Inside the Shelter.
The carriage began to move along the bustling street.
Occasionally soone would stop the carriage to catch a ride, but Lin Yi didn’t mind, he even tried holding the reins a few tis.
Still, Sila was the real key.
She could communicate with her horse through telepathy, so the carriage actually didn’t need a driver at all.
But having a driver sets the mood, doesn’t it?
Sila was a smart and cultured woman, so the journey was never dull.
She always managed to tell a joke, share an interesting story, or keep the conversation going at just the right ti.
She also showed Lin Yi around all the interesting places in the dieval town and told him about the daily life of the Argon people.
Lin Yi finally spent about two hours riding with Sila before saying goodbye and heading to the Beastman camp.
The Beastman camp now was filled with modern facilities, including a swimming pool, a Russian steam bath, and restrooms.
Several bonfire spots were set up around the camp, and soone even taught the Taru people how to make kebabs.
However, their portions were... very large.
Male Beastn usually don’t cook—that’s a job for the female Beastn, but when it cos to grilling kebabs... all n love cooking over open flas.
The Taru were very happy to see Lin Yi because they were great warriors, and the boss had led them through one great battle after another.
After tasting so very delicious kebabs, Lin Yi went to check on Mary to see how she was doing.
She lived in the largest tent.
After all, she had given birth to a son for their tribe leader.
Surrounded by several busy young female Taru, there was also an older female Taru who seed to be in charge.
"Hello, Boss!" The old Beastman stood up and greeted when the human walked into the tent.
"Hello to you too." Lin Yi nodded.
"Mary, how are you? Is the child well?"
"He’s sleeping," the new mother replied, lying on a big bed.
She still maintained her Beastman form, but it was unclear whether she planned to return to her human form.
Lin Yi saw the crib nearby, where a solid fifteen-pound baby Taru was sleeping.
He had deep red skin and a strong-looking little body, but Lin Yi wouldn’t call him "cute."
"Ter Al sleeps so..." The little boy suddenly woke up and began fussing for food.
After chatting a bit more, Lin Yi left the tent and sat by the bonfire to eat more delicious kebabs.
Then he suddenly felt a pang of loneliness, so he concentrated to check what others were doing.
Chen Youyou and her sister were playing in the leisure area, Solomon was with his family.
Siri was still sleeping, her three children were tearing zombies apart, trying to see who was the strongest.
But for now, Boria was the strongest.
This huge Insect Man had mastered a new skill, capable of creating a bunch of massive spinning stone blades to throw at a group of zombies, cutting off each zombie’s head.
And since he could quickly produce these stone blades in large quantities, he was extrely effective on the battlefield.
Moreover, it consud very little Magic Value.
While observing his people, Lin Yi eventually noticed a lonely figure by the lake.
Rein was sitting by the water, arms hugging her knees, looking very sad.
Lin Yi issued a ntal command, teleporting Rein to the bonfire.
Startled by the nearby noise, chaos, and unintelligible Taru language, Rein jumped up, but before she panicked, Lin Yi spoke.
"Rein, sorry if I scared you." He stood up and walked toward her.
"Bo... Boss!?"
"Want so kebabs?" Lin Yi asked, handing her a skewer loaded with at.
The Taru usually didn’t waste ti on trivial matters, but this ti was different.
As one Beastman said, kebabs aren’t just food; they’re an art!
"Beastn... can make kebabs? Did you teach them?" Rein looked around and saw grills of various shapes, sizes, and materials.
From those made of bricks to those made of iron.
"I don’t know who taught them, but clearly, they know what they’re doing. This stuff is delicious."
Lin Yi walked to a Beastman, who handed him several kebabs.
"Batira is with us!" The Beastman shouted after handing the kebabs to Lin Yi.
He just noticed Rein, who was wearing black shorts and a black sleeveless T-shirt, matching her striking black eyes.
"I invited her here because she was feeling lonely," the boss answered frankly, glancing at Rein, who was obviously flustered.
Her mind was swirling with all sorts of reasons why the boss had brought her here, even considering the possibility of a Taru wedding ceremony...
"Lonely? Then we must... solve this problem!" The tall Beastman said with a grin.
Lin Yi walked back to Rein, summoned a chair from the warehouse, and invited her to sit with him.
The Taru didn’t use chairs.
They usually just sat on the ground, but occasionally used logs.
Beastn had tables, but the Warrior class rarely sat at them, content to eat on logs and stumps.
If they wanted to sit to eat, they’d place a log in front of them and put simple food on top of it.
But that was in the past, as Beastn were gradually adopting human customs.
Around the table were several small trays with special wooden plates on them.
The wooden plates were filled with grilled kebabs, pickled at, spices, and clean skewers.
"Delicious!" Rein exclaid, her black eyes sparkling as she bit into a small piece of at and chewed.
"What kind of at is this? It looks a bit strange."
"They have all sorts of kebabs with various marinades. This is Xidi at."
Hearing this, Rein started to feel nauseous.
She rembered those dreadful creatures...
But when she saw the boss devouring piece after piece, she began to reconsider her attitude and took another bite.
"I didn’t expect Xidi at to be so tasty..."
"No one knew before!" Lin Yi said with a laugh.
He was just as surprised as the others.
He pointed to a tall beastman nearby who was grilling skewers, "The secret lies in the marinade and a certain special cooking thod."
"Batira... has co to our tribe...! Batira!" shouted a beastman.
Soon, a small group of other Taru people gathered around, all chanting "Batira, Batira!"
"Boss... what’s going on?" Rein asked fearfully.
The beastn were shouting and very agitated, which really scared her.
"Put this on, and you will be Batira!"
"But what is that?"
"That is their Goddess of Night and Darkness."
"Also the Goddess of Death and the Underworld, Batira guides warriors to their final resting place... and turns the unworthy into creatures of darkness."
The female beastman elder Tergu explained.
Lin Yi had noticed earlier that female Taru spoke almost like humans.
They didn’t breathe as heavily as the males, so they could say more between breaths, and more clearly.
"But I’m not Batira..."
"But our goddess... has eyes like yours, so you remind us of her."
"My eyes...?"
"Batira! Batira!" said a large crowd of beastn gathered around them excitedly.
Many of them were slightly drunk, while others were just having fun.
Before Rein could understand what was going on, she suddenly found herself in the middle of an actual party.
The music of the Taru people began to play, and the young female Taru started to dance with surprising grace.
"What’s going on?" Rein asked confusedly.
"They are praising the goddess. The males are singing, and the young females are dancing," the old Taru said calmly.
"Why don’t you join them, Rein? You’re beautiful and graceful. You must be a wonderful dancer."
Before Rein could react, she was dragged beside a large bonfire.
Where the female Taru were dancing.
Rein looked toward her boss.
But Lin Yi just gave her a thumbs up.
At first, she felt awkward, but the Taru people smiled at her warmly and were eager to teach her the steps.
It wasn’t long before Rein started dancing, surrounded by dozens of young Taru girls.
The Taru craftspeople began playing their instrunts loudly, the warriors sang even louder, stomping their feet, as the girls twirled in their dances.
Rein eventually caught up with the rhythm.
She was completely imrsed in it.
Her body seed to move on its own.
She found herself thoroughly enjoying the dance, with everyone smiling at her.
Even Lin Yi was captivated by this long-legged beauty.
The Taru were performing a ritual dance to honor the goddess. The role of Batira is usually played by an elder, but Tergu graciously offered it to this young human girl.
Rein always thought of the Taru as barbarians, but their songs were surprisingly profound.
Even through an imperfect translation by the second-level translator, the emotionally rich girl was moved.
The lyrics were sothing like this:
You are the night, you are the darkness, you are Batira.
In the darkness of the night, we are born.
In the darkness of the night, we end.
We live brilliantly,
When our end cos,
You will descend once more to greet us,
We will offer a bit of our light to you.
After winning your smile,
We hope to embark on the journey once again.
Batira plays an important role in Taru culture—the Taru people are always born at night.
Moreover, when the Taru die of old age, it is always at night.
The Taru songs helped Rein understand their essence.
They strive to live their brightest and fullest lives, so that when they et the goddess, they can offer the light of their souls to her.
The more brilliant the life of a Taru, the brighter their soul will be.
If a Taru manages to win the goddess’s smile, she will grant them another life.
When a Taru is reborn in this way, they beco stronger than their peers.
These Taru are called "Blessed."
Finally, all the beastn gathered by the bonfire, including Mary and her children.
Ter Al beca uneasy upon hearing the songs, until his mother brought him out of the tent to hear the singing, after which he cald down...
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