Dukezhen's Disaster (Part 2)

  Since Amun left, the disaster in Du Ke Town began to appear. On the third day after Amun left the town, the first young man who died prematurely appeared in the town. He was the son of the missing warrior Ma Qi, and he was only 14 years old, just like Amun. In the following month, three more children died one after another, the youngest being only 12 years old, and the oldest not exceeding 15 years old, all boys.

  The town's priest and doctor, Xiao Gu, was at a loss for what to do, as all of these children had died suddenly from violent illnesses. After using his healing magic to examine them, he could only find that their blood vessels seemed to have withstood an impact of power that they fundamentally should not have been able to withstand. Xiao Gu secretly suspected that it might be because they had not yet come of age and had privately learned the mining techniques of Du Ke Town.

  The miner's technique in Duketown looks simple, as if anyone can learn it, but the unconscious consumption is almost unbearable for underage children. When accumulated to a certain extent, hidden dangers will suddenly erupt, and when the attack occurs, it will be too late. Aristotle once explained the spiritual source of that ancient oracle to Amun, which was indeed protecting the residents here, but Aristotle did not understand the subtlety of this miner's technique.

  Xiao Gu and Dasiti couldn't punish the townspeople. Firstly, the children were already dead, so it was meaningless to investigate whether they had obtained the Guardian's permission; secondly, the families who suffered the tragedy would not admit it themselves, and there was no evidence. It wasn't just a few families that let their children learn mining skills in private, everyone seemed to know but nobody said anything.

  The reason for this situation is probably still from Ammon.

  At the age of fourteen, Arumon not only fully mastered the mining skills passed down through generations, successfully excavating divine stones, but also fortunately obtained so many divine stones, including a blue divine stone that even Shoukou-sama envied. If Arumon can do it, why can't my own child?

  The boys in Douke Town have been helping their elders pull wind boxes and move ore since they were young, far stronger than ordinary children of the same age outside. Ah Meng doesn't seem to be the strongest among them, he's just the son of an old drunkard who has taken on heavy responsibilities due to life pressures. However, people are not aware that the old madman had Ah Meng undergo those strange cold spring baths for over two years.

  There are unfortunate ones, of course, and there are lucky ones. Not all children will die young; some won't learn, and a few will be lucky enough to learn the mining techniques of Du Ke Town ahead of time. Families like this naturally wouldn't say anything about it, nor would they openly tell others that the divine stone was mined by children.

  Ignorance and foolishness are often only a thin line apart, and many people are even inexplicably expecting, hoping that their children can also excavate special divine stones like Armon. The townspeople are still discussing in private that Armon may have excavated another divine stone called the Tears of the Gods, which is extremely precious.

  The noble who came to the capital once publicly announced that the miner who excavated the tears of the gods would receive a heavy reward from the kingdom, but if they disposed of it privately, they would also suffer the most severe punishment.

  In the modern era, the residents of Duketown, except for Old Maniac, Dasati and Xiao Gu, had never heard of the Tears of the Gods, nor did they know what kind of divine stone it was. Nor did anyone know who first secretly suspected that such a divine stone could only be mined by children, otherwise, so many people would have mined so many divine stones over the years, why only Amun got it?

  This speculation gradually became a rumor like plague in Duketown, people were discussing it privately but never openly, eventually leading to a series of tragedies.

  It is said that the oracle of the protective deity Mu Yenniang has become a mere formality, but on the surface, people have become even more reverent towards the gods and goddesses, and they show unprecedented respect to the priest Xiao Gu, not even daring to lift their eyes to speak when they see him.

  The old madman became even more frantic than before, often waving his staff in front of the Mu Yun Temple and muttering to himself: "This is a place abandoned by the gods, it will be punished by the gods... Those gods are so cruel! But what are you people doing here?"

  No one pays attention to the old madman's nonsense, and everyone avoids him. Daste and Xiao Gu also don't bother with him, anyway, everyone thinks he's crazy. But the tragedy in Du Ke Town continues, several more boys have died suddenly without warning.

  Don't people really not understand that the miner's craft may not be suitable for minors to master? Everyone is more or less clear, but there are also other children who have successfully succeeded, not just Armon. So others' tragedies are seen as a kind of bad luck. Prudent families will remind their children to be careful and pay attention to their physical feelings at all times, without having to force themselves too much, but they do not dispel the idea of letting their children learn the craft.

  How many children in Duketown learned the miner's craft in secret before they came of age? The answer is every boy over ten! Everyone did it, and no one had a reason not to. It was an open secret, with people just being careful not to get caught, especially by Mayor Dartois and Lord Siao.

  It's already very difficult to stop the spread of this disaster, Duketown is not small, but it only has more than 2,000 residents, and its mining skills have been passed down from generation to generation in a closed environment.

  The sweltering summer has arrived, and this year's summer is particularly sultry. Many people don't sleep in their houses at night, but instead sleep in the courtyard or square to cool off, lying on mats or wooden boards until dawn. One night, people sleeping outdoors suddenly felt a hint of coolness, opened their eyes, touched their bodies, and unexpectedly found that fine rain threads were floating in the air.

  Duck Town only has a few rainy days throughout the year, especially in summer which is the driest season of all years, it almost never rains, everyone cheers happily.

  After the sky brightened, the rain still didn't stop and gradually grew heavier. Raindrops poured down on the parched earth like a curtain of water. The clouds in the sky stretched out as far as the eye could see, shrouding the dark forest fires to the west and the Syrian Desert to the south. People became increasingly excited, gathering at the Temple of Mu Yun to thank the gods. Cheers could be heard at any moment, for the rain was very heavy and didn't stop for a whole day and night.

  Such a rain can moisten the barren land and desert around, and after the rain clears up, grass will grow in the desert, making it suitable for grazing many sheep this year. There have been such cases before, but it is rare to encounter such a big rain here in many years, which has always been regarded as a blessing from God.

  The gods seemed to have heard the townspeople's prayers, and the heavy rain did not stop for three days and three nights. However, some people gradually became uneasy, because this was something that had never happened in their memory.

  The gorges in the Black Fire Forest were already full of water, and the low-lying areas of the post road had been submerged. More mountain floods flowed down from the Assyrian Plateau in the north, overflowing the Black Fire Forest and approaching Duketown. The entire town was surrounded by muddy deserts, marshy forests, and plateaus pouring with running water.

  When people finally realized that something was wrong, they suddenly heard the rumbling thunder from the sky. Looking far into the mountains of Syria, which were shrouded in thick clouds, flashes of lightning flickered through the rolling dark clouds. The people here had hardly ever heard thunder before, and a kind of indescribable fear arose.

  The town of Du Ke was no longer cheering, everyone hid in the leaky houses and prayed to the gods again, hoping that this heavy rain would end soon. But the rain did not stop as people wished, after the thunder started, the three-day and three-night heavy rain suddenly turned into a torrential downpour, as if the sky had been torn open with a huge mouth.

  ……

  When the thunder sounded, Gail, the chief priest of the Temple of Syah and an 8th-level divine magic user, stood on the high city wall, looking in the direction shrouded by low-hanging dark clouds and rampant lightning. He muttered to himself: "Nietzsche, is this the great disaster you predicted? Has it really arrived?! But why are you still staying in Duke Town?"

  **