehead, snapping back to reality. He was looking for a living Terasquist, not a dead serpent dragon skull. Having a tributary of the ley line available to him was actually a good thing.
"To be honest, Mayor, we're not here for tourism, but to find something."
So Hayden turned to the mayor and spoke frankly.
"I'll lend you this vein of earth in your town. I'll definitely reward you afterwards."
What kind of reward? How will the reward be given?
of course?
This tributary of the earth's vein is basically dead, leaving only polluted life energy and dregs.
However, Hayden had the all-powerful Angela by his side!
Using the earth's veins as a medium to perform divination and find the lost Terasque in the nearby land is just like knocking on the floor in a classic novel to summon the local earth god for questioning—it would be absolutely effortless!
110: Dragon and Gorilla
As the saying goes, customers should be treated like gods.
This tradition doesn't actually originate in the service industry, but rather from the ancient Bronze Age. The ancient people of that era learned a lesson over their long lives: the gods could indeed disguise themselves as harmless tourists and come to your home, demanding that you entertain them.
Obviously, just like in those old fairy tales and legends, if you drive away this old god disguised as a guest, you will soon die a painful and ugly death.
So it wasn't long before those ancient people realized that rather than risking a painful death, the cost of carefully entertaining guests was not so high.
This is why the mayor didn't jump up and say anything like, "What the hell are you going to do with our ley lines?" when he saw Hayden and Angela fiddling with their serpentine skulls. He was used to seeing the gods come on their own tour, and if you said that to modern gods, while they wouldn't immediately draw their swords and chop you up, you still certainly wouldn't have a good ending—after all, anyone with even a little knowledge of mythology knows that angering the gods never ends well.
In general, if modern people find it difficult to understand why people in the Bronze Age said that guests should be treated like gods, just imagine what would happen if you kicked out a high-ranking official who was traveling incognito.
Without any other obstruction, Angela gently blew a breath onto the serpent dragon's skull, very lightly, without using force, so as not to cause too much of a change and be noticed by the gods.
But Hayden immediately sensed that this tributary of the earth's veins had changed. Not to mention the ethereal things, even the serpent-dragon skull enshrined on the pedestal had undergone a noticeable transformation. It no longer spewed poison; instead, as if its last obsession and resentment had been blown away, it exhaled its final breath and fell into eternal silence.
"Poor serpent dragon."
Angela even reached out and touched the large, pale bone.
"Your child is living a happy life now. Sleep peacefully."
Is it a blissful life of eating and sleeping all day long at Karen's shop, and eating again after waking up?
Hayden recalled the fat serpent dragon in the Carla shop, as big as the little house, and couldn't help but wonder about Angela's definition of happiness. But now was not the time to be silly.
"well done."
So Hayden quickly pulled a crystal pendant from his robe—a white, transparent crystal attached to a twenty-centimeter-long silver chain. Then he took out a printed map of North America, placed it on a pedestal, and, holding the pendant in his left hand, suspended it over the map to begin his divination.
This is the so-called pendulum divination technique that uses the energy of the earth's veins.
This spell, originally called "Taoist Metal Detection," is one of the oldest arcane arts and a precursor to modern arcane magic. It was gradually invented over five hundred years ago, before the new gods gained power and began to rebel against the old gods. The most orthodox Taoist Metal Detection detects various things above and below ground by sensing changes in the earth's ley line energy, requiring a metal or wooden probe. Although its accuracy is limited, its standardized and industrialized use qualifies it as an arcane art.
Hayden's pendulum divination method is a derivative of Tarot cardinal techniques, a simplified version. All you need is a crystal pendant to use it anywhere. Its accuracy can't compare to the more formal equipment from large companies, but that's unavoidable. Hayden couldn't very well use tarot cards for divination. Different types of divination tools are used for different questions.
That's right, it's just a tool.
He is now using this crystal pendant as a tool, and maps and ley lines as mediums, to search for the missing Terasque.
The pendulum began to spin, counter-clockwise on the map, swirling between the energy of the ley lines and Hayden's own energy—the energy field formed by the two. Hayden could sense the pendulum autonomously adjusting its direction and magnitude of rotation with the energy, gradually pinpointing the location of his target…
...until the third surge of energy pierced through and lashed his pendulum!
Hayden didn't even have time to react or resist. He never imagined he'd encounter something like this. Beyond the leyline energy and his own, a third energy surged in like lightning, leaving Hayden no time to defend himself. His body and mind directly felt the impact; his fingers holding the crystal pendant felt as if they were being pierced by sharp ice knives. The chill and the stinging pain struck simultaneously, so powerful and intense that Hayden wondered why he was still gripping the pendulum so tightly.
Half a second later, Hayden realized: Oh, right. I was previously enhanced by the goddess Hela.
His mind and body were both enhanced, so the excruciating pain that could make an ordinary person faint was not enough to force Hayden to let go—of course, the pain would still be there, after all, pain has its uses, and directly isolating the feeling of pain would cause great trouble.
The pain simply prevented Hayden from letting go.
Just as Hayden was about to pull out the Moonlight Staff with his right hand, the force finally realized that Hayden would not let go, so it decisively changed its approach:
The crystal pendant exploded with a loud crack.
Thankfully, the mayor had already moved away. The flying crystal shards mostly hit Hayden and Angela. Angela wasn't afraid of these things, and this level of attack was useless against Hayden in his current state; it couldn't even break his skin.
But his face wasn't completely unscathed.
"Wow! Wow! A curse that counters ley line detection? That's a brilliant move!"
Enraged, Hayden threw away the useless chain, drew a silver dagger, and pricked his thumb with the tip. Dark red blood gushed from under the skin in the silvery moonlight. Hayden sprinkled his blood on the ground, letting the earth absorb it.
"Destroy my magical artifact? You think destroying my artifact will stop me from continuing my investigation?"
Then he simply reached out and stuck his hand into the ground.
“Master, I don’t think this is a rational approach,” Angela complained helplessly from the side. “You’re not short of a few hundred dollars for ordinary crystals.”
"Nonsense! This is a matter of the wizard's face!"
But Hayden wouldn't have it.
Blood possesses magic, blood holds a transcendent meaning. Hayden doesn't intend to use blood to gain power like a vampire, and the scale of his energy is small—but still enough to do many interesting things.
He concentrated his consciousness, also condensing it into a sharp dagger, and plunged it deep into the earth's veins. An ordinary mortal mage doing this might drive himself mad, causing his consciousness to become chaotic, like when Hayden turned into a wolf last month, or in the worst case, his soul might dissipate like Alastor's.
However, Hela had previously thrown Hayden into the alchemical furnace to strengthen him, precisely to prevent him from easily going mad or dying again! The leyline energy that would terrify mortal mages was now completely unable to dissipate Hayden's solidified consciousness. A strong will is something that should only be cultivated by oneself, yet the modern gods can simply throw people into a furnace and roast them to elevate it—this truly makes one shudder at the terrifying power of wealth.
However, this time Hayden was the one who benefited from this force.
As Hayden's consciousness entered this tributary of the ley line, countless obstacles and traps immediately emerged from the earth, swarming and entangling him. These were undoubtedly traps set up in advance by someone or something, unlikely to have been added hastily after Hayden's discovery. An ordinary mage would be insane just to send their consciousness into the ley lines, let alone run headlong into these things.
Unfortunately, Hayden is no longer the same as he once was.
He wielded his will with all his might, like wielding a great sword. He cleaved through these obstacles and traps, like a great sword cutting through withered vines and old trees, like an elephant breaking free from a net and ropes.
Driven by the instincts of a magic researcher, Hayden's consciousness, while dismantling these obstacles, still took a cursory look at the opponent's magical structure. Although it was rather ancient and seemed to contain some self-created elements, it did not exceed the scope of modern arcane theory and should not be of any great importance.
However, this spellcaster probably utilized the residue within the ley lines, resulting in a greater total energy output than Hayden. Unfortunately, while the quantity was high, the quality was extremely low. Hayden's consciousness pierced through like a sharp knife, just as a whole box of cotton couldn't withstand a single bullet. Moreover, Hayden was never the type to rely solely on brute force; he easily and precisely located the part of the box of cotton with the most gaps.
His consciousness quickly broke through the bottom layer of defenses and rushed all the way to the end.
"They've broken through all obstacles to get in, what tricks are they up to now? Let me see who's behind this!"
He kicked open the last layer of defense in the ley lines, as if kicking open a door.
So Hayden finally saw it.
This tributary of the earth's vein yielded to Hayden's will, shimmering in his consciousness like the surface of water, reflecting distant scenes from who-knows-where, like a dream forgotten at dawn, fleeting images constantly flowing before his eyes.
He saw a forest.
It wasn't the kind of forest that was watched over by the gods, full of life and vitality, but rather a desolate scene of black water siltation and filth, with withered trees standing side by side.
The pale, withered forest, the murky black water—there wasn't even a breeze here. It seemed perpetually dark and suffocating, like a terminally ill cancer patient, exuding a dense aura of death. The tree trunks had turned a chilling color, and the drooping branches held only withered leaves.
If these things weren't enough to surprise a wizard like Hayden, then something else in the forest truly startled him.
Because he saw a settlement built of flesh, bones and organs.
Those were no ordinary human or animal bones. What Hayden saw was an endless expanse of gigantic skeletons, buildings constructed from the ribs of monsters tens of meters long, filled with pulsating flesh and organs, and some blurry human figures swaying among the buildings and streets.
Their postures possessed an indescribable horror.
Hayden couldn't make out what kind of inhabitants lived in the skeletons of these mad monsters, but he saw another master of the place.
If the buildings made of flesh and bones only surprised Hayden, this last thing truly stunned him.
Because it was a gorilla.
Even when sitting on the ground, this is a super giant gorilla that is at least 30 meters tall!
"What the hell!?"
No wonder Hayden was completely dumbfounded.
"Where did these giant gorillas come from in North America?!"
Before he could even finish his complaint, the divination's effect had already ended. The images of the ley lines in his mind vanished, and Hayden's consciousness returned to his body.
He carefully recalled the scene he had just witnessed and the aura he had sensed, and his expression immediately turned extremely ugly.
What did you see?
Angela asked out of curiosity.
Hayden did not answer immediately. He remained silent for a few seconds, carefully considering and assessing what he had just seen, before slowly saying, "...I'm afraid I've found Terasque."
Ange tilted her head: "This sounds like a good thing."
“If this Terrasque hadn’t been captured by a gorilla at least 40 or 50 meters tall, skinned and dismembered, and used to build a house, I would also think it was a good thing.”
Hayden covered his face and said,
"Damn it, in that nearly dead, decaying forest in the northern mountains, there actually lives a Beast God Gorilla!"
兽神
This term can't be completely ignored, no matter how you look at it. Angela finally frowned: "Beast God? You mean a giant beast that was born rather strange, and after a long period of time, connected with the earth's ley line energy, thus gaining intelligence and supernatural powers?"
Hayden nodded.
This is indeed a simple definition of the Beast God.
Simply put, the Beast God is a type of land god, and one of the categories of ancient gods. Unlike the Peacock King and other "monsters that fell from the sky," it is another type of ancient god that was naturally born in the Earth's ecosystem.
Generally, all living things in nature have a lifespan and will age and die. However, the beast god, having merged with the spiritual veins, becomes part of the land and therefore does not age. Nevertheless, all ancient gods have their own physiological limitations. The land god needs constant sacrifices from its followers to maintain its existence.
in other words--
"That gorilla must have followers. Followers who live with it in the dying primeval forest and worship it... No, no, no, how could there be such people in this era!"
Hayden held his head and made a self-deprecating remark.
Rather than believing that there are still people living in primeval forests these days who worship gorilla gods, it's more likely that the gorilla is leading a large group of ape offspring!
Is the next drama going to be the rise of the ape?
But the mayor, standing at a distance, had been listening intently to whether the distinguished guests had any requests. Now, hearing Hayden's mutterings, he finally mustered the courage to approach and ask, "Are you looking for those primitive subhumans who live in the northern mountains?"
These words immediately made Hayden's expression even more bizarre.