We could clearly see the huge stone statue from a long way away, but it was already half an hour later when the five men on horseback came closer.
The villagers in Suicun have moved away long ago, but more than a hundred years have passed, but the ruins have remained intact.
The reason why this happens is that there is a 200-foot-long Suzaku statue with its wings spread out to guard Suicun.
Over the past 100 years, the Suzaku Kingdom has held large-scale sacrifices here only four times, and only when the kingdom changed its owner did a new king come.
The current king of the Suzaku Kingdom is named Shan Ling, who is the grandson of Shan Qiao and succeeded to the throne twenty-nine years ago.
This time, Yamazaki was able to come to preside over the preliminary preparations for the sacrifice, which originated from a legend that has been circulated among the senior officials of the Suzaku Kingdom for more than a hundred years.
It is said that on the 200th anniversary of the lunar calendar, a war lasting hundreds of years will begin in this world.
This long-lasting war is said to have been established by certain gods and demons more than a hundred years ago, and all living beings in this world will be involved in it.
Regarding this legend, the new generation of the kingdom's senior officials are doubtful, but some of the older elders in the kingdom believe it firmly.
Due to the interference of these people, 30% of the kingdom's annual tax revenue was used for military construction, and hundreds of super-large granaries were built across the country against all objections.
Yamazaki's view on this rumor was the same as that of most talented people in the country, and he didn't believe it at all.
In the past 140 years, except for a brief military conflict in the country when the first king of the kingdom abdicated the throne 117 years ago, there has never been a war in the kingdom in the past hundred years.
In his opinion, this was just a pretentious statement made by the decrepit people in the country in order to control the power in their hands.
This time, Yamazaki took the initiative to come to the ‘Land of God’s Fall’ because he wanted to find a way to counter this statement here.
He even made plans to fake some miracles to disprove this statement.
It is really childish to use 30% of the annual tax to prepare for unprovoked wars.
If these taxes are used to improve people's livelihood, the lives of the people in the kingdom will be much better, and my descendants will not live in such poverty as I do now.
The ‘Land of God’s Fall’ covers an area of several hundred feet, and the location of the stone statue is raised high, like a mountain.
Behind the stone statue, there is a huge firebird statue emitting glazed golden red light, with its wings spread out to guard an deserted village.
Dozens of stone walls are neatly distributed around the stone statue, and countless patterns are carved on the stone walls.
In addition, various flowers and shrubs are neatly planted on the ground, making this 'land of the gods' fall like a garden.
In the early years, the Suzaku Kingdom thought of building a palace around the stone statue to protect it.
But the height of the statue grew every year, and the plan was eventually abandoned.
The ‘Land of God’s Fall’ is not uninhabited. The Kingdom has stationed more than 300 people here for daily maintenance and recording the changes that have taken place here.
Most of these people were officials who had made mistakes, prisoners on death row, and a pair of fifty soldiers on duty.
After entering the 'Land of the Fallen God', Shan Ming first handed over his work certificate to the military officer on duty, and then took Lin Shuanghe to the stone statue to pay homage.
The nine-foot-tall sitting stone statue has delicate skin texture, and its hair is spread over its shoulders with clear roots.
Shanzhi has good eyesight and saw clear lines on one of the toes of the stone statue sitting cross-legged.
Everything is so real. If it is not breathing and unable to move, the stone statue is like a giant falling into a deep sleep.
Shan Gu took three sticks of incense from the desk, lit them, and solemnly performed three bows and nine kowtows in accordance with the etiquette he had learned.
After the ceremony, he raised his head and looked carefully, looking at the stone statue's closed eyes and face that looked like a knife and an axe.
Shanfeng did not retreat, and directly asked Linshuanghe:
"Shuanghe, why does the statue of the ancestor god have its eyes closed? Also..."
He paused and continued:
"Why don't you wear a robe for the ancestor god when you cast it? How can you look so naked?"
Lin Shuanghe studied history in school. Through some historical records, he knew a lot more about some things than others.
Apart from being interested in practicing magical powers since childhood, Shantou's other knowledge was a complete mess.
After hearing Shan Chu's question, Lin Shuanghe pondered for a moment, turned around and knelt down in front of the stone statue.
"Lin Shuanghe, the historian of the Suzaku Kingdom, paid homage to the ancestral god.
In order to make the deeds of the ancestor gods known to more people, believers today tell the ancestor gods the contributions they have made to the kingdom in front of the ancestor gods."
After praying in a low voice three times, Lin Shuanghe knelt down respectfully three times before getting up.
Shanfeng stood by and watched with cold eyes. He was extremely suspicious of some of the things done in the legends of the ancestor gods, thinking that they were just spread by the kingdom on purpose to unite people's hearts.
If he wasn't worried that his lack of etiquette would lead to criticism from some people with ulterior motives, he wouldn't even bother to worship.
At this moment, seeing Lin Shuanghe's sincere look, he couldn't help but feel funny secretly.
After Lin Shuanghe got up, he came to stand in front of the mountain mat and looked up at the stone statue, slightly lost in thought.
Recalling the countless incredible records he saw in historical materials, his heart was filled with reverence and awe.
After a moment, he said softly:
"Prince Sun, do you know how this country was established?"
Shanzhu was stunned for a moment and said seriously:
"The kingdom was established in the 41st year of the lunar calendar. At that time, the kingdom was just a tribe. It was the tribe leader Yan Hongsi who established the Suzaku Kingdom and became the first king of the country."
Lin Shuanghe said ‘hmm’ and asked again:
"Your Majesty the King has probably seen people outside the kingdom. Why are the people outside still tribes, but we have established a country?
In addition, have you noticed the difference between people from outside tribes and people from your own country?"
Shan Zhi recalled in his mind the scene three years ago when some barbarian tribes came to meet his father.
After thinking for a while he said:
"Well, the people outside the kingdom are very barbaric and backward. They have no weapons, no writing, not even surnames, and... they also wear clothes made of beast furs.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Hahaha, apart from being taller and burlier than us, I can’t believe they are the same people as us.”
Shanfeng said, unable to help but laugh out loud.
This laughter contained the pride and confidence unique to the people of the Suzaku Kingdom.
Lin Shuanghe said leisurely:
"Yes! People outside the kingdom do look very barbaric, but why do you think we are different?
After all, these barbarian tribes are only a few hundred miles away from the kingdom’s border!”
Shan Zhi's heart was shaken violently.
Yes, the distance between the kingdom and other tribes is only a few hundred miles, so why is there such a big gap?"
He had never thought about this question.
From a young age, everything he saw with his eyes made him think that the world should be like this, and he never thought about why.
Although there are many rumors that all this is a blessing from the ancestral gods, the citizens who have grown up in the new era never believe it.
After all, they had never seen the ancestral gods perform miracles or display abnormalities.
At this time, Shan Zhu was speechless for a moment when Lin Shuanghe asked him a rhetorical question.
Lin Shuanghe looked at the tall stone statue and said softly:
"This statue was not built by man, it is the transformation of the ancestral gods.
As for your question about why the statue of the ancestor god is not covered with clothing, there is a legend behind it.
follow me..."
Lin Shuanghe said, taking the lead to walk towards the surrounding stone walls, followed closely by Shan Chu.
Arriving in front of a stone wall, Lin Shuanghe motioned to Shan Mo to watch.
This stone wall is very long and carved with five groups of patterns.
In the pattern on the far left, you can see dense clouds covering the sky and heavy rain falling. Below, there is a group of buildings that look very similar to the abandoned Suicun.
In the image next to it, you can see waves surging upstream of the village, and there seems to be a snake-like creature in the water with one and a half claws exposed.
The next image shows a large flaming bird fighting with a one-horned snake in the water.
In the next pattern, the firebird spreads its wings to cover the village, and a wave occupying more than half of the pattern is rushing towards the village.
The last pattern revealed a figure standing in the air, penetrated by continuous thunder in the sky.
And in the sky, a huge rectangular flag was faintly seen fluttering and shining.
Shan Zhi looked at it with fascination. These patterns were so lifelike. Just from these patterns, you can see how intense the situation was at that time.
"On the thirty-third year of the lunar calendar, a dragon in the 'Bi Bo Dang' transformed and swam eastward along the 'Shuiwan River', hoping to enter the sea and transform into a dragon.
Huge waves were set off wherever it passed, and Suicun was exactly on the route of the dragon.
According to historical records, the giant wave set off by this dragon was sixty feet high. As long as it swam past, it could submerge Suicun.
Later, the sacred beast Suzaku flew here from the capital and fought with the dragon in the river to prevent it from making waves and flooding the village.
My ancestors of the Lin family were here at that time..."
Shan Chu listened quietly to Lin Shuanghe's explanation.
Lin Shuanghe paused briefly, pointed to a mountain peak in the pattern, and then continued:
"Later, Suzaku was unable to defeat the dragon. In order to save the remaining villagers in the village, Suzaku turned into a statue before his death and protected the village.
The reason why this country was named the ‘Suzaku Kingdom’ is that the people in the tribe at that time chose this name out of gratitude to the Suzaku for protecting the tribe.”
Shantou couldn't help but say "oh".
He seemed to have heard this legend told by a junior high school scholar when he was studying in the school when he was a child, but he was more playful at that time and did not remember it, but only had some vague impressions.
"The figure in the sky is the Ancestral God. He arrived later. Although he killed the dragon in the river, he suffered divine punishment and finally died here.
It is said that all his clothes were destroyed by thunder, so he looked naked.
After the death of the ancestor god, his body turned into a stone statue and fell here.
But although the ancestor god fell, his body did not die. The stone statue grew one foot taller every year. It faced the "Shuiwan River" in order to suppress the water veins.
Since the statues of ancestor gods have been guarding the place since then, there has never been a flash flood here for more than a hundred years."
Shan Feng listened, but felt a little unbelievable.
"Come!"
Lin Shuanghe continued to walk through the forest of stone walls with his mountain mat, and soon came to another stone wall.
The pattern carved on the stone wall here shows a figure standing in the air, with its sleeves spread out seeming to occupy 70% of the area in the pattern.
And at the bottom of the sleeve, there are countless tiny black dots falling from the sky.
“Before the establishment of this country, it was called ‘Xiawan’, and they were the same tribes as those outside the kingdom.
At that time, there were only a thousand people in the tribe, but it was the ancestor gods who condensed their energy into clouds and transformed the population into hundreds of thousands, which allowed the tribe to grow.
Look, those black spots in the sky all fell from the sleeves of the ancestor god."
After hearing this, Shan Feng immediately refuted it.
Human beings are born from the essence and blood of their parents, so how can they be transformed in a simple way?
If the ancestral god was really so powerful, how could he be killed by a mere divine punishment?
Lin Shuanghe led him forward again before he could speak.
The two came to a stone wall again. After standing still, Lin Shuanghe turned to Shan Ming and solemnly said:
"The reason why our country was able to establish a country is that as long as you understand this pattern, you will understand everything."
Shan Chu looked at the patterns carved on the stone wall with suspicion. He didn't pay much attention at first, but after he understood it bit by bit, his eyes slowly widened and a look of horror appeared on his face.
"This...how is this possible? This is absolutely not true!!!"
Hearing Shan Chu's exclamation, Lin Shuanghe did not explain directly, but waited for him to calm down slightly before speaking:
"Now you understand, all the knowledge in today's kingdom actually comes from the gift of the ancestor gods.
Language, writing, origin of surnames, etiquette, astronomical calendar, system, army, bows and crossbows, farming and weaving, smelting, various crafts and now we practice the 'Three Veins and Seven Wheels Contemplation Method', 'Hercules Practice Method', 'Combined
The same is true for the formation method of gathering troops and so on."
Shan Zhi looked at the scenes in the stone wall with fascination. He could see a person imparting knowledge to some people in schools.
"I don't believe...that everything we have now was created with our own hands.
The Ancestral God has fallen for more than a hundred years, how could these be given by him? No, I don't believe it..."
Shan Zhi felt that the faith in his heart was collapsing. He would never accept that everything he got in front of him was the charity of others.
Wouldn't this obliterate the wisdom, hard work and efforts of countless people in the kingdom for hundreds of years?
"Alas~~!"
Lin Shuanghe sighed in a low voice. After learning the truth, he had the same mentality as Shan Chu.
"The Suzaku Kingdom was established only over a hundred and fifty years ago. Before that, it was just a tribe of a thousand people.
Have you ever thought about how the kingdom was able to develop to an area of tens of thousands of miles and a population of more than 300 million in more than a hundred years?
Think about the neighboring tribes. Why do they not even have writing? Most of them still live in caves.
Comparing the current grand situation of the Kingdom, do you really believe that all of this was achieved by the Kingdom’s own efforts?”
Shanfeng wanted to retort, but he couldn't open his mouth, and there was a slight look of confusion on his face.
Then Lin Shuanghe took him to a stone wall.
“This is the first time the people of the tribe, also known as the ‘Xiawan Tribe’, saw their ancestral gods.”
Shan Ming couldn't help but look at the stone wall, and saw some people in grass skirts kneeling on the ground. One of them was kneeling on the ground, but he secretly looked up.
In front of them stood a small man, holding an ear of something that looked like corn in his hand.
In front of him, there was a woman raising her hands above her head in a catching motion.
"The woman in the pattern is the first king of the kingdom, the Flame Red Silkworm. Look at the grass skirts they wear and the weapons made of animal bones in their hands. Do you still think this is just a legend?
The person on the ground looking up secretly is Shan Qiao, the second generation king of the kingdom, who is also your ancestor.
The ear of corn given by the ancestor god is said to have been created out of thin air.
The reason why the Ancestral God is called the Ancestral God by the kingdom is because of his miracles."