When Pawa arrived in Yao City, his stomach was empty and he was hungry and tired.
The sixteen-year-old outsider stood on the street, looking at the passers-by with confusion and nervousness.
The people here were all dressed in linen clothes, leather armor, fur coats, or black robes. Every person seemed to have a status and looked respectable.
Pawa was shirtless, with only a dirty piece of black cloth covering his waist and thighs.
His body was covered in scabs, with calluses and sores on his wrists and feet from the ropes, and a branding iron scar on his back symbolizing his slave status.
The gazes from the people around him made Pawa feel ashamed, and he couldn’t help but want to escape from here.
But where could he escape to?
Outside this holy city, there were slave traders everywhere.
He would only be caught again and sold to another slave owner, to be whipped and tortured again.
He remembered the words of that tall man.
“Don’t let the slave traders catch you again. You might not see me next time.”
That man called himself Copper Sea, leading a group called the Northern Temple Army. The slave traders gnashed their teeth at them, calling them pirates, thieves, and executioners, but they were also terrified of them.
Pawa clenched his fists.
He wouldn’t go anywhere. He would rather die in this holy city. He didn’t want to be whipped, burned, stabbed with spears, forced to drink dirty water, or eat pig food like a dog.
Pawa looked around and saw the tall and sacred building.
The temple.
This was the original temple of the gods, the earliest place of miracles.
Pawa walked along the street towards it.
Beside the temple, there were people kneeling, praying, and worshiping the gods.
Among these people were scholars in robes, hunters and adventurers in leather armor, farmers and fishermen in linen clothes, as well as foreigners and mountain people with strange clothes and different skin colors.
They spoke different languages, but they all faced the same temple.
Here, language was not a barrier.
Everyone knew that they were all the same. In front of the gods, they were all devout believers and insignificant followers.
Pawa followed their lead and knelt on the ground.
Would the gods respond?
He didn’t know.
Pawa’s hometown was on a small island in the south, where there was no temple, but the gospel of God Yao was also spread there.
He heard that the gods hadn’t performed miracles or bestowed blessings for many years.
Even the closest attendants of the gods, the apostles, had disappeared. Only the Bone King occasionally appeared to help those who were injured by monsters.
Pawa closed his eyes and prayed silently.
Omnipotent God Yao…
Pawa begged you to give me guidance, so that I won’t be a slave anymore.
The young islander prayed devoutly.
He had no other way.
As long as he could avoid being a slave, survive, and have enough to eat, he would do anything.
Hunger and thirst made his mind foggy, his vision darkened, and his body felt weak like a clam.
Pawa felt someone supporting him and water flowing into his lips.
He greedily swallowed the sweet water, drinking more, drinking as much as he could to fill his stomach.
A voice came to his ears.
“Oh devout one, you need rest and food. The gods have bestowed us with plenty of food, hoping that we won’t go hungry.”
He opened his eyes and saw an eccentric old man standing in front of him.
The old man, like himself, was shirtless with dark skin. He wore a necklace of garlic cloves around his neck and had a thin and weathered face with a smile.
He handed Pawa a wheat cake. “Eat, you need strength.”
Pawa wolfed down the wheat cake.
The old man nodded. “That’s all I have. Good luck, young believer.”
As the old man was about to leave, Pawa grabbed him.
“You, your name.”
Pawa wasn’t very good at the mainland language, and no one had ever taught a slave to read or speak. But he had heard it a lot, so he could understand what others meant.
“I am a penitent, just like you, a servant of God Yao.”
The old man smiled, revealing uneven teeth, and then turned and left.
Pawa had never encountered such a thing before.
Someone would actually help him for no reason, just because he worshipped the temple.
This must be the guidance of the gods.
Pawa looked up at the dazzling white temple, feeling a bit trance-like.
The gods had heard his request, so the penitent appeared and gave him food.
Another passer-by stopped and asked him, “Are you an escaped slave?”
Pawa’s heart tightened, he lowered his head and pretended not to understand.
The person tried different pronunciations and finally spoke in the dialect of the island where Pawa lived. This surprised Pawa, and his body couldn’t help but tremble.
The person laughed, “So you’re from the Karo Notsa Island. Lift your head, my friend, no slave trader will take you back.””Yao City forbids slave trading, capturing, and keeping slaves. I originally lived on Qubinini Island, not far from Karlo Bunza, so we come from the same place.”
Huh?
The other party also came from the Southern Islands.
Pawa cautiously lifted his head. The other party was dressed in black, with a cotton flower pinned to his chest, a symbol of the Temple Association, indicating that he was a formal scholar of the Association.
“My name is Qubiro.”
The scholar in black said, “Rest assured, this is a holy city. No one will be sold here. As long as you sincerely believe in God Yao, you will be accepted here. What’s your name?”
“Pawa.”
“Pawa, go to the Temple Association. At the entrance of the side hall outside, someone will give you a blanket and help you find a job that can provide you with food, so you don’t have to starve or be afraid anymore.”
“Before that, you can live in the thatched hut outside the side hall.”
Qubiro and I come from the same place and are about the same age.
But I became a slave, while he is a respected scholar.
This made Pawa feel even more ashamed, as if the scars on his body were burning.
Just because he left his hometown and came to Yao City, while I was sold as a slave to Salt City.
“Why?”
Pawa asked in dialect, “Why are you helping me?”
Qubiro smiled and did not answer.
For a moment, Pawa felt like crying.
He didn’t know why. It wasn’t fear, nor jealousy. It was something indescribable that made his eyes sour and his heart particularly uncomfortable.
Suddenly, a white light lit up from a distant tower. The light was gentle and warm, like a giant oil lamp, making people feel warm.
Then a second light lit up on a tall stone monument in the center of the square.
Pawa was so scared that he shrank his neck.
But the surrounding citizens and believers all looked up, their faces showing undisguised smiles. The whole street echoed with people’s loud cheers.
“The miracle of the gods, the grace of the gods!”
“The great god has returned!”
“The ancient monument has finally received the blessing of the miracle!”
“The Theological College has been recognized by the god, this is the god’s reward.”
……
Pawa looked confused.
“Why help others? Let me tell you, Pawa.” Qubiro next to him slowly said.
“Because we are the eldest sons of the gods!”
The young scholar pointed to the two glowing buildings in the distance, his face full of confidence and certainty: “This represents that we are the best city.”
“No matter how the era changes, we will always uphold the glory of the holy city!”
……
Lu Yao yawned.
Unfortunately, the lighthouse collapsed on its own during the change of the era. Only the monument and Theological College of Yao City could be transformed into wonders.
Faith -8000 in the upper right corner.
This was the first time Lu Yao actively built a wonder.
Only the first wonder built has a discount, the monument consumed 3000 faith, and the Theological College behind it consumed the original price of 5000 faith.
At first, Lu Yao was more optimistic about Salt City. Its economic foundation was strong, and its citizens were ambitious from top to bottom.
But it collapsed from within.
In the first season of A Tale of Two Cities in the pixel world, Yao City, which united people’s hearts, had the last laugh.
Thanks to: Pear Blossom Watching Begonia for supporting with 1500 Qidian coins, Ji Li for supporting with 500 Qidian coins, Eight-Star Hotel for supporting with 100 Qidian coins, and Book Friend 20190213233251573 for supporting with 100 Qidian coins.
(End of this chapter)