novelraw Chapter 224-2: Amateru Sakiina’s Harvest Sickle (2)
Chapter 224-2: Amateru Sakiina’s Harvest Sickle (2)
[…]
[The Gon-negi returned to the worship hall and saw that the incense in your hand was already soaked with blood.]
[He took the incense, recited an incantation again, and before long, vivid crimson smoke curled into the air.]
[You lifted your chin, meeting the Gon-negi’s gaze directly. He hesitated slightly, then finally declared that you had passed the shrine maiden test!]
[The Gon-negi led you out of the worship hall to a shasuku used for resting.]
[He told you that the shrine maiden’s attire, ritual implements, and the dance manual for Kagura were all in the chest by the bedside.]
[Your first duty as a shrine maiden would be to clean the third worship hall.]
[Once you were properly dressed, he would report to the High Priest and Chief Priest to deactivate the restrictions on the third worship hall and grant you access to clean it.]
[Having explained everything, the Gon-negi left the shasuku…]
[You went to the bedside and opened the chest. Inside lay a familiar set of white robes and red hakama.][Unlike the special shrine maiden attire you’d obtained in the Pleasure Quarter, this was a proper set of official vestments.]
[In addition to the white and red garments, there was a small golden hand bell and an old booklet.]
[You have obtained Ishiyama Shrine Maiden Attire (Rare-Grade Equipment)]
[You have obtained Shrine Maiden’s Kagura Bell (Rare-Grade Weapon)]
[You have obtained Urayasu Kagura Dance Book (Rare-Grade Item)]
Lin Xun checked the descriptions of all three items.
The shrine maiden attire granted a defensive bonus: as long as you were within the divine domain’s area of influence, it greatly reduced incoming damage.
[Shrine Maiden’s Kagura Bell (Rare-Grade Weapon): A small golden hand bell with three rings of chimes around the handle. A gentle shake produces a clear, lovely sound. This ritual implement is used to perform the Kagura dance.]
[Using this weapon will modestly enhance the power of related divine arts.]
[Urayasu Kagura Dance Book (Rare-Grade Item): The booklet contains the choreography of a dance performed by shrine maidens during ritual ceremonies. It is said that Kagura is a dance that can bring joy to the gods.]
[Using this item, you will learn a skill called Urayasu Kagura Dance.]
[Urayasu Kagura Dance (Rare-Grade Skill): When you use this skill, it will restore a certain amount of health to the targeted Shell.]
[This skill can only be successfully learned and performed by a pure Shell.]
Lin Xun’s eyes widened.
Wasn’t this exactly the healer skill he’d been longing for?
But the healing skill had a major restriction. Although it didn’t specify gender, it explicitly required purity.
He tried clicking the skill book, only to find that not a single Shell in the panel was eligible to learn it, none met the necessary condition.
“So after all this… turns out I’m the only pure one.”
Lin Xun put away the skill book and dressed the Shell in the shrine maiden’s attire.
[Once you were properly dressed, you left the shasuku…]
[Before long, the Gon-negi returned. He led you deeper into the shrine, approaching the third, simple and unadorned worship hall.]
[The Gon-negi handed you some cleaning supplies, then pulled a token from his robe and gave it to you.]
[You have obtained Third Worship Hall Pass (Key)]
[He told you that the third worship hall was surrounded and protected by divine domain power. No ordinary person could enter. Only after the High Priest and Chief Priest deactivated the restriction could you enter, provided you held this pass.]
[Now that you were considered one of them, he took the liberty of warning you, no matter what you saw inside the third worship hall, you must never speak of it to outsiders.]
[Having said this, the Gon-negi quickly departed.]
[Do you wish to enter the humble little worship hall before you?]
Lin Xun pondered for a moment and pressed [Yes].
Right now, with the Soul Secret – The Fire Never Dies, even if he encountered a place like the Celestial Prison of Captive Stars, he could still escape unscathed.
After all the winding twists and turns, the worship hall was finally in front of him. It would be a shame to give up halfway.
Even if danger awaited within, he had to see it for himself!
[You held the Third Worship Hall Pass and approached the small door of the hall…]
[A tremendous surge of divine domain power pulsed and vanished. You pushed the door open and stepped inside…]
[There were no windows within the worship hall. Darkness and silence reigned. As you set foot on the floor, the door creaked shut behind you.]
[Rows of candles spontaneously lit themselves, illuminating everything.]
[On the altar stood an eerie statue of a goddess, only the upper half of her body remained.]
[The woman’s face was indistinct, her features impossible to make out. But from her posture, it was clear she was struggling.]
[Her arms stretched out with all their strength. The twisted fingers reaching forward radiated a sense of desperation, as though she were about to be swallowed by a pitch-black mire.]
[Although no swamp was carved around the statue, you could feel it vividly, the woman was on the verge of being consumed.]
[You have discovered the statue of Amateru Sakiina!]
“I knew the story wasn’t going to be that simple.”
Combining the current scene with what the youthful statue had shown earlier, Lin Xun realized that Amateru Sakiina was most likely trying to… ask him for help!
Lin Xun opened his inventory.
The item called God-Gifted Rice Seedling did not describe ‘rescuing’ but rather ‘awakening.’
As long as he used the item the statue had given him, he could awaken the Amateru Sakiina who was now struggling on the brink of death.
The question was, what power could force a deity into such desperate straits?
Lin Xun could only think of a god of even higher rank…
“This is probably going to be another extremely high-difficulty challenge.”
He clenched his teeth and clicked the item.
[You have used the God-Gifted Rice Seedling!]
[Countless motes of green light poured out of the tender rice seedling. You could clearly feel the breath of growth within them.]
[The motes of green light surged toward the statue, into the body of the woman trapped in the mire.]
[Your vision blurred. In an instant, your surroundings transformed.]
[Before you stretched an endless expanse of black mire. Bubbles rose and burst with hollow gurgles. Each time a bubble popped, curling black smoke wafted into the air.]
[You knew that black smoke all too well, it was exactly the same as what had shrouded the Chaotic Origin Dragon.]
[A woman was caught in the mire ahead, her body ensnared in that black smoke.]
[The swamp had swallowed half her figure. Her exposed face was twisted in despair.]
[Amateru Sakiina seemed to sense your presence. She slowly opened her eyes.]
[A thought flowed into your mind…]
[…]
[Blood of the Old Gods… please set aside the hatreds of the past. This world has already been defiled by Malice.]
[Whether New Gods or Old, whether devout believers or the faithless masses, all alike are now entangled and driven by that terrible god’s Malice.]
[You alone are the one in this world who can save the gods. Please, cast aside old grudges, sever every thread of Malice, rescue my master, and save this world!]
[…]
[Amateru Sakiina stretched out her mud-smeared hand. A small, rusted sickle appeared from the void.]
[She wiped away flecks of black filth from its blade and held the sickle out to you…]
[You have obtained Amateru Sakiina’s Harvest Sickle (Legendary+ Weapon)!]
[Your vision wavered again. The scene returned to the dim, cramped worship hall.]
[The statue before you still had its indistinct face, but it no longer struggled, merely waiting for the non-existent swamp beside it to slowly swallow it away…]
Lin Xun took a deep breath and opened his inventory.
[Amateru Sakiina’s Harvest Sickle (Legendary+ Weapon): Once the weapon of the harvest goddess, now corroded with rust. It seems to have been tainted by some mire saturated with boundless Malice, leaving this divine relic broken and worn.]
[This weapon is still sealed. You must complete related questlines with key characters to lift the seal.]