This gathering place is very primitive, not only the houses cannot withstand the wind and rain, but even the clothes on those people are made of animal skins and grass, and there is a backward smell everywhere, but Sanae feels a trace of kindness, not the kind of cordiality of subjective consciousness, but the kindness that comes from the instinct of the body.

Sanae couldn't help but smile and slowly fall from the sky.

"It's a pity that this is just history after all, not an illusion but not a reality."

It is unreasonable for the people around him to not react at all to Sanae who fell from the sky, and to turn a blind eye to such a miracle.

So Sanae tested it slightly, reached out to pull a pedestrian, and sure enough, his hand was empty, through the person's body.

This is history after all, it is the past, Sanae can see it, hear it, but can't touch it, she is just a passerby, and she has always been separated from this place for a long time.

"I guess I want to know about the origin of the country of Suwa."

Sanae, curious, and vigilant, walked to the largest room, where a simple wooden platform appeared in front of her, displaying several crops from this era, and a strong man kneeling at the table, muttering something to himself.

Sanae leaned closer and heard the obscure old language, although she hadn't learned it deliberately, but with the instinct in her veins, she understood his words.

It can be summed up in one sentence - pray for a good harvest and desire to be strong.

"Speaking of which, Suwako-sama can also bless the smooth progress of agriculture, but when it rained heavily before, she went to the world to cast spells."

The population here is too small to be considered a tribe, and it is far from being considered the country of Suwa, but Sanae does not think that she has found the wrong place, not only is her blood reminding her that this is the right place, but the stone statue of the frog on the humble incense table keeps telling her that this is the location of the country of Suwa.

Frogs eat insects and can effectively protect crops, and in this era when agriculture is not developed, it can be regarded as a sacred object, and the symbol of Suwako happens to be the frog.

The stone statue of the frog was so simple that if it hadn't been guessed, Sanae might not have recognized it as a frog.

It's just that there was no iron smelting and copper smelting technology in this era, and the stone tools used should still be stone tools, and it is already very remarkable to be able to make such a stone statue, even if this stone statue is only the size of a palm.

From here, it is not difficult to see that the man who looks like the leader of the tribe attaches great importance to sacrifices.

"People are afraid because of ignorance, afraid because of weakness, and in order to soothe the inner turmoil, human beings who have not yet become strong usually use the theory of gods and monsters to explain those things that they do not understand, and this idea, this feeling, has a great power, and will give birth to corresponding things. The good are gods, and the evil are demons. ”

Suwako's voice sounded in Sanae's ears again, and her voice became deeper and deeper than last time, but Sanae didn't notice this detail.

"But is that really the case?"

Suwako suddenly threw out a question and confused Sanae.

In the perception of the vast majority of people, youkai and gods are completely different things, the former is the enemy of mankind, and the latter is the savior of mankind to help people, but I know a lot of inside information, and Sanae, who has lived with youkai and gods, doesn't think so, but this idea is a little disrespectful to Suwako, Kanako, and she has never thought carefully about this matter.

And at this time, she was woken up by Suwako, and she seemed to understand something.

District 11 is not a small area, but it claims to have 8 million gods, although this number is an imaginary number, but it can also reflect the flood of gods on this land, and among these gods, many gods are youkai.

What exactly is a yokai and what is a god?

Sanae couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

At this time, when the prayer had been finished, an old man walked in from outside the house, walked past the man, and walked to the altar, he was only in his thirties, but his face was full of vicissitudes, and his old age was fully displayed, which fully showed the cruelty of this era.

He whispered something to the man, and the eyes of both of them were full of sadness, and even the man's eyes were full of tears.

Keen as a young seedling, she naturally felt that something was wrong, from the moment the old man trembled and took out a stone blade, she had a premonition, but she was just a spectator, there was no way to interfere here, she could only watch the tragedy happen.

"Wait ......"

Fast, it's too fast.

Before Sanae could finish speaking, the old man placed the stone blade on his neck, and with a swipe of both hands, red blood gushed out, passed through Sanae, and landed on the stone statue of the frog, leaving a bright red mark.

Sanae was stunned and didn't speak for a long time.

Blood was naturally illusory, but the moment it passed through her face, she felt a fiery sensation appear on her face, the burning heat that belonged to the passing of life, which made her face start to burn, from her body to her soul.

yes, she should have thought of it a long time ago.

Since agriculture is so backward, let alone aquaculture, the three animals used for sacrifice are too valuable for a tribe, and it is impossible to waste them on sacrifice.

Praying for a good harvest is naturally a lack of food. There are only two basic ways to solve this problem, one is to increase food, and the other is to reduce food consumption.

There is no doubt that the latter is used here, and in the name of sacrifice, the old are sacrificed to pave the way for the survival of young and young children.

It's just that this is a little too cruel, in the outside world, I have only seen incense sacrifices, and Sanae, who has only seen coin-operated money, has never thought of such a sacrifice, and the whole person has given up thinking.

She will be stunned, but not bloodline.

The surrounding scene changed again, and thousands of years have passed in the blink of an eye, although it has not been a vicissitude, but it has become a person.

The original tribe finally developed into a state, the population of the territory has increased many times, and the houses have improved little by little from backward and primitive, although it still cannot be compared with the present, but it can barely be seen.

Of all these houses, the most luxurious is the shrine for worship.

In this era of lack of materials, it is simply made colorful, with red columns and white walls, solemn but luxurious.

It's just such a sacred place, the human sacrifice that makes Sanae uncomfortable still exists, but those sacrifices have changed from their own family members to people from other countries, and prisoners of war have become frequent visitors here, using their blood to soak this sacred place again and again.

"It shouldn't be like this......"

Sanae muttered to herself, not noticing that the stone statue of the frog had become more and more different, although there was no change in its appearance, but by so many leaders, so many years of sacrifice and prayer, it had long since become different, there was a faint divinity circulating on it, and behind it, a vague figure could be seen.

The change of scene still did not wait for Sanae, this time I don't know how long it took, the stone statue had completely disappeared, and in its place was Suwako, who sat on it with a bored face, yawning and looking impatiently at the king below, listening to the latter's chatter.

One moment the harvest is insufficient, hoping that she will send down the grace of God, and the other time it is going to war, so that Suwako will send protection, and finally the king also vaguely expresses his fear of old age, hoping to get Suwako's blessing and make his life longer a little.

"No, you can't make a sacrifice like this."

Suwako pointed to the pigs, cows and sheep below, and said with a dissatisfied expression.

Over time, Sanae's disgusting sacrifice has gradually been improved, moving closer and closer to modernity.

"Suwako-sama, this is also a matter of no choice, it is too barbaric to sacrifice living people, if you still follow the ancient calendar, the enemies attacked by the country of Suwa will be defended to the end."

The king was also helpless, but Suwako's status was too high, and the whole country still needed her protection, so he stubbornly tried to explain to her.

And at this time, the whole world stopped and turned into black and white, except for Sanae and Suwako, all the characters stopped and turned into the background.

Suwako jumped down from the altar, walked to Sanae's side, and whispered to Sanae, who was still a little absent-minded, "You see, the efficiency of the sacrifice has become lower, but the requirements have increased. ”

Sanae didn't notice the change in Suwako's tone, and she didn't notice that Suwako was more vigorous and energetic than before, so she didn't regard this as the real Suwako, and frowned and retorted, "But it's always a good thing that humans become civilized." ”

"Yes for humans, not for gods. Why is it that the older the age, the more powerful the gods are born? Because at that time, human beings sacrificed human beings themselves, and the fear and faith generated were incomparably pure and powerful.

Later, these were reduced to ingredients, and although human beings still retained the custom of sacrifice, their reverence had been greatly reduced. Later, there were no more livestock, only yellow paper and incense that were useless to human beings. ”

Sanae didn't notice that this Suwako was talking about something that was beyond her time, and she just felt that it made sense, but it was uncomfortable.

"Of course, I don't have to insist on this, after all, for the gods, the form of sacrifice is not important, the most important thing is the quality and quantity of faith, if incense can also give rich faith, we naturally can't do it."

"It's just that human forgetfulness is so great that if you knock it from time to time, faith will be lost very quickly. You see, because the outside world has abolished most of the sacrifices, the outside gods have disappeared. ”

Suwako explained simply, for fear that Sanae would treat her as an evil god, and after seeing Sanae slightly soften her brows, she continued: "Then you have to think about a question clearly, what exactly is a god?" ”

This question, she mentioned at the beginning, and at this time, the old matter is brought up again, so naturally it will not be for Sanae to say her answer again.

Seeing so many things, Sanae already vaguely felt that her answer was very inaccurate and didn't grasp the point.

People believe in gods, and those with special abilities are gods?

So there are so many guys with special abilities in Gensokyo, and many of them are still feared by the world, can they also be called gods?

Naturally, it can't.

"Let's move on."

Seeing that Sanae's thinking had become normal, Suwako breathed a sigh of relief and walked back to the altar, recovering to the coldness of Fangcai, and the whole world flowed again.