No jewel is more beautiful than the sacred flowers of the crescent moon. Congratulations on growing up.
Her chest throbbed as she wondered who had added the Black Wolf card to the mix, only to be caught and thrown all over the Black Plum Pie before she could think about it for a moment.
Eventually, the cards got tired of playing, and they began to raise their glasses together to toast all the Grand Witches, and then to toast each other casually and indiscriminately:
"I will hunt the Wolf King, and the honor of freeing a large number of wolf-bound victims by rotting his head will go to the entire pantheon of women!!!"
Gnesse was full of black and purple sauce; having been someone's child, she was rather not game-playing material. She'd had a lot to drink, though, and her next sentence was unapologetic:
"Back then, my lady was one step behind Lord Amber in entering the Temple of the Ladies, so I, Gnesse, will fight for Lady Bertha to get back all the glory."
Despite her jam-muddled face, she was able to keep her beady gaze on Dill with precision. She murmured, "I know you're not as fragile as you look, and I look forward to your performance, Dill."
Kristina clapped her hands together and laughed. "Then you can come with me to the Junli River. I've heard that Silver Wolf King Cyrus has been pretending to be a nobleman there; hahahahaha, a wolf would do better than my illegitimate daughter!"
It was Becky's turn to raise her cup. "I'm going to invent poisons that can poison wolves to death, and then I'll enter the Temple of the Ladies and ask the Green Goddess of the Junli River to grant me eternal youth and beauty."
"I do hope that nobody will be hurt by any werewolf." Helena was not up to the challenge of drinking; her head tilted on the buffalo's back.
Dill coveted the wine at the bottom of the bottle and suddenly felt silence fall around her. She looked up to see the waiting eyes of the crowd.
"I want to cross the ocean." Dill swallowed the refreshing plum juice and couldn't help but speak her true thoughts. She just wanted to know, across the sea, that familiar but strange "East Coast"—what in the end?
Who had brought her into this world, she wondered?
"My Luna, you don't want to be like the immortal Kima, do you?" Veranika's voice was abrupt and sharp.
The Immortal Kima that Veranika spoke of was an island witch who was not affiliated with any goddess sanctuary. Legend has it that she owns an entire island on the clear sea where the seasons are like summer, has received the blessings of twelve goddesses in one breath at the Temple of the Goddesses, and has been calling the shots on her island for the past three hundred years. It is not a realm that ordinary humans can reach, and many witches have even already regarded her as a demi-god to be worshipped.
Veranica's words made Dill's wish seem insouciant and ridiculous.
Not knowing where to find the confidence to respond, or perhaps it was the sweet and sour green plums that gave her distant courage, Dill did not deny it but simply put down her empty cup and said frankly:
"If I can have the wings of the wind god-like Kima, then I must cross the whole ocean; I want to know what's on the other side."
When she finished speaking, she blushed at her inexplicable poetry and simply stared at the lone moon in the void, murmuring in a small voice, "I just want to know, where did I come from, and why did I come?"
Sparks snapped and rubbed, coloring the young girl's black hair a coppery red, along with an inexplicable obsession that was deeply gilded into the beautiful and light exotic features.
At this time, the little girl was immersed in another world; her distinctive appearance seemed to be like an exotic rose born on the wrong side of the land, out of place, and with inexplicable pity. The air couldn't help but fall into silence, and even the sound of slurping was also lowered.
"OK, the east coast, porcelain, and some strange things; legend has it that there is the oldest goddess belief; you go to see; don't forget to give us a little gift." Becky's joke brought back a lighter atmosphere.
The stringed moon had reached the center of the night sky, and a cold light shone in the darkness. The maiden goddess of the crescent moon had already put away her silver bow and let the sacred beast, the black cat, patrol the night for her with its bright eyes; it was time for the hunt to end.
Kristina stood first, signaling the crowd with her eyes, and was the first to raise her cup, while at the same time, all in unison, shouted to the bright moon, "To the hunt! To the crescent moon! To the Goddess!"
Before a new round of revelry began, Dill gave up her seat to Veranika. She leaned back against the warm belly of the buffalo with the drunken Helena, and the great white goose nestled obediently beside her, its soft feathers making a fine cushion.
That night, Dill had a beautiful dream. She dreamed that she took the turnips and cinnamon with her, and together they embarked on a big, luxurious ship and marched off to the Far East.
The result of a night of indulgence was that everyone was drunk, and the drunks had no way of walking back on their own. The High Witches each took their children back; Bertha was so tough she barely woke up Gnosis on the floor.
Dill woke up in a sudden lurch. She and Helena were being carried on the back of a water buffalo, and Aminos walked steadily step by step while his long tail bobbed to keep the mosquitoes away from them, and the slight bumps were like gently rocking a cradle, so comfortable that it was almost as comfortable as a sedan chair.
No wonder Helena loved it so much; this moving oxcart was so comfortable. "
"You're lucky Peren went back early to help with the summer festival and didn't have time to take inventory of the cellar. Otherwise, you would have called for her to kill you before you met the werewolf." Amber was pulling the rope next to her and spotted Dillo squinting and pretending to sleep.
She went up and pinched the young girl's little cheeks and said, "You can't punish maidens and children on the night of the new moon, so I'll let you off this time. But you'll have to walk to the morning benediction on your own."
Dill answered vaguely, then twisted her head into the puffy softness of the feathery wadding.
"Hey, I'd trade five buffalo for this pretty white goose."
Before falling into a deep sleep, she heard Mida murmur, so she was here too, probably worried about Helena.
"Be careful of losing your tongue if you want the Lunar Temple to hear it." Amber didn't have the heart to say
"No need to wait for His Highness to be angry; every time this stupid cow is mentioned, Helena is as stubborn as a cow."
Milda's voice grew fainter and fainter. Dill had only just closed her eyes when she was shaken hard enough to wake up. She opened her eyes, and a hot cloth was pressed to her face.
"It's not early; it's not early!"
Mida rubbed the sleep from the girl's face with the towel. Gradually waking up, Dill realized she wasn't even in her house.
The morning sun poured glowing golden shards through the window, and a curtain of white lilies intertwined with silver moonflowers curled down around the eaves, casting a mismatched patch of colorful openwork gold on the floor that was breathtakingly beautiful. Mida's silver cat lay on the windowsill, its beautiful fur split into blue and gray in the crystalline light of the morning, and this was Mida's house.
"It must be the blessing of the Lunar Temple that today is a great sunny day." Mida was in a rather good mood.
She picked up another towel and pulled Helena, who was sleeping next to Dill, up by the hand, and Helena was dazedly stuffed with a mouthful of the hot towel.