In the afternoon, Jude visited the village of Southwind with Phyllis's guidance.

This place is the headquarters of the Aeolus Sect, and the people here are divided into two main groups: the clergy and the believers of the sect.

Phyllis, for example, was a member of the clergy, and it was her duty to receive guests and arrange related matters. The girl Jude sees when he enters the enchantment is Linda's maid, her name is Lilute, who takes care of Linda's daily life. In addition, there are many clergy, all of whom are dressed in white and blue uniforms, which are easy to identify.

And those men, women, and children who are dressed differently are the followers of the Fengshen Sect. Among them were tailors, carpenters, shepherds, cooks, and so on, and it was these faithful who provided logistical support for the sect.

Jude had a hard time understanding these so-called followers, who had left their homes to live here, volunteered for unpaid labor for the Aeolian cult, and who would not have done it if it had been him. But after all, this is Linda's sect, and the teenager doesn't have much to say.

After walking around, Jude found that the daily life of the Aeolian Sect was quiet and leisurely, quite escapist, far from the religion in the boy's impression. He originally thought that those sects were planning how to expand their influence, formulate missionary plans, expand their stations, and so on every day, but he had not seen any of these in Nanfeng Village.

Here he saw the simple and frugal folk customs and the happy smiles on people's faces, which were not at all like the sluggishness and rigidity that believers should have, but reminded him of his hometown Lamberting.

Today is the 9th day of the festival, and if you move quickly, you should be able to catch up with the harvest festival, and the boy thinks of the sage barbecue and the mellow honey wine, and he can't help but be more eager to return to his hometown. He decided to leave the next day on his way home.

Maybe religion isn't really as bad as he thinks, or maybe it's just the Aeolian sect that is different, Jude concludes, and after dinner, he goes to bed early to get plenty of rest for the journey home.

The next morning, the boy got up early to pack his belongings and went to say goodbye to Linda, feeling as bright as the morning light.

But the girl's face was solemn, like a gray sky covered with clouds.

"Jude, there's bad news. "Her voice is very unusual," said a large earthquake that struck the Scoe Plains last night. ”

-

Jude had no idea how he had returned to Lambertine, and for four days he had spent the days he had spent in the open, day and night, without stopping in any of the towns along the way to recuperate. Yesterday, when he entered the western realm, he encountered all the people fleeing to the east, but the young man walked in the opposite direction, but he did not see any acquaintances along the way, which made him even more uneasy.

Anxious emotions sustained the boy, so that he was not afraid of danger, he worked tirelessly, and did his best, nibbling on dry food when he was hungry, drinking spring water when he was thirsty, and lying down in the shade of a tree to regain his strength when he was tired.

Witnessing fallen trees and crumbling rock walls in the mountains, Jude thought he could imagine the devastation caused by the disaster, but when he arrived in town, he still couldn't believe what he saw.

The horizon is littered with ruins, rubble and broken wood, ruins and broken walls, and even roads that have collapsed, rising and collapsing in sections, creating a shocking drop section.

In a trance, the young man didn't know how to get to the door of his house, and the simple but warm hut in his memory no longer existed, and only a pile of wood and stone remained in front of him. The same happened at Uncle Ken's house next door, and the boy inadvertently found a dusty bearskin carpet in the rubble.

He couldn't help but recall the excitement and pride of Ken when he hunted the grizzly bear, and not only invited everyone in the town to eat the bear's meat, but also asked the tanner-Hanks to process the fur into a carpet to commemorate the results of his hunt. As a child, Uncle Ken was always next door to take care of himself, and later he taught him how to play in the wild and hunt...... Jude recalls the bits and pieces of the past, and unspeakable melancholy wells up in his heart.

The boy walked distractedly on the broken pavement, looking around the ruins on both sides of the street, and he could still recall the original appearance of the town.

He could see freshly baked bread, Auntie Helen leaning out of the bakery and smiling and waving at him, passing by the cobbler's house where he saw Hanks tanning the leather with his undivided attention, Grandpa Heinridon shaving planks and nodding kindly to him, and Uncle Hughes sitting on a bench by the square, telling the children stories of his youthful adventures......

He clearly saw the slanting shadows of the trees beside the road stretched by the morning light, and the warm sunlight sprinkled on his body, warm and comfortable. He could even smell the scent of earth mixed with the smell of wheat in the breeze, which fascinated him.

Suddenly, a gust of dust blew by, and the illusion in front of me dissipated without a trace, and there were only ruins and broken walls around, which became more and more desolate and desolate in the twilight.

I have only been away for less than ten days, and it is already a sea of vicissitudes when I return to my hometown.

Recent encounters are like a big dream in the air, and Jude is constantly facing all kinds of upheavals that he has to accept suddenly.

Now, even Lambertine has suffered such a tragedy, and he no longer has a home to return to in this huge world, and there is no longer a safe haven for him to relax and take a closer look. All the people who cared about him, all the people he trusted, all the people with whom he could confide and share his feelings no more, and he was single ever since.

Infinite sorrow came like a tide, the young man was discouraged, and he had not rested well for four days and three nights, at this time his physical strength and spirit had reached the limit, and it was difficult to support it.

Jude's eyes went dark and he fainted.

-

"Can I let this rabbit go?" Jude said, staring at the desperate hare in his arms, "it looks quite pitiful." ”

"Your choice, Jude, but that's the first prey you've caught, have you figured it out?" Kenn was too busy setting the trap to look back, but he kindly reminded him.

"I figured it out. I feel like it deserves to live. So saying, the boy let go of the hare, and watched it flee into the woods and disappear without a trace.

"You know what, Jude. Ken suddenly stopped his movements and turned to look at Jude seriously, "If you put this rabbit back into the woods today, it will be eaten by wolves sooner or later." A wolf eats at least a few thousand pounds of meat a year, and if you really have the idea, you can try to hunt a wolf in the future, and it may save a lot of lives. ”

"If I have the chance, I'll definitely give it a try. ”

"But even if you beat all the wolves in the forest, these little animals will still be eaten by foxes, by eagles, or by bears. Ken sighed, "It's the law of nature. Even though we are hunters, we can't change the rules of the forest, and we should respect it. For a rabbit, grazing, reproducing, and being eaten are all solemn missions given to it by Hilpedore, and imposing interference is a blasphemy against this samsara. ”

The young man was confused: "Okay...... Complex. ”

"Sorry, Jude, for saying something strange today. You'll understand later. Shall we continue to lay the traps?"