Chapter 221 A god but not a god

The Nightsong Hotel is an exotic hotel. Although the owner of the hotel is a native of Braavos, the architect who built the hotel was an escaped slave from Yunkai.

Braavos' hatred of slavery is engraved in its bones, and it even went to war with its allies who were also Free Trade City-states over the issue of slavery. For example, it launched five or six wars with Pentos over slavery. Lasting more than two hundred years, it was not until Pentos gave up slavery that it regained its alliance status.

However, it must be said that it is slightly ironic that in the center of Braavos, a city that hates slavery very much, a hotel with the style of the slave city Yunkai has been built.

However, for the foreigners living here, this hotel is indeed very comfortable, because the escaped slaves of Yunkai who built this hotel were built according to the standards of the Yunkai Lord's residence. Most other hotels in the city are There is no way to compare with it, so the price of living is naturally not low.

An ordinary dock porter in Braavos can only earn eight or nine Braavos silver coins in a month, but living in the Nightsong Hotel for one day requires twenty-two silver coins, which is why the guide needs to see He will bring Linde here only after he has obtained Linde's money bag.

After checking into the hotel, according to Lind's request, he was arranged in a room on the third floor near the water. The Temple of the Storm God could be seen from the window of the room. There was a separate bathroom in the room, and a water pipe was connected from the outside. , can be used by guests in the room at any time.

Lind asked the hotel's servant to buy him a set of local Braavos clothes. After washing himself, he changed out of his mercenary clothes. Then he left the hotel and walked towards the Temple of the Storm God.

After Lind came to Braavos, he never thought about finding the Miracle Chamber of Commerce, because he knew that there must be many people watching around the Miracle Chamber of Commerce.

When the Miracle Chamber of Commerce was expanding, it was very smooth to establish branches or liaison offices in other free trade city-states. However, it encountered a lot of troubles in Braavos. The Sea King of Braavos never allowed the Miracle Chamber of Commerce to establish here. A liaison office.

It wasn't until Lind unified the Stepstone Islands and promulgated that only ships belonging to members of the Miracle Chamber of Commerce could pass through for free, that the Sea King of Braavos, under the influence of the merchants in the city, relented and allowed the Miracle Chamber of Commerce to establish a liaison office in the city.

It is not difficult to see from the establishment of a liaison office that the Sea King of Braavos has such deep concerns about the Miracle Chamber of Commerce, which can even extend to being extremely worried about Linde, the owner behind the Miracle Chamber of Commerce, so he will definitely send people to closely Keep an eye on the Miracle Chamber of Commerce. If you go to the Miracle Chamber of Commerce, you will only fall into the eyes of Neptune in advance, which will not be conducive to his subsequent actions.

Therefore, Lind planned to act alone from the beginning, and did not even plan to contact the few secret agents he had arranged in Braavos before.

However, after seeing the Temple of the Storm God before, Lind had a new idea, which was to try to take the Temple of the Storm God in Braavos into his hands and become a nail buried in Braavos. .

Because Braavos was composed of people from different regions when it was first established, and those people brought different religious beliefs, so Braavos has the largest number of religious beliefs in the world, even if they are beliefs that were added later. , Braavos also welcomes all comers and accommodates them all into the city.

This also gives all religions a special and transcendent status in Braavos. Even the ruler of Braavos, Sea King, cannot use force or other offensive actions against the temple or temple of any god. .

Unless the temple or the gods enshrined in the temple are no longer believed in, the Braavos City Hall will send the statues of the gods to the sanctuary for preservation, and the abandoned temples can be disposed of, such as building storms. This small island of the God's Temple is an abandoned temple without any believers.

It is precisely because of the transcendent status of religion that even if Neptune discovers that Lind controls the Temple of the Storm God in the future, he will still be unable to do anything unless he plans to start a war against all the belief in gods in the city.

When Lind crossed the arch bridge and arrived at the Temple Square of the Storm God, there was a sacrificial activity going on in the square, because a storm happened to sweep across Braavos yesterday. According to past practice, most of the Storm Gods in Braavos Believers all came here to participate in a sacrifice to the Storm God.

Since Linde's attitude towards the Storm God is completely laissez-faire, there has always been no unified church organization for the Storm God's faith. Each Storm God temple or temple has its own way of belief and independent priest.

The current priest of the Temple of the Storm God in Braavos is named Liga, who comes from the Temple of the Moonsinger. Before becoming a priest of the Storm God, she was a Moonsinger. It is said that she was inspired by the Storm God a few years ago. , gave up the priesthood of the Moonsinger and became the preacher of the Storm God, preaching and blessing near the dock.

At first, no one paid any attention to her, and even thought she was crazy. After all, Moonsinger had a very high status in Braavos. Giving up the Moonsinger priesthood was no less than a wealthy businessman giving up all his property.

However, as the sailors blessed by her survived the fatal storm one by one, more and more people believed in the storm god. Later, she used donated materials to buy an abandoned temple in the central lake. Xiaodao used the original foundation of the temple to build the Temple of the Storm God, and she naturally became the priest of the temple.

Although Li Ga, like all Moonsingers, claims to have pure Juggsnai blood, her appearance and features are already very different from those of the Juggsnai people. The only thing that can be confirmed is that she does have Juggsnai in her body. The thing about her Snai origins is that the top of her head is as pointed as the Juggsnai, especially after she shaved her head and had a Storm Divine emblem tattooed on the top of her head, it looked even more prominent.

Because unlike other deity faiths that have complete sacrificial rituals, Liga is completely copying the Moonsinger's sacrificial method, offering living sacrifices, reciting some prayers he made up, and then disposing of the sacrifices on the spot, leaving the meat and The bones were boiled into soup in a large pot in front of the temple and distributed to some beggars. The internal organs were put into a clay pot, sent outside the city by boat and thrown into the sea. Some dye was added to the blood to make a black juice. , and then use your fingers dipped in juice to draw horizontal lines on the foreheads of believers one by one to show that they are blessed by the Storm God.

After the sacrifice, the troupe invited by Li Ga performed some plays in the square in front of the temple. These plays were all stories related to the storm god, such as the story of a sailor who was blessed and survived in the storm, because The people involved in these stories are still alive and in the square, so this also makes believers feel that the Storm God is not far from them and is watching them, and their faith becomes more pious.

To a certain extent, the feeling of these believers is not an illusion, because the storm god they believe in is indeed standing on the edge of the square looking at them, but this storm god is somewhat different from the storm god in their hearts.

Linde stood on the edge of the square, watched the entire sacrificial activity, and watched the drama being performed for a while, before walking into the temple, wanting to see what it was like inside the temple.

The interior of the temple is very large and empty, with more than a dozen pillars supporting the roof, and the ground is paved with flat stone slabs. There is nothing placed inside, except for a statue of the Storm God that is so huge that it is directly above the roof and looks a bit crude.

However, Lind's attention was quickly attracted by the statue of the Storm God in front of him, because the appearance of the statue was completely carved according to the appearance of the lost knight in his armor, except for the face. It is not carved out, but because of the shield of the lost knight's helmet, the entire face is in the shadow of the helmet, which creates a solemn feeling.

After taking a closer look at the statue, Linde couldn't help but frown, doubts rising in his heart.

The reason why he was confused was because the armor of the lost knight worn by the statue was too highly restored. Not only was the appearance of the armor almost restored to the same proportion, but even the patterns and dragon runes on the armor were also depicted. It's just that when carving the dragon runes, the sculptor deliberately left a large number of breakpoints to prevent the dragon runes from having any effect.

Completely different from the exquisiteness of the armor, the sword of the Homeless Knight on the waist of the statue is much rougher. It looks like two ordinary knight's swords, but there are some seemingly meaningless symbols engraved on the surface of the sword. .

If the appearance of the armor was similar, it wouldn't make Lind feel any problem. After all, there are countless people who have seen the armor of the Lost Knight, and there are always some people who can clearly remember its appearance. But the problem is that on the statue The restoration of the armor of the Homeless Knight is too high, especially the decorative patterns and dragon runes on the surface of the armor. It is absolutely impossible to restore it, because the armor of the Homeless Knight worn by Linde does not have these patterns and dragon runes. Vin, only on the set of magic armor he gave to Varys and asked him to build it in Qohor.

In other words, the person who carved this statue must have seen his armor drawings, or saw the finished armor made from the drawings, which reminded Lind of the set of magic armor in Neptune's hands.

At this time, there were many followers of the Storm God worshiping in the temple. Most of them were sailors who were usually rude. After entering the hall, they became very reserved and found a place to sit or kneel down. Pray silently according to their own way, and no matter how different the methods of praying, they maintain a unified silence.

Linde bypassed these believers and walked to the statue. He carefully looked at the patterns and dragon runes on the statue. Soon he discovered some abnormalities. For example, judging from some corrosion and wear marks, the statue's The manufacturing time is much earlier than the carving time of patterns and dragon runes. From this, it can be determined that the statue of the god should be shaped first and placed in the temple for worship. After a long time, the patterns and dragon runes were re-engraved. .

Just when Lind was observing the details of the statue, a slight sound of footsteps came from behind. Lind turned his head and looked over, and saw Li Ga, the priest of the Storm God who had just finished presiding over the sacrificial activities outside, walking towards him. .

Looking at the other party's expression, Lind could feel that she was coming towards him and most likely recognized him, so he stood calmly and stared at the other party.

Priest Liga walked up to Linde, looked at him with an inexplicable emotion in his eyes, then took the initiative to salute Linde, and said in a slightly stiff common language of the Seven Kingdoms: "Nice to meet you, Storm The incarnation of my Lord."

When Linde heard the name the other party called him, he couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, and then asked curiously: "Do you know me?"

Priest Liga shook his head and said: "You have the breath of my Lord on your body, and apart from you, the incarnation of the storm, there is no one else in the world who can have the breath of my Lord."

"My Lord's aura?" Linde frowned and said, "Can you tell me in more detail?"

Priest Liga looked around and said, "This is not a suitable place to talk. Please come with me."

After saying that, he led Lind out of the temple hall, and came to the courtyard behind the temple through the small door behind the statue. After passing through the courtyard, the two came to a small terrace by the water.

Priest Liga asked the attendants of the temple to prepare some juice, then asked them to leave, then invited Lind to sit down and said: "I felt you when you came to Braavos, and I was planning to wait to see you tomorrow. You, I didn’t expect that you came to my Lord’s temple first.”

After hearing what the other party said, Lind hesitated and looked at the Storm God Priest in front of him through his special vision, but he did not find any abnormal fluctuations related to magic power from her.

Lind stopped using his special vision and then asked, "What do you mean by feeling me?"

Li Ga calmly explained: "After I received the revelation from my Lord, My Lord gave me the ability to perceive storms. In the eyes of others, you are no different from ordinary people, but in my perception, you are like A storm covers the entire Braavos. Only the incarnation of my lord can have such a strong aura of my lord."

Lin De felt something strange when he heard what Li Ga said, so he asked: "Is the Lord you are talking about the Storm God?"

"Of course." Li Ga smiled and nodded.

Linde continued to ask: "So you know who I am? Apart from the so-called incarnation, of course."

Li Ga continued to answer: "Of course I know, the Chosen One of the Seven Gods, the Lord of Summer Hall, the King of the Narrow Sea and the Stone Step Islands, Lind Terra."

Linde asked: "In that case, you should know where the Storm God's belief comes from. You are even using my image to cast a statue for the Storm God, but why do I listen to you and feel..."

Li Ga saw the doubt in Lin De's heart and said: "Your feeling is correct. Although the current belief in the Storm God comes from you, the Storm God I believe in is not you. To put it simply, you are the Storm God." God, but the Storm God is not you.”

Linde vaguely didn’t understand what Liga meant, and said: “You mean to ask me about the storm god belief that caused this world, but what you believe in is only the concept of storm god, not me, the entity of storm god, so you just He has always addressed me as the incarnation of the Storm God."

"No, you misunderstood." Li Ga shook her head, then stood up and said, "I'll get you a painting, and you'll know what's going on."

Li Ga stood up and walked to the small room on the side of the courtyard. After a while, he saw her coming out with a painting. After coming to Lin De's side, she put the painting on the table.

When Linde saw the painting on the table, he immediately understood what was going on, because the painting showed an unknown king surrounded by a storm. The storm god Li Ga believed in was actually the unknown king. .

Seeing this scene, Linde had new doubts and said: "There are rumors that you were inspired by the Storm God a few years ago and turned to believe in the Storm God. The Storm God who inspired you at that time was also in the painting. Him?"

Li Ga shook her head and said: "The revelation I received from our Lord at that time was very vague. I could only vaguely feel the breath of the storm. This situation lasted for a long time. It was not until a few months ago that I finally understood I felt my Lord’s aura and saw my Lord’s true form. But the statue in the temple has already been built, and it can also be regarded as my Lord, so I didn’t change it.”

After saying that, she looked at Linde and said: "Actually, you don't need to worry. Although I describe you as my Lord's incarnation in order to distinguish my Lord's real body, in fact, in my heart, you and my Lord have nothing to do with each other. the difference."

Although Li Gaa said this, Linde did not believe her words. The way the other person looked at him did not show any worship of God. It was obvious that in the other person's eyes, he was just a container for the gods he believed in.

Instead of worrying about Li Ga's faith, Linde was more concerned about the unknown king.

From Li Ga's words, he has determined that Li Ga felt the image of the Nameless King probably during the battle to unify the Stone Step Islands, when he used the power of the Nameless King Rune and the Dragon Rune in his heart to create a storm and blow away the fog on the sea. .

Thinking of this, he activated the Nameless King Rune in his heart again, wanting to see Li Gaa's reaction.

As the Nameless King rune was activated, the magic contained in it was naturally combined into the two dragon runes of lightning and storm. An invisible momentum spread instantly, soaring into the sky and covering the entire surface of Braavos. A large amount of water mist immediately appeared on the sky, so dense that the eyes could only see one or two meters away, and large dark clouds quickly accumulated in the sky. Lightning shuttled through the dark clouds. At this moment, the entire Braavos was enveloped in darkness. shrouded.

"My lord!" Li Ga looked at Lin De at this moment no longer as if she were looking at an ordinary person, but was full of worship and awe of the gods. She even stood up from the stone bench and knelt in front of Lin De. Kissing Lind's instep like those fanatical believers in the Seven Gods of Salvation in Summer Hall.

Linde couldn't care less about Liga's situation at the moment, because he was already attracted by the scene in front of him.

After activating the rune of the Nameless King in his heart, the scene in front of him changed instantly. The whole figure seemed to have entered the void. Hundreds of light points were densely packed in front of his eyes. The largest light point was closest to him. Right in front of him.

When he tried to contact the light points, he heard countless prayers and saw fragile light points connecting weak light points. Some light points were in Braavos City, while some light points were further away. On the distant sea, through these smaller points of light, he could see very far away places, as if he was somewhere there.