[Liu'an City] is located in a small pond. The water surface of the pond is now at a medium water level. The water area is about 1,500 square meters, and it is in the shape of a long and narrow oval from east to west.
The specific location of [Willow Bank City] is on a ping pong ball-sized platform at the easternmost edge of the pond. It is three to five meters away from the nearest east edge of the pond bank. The specific distance depends on the high ground on the water surface.
The water god sacrifice will be performed on the water under the tree, to be precise, deep in the pond to the west of the big willow tree where [Willow Bank City] is located.
The scale of the Water God Sacrifice this time was very shabby, far less than the scale of the previous one. After all, according to the tradition of the Maolin ant clan, participants in the Water God Sacrifice are nobles. Only a few worker ants of the same clan will join because they undertake some necessary work, while other worker ants must stick to their posts. As for the slave ants, they are absolutely not allowed to enter the sacrificial site. Otherwise, it is a great offense to the Water God and will be punished with the severest punishment, which may even affect the entire slave ant clan.
Last week's Water God Sacrifice was a grand one. The [Willowbank City] garrison had not yet suffered a disastrous defeat. The nobles were in high spirits. Eight thousand noble ants gathered to watch the sacrifice. They were so densely packed that there seemed to be more willow leaves on the tree. The officiant at that time was also the most respected person in the lair, and the sacrifices were also extremely rich.
But today, less than a thousand noble ants came to the scene, sparsely occupying the lowest and best position on the weeping branches of the willow tree.
Under the eyes of these remaining nobles, a small raft that had been tied up yesterday was pushed into the water.
The Maolin Ant clan claims to be a civilized ant clan inherited by the Water God. It is also the only ant clan besides the Ant Alliance that has water transportation. However, compared with the giant bamboo ship that Zhu Jue has developed, the water vehicles of the Maolin ant family can be described as extremely crude and shabby.
This raft is only 1 decimeter long, with a length-to-width ratio of roughly 2:1. The materials used to bundle the raft are grass stems such as thorngrass that can be found everywhere, and are bundled hastily with plant fibers. Although such a raft would have no problem floating in a small, calm pond, it would be blown apart within a few minutes if it entered a river, and it might fall apart even if it stayed on the water for a long time.
However, although the nests of the hairy forest ants are scattered in various water bodies, most of these water bodies are not connected at all, so the hairy forest ants have no need to develop water transportation. In addition, air transportation is fast, so the hairy forest ants inherited by the water god chose But it is the way of air traffic.
For example, this small raft used for sacrifices is a one-time use and will be destroyed after use. The current structure is sufficient to meet the needs of sacrifices.
"Water Jar" is the main sacrifice of today's water god worship. The officiating priest must be a noble from the main nest, so those nobles from the main nest can only watch helplessly, no matter how senior and high-status they are. The "Jug" was the second-highest-ranking local nobleman who was still awake. The one with the highest status happened to be sick, so he had the honor to serve as the officiant.
The water in the pool was not cold in early summer, so although it kept pouring up from the gaps and wet the joints of the "water tank", he was not cold at all. It's just that the officiant's manner requires him to use his six limbs to lift his torso as high as possible. It's a bit uncomfortable to maintain this posture for a long time. But this posture also prevents slight ripples from entering the fragile pores.
"Perhaps this action prescribed by the Water God is to prevent the sacrifice from choking to death on the water!" "Water Jar" thought to himself.
The small raft is driven by two strong worker ants shaking paddles made of broken blades at the tail of the raft. They hold the nearly round blades in their jaws and sink half of the paddles deep into the water, rocking them from side to side, providing a negligible glimmer to the raft. power.
Fortunately, there was no headwind today. Although the raft was still very slow, it could still move forward, slowly sliding towards the depths of the pond at a speed comparable to a snail.
If it is a headwind day, the raft often fails to reach its destination or is even blown to the shore. This often means that the water god is angry and must wait a day or two for the raft to carry more and more precious sacrifices for sacrifice. The number of worker ants of this tribe should also be doubled or tripled.
"Jug" could only wait motionless in a twisted posture for the raft to reach its destination. Behind him, in the middle of the raft, there were sacrifices piled up, including: a full can of crow honey and alcoholic mixed drinks, and a pair of dragonfly wings. And 1 dragonfly head, 6 pieces of dried locust leg meat, and some other supplies.
These sacrifices are either the most precious items currently in [Willowbank City], important trophies in war or hunting, or creatures related to the water god (such as dragonflies that light water).
In the past, dragonfly wings and heads were rarely used as sacrifices in sacrifices, but now during the war, some people had just suffered a major defeat, and sacrificing a precious dragonfly could gain additional blessings from the water god, so the nobles reluctantly killed them. He killed the oldest dragonfly in the transportation team.
This made the local nobles very satisfied. After the last defeat, a saying spread among the nobles: Although there were many sacrifices last time, there were no dragonflies, so the water god did not protect the army. This time we can finally appease the water god's anger!
The sun had reached its highest point and then began to set. The raft then reached the deepest part of the pool. "Water Tank" quickly adjusted its posture and moved its six limbs and tentacles that had become stiff.
Then, he pointed his tentacles high into the sky, which was the direction of the rain, and then moved toward the water, which was the direction of the water, while chanting the sacrificial hymns in his mind. The ant couldn't pronounce the words, and the other hairy forest ant nobles far away in the willow tree just watched him silently repeating this action.
But "Jug" knew that the omnipotent Water God would definitely hear his prayers, and knew that although it was his first time, he was offering sacrifices with great piety.
After a tentacle dance, "Jug" finished his prayer, then turned around and stepped into the water. The tension of the water film prevented him from sinking while standing on the water.
But the two rowing worker ants did not follow. They stayed on the raft and untied the fiber ropes connecting the raft. The grass stems immediately spread out, the water surged up, and the sacrifices either floated on the water or sank to the bottom. The two worker ants also fell into the water, but they were also held up by the tension of the water film and did not sink immediately.
Not long after, a dragonfly flew by, and with a gentle tap on its belly, it landed right next to the "jug". He also climbed up with quick eyes and hands, and was carried into the air and flew back to [Liu'an City].
The nobles who were watching the sacrifice had dispersed, each doing their own business, and the sacrifice had come to an end.
As the breeze blew, the offerings floating on the lake gradually became soaked with water and slowly sank. The two forgotten worker ants had already taken the initiative to spread out their six limbs, trying their best to break through the water barrier and let the water moisten their bodies. At this time, they finally sank under the water.
On the green water surface, only two small dots became more and more similar to the lake, and finally disappeared. There were ripples on the lake surface again. They were not traces of willow leaves falling into the water, but rather like the water god wiping the bloody mouth with satisfaction!
