The grand sacrificial activities lasted for a whole day until dusk became deeper and night approached, and a series of sacred rituals on the Pioneer Square finally came to an end. But even so, a large number of people remained inside and outside the Pioneer Square. After the formal sacrificial ritual, there were folk celebrations and entertainment. The large-scale night market will last from night until the next day during the day. The jugglers, dancers and craftsmen selling specialties will take over the celebration tonight.

The gifts and prayers of the day are the affairs of the gods, and the celebrations and entertainment of the night belong to the mortal world.

After the sacred, rigorous, and cumbersome ritual, enjoying the free and joyful festival, the Trail Blazers Square even appears much more lively than during the day.

Without so many rules and solemn and stereotypical church music, there are stages built by vendors and mobile artists everywhere. Local small merchants sell souvenirs around the square, and magicians and dancers from Kant or Tanzania set up stages in business areas planned by the municipal department. The cheerful and lively tunes and hawking sounds are mixed together, and the bright array of magic crystal lights floats over the square, illuminating the celebration night.

This is often the happiest part of the children - they do not understand the rigorous sacredness of the church rituals, nor do they understand the allusions and inheritance of the three rich gods. Religious festivals like Resurrection Festival are divided into two distinct parts, namely the rigorous boring and depressing day, and the night market where you can eat, drink and play around. When the priests left, the children who had changed into new clothes became excited and began to yell and walked around the square. The parents' slightly anxious or helpless shouts rang behind them, and became another "scenery" of this celebration night.

Veronica, holding a platinum scepter, walked slowly among the noisy crowd, looking at everything around her with a smile.

Holding a scepter and wearing a white dress, the "Saint Princess" surrounded by the glimmer of light should have been an extremely eye-catching target among the crowd. Her quiet and steady temperament was also incompatible with the surrounding environment, but the crowd in the square seemed to have not noticed the appearance of this big man at all. The people coming and going were extremely natural and subconsciously avoiding Veronica. She walked slowly forward, but she kept a perfect distance from everything around her as if she was walking outside of this world.

She stopped and looked forward.

There is a simple stage there. It is actually a modified cart. The rear half of the cart stretches out and reinforces it with support columns, and it becomes the appearance of the stage. A dancer in a light purple dress dances in the middle of the simple wooden platform. Although the night in early spring is still cold, the dancer's figure is still cheerful and his smile is full of joy. Two people holding flutes and lyres play next to the cart. It is country music with simple tunes, not as solemn as the church music during the day, but the performers still do their best to immerse themselves in it. The audience gathered around the stage, some applauded, some turned around and left, and some just stood quietly on the edge and watched.

Veronica looked at the figure standing quietly on the edge. The other party's long golden curly hair was particularly eye-catching under the night, and the latter seemed to have noticed the sudden gaze that fell on her. She raised her head and found Veronica's existence in surprise, and then showed a polite and gentle smile: "Ye'an, Your Highness Veronica, I really didn't expect you to appear in such a lively but vulgar place."

"I don't think it's vulgar. It's part of this land," Veronica smiled back, "But you, aren't you here too - as the saint of the three rich gods, don't there still a lot of things to deal with after the grand sacrificial ritual?"

The one who appeared in front of Veronica was not someone else, but the saint who presided over the sacrificial ritual during the day. However, she did not bring the accompanying priests or wear the robes of the clergy. Instead, she stood here like an ordinary citizen, completely enjoying the festival. After hearing Veronica's doubts, she spread her hands: "Didn't you say too? The grand sacrificial ritual has ended-my work has been completed, and the subsequent matters will be handled by the assistant priests in the temple."

"So that's it - it's different from the Church of Holy Light. When I was still a saint in the Northern Church, I was much busier than you," Veronica seemed to say casually, "It seems that you are enjoying the festival here?"

"Is this strange? God blesses the earth, so enjoying the joy on this earth is the best way to respond to God," said the saint of riches as a matter of course. "Tonight, everyone can enjoy themselves here, of course, you and me."

Veronica did not answer for a moment. She just looked up at the dancing girl spinning on the wooden platform. After a long time, she whispered softly as if she was talking to herself: "There is a Resurrection Festival every year. It was before the establishment of the Theocratic Council, and still after it was established. For the believers of the God of Harvest, this is the day when the three goddesses bless the earth, but for most non-believers, Resurrection Festival is just a celebration."

"I agree with you," said the saint of fertility, "Today is just a celebration for non-believers, but this celebration has been passed down for thousands of years. It is undeniable that the influence of the three gods of fertility has become an indispensable part of this celebration. People will hang dried wheat ears at the door when the Resurrection Festival comes, and regard the dew on the blades of grass as a good omen to the beginning of the year, and eat sweet pies on this day. This custom is spread throughout several countries, and whether people in these regions believe in the three goddesses - but you, the executor of the Council, should know that these so-called customs are actually variations of certain entries of the ancient doctrine of fertility."

Veronica listened quietly. She knew that the other party was right, and she also admitted these facts from the beginning. As Gao Wen once told her, the power of faith has grown on this land for thousands of years, and has run through the history of the Loren civilization from beginning to end. This is not an impurity that can be eliminated from culture, nor is it a "disease" that can be "cured" in a short period of time. Rituals, norms and dogmas derived from faith have become essential links in the operation of the mortal world in subtle ways. They have become habits in ordinary people's speech, etiquette in interpersonal communication, and even people's daily judgment standards for good and bad luck.

The Theocratic Council can reshape the church, adjust the trend of thought, and loosen the faith into a harmless force, but in the final analysis, something that has evolved into social customs is extremely difficult to completely eradicate because these things... are already part of civilization.

Just like this celebration tonight, it is like a dancer dancing in the cold wind, like a child who changes into new clothes and walks through the crowd, and parents who can only be helpless and anxious no matter how much the child makes a fuss—

God said that on Resurrection Day, he should be tolerant of his children on the night of Resurrection Day, because God would feel unhappy with children's crying. Ordinary people outside the rich church may not know the existence of this admonition, but almost everyone knows that Resurrection Day cannot beat children on this day.

This is the part that is difficult to interfere with with the power of the theocracy, and is a "projection" left by faith activities in cultural heritage - but after all, the theocracy itself does not intend to interfere with such harmless things.

"The Theocratic Council is only to make the world safer. We never intend to eradicate the church, let alone the enemy of the gods," Veronica smiled and shook her head, "All our actions are to help you."

The saint of plumpness smiled and seemed to ask casually: "For example, is this unusual celebration today?"

Veronica raised her eyebrows: "Oh?"

"I can feel that today's sacrificial activities are... unusual," said the saint of fertility, responding to Veronica's gaze calmly. "This is an extremely grand event, and it is not very common in the 'old days', and the support of the royal family and the Council is unprecedented. Some people in the church are excited about this, thinking that this is a sign that the 'wind direction' is about to change, but I... are not as blindly optimistic as they are.

"His Highness Veronica, I don't know what the Council and His Majesty want to do, but reason tells me that you will not do all this for no reason. You said that the Council is not the enemy of the gods, but I know that the old order of faith is always untolerable to you, and in a sense, the old order of faith is equivalent to their "God" for each church. From this point of view... all commands that come from the Council and are difficult to understand must be feared by us old antique priests.

"I dare not guess what this 'real purpose' is, but I think...it must not be because His Majesty suddenly wants to awaken the pious heart of all living beings?"

Veronica looked at the smiling saint in front of her in surprise. In a sense, the other party should be her "people" and the cleverness of this colleague surprised her. After a moment of surprise, she smiled as usual: "But you still cooperated with the instructions of the Council without hesitation. I saw your performance in the sacrificial ground, which is not fake."

The saint of plumpness was silent for a moment, and suddenly said softly to himself: "...because they are very happy."

Then she paused and repeated: "They are very happy - I can feel it. Have I told you? Although I am not God's choice, I am at least a chosen one. I can feel the goddess' gaze and their joy at that moment. Whether it is the revelation before the sacrifice ceremony or the joy reflected in my heart during the ceremony, it shows that the three goddesses are looking forward to today's things. Since they are so expecting...then I will perform it unconditionally, which is my duty."

Speaking of this, she looked up at Veronica and added: "Apart from that, I will not explore anything, nor am I interested in the true purpose of the Council. Just treat what I say as a chat-or otherwise, I will feel uncomfortable."

Veronica quietly stared at the "peer walk" in front of her, and after a long time, she nodded gently: "You are smarter than I imagined, both the wisdom of being a priest and the agility of being a human being."

"Thank you for your praise." The saint of plump smiled faintly, then turned his head and returned to the stage - the dancer in a long skirt had stopped. She sat on the edge of the wooden platform and rested with a warm coat. She greeted the audience who were still in front of the stage with a smile, and talked to several people who were brave enough to approach her and about her traveling with her father and brothers. She and the people around her seemed to have no idea that there were two "big figures" who were talking to each other several meters away. They were all living their lives in their respective worlds.

"... Actually, when I was a child, I even had an irrelevant dream," the saint of plumpness suddenly spoke, "I want to be a dancer--just like the lady on the stage, traveling around, dancing, and occasionally having a little adventure..."

Veronica looked at her in surprise, then shook her head: "When you were a child... you wanted to be a dancer who traveled around in those days was not as safe as you are now, but I was even more surprised that a 'poverty saint' like you actually had such a dream."

"When I was a child, who didn't have any whimsical thoughts when I was a child? What's more, I was adopted by the church since I was a child. My daily life was so boring that after the annual Resurgence Festival celebration, I stood in the tower of the temple and looked at the crowds in the square. Occasionally, the process of listening to the priestesses talking about the celebration became the biggest entertainment and the source of all fantasies," said the saint of fertility, and then looked at Veronica, "Didn't you have this kind of experience in your childhood?"

Veronica stiffened for a moment, her expression was a little weird: "When I was a child... I only made people around me nervous when I was a child."

"It seems that we have all had uneasy childhoods," said the saint of plumpness who certainly couldn't imagine what kind of trouble the "Princess Princess" had experienced in front of her. She just smiled and shook her head. "The nanny who took care of me was very angry because of my whimsical thoughts, but she couldn't get angry because of the signs of kindness I showed since childhood. She could only go to the temple every few days to pray to relieve her mood..."

At the beginning, the slightly scheming negotiation turned into a chat. Veronica did not resist such a relaxed atmosphere. She asked casually: "What about it later?"

The saint of richness fell into memories and a smile slowly appeared on her face: "Later, I felt the existence of 'they' for the first time."

She turned her head and looked at Veronica's eyes, and her expression became quiet and firm: "That was the first time I felt that gaze beyond the world, and a kind of sincere warmth and 'love' - now I think about it, maybe it was just an inadvertent glance of their own, but it was at that moment that I realized what kind of existence I would serve, their pure and deep favor to the world... From that day on, I really decided to be their followers.

"Your Highness Veronica, you may think I am a fanatic, it is true, but what I want to say is-if they are really happy, then I am willing to cooperate with the actions of the Theodist Council, not only this time, but afterwards.

"As long as they are happy, I will do it."

After saying this, the blonde saint took a little step back and bowed to Veronica: "I'm sorry for disturbing you for so long, so let me take my leave first-please continue to enjoy this celebration. Maybe you don't think it's given by God, but it's at least what mortals deserve."

The saint of plumpness turned and left, Veronica's eyes were not withdrawn until the other person disappeared into the crowd. She stood there for a while before turning her head slightly, saying softly as if she was talking to someone in the distance: "...The proximity scan has been performed, and her mental state is very stable... Yes, as you heard, rational and sober, and seem to be more rational than we had judged before. Other priests who directly participated in the sacrifice ceremony? Yes, the arbitration tribunal has arranged personnel to track and monitor, which will last twenty-four hours..."
Chapter completed!