At this time, Lesa was pointing at the back seat of the donkey cart, excitedly introducing Sha Ting to the old buildings, the origin of the street names, the delicious restaurants, and the interesting landscapes. Sha Ting watched and listened, nodding her head in the face of surprise and curiosity, but she was not immersed in the sound and color of the ancient huge city, because the uneasiness in her heart had risen irrepressibly.

Although it was only a short period of time, what she saw and heard in the hot spring city was really different from the scene she imagined when she was studying. As the donkey cart drove through the streets and alleys, she also navigated through all kinds of trades, all kinds of goods, all kinds of knowledge and skills of the Kamiriku Islands, and she found that her pitiful knowledge was not enough. In the town where she grew up, she saw people suffering from bad weather and poverty, but it was clear that the people here were living in abundance, peace, and happiness. As she made her way through the crowd, Satine unconsciously shrank back, not wanting to be noticed by the happy and beautiful people—an unkempt young girl sitting in a soft-seated donkey cart that did not match her identity, dressed in faded linen and wearing deerskin boots that were new but out of season.

The donkey cart made its way through a few crooked alleys into a wide street lined with beautiful buildings, and Sharten sensed that they were heading towards the east side of the city. The strip of bluestone paved streets was replaced by square-white bricked avenues, and they were getting wider and wider, and when Satin was estimating that the avenue could accommodate several horse-drawn carriages passing side by side, the donkey cart turned lightly, and suddenly opened up in front of her—the white tiles stretched forward into a wide, downward stepping staircase, and at the last step, seven colored glazed tile lines diverged to divide the fan-shaped square into eight equal parts, symbolizing the eight gods of the guardian god land. At the center of the square is an octagonal altar of the gods, and at the end of the square is a sparkling, endless lake.

"We're here!" Lysa exaggeratedly spread her arms outwards and said loudly, "Square of the Gods!" She leaned over to her seat, pointing a finger in front of her to show Shatin, "Follow the Apollona passage in the middle, go around the altar of the gods, and go down the stairs to the Flaming Lake Ferry." There is a ferry next to the statue of the dean of Shizome. She looked up at the sun and patted Satine's arm, "You've got to hurry, my boy." It's not too early! ”

Sha Ting nodded, pressed the armrest next to the seat, jumped out of the car, and went around to the back of the car to get her luggage.

The donkey pulling the cart seemed to be a little restless, his hooves clattered on the floor tiles, the driver "snapped" the whip, the donkey suddenly stood up, and Lessa's box shook twice, fell out of the luggage basket, the corner of the box knocked hard, rolled on the ground, and the lid of the box opened.

Pearl-encrusted nightdresses and low-heeled slippers were tangled and scattered on the floor, enamel snuff bottles were dripping in circles, small glass jars were shattered, red powder was scattered all over the floor, unfastened gold-embroidered money bags were opened, and small glittering gold rings rolled out.

The sharp-eyed Sha Ting threw down her cloth bag and ran after the falling gold rings, she moved very fast, and the six small gold rings that rolled in different directions were all taken into her hands before they could fall down the steps. She turned and walked towards the donkey cart, and found that Lysa had been lifted out of the cart by the driver. Sha Ting hurried two steps to Lessa's side, and was about to hand her the golden ring in her hand, but found that the old lady's expression was not quite right.

"Why are you so careless?!" Lysa asked reproachfully, frowning.

"It's not me, it's ......" Seeing the young man driving the car glaring at her, Sha Ting swallowed back the second half of her words, "Granny Laisa, I have already picked up the fallen gold ring for you." ”

Lesa glanced at the six small gold rings on the palm of Sha Ting's spread right hand, but she didn't mean to reach out and take it, but unabashedly moved her gaze to the left hand that Sha Ting was hanging on her side.

Does she suspect that I deliberately knocked over the box to steal her gold ring?!

A cold anger rose in Sha Ting's heart. She grabbed the corner of her shirt and shook it vigorously twice, lifted the placket to show that there were no pockets on her pants, and then stretched out her left hand and placed it next to her right hand.

"I didn't knock over the box, it fell after the body shook. The six gold rings that rolled off were all here, and I didn't have any gold rings or anything else hidden on me. ”

"The gods are above, how dare you lie in this square!" The driver stepped forward and yelled viciously: "My car is very stable, so the box will not fall!" I think you got it when you stole it! I've seen a lot of thieves stealing things, and it's the first time I've seen someone who dares to pretend to be a student of the Golden Crow Academy to steal something! Take your boots off and let's see, I see yours have a problem with those weird boots! ”

Sha Ting spread her hands and looked at Lesa without saying a word. The kind smile that had been hanging on the old lady's face was gone, revealing a mean look that Sha Ting had never seen. She narrowed her eyes at Sha Ting, wrinkles hugging around the corners of her eyes.

After a few moments, she spoke, "Let me count the money before you go." ”

Lesa stretched out her thin little hand and grabbed the gold ring, her pointed nails scraping across Sharten's palm, making her shiver in the warm sun. The old lady poured out the rest of the gold rings in the money bag, pinched them one by one with her fingertips, counted them in her mouth, and put them back.

The charioteer, like his donkey, stood on his feet from time to time because of impatience. Sha Ting clasped her arms around herself and waited in silence.

“29、30 。” After the last ring was thrown back, Lesa held the purse and carefully fastened it.

The chauffeur leaned forward and whispered to Lessa, "Is it missing, ma'am?" Is it missing? ”

Lesa snorted and replied, "I'm too old to remember how much money I brought out." I don't care about this little money. She raised her eyelids and glanced at Sha Ting and said, "You go, I'm too lazy to pursue you." ”

The driver shouted, "How can this be done, ma'am! Can't let this thief go! Let her take her boots off! ”

Sha Ting didn't even look at the two of them, took two steps forward and picked up the burden on the ground, turned around and left quickly.

What is there to argue?

Sha Ting thought as she ran down the steps.

Lesa knew in her heart that I wasn't taking her money. She had enough silver and brass rings on her body to use on her travels, so the gold rings in her embroidered money bag should have been untouched, the number she had brought from home—30. Stealing a few pieces will destroy the whole number, and after counting them, they will be discovered immediately. said that she couldn't remember the amount of money when she was old, it was just a pretext, she didn't want to admit that she had wronged a good person. There's nothing to prove either. Prove it to the irrelevant driver? Even if he took off his boots and proved that there was nothing hidden in them, he would still say that there was something wrong with my backpack and something wrong with my underwear. If it was on a deserted path at night, I could kick him all over the ground without hesitation. But at this time, it is not worth delaying the entrance ceremony for the sake of such scum.

She ran as fast as she could along the widest path in the middle of the square, which belonged to the sun goddess Apollona, through the sparse crowd, ignoring the curious glances cast at her.

The person who kept saying that I saved her life could speak ill of me just for a few gold rings, and in order to cover up his unreasonable behavior, he also poured dirty water on me, and the kindness of strangers was really completely unreliable! Why did the encounter with Lesa end like this? It all came down to me because I was just a poor kid from a humble background. I risked my life to grab the sails on the Seaweed Golden Crown, and a rich man like Lesa would take it for granted, and shouldn't a poor kid do such a thing? I went to pick up the money when the box overturned, and it was only right for Lesa to suspect that I had deliberately knocked over the box and stole her gold ring, and that was not what a poor poor boy would do?

The colored glazed tile lines on the ground of the square receded in her field of vision, and she reached the altar of the gods in the center of the square. The octahedral platform is a large granite block with purple jade reliefs inlaid on the divided surfaces, and the content is about the eight guardian gods of the five islands of the Kamiriku Islands. This is one of the most famous buildings in Kamiriku, and it has been held here every year for nearly 100 years. Sha Ting did not dare to stop admiring, but she could roughly distinguish the content of the relief as she ran—a strong and irritable sea god standing with a trident in his hand among the surging waves, and a changeable goddess of fate lying on her side among the clouds and fiddling with the golden web in her hand. The industrious and wise spirit listens to the sound of the grass and trees in the woodland, and the beautiful and melancholy geist goddess plucks the harp by the stream. The sensitive and suspicious god of medicine buried himself in the grass and thousands of flowers, and the kind and gentle god of agriculture sent the wind and rain, smiling at the grain filling and vegetables and fruits. The young and handsome god of war flew over the Mountain of Sighs on a winged thousand-eyed firebird, and the sacred and majestic Apollona held a sword and sprinkled the light of glory all over the five islands.

How many human weaknesses could the all-knowing and all-powerful gods see in that scene? Sha Ting couldn't help but wonder, but after thinking about it, she felt that there was nothing to complain about. After all, I approached her with the idea of using Lessa. One day, when I am no longer a lowly poor child, this disgusting thing will naturally decrease.