Chapter 356: Thirty-five This is my daughter!
The carriage slowly left Helen Town.
During the journey, Hewinia nestled by the window the entire time, watching the snowflakes fluttering outside the carriage, lost in her thoughts.
“I’ve heard that the perpetual snow of Holy Sound isn’t naturally formed, but rather a product of Divine Power, because it’s the preference of the Holy Sound Master,” Bai Wei’s voice leisurely echoed in Hewinia’s mind. “Since the Holy Sound Master favors white, just as He loves musical notes, thus Holy Sound is also called the pure white realm of musical notes. Interesting, isn’t it?”
Hewinia’s thoughts were somewhat disrupted.
Is it interesting again?
Hewinia didn’t know if it was just her perception, but it seemed to her that Bai Wei liked to keep the word “interesting” on his lips. Everything was interesting to him — this was interesting, that was interesting, she was interesting, others even more so.
It was as if he stood apart from the world, observing the play called the world from an utterly detached perspective, continually making remarks—interesting.
He seemed like a purely amused observer.
But a powerful one at that.
Previously, Hewinia was not so inclined to respond to Bai Wei, because she always felt that everything he said had a purpose: to lead her astray, just like the minions of the Evil God described in legends. So, she always avoided more contact with Bai Wei, fearing that his thoughts might contaminate, disturb her, and ultimately transform her into something indescribable.
But now, it didn’t matter anymore, since three parts of her body had already been replaced with Bai Wei’s. Falling further couldn’t be influenced much by just a few more sentences.
Besides, compared to being merely cautious and averse, she needed to understand Bai Wei more.
So she asked quite seriously, “Where do you find it interesting?”
“All Gods craft their realms to mirror their desires, but is this truly just personal preference, or is it a necessity?” Bai Wei said with a smile. “There’s an old saying, the more you lack something, the more you crave it. If we apply this logic, does the Holy Sound Master’s fondness for musical notes indicate some deficiency in that regard, much like the Lyra God who relies on machinery, and the Rhein God who craves… ah, let’s not delve into topics that aren’t suitable for children.”
Hewinia said very seriously and inquisitively, “I am of age.”
“Then perhaps it’s a topic not quite suitable for women.”
Not suitable for women?
Hewinia found that odd, unsure what topics were unsuitable for women, but she did not delve deeper, assuming it was merely an excuse Bai Wei found not to tell her, an outsider.
What the outside world was truly like held no relevance to Hewinia now.
What mattered more to her was Bai Wei’s tone.
Before this, she had never seen anyone dare to evaluate the gods so casually, as if discussing the eccentricities and defects of someone in the neighboring house.
If it were anyone else, Hewinia would have deemed the person arrogant and ignorant.
But it was Visas, the legendary figure, and Hewinia didn’t know how to judge that.
“The snow seems to be getting lighter,” Bai Wei remarked. “Are we approaching the so-called Seed District?”
Without needing Bai Wei’s reminder, Hewinia also noticed that the snowfall outside was gradually diminishing.
The hooves no longer trod on thick snow, but on normal ground.
It was as though the silver, enchanted landscape was slowly shedding its disguise, pulling her back to reality bit by bit.
A year ago, Hewinia had travelled this same road, only in the opposite direction, and the feeling was completely different, like waking from a long nightmare, yet also like embracing an unrealistic beautiful dream.
“You know about the Seed District?” Hewinia asked Bai Wei.
“Yes,” Bai Wei replied. “The only place in Holy Sound not covered by the white snow is the Breeding area. Some say it’s because only the right temperature can cultivate good seeds, while others say…”
“This land does not deserve pure snow,” Hewinia calmly responded.
Bai Wei chuckled and said, “You really do know your homeland well, so now you are returning to your roots.”
“Returning to my roots?”
Hewinia looked up, watching the village that grew larger in her view, listening to the strange melody reaching her ears, even the familiar stench filling her nostrils dispersed the confusion in her eyes bit by bit.
“Yes, these are my roots.”
The carriage entered the village.
It was a very odd village, with houses arranged in extremely neat lines as if drawn with straight rulers.
Logically, such arrangement would imply advancement and order, but there was not a hint of it in this village; every house was dilapidated, with soil beneath their feet that looked untouched for years, covered in either dirt or dung.
Moreover, each house bore a mark.
Naturally, the marks were the Seven Notes.
The color of the notes was also uniform, mostly of a rusty, dull copper shade.
Only in front of very few houses could one see silver.
Most of the houses had their doors tightly shut, with only very few open, revealing men and women sitting inside. The men were skinny as rails, as if a single gust of wind could knock them down, while the women mostly sported large bellies.
They were nearly naked, their wrinkled skin painted with notes matching those on their doors.