"Comoros, how come you returned by yourself? Where are Dax and the others?" a burly man that looked to be in his 30s was standing guard outside the entrance of the village. In Wang Yuan's previous world, through his decently handsome face and well-balanced muscles, this man would have a large crowd of fangirls following him everywhere he went.
Comoros naturally recognized the man, he was Jacob, the head guard of the village as well as an official. He was quite an influential figure in the village, enough for most villagers to say that he had already been selected to be the next village chief. He and the leader of the village's hunting party were really good friends.
Thinking that, Comoros smirked: "Dax, huh? He offended the great Negary and died a miserable death by the plague"
"Comoros, what nonsense are you spouting, stop joking around" Jacob squinted his eyes and spoke seriously.
"Why would I be joking?" Comoros stood firm: "Dax ignored the taboo and killed the messengers of the great Negary, bringing the plague upon himself. If I had not begged Negary for forgiveness and mercy in time, the plague would have already spread all over the village!"
"Comoros, you…" while Jacob still wanted to say something, he noticed that some of the villagers had gathered from hearing their conversation, and Comoros was loudly repeating what he just said to them.
"Alright, if you don't have any proof, don't spout any more nonsense!" Jacob cut Comoros off, he still wasn't convinced that his good friend would die such an uncertain death. As for the Negary reasoning, that was nothing but bullshit as far as he was concerned.
Comoros looked at Jacob who was now glaring at him angrily and gulped.
He is a lot bigger than I am, taller by at least one head. If it was in the past, when faced with his furious glare, I wouldn't have been able to speak properly.
But I am no longer the same as I was in the past, and the one backing me is the great Negary himself.
Thinking of Negary's various miracles, Comoros straightened his back and respectfully called out: "You want proof? Sir Divine Messengers, please come to me!"
"Decent enough" Wang Yuan was observing from afar, judging Comoros' performance. He sent the two crows over from where they perched before, had them circle over the sky above the villagers' heads and stared closely at them with jet black eyes.
"These two sirs are Divine Messengers of the great Negary, I am here to read the will they carry. Jacob, if you dare to stop them, it doesn't matter to me if you contract the plague of death, but don't involve our village!"
Seeing the two jet black crows circling above their heads, the villagers all felt a mixed sense of respect and fear. The faith of named Gods like Negary had been engraved in their daily lives and culture too deeply that even a believer wouldn't normally hold much faith, but when a non-believer saw it with their own eyes, they would choose to believe rather than not.
And now with two followers of Negary purposefully circling overhead, combined with Comoros' words, it was impossible for everyone not to believe. Because of that, the look they were giving Jacob right now wasn't quite right, they wanted to believe in the off-chance that Comoros' words were actually true, rather than dealing with a plague of death.
Jacob was also looking at the two crows, and he had already noticed the looks of the villagers around him. In truth, he really wanted to pull out his bow and shoot those two crows down right away, but he was sure, as soon as he tried to do that, someone would step out to stop him.
"Dax and the others killed followers of Negary and angered the great Negary. Originally, he wanted to bring the plague of death down on the village, making sure that everyone went down to the very last blade of grass in our village and suffered until our deaths! However, the great Negary has forgiven us, as long as we are willing to offer up our forehead to him cultivate new messengers"
In the Cauchy tribe culture, to offer up your forehead meant to surrender yourself to God, presenting them your everything.
"Comoros, are you sure what you're saying is true?" a sudden voice spoke up. It was an old man with a soft smile on his face, walking forward with the help of a walking cane and a young girl.
"Village chief" Comoros' expression changed slightly. Even if he dared to talk back to Jacob, he wouldn't dare to lie to this prestigious village chief. This was a fixed mentality formed through long years of respect and awe.
"I speak nothing but the truth. If we do not offer up our head to Negary and help the great Negary cultivate his messengers, the plague of death will surely descend upon the village. I am only thinking for the sake of the village, I am not lying" Comoros insisted.
"I know, but such a thing cannot be decided so quickly, we must discuss this further" the village chief slightly narrowed his eyes, still with a soft smile on his face. With his wealth of life experience, he was able to immediately tell that Comoros' words contained exaggerations and lies.
However, the messengers of Negary are definitely not fake, so this must be dealt with carefully.
The village chief smiled: "How about this, let us have a meeting of village officials to discuss this right now, would you and the two Divine Messengers be so gracious as to join us?"
"That is…" Comoros was a bit stunned. In the end, he was still only a 15 years old young man, faced with the village chief's amiable attitude, he wasn't able to come up with any words of refusal.
Wang Yuan shook his head with disapproval. Comoros was still too green, acting so conceitedly only to be scared into submission like this. If he really did participate in that 'discussion' of theirs, without the momentum he currently had, even if Negary was real, Comoros would be suppressed so badly that the authority he had would be pathetically little. At that point, the most they would do is help him breed a few crows, things like sacrifices and offerings would be impossible.
And so, it was Wang Yuan's turn to act. Several rat-like creatures jumped out from a nearby bush, the creatures' skins had already rotted, showing the red flesh below as they screeched in frenzied anger. As they jumped towards the village chief, Comoros also felt a sharp pain that brought him to his knees.
The rat-like creatures latched onto the village chief's body, biting and ripping his flesh off his body. Because of his old, weak body, the village chief was immediately pushed down by the rush of rodents, desperately screaming in pain. Even if he was the most authoritative person in this village, even if no one in this village dared go against his words, against this type of ambush, he was the same as any other person, if not more powerless.
"Grandfather! Quickly go help him!" the young girl next to him hurriedly tried to fight the rodents off, but quickly shrieked in pain. Looking at the back of her hand, she saw a bright red wound, so she turned to ask for help from a nearby villager.
"Don't do it!" Comoros laid on the ground, writhing in pain and shouted: "Those Nael beasts have all been afflicted with Negary's curse, once they bite you, you will be afflicted by the plague of death as well! The village chief's words angered the great Negary, that is why he was punished for it, trying to help him will only bring Negary's wrath upon yourself as well!"
Seeing the once-dignified village chief dying such a horrible death right in front of his eyes, Comoros completely understood, in front of the great Negary, things like village chiefs and whatnot were equally insignificant.
Many of the people who were about to help, stopped themselves and instead took distance from the village chief and the bitten girl.
"Initial desired effect is achieved!" Wang Yuan grinned. It was fortunate that he prepared a countermeasure beforehand. After those rats were infected with his bacteria, they couldn't resist his mental commands at all, but unlike the crows, they were single-use weapons that would die from the disease after just half a day.
However, that was enough. After this show of prestige, no one in this village would dare to go against him anymore, besides the one called Jacob.
With that in mind, Wang Yuan glanced over at the man who was clenching his fists tightly.