◎Eternally cursed by the Moon Goddess. ◎
Werewolf.
Dill first heard this word when she was playing "The Great Fable" with several little witches.
It was a set of extremely delicate porcelain cards. The backs of the cards were covered with glaze, and the corners were carved with ivory. They were no bigger than the palm of your hand, but the opened cards were extremely gorgeous and complicated. They were painted with all kinds of gorgeous stones - even plated. With some gold and silver foil.
This is the most beautiful witch in the village: Mida, a gift from one of her old lovers; it is said that the other person is an extremely rich pirate, and he has many rare and exotic goods to please his lover.
He gave this "Great Fable", which was said to be the most complete and precious in the continent, to his witch lover. However, soon after their relationship fell apart, this treasure became a children's toy like other dusty gifts.
Dill couldn't put it down when she saw it for the first time, and the rules of the game became more and more familiar to her. When she drew a black-faced card with a wolf-shaped body on it, it was like seeing the long-lost faces of relatives and friends.
Isn't this just werewolf killing? !
Dill wiped away her previous setbacks with potions and killed everyone at the card table. She had a great time playing and frightened several inexperienced little witches into confusion.
It would be great if everything could go as smoothly as the game.
The girl counted the chips on the table with satisfaction, and her inadvertent sigh was like a pebble breaking the calm surface of the lake. Several little witches suddenly stepped forward to hold Dill's hands, and said with tears in their eyes:
"I will definitely do it! Dill, you must be the first among us to offer the head of a demon wolf."
Dill still held the wolf card in her hand. She raised her head and saw the serious expressions on her face, and suddenly felt that she seemed to have missed some important information.
"The Great Fable" is an ancient game that has been around for a long time. It has restored the ecology of the Vitokvano continent to a great extent. The game has four main cards, which are also the four forces that dominate the continent, namely: the Church, Witches, villagers, and finally: werewolves.
The rules of the game are as familiar to Dill. Werewolves devour humans and humans must find the werewolves; witches can use magic potions to kill people and save people; church knights use silver swords to kill werewolves. When a witch is revealed on the card, You can choose to kill the witch and take the potion for yourself.
But when this hunting game came true, Dill's understanding of the world was instantly shattered and scattered into gorgeous porcelain cards on the table.
Bright enamel flowers and leaves bloom on the corners of the witch's cloak; the sparkling silver foil coats the knight with a holy and glorious armor; every page turned by the fingers and every day spent string together an ancient and timeless fairy tale. People here celebrate faith, explore mysteries, and fear...disaster.
Mixed in the mostly white porcelain surface, a few porcelain cards were burnt to an ominous pitch black. There were no stars, flowers or grass adorning the card surface, or perhaps the disaster had already swallowed up all living beings. Different-colored opals were embedded in them, and they looked neither human nor animal. The silhouette is lurking in the dark night, watching the prey coldly.
Werewolves are a kind of wolf-shaped monster that dominates the continent. They have a ferocious temperament and superior senses. They can switch between wolf and human forms at will, blend into the crowd, and possess the terrifying magic power to spread disasters and plagues.
The Great Fable is not just a game, as its name suggests, it is a precept that has been passed down since ancient times, reminding mankind at all times: the evil wolf never leaves, and is even hiding beside us. Some powerful witches can also use porcelain cards to divine fortune and predict the movements of werewolves.
Amber once told her that werewolves originated from the silver wolf messenger of the moon god. Because he betrayed the goddess, he was cursed into a monster that was neither human nor wolf. Unfortunately, Dill at that time only listened to it as a bedside story.
The witch hates everything about werewolves, and she hates everything about werewolves. Any wolf-shaped or even dog-shaped creature is not allowed to appear in the village.
The ignorant little Dill once picked up a little local dog in the forest. She saw that the little dog was dirty and looked like the stray dogs running all over the streets in her memory. It was so pitiful that she was also alone, so she simply Take him home and take care of him.
Dill even thought of a name: Cinnamon, which happened to be a pair with herself. She calculated that if she continued to tell them that it was the Moon Goddess's will, Amber would relent and agree to accept the puppy as a familiar.
As a result, she was almost hung up and beaten to death by Amber. This was also the first time she saw an angry teacher.
The woman who always had a playful smile suppressed all her emotions. She pressed the veins on her forehead and glared coldly at the ignorant and fearless girl. Finally, she half-pulled and half-dragged Dill to the dark cellar that was not allowed to enter on weekdays, and took a The little girl, who was less than half her height, witnessed a transformation into a wolf.
A living person tore his skin, the exposed bones made a creepy deformation sound, and finally completely transformed into a beast howling in the moonlight. According to Amber, this is not a real werewolf, but just a victim bitten by a werewolf.
If the werewolf's victim does not die immediately, the curse will infect the wound, and the infected person will become the werewolf's slave and obey its control. Their strength is far inferior to that of real werewolves, and they can only change into wolf form on a full moon night. Witches call them cursed wolves.
Werewolf, human wolf; the former is a demon wolf disguised as a human, while the latter is just a human trapped in a wolf body. But ordinary people can't tell the difference. The church even believes that these human wolves have betrayed their faith and only obtained the magic power of transformation by seeking refuge with the devil, so they are hunted and killed together as demon wolves.
Only witches take pity on these werewolves. They not only take them in, but also prepare potions as much as possible to eliminate the werewolves' control and relieve the pain of the curse.
What Amber wants Dill to remember is the source of the curse and the culprit of all crimes: the werewolf is the most terrifying monster and the lifelong enemy of the witch.
Amber was half right. After being shocked, Dill couldn't leave the bed for a whole month.
But even so, the girl still managed to hold on to her illness and let Cinnamon go before the other witches drowned the puppy. Amber was angry and distressed, and finally punished Dill to clean the goddess's garden and take care of the animals in it.
The goddess's garden sounds poetic and picturesque. When you walk in, you will see that it is indeed full of exotic flowers and plants, and inhabited by various rare and exotic animals. At first glance, it seems that Amber was soft-hearted and sent Dill to a paradise far away from the village. But Dill soon understood the significance of this punishment.
When a black cat asked her what time dinner would be served, Dill chose to kiss the ground directly. She fainted for an unknown amount of time before being woken up by a soft cat paw, which was pink and as beautiful as a dream.
The black cat introduced herself: Phoebe, this was her name when she was a human. At the same time, a line of rusty red and faded ancient text appeared in Dill's head.
[Those who do not complete the sacrificial ceremony will be deprived of their magic power and will be cursed by the Moon Goddess forever. ]
It turns out that those losers who no one mentions are all in this "goddess' garden".
The black cat Phoebe and Amber were the same generation. When they heard Dill's intention, they understood what Amber meant. They immediately called a few "seniors" to form a circle and give Dill a personal lesson.
Phoebe has a long scar on her right eye. She is an elegant one-eyed black cat. She failed to hunt werewolves back then. Although she saved her life, she also lost an eye and the trust of the goddess.
White crows Serena and Ivana are twin sisters who possess extremely rare mind-reading magic. Unfortunately, the two failed to share their courage and instead lost to each other's fear; and Cynthia the red deer was said to have been A witch who is more beautiful than Mida. According to her, if she hadn't turned into a deer, she might still be the village flower.
They were all witches who failed to hunt down the magic wolf. Because they failed to go to the Temple of the Goddess at the age of eighteen and offer the wolf head to complete the final sacrifice, they were deprived of their bodies by the goddesses and cursed into different animals.
The goddess took back the magic and familiars given to them one by one, and their animal postures were actually transformed from their familiars. The goddess's garden was their only refuge and a lifelong prison.
So far, Dill has gone through two shocking educations and came out again. She has lost a lot of weight and is a little more pious, so it can't be blamed that she finally got desperate and put her only remaining hope on an egg.
Back to the present—
The long-lost door opened with a clang, and the black-haired girl faced the gazes of the witches with an oddly calm expression.
She has always been the most petite girl in the village. Now she is walking with frivolous steps and staggering. It reminds people of those exquisite white porcelain artworks on the other side of the sea. They will fall into pieces at the slightest touch. Everyone's eyes can't help but look back. drift.
A swaying big white goose is happily keeping up with its master's pace. Its two beady eyes are curiously looking at this strange world. Its innocent and sweet appearance is exactly the same as its little master. If nothing else, it's actually pretty good. Lovely?
Amber revealed a ferocious look from the crack in the door and signaled everyone to keep their mouths shut. Fortunately, the group of people still had their consciences intact. When they saw the big white goose, they put away the pots and pans one after another and made way for Dill. Come.
In fact, there are two paths in front of Dill. One is to fail to challenge the werewolf, and the big white goose will make his own side dishes, and they will be eaten deliciously together; the other is to do nothing and be turned into a big white goose by the angry goddess for the rest of his life. Look for bugs to eat in the garden.
Everyone knew very well that there were only two futures facing this poor little witch, one was to die in an ugly way; the other was to live in an ugly way, but there was no need for them to remind her, Dill's expression was quite ugly right now.
But in the end, the black-haired girl sighed softly, turned around, picked up the big white goose that was not very good at walking, and quickly disappeared in front of everyone.
Soon the goddess's garden welcomed a rare visitor.
As the name of the Garden of the Goddess suggests, you can see moon goddesses in different postures everywhere. There is a goddess with lapis lazuli holding a silver vase. The clear water is endless, attracting a herd of deer to come to drink; there is also a goddess embracing the sky with marble arms. Weary birds provide a place to rest.
A black cat landed softly on the shoulder of the goddess who was drawing the bow. Most likely, she had gotten the news from the noisy white crow and was waiting for someone at the door. However, when she saw a big and silly white goose, her furry face still remained. There was a hint of unbearableness to witness.
"Actually...if you live here, you can have food and drink. At most, you can't walk on two feet, so there's nothing wrong with it."
It took another look at the big white goose that was walking unsteadily, and added,
"Ah, no, you can still walk on two feet."
Her comfort is worse than Amber's.