"I've heard of these people, and I've seen some." Andy stared at the stick figures on the ground, although the social framework and style of those people were completely incompatible with the NcR, but judging from the past history and various clues, their strength is likely to be no less than that of the NcR, although so far Caesar's legion has retreated to the east since the Battle of Ashid, almost nowhere to be found... But who knows if they will suddenly decide to return one day?

"Is Hekat afraid of them?" The old man touched his gray beard.

"To be exact... Hate and fear, Hecate.... Hates almost all groups except her followers, and she hates the NcR for fighting for land; She hated the natives and hated Caesar's legions. She listed Caesar's legion as a formidable enemy, the so-called enemy of God... Or to put it this way, she hates almost everyone, otherwise why would I talk about her..."There was a sound of footsteps, which made the old man close his mouth immediately.

Andy looked up, and in the night there was a tall, thin, serious-eyed old man walking barefoot towards here, he was wearing the same desert tribal costume as the old man who was telling the story to Andy, this suit fully considered the heat dissipation... Frankly, it's more primitive and rudimentary.

The wrinkles on the new old man's face were as deep as ravines, which made his expression stiff and indifferent, especially the two nasolabial folds, which further highlighted the temperament of the living.

The tall, thin old man walked over and stood beside the white-bearded old man, and clubbed the spear he was carrying on the ground.

"Even if you shut up now, it's too late." A hoarse voice came out of his throat.

"I've heard your blasphemous words, do you know what to do now?" The white-bearded old man turned his head to look at him, scratched the top of his bare head with his fingers, and then took out the bottle of wine that Andy had given him and handed it to the tall and thin old man.

The old man took the bottle and did not refuse, but just unscrewed the cap and took a sip, and then let out a long breath.

"Yes, I'll forgive you for Hekat this time, not for example... Unless you still have wine. Andy watched the two old men giggle and push, it turned out that the two of them had known each other for a long time....

"You're telling people those old stories again, and you don't look at what age it is. Who remembers that there was a group of people called Vipers? It's only been a few years since we've been here, and we've become Hecate's hounds through and through! Hum.... But then again, if we hadn't helped her in the first place, with her crazy words and some little ladies who followed her, how could she have today's status? Do you rely on those her goddaughters to sleep with others? Hahaha! The tall and thin old man took another sip and drank the remaining half of the bottle.

The white-bearded old man tugged at his beard, looking a little sorry that the bottle had disappeared in place.

"I was going to drink it slowly.... Ever since she asked all the hounds not to drink, even those who paid tribute or traded were not allowed to bring in wine, and it would probably be more and more difficult to get it in the future. The tall and thin old man threw the wine bottle away and sat down beside the white-bearded old man.

"What do I care about her? Anyway, I don't think I'll have a few years left, and I'm just going to drink! In the past, Lao Tzu killed people when he wanted to kill people in the western desert, and he could go to whoever he wanted. I taught the first recruits! Since that woman has grown a little more skillful, women are not allowed to drink alcohol and drugs, what is this for? Andy was a little surprised to hear from the sidelines, he knew that Hekate was now pursuing a ruling style similar to asceticism, but he didn't expect her to have such high demands.

These things have become a very serious social problem in the territory of NcR, but they have never been effectively solved, and can only be left to their own devices.

The white-bearded old man made a shushing gesture at him.

"If you are willing to be educated by the daughters of Hecate from an early age, like those children, and grow up in this strong cultural environment, perhaps you will also indulge in daily prayers and meditations, and see the truth about the cycle of life and death in the fumigation of those medicines, so that you will have nothing to think about in your heart except the faith in the great Lady Hecate." This was exchanged for a mouthful of sticky phlegm from the tall and thin old man.

Andy couldn't help but ask curiously about the topic of men and women.

"I've always wanted to ask, if there is such a clear division between men and women in Ouroboros Village, how can a family be formed and reproduce? Also, what happens if there is an incident of molestation and rape in the village? The white-bearded old man pointed to the three-story steel pagoda not far away.

"It's troublesome... Hekate had absolute discretion in this regard, and she regarded the reproduction of man as well as the breeding of livestock, and Hekate allowed only the strongest men to be united with the wisest women, first by her own assignment, and secondly, if the man and woman were to be united voluntarily and upon request, and if they were allowed by her. ”

"In short, when all is in order, the man and woman can enter the holy tower to bathe and spend a few months together in a special room, during which time they can no longer perform the tasks they were supposed to do. Once the woman is confirmed to be pregnant, the man immediately leaves the Holy Tower and returns to his original ranks. The woman will wait to give birth in the Holy Tower, and all the children will be sent to two nurseries according to their gender to be raised in groups, and the parents will not be able to take the children out to raise them themselves. ”

"Hekat hated the act of indecency or rape, and those with a criminal record could be punished with drugs, which were specially formulated to make men prolonged and depressed, and if the circumstances were serious, they would be considered blasphemous, and thrown directly into the dungeons under the Holy Tower, where they would be eaten by the holy snakes." Andy frowned when he listened, this purely socialized family deconstruction and reproduction model is a bit beyond imagination at some levels, and it is seriously deviating from the family system naturally formed in the wasteland of the outside world, if the union of men and women lacks systematic recording and inspection, it is really difficult to say whether there will be some violations of ethics.

Seeing the expression on Andy's face, the white-bearded old man seemed to guess what was going on in his heart.

"Don't you think that's a good idea? Actually, it's not bad, you guys who just came over from the west can't believe how chaotic the relationship between men and women is in some of the most barbaric tribes. I've heard that some of the promiscuous chiefs will ask a large number of women to have sex with him, including his own relatives, and if they don't want to, they will coerce and lure them with both hard and soft.... They also like to exchange their women with other outsiders or lend them out for profit, some even just for fun, and the level of chaos and squalor is beyond the bottom line of human acceptance. The tall and thin old man on the side also added a few words.

"That woman is doing this to make the new people here born quickly, plus those babies or half-grown children that the daughters of Hekate have inexplicably brought out from the tribes below from time to time to supplement, and in just a few years, Ouroboros has changed from a small group of rabble at the beginning to a big force that almost completes the unification of all the tribes here, and there is never a shortage of manpower here." Andy saw that the tall and thin old man also had an S-shaped black snake tattoo on his arm, indicating that he was also a member of the original viper.

"Are there any other vipers among the hounds that have come from the west like you?" The two old men shook their heads.

"No, we're the last vipers.... In the early days, Hekate relied on us to charge for her, so in fact, there were a lot of losses in personnel... Then she replaced the hounds with more and more half-grown children who had been educated by her, and continued to inculcate her theories, so that the viper had disappeared completely. The tall and thin old man stood up and patted the white-bearded old man on the shoulder.

"Gone! We'll have to teach those cubs to kill tomorrow, and if we can't even do that, the woman will feed us two to the snakes. The white-bearded old man sighed and stood up, but before leaving, he left a word.

"Thank you for the wine and food, kid, do you have any other questions? Maybe the two of us old men will know something. Andy stood up, he did have a question he wanted to know.

"If there is a guy outside Ouroboros Village who is not a native, he is hiding near here, where is the best location to choose?"