Chapter 308 Piaoqiu Village
"How did you do that just now? You were able to modify other people's memories. I've never seen you use it before." Jason leaned next to Alka and asked quietly.
At this time, they still maintained the same formation, but the one leading the way had become the old man riding the small boat.
Hearing this, Alka said softly: “It’s just a technique for using , and you’re exaggerating too much, it can’t achieve such an effect at all.
The reason why the effect was achieved just now was because it was quite a coincidence and the conditions just happened to be met. "
All Alka used was a simple ability to fall asleep, combined with some hypnotic techniques.
To say that it was a skill modification was a bit of an exaggeration. In this world where souls have magic, memory and souls are highly bound together.
Being able to modify memory means being able to affect the most essential soul of life.
This is not something that can be explained by some small ability, which is why Jason and the others were surprised.
From the look of horror and anger on the old man's face when he saw Julia's fish tail just now, it was clear that he himself was actually in disbelief.
That look of fear and trembling cannot be faked.
This obviously meets the conditions of a nightmare, which is one of the most instinctive reaction mechanisms of the human body.
Things that are too scary and unbelievable can easily seem unreal.
Alka immediately put him to sleep and then used a very simple hypnosis technique.
The memory was still fresh in his mind, but it was obvious from the old man's appearance that he was not young anymore, and his strength was too weak for Alka.
With Alka's current strength and increasingly sophisticated control over the dream mist, it would be easy to make some subtle changes to the experience.
During the sleep period, hypnosis techniques were used to make him regard the memory he had just experienced as a nightmare.
Because it meets these conditions.
And it was just a matter of a moment, it just happened.
It was under these various conditions that the effect just now was achieved.
So this is not memory modification at all, but just an ability to improvise, accomplished through the sophisticated manipulation of the dream mist.
After roughly understanding what Alka meant, Jason nodded.
In that case, there is nothing interesting to do.
The old man's skill in controlling the fish also amazed everyone.
He sat in the boat, waving the fishing rod in his hand, and schools of sea fish followed him.
This is a fish that is only about the size of two palms on average, with light black scales and looks fat.
You can tell at first glance that this is the kind of fish that can produce a lot of meat.
Looking around, there were at least thousands of them surrounding them, paddling past their boats, under their boats, and at their feet, without any fear at all.
It seems like I've gotten used to it.
Even around the old man's boat, several of these huge fish could be seen.
They are as long as a normal person's entire leg, and they push the boat forward.
No wonder they didn’t see any spells on the boat just now, nor did they see the old man rowing.
But the ship can still move slowly.
The old man looked just like what they had seen when they first saw him, a herdsman.
It's just that they are raising fish.
Seeing this new group of people for the first time was somewhat novel.
"Well, it's time for you to play your role." Alka looked at Jason and said.
Jason nodded, rolled up his trouser legs slightly, and jumped off the boat.
However, his feet did not step directly on the bottom of the water. A piece of crystal emerged from the soles of his feet, lifting him up in the water and moving forward.
Quickly came to the side of the old man's boat.
After a while, everyone could see Jason and the old man having a very pleasant conversation.
Communication was his strong suit and the reason he became the primary intelligence gatherer on board.
Alka sat on the boat, staring blankly ahead, not knowing what he was thinking about.
"Why is he so afraid of Julia?" Xia Daiti, who was at the helm, asked softly.
This is a question that must be understood.
Alka shook his head, he was also thinking about this issue.
The old man's previous behavior was not fake. When he saw Julia, his expression was as if he had seen a ghost.
This was obviously not what they had expected.
They originally thought that this area had some connection with life since they were so similar.
But through him looking at Julia's fishtail, he saw the fear he felt when facing the mermaid.
There is even a feeling of anger after fear.
The relationship between the two may not be as...harmonious as they thought.
Julia seemed to have noticed this herself.
As for the specific relationship, it is unknown. Even though they know so many research reports, they are only simple about the situation in this area, not the origin of them and life.
Not to mention the information about conflicts in customs and religions.
Led by the old man in front, they soon saw a... village in front of them?
If it is a village.
Because the appearance of this gathering place was not quite the same as the village in their minds, some of the buildings looked strange to them.
No, it was very strange and surprising.
There is still sea ahead, and there are no mud, rocks or small islands.
However, above the sea there are living areas built with various wooden boards, vines and plants.
These house-like things look like huge spherical objects woven with vines.
There is a round opening in front of the round vine house, which is the entrance and exit.
The house seems to float on the sea, and the circular structure does not roll over because it is surrounded by flat wooden boards and rattan to fix it.
It allows him to float on the sea in a stable manner.
But even so, one can clearly feel the house swaying slightly on the sea with the waves.
Seeing this situation, Jason, who was communicating with the old man from time to time, immediately asked.
"Is this your village? This is... too interesting."
"Haha, it's a little different from the places you live outside. This is Piaoqiu Village." The old man laughed twice and introduced happily.
It was obvious that he loved his village very much.
Jason looked at the houses and asked curiously, "How were these houses built?"
"I used the [Vine Growth] spell."
"【Vine Chief】?" Jason asked curiously.
What kind of spell is this? The name alone sounds a bit too strange.
"It's a very simple spell. Outsiders from the Holy Mother Church were able to learn it easily before. I'll demonstrate it to you."
The old man waved his hand as he spoke.
The magic power was unleashed, and then Alka saw the vines in the sea below. Some vines began to break away from the entanglement and began to grow upwards.
Under the control of the old man, it stretched out of the water and weaved into a ball, floating along the waves.
But because it is firmly tied to the vines below, even if it shakes, it will not float away completely.
This is obviously the same structure as the houses in the village, except that the structure of that house is larger and may use more vines.
At this moment, Alka understood how the houses in this village were constructed.
This is so interesting.
As they arrived at the village, Alka and the others' presence was too conspicuous.
A middle-aged man who looks not very old, wearing rattan armor made of strange vines.
He walked towards them with a metallic trident in his hand.
...No, I didn't walk here.
When he came a little closer, everyone realized that he was sitting on something.
It was a strange creature that was one and a half meters long. It had four limbs, a thin head, and a long tail that was swinging.
It looks a bit like a crocodile, but also a bit like a fish.
Although the trident in his hand had a metallic luster, Alka felt that it was not a metal weapon.
It would be very strange for people who have lived on the sea for a long time to use metal weapons.
It is easy to incur losses.
It doesn't make sense. It looks like some kind of wooden weapon with a metallic sheen.
Should be very sturdy.
His strength is also at the second stage, but it is several spirals stronger than this old man.
It feels like I’m about to break through to the third stage.
After he swam over on the strange creature, he looked at everyone warily.
I paid special attention to Alka, Xiadaiti and Jason.
It was obvious that he noticed the difference between the three people.
Perhaps the only peculiarity of these three people is that they all believe in the Virgin Mary and can be considered members of the Church of the Virgin Mary.
"Uncle Keck, who are they?"
Hearing this, the old man named Kake who had been leading them smiled and said, "They are from the Church of Our Lady. They just happened to run into the sea in our direction, so they came up to take a look."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man glanced at everyone warily again.
Seeing that Alka was clearly the leader, he nodded.
"I hope you won't do anything bad in the village."
Everyone nodded.
Following the two of them, I walked into .
The village covers a large area.
After all, the spherical house floating on the sea is indeed very strange.
The arrival of this group of outsiders made the surrounding residents turn their heads and look at them.
Especially some children, their eyes lit up when they saw the large pile of dolls on the boat.
But they didn't dare to come over, not because they were timid, but because their parents had already held them tightly and looked at their children with very unfriendly eyes.
Obviously, if they tried to break free, they would be severely beaten by their parents.
As soon as we entered the village, we seemed to have arrived at Uncle Keck's house. He lived very close to the entrance of the village.
He waved the fishing rod, and thousands of fish formed a straight line and swam towards the bottom of a house made up of two spheres.
The structure of this house and its surroundings is a little different, because there is an obvious fence behind the round house, forming a large circle.
The fish entered the fish pen through the sea water below.
It is obviously a place used for breeding.
“This is definitely not a place you want to stay, after all, this is just an ordinary village.
If you want to go to the mud, you have to walk for a few days from the village in this direction."
The middle-aged man holding the trident looked at everyone and said.
"Mud ground?" This name made Jason feel a little strange.
Looking at Jason who spoke, the middle-aged man nodded and said, "Yes, it is the island you outsiders are talking about."
After hearing this, everyone understood what the so-called mud ground meant.
After all, according to the structure of this swamp, they can live normally even outside the island, and they don't have to live on the island.
In the next few generations, the concept of an island may no longer exist, so it seems more reasonable to call it a muddy land.
“Of course, we are just a little curious, after all, it is a village living on the sea.
We will leave soon, thank you for your guidance."
Alka nodded beside him.
It can be seen that this middle-aged man who looks like a militiaman allowed them to walk around the village because he saw that Alka and others were believers of the Virgin Mary.
This village seems to be extremely xenophobic. Whether it is to protect the safety of the village or for some other reason, it is completely understandable that they are not allowed to stay overnight in the village.
After hearing Alka's answer, the middle-aged men nodded with relief.
"Quick, that's very rude of you."
Uncle Keck, who had not left, spoke up.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man named Quick sighed helplessly.
"Uncle Kake, there is nothing we can do about it. It's for the safety of the village. Now is not a good time to take in outsiders for sightseeing."
Keke was somewhat helpless, but he did not refute him. He looked at Alka and the others and said, "It will take about three to four days and nights to get there from here.
The mud area is crowded and more tolerant. You can rest safely there, but you'd better act quickly. If you are slow, it will be too late. "
"What do you mean?" This made Alka frown.
Obviously not a good thing.
Just as Quick was about to explain, he heard an older voice coming from behind.
"Let me tell you."
The voice sounded old, and an old man with his back hunched standing on a strange creature was carried over.
The creature beneath his feet was the same creature the militia had expected.
I just asked, it seems to be called crawling fish.
"village head."
"village head."
Hearing the two people's voices, the old man just nodded.
The old man looked at Alka and others.
"Well, you don't seem like bad people, but I hope you understand that the village is quite tense during this period."
Then, without waiting for Alka and the others to reply, the old man continued, "The monsters from the Profane Land are coming again, we must be prepared.
The head gardener will send word in the next few days, so if you want to go to the mud field, you'd better hurry up."
"A monster from the desecrated land?"
"It's the area you call the border between life and death. There are many monsters there and they hate all life.
Over the years, they would gather every once in a while to attack outside, and here we are the border. Right next to that blasphemous place."
After hearing this, they understood.
The monsters in the area where life and death meet are indeed very aggressive, even if they are just passing by from the distant sea.
But once they are seen by the monsters above, those monsters made up of undead and plants will find ways to attack them.
Those who had long-range attacks used them continuously, and those who didn't had any took various vines and even reefs and threw them at them.
Living next door to a monster like this is almost inevitable.
It is better to say that it is very good that this place can be preserved well.
Because Alka didn't seem to see any protection measures for the village.
Finally, the village chief thought for a moment and said, “If you don’t mind, you can go to the mud field with the village team.
This might save a lot of time, they often take this route."
"Village chief!" A middle-aged man named Quick shouted with a frown.
He obviously didn't trust outsiders like Alka.
"Don't worry, Quick, they are not bad people. Trust the wisdom of the old man."
Hearing this, the middle-aged militiaman had no choice but to nod.
Finally, the village chief began to explain to everyone.
“Our village needs to transport some supplies to the muddy land. You are in this area, the main area under attack, and you need resources for supplies.
The last batch of supplies for our village has not been delivered yet and will be leaving soon. If you don’t mind, you can go with us.”
Hearing this, Alka turned around and looked at everyone asking for their opinions.
The people behind him didn't communicate, but nodded in agreement with this idea.
If you can speed up, why not do it?
As for whether there will be danger, they need to remain vigilant enough.
"Okay, we can act together. If you encounter danger, I will help you."
The old man smiled and nodded: "That's great, come with me."
As he spoke, the old man took Alka and the others to the end of the village.
This also allowed them to pass through the center of the village and take a brief tour of the entire village.
There seem to be many herders like Keck.
Because half of the houses have this structure, and they saw many bighead carps swimming around and gathering in the village.
This seems to be the specialty of their village.
Come to the tail end.
Just as they said, there is a lot of supplies piled up here.
These materials were packed in sealed rattan balls, and inside they contained some unknown wood and a lot of fish products.
There were more supplies placed on a long, concave board.
Longboards are flat-bottomed and float on the surface of the ocean.
In front of the longboard was a strange, slender fish that was more than three meters long.
Its huge body and slender, wide tail make it clear how powerful it is in the water.
The fish had a saddle-like device on its body, with two vines extending from it and tied to a long wooden board.
There was a person sitting at the top of the board, also holding something similar to a fishing rod in his hand.
There are three such fish-pulling wooden boats in total.
If you have to compare it, it's a bit like a horse-drawn carriage.
It can also be called a fish cart.
There were also 6 strong-looking militiamen following him, all of whom were at the second stage of strength.
Their attire, weapons, and the reptiles they rode were exactly the same as Quick's.
When Alka and his crew arrived, most of the supplies had already been loaded and were ready to go.
The village chief brought them over and had a conversation with the leader, a middle-aged man with a beard.
"They will follow you to the muddy ground, and they can take care of each other."
The bearded leader nodded, showing no disgust or embarrassment at all.
Finally, he looked at Alka's smiling face and extended his hand to shake it.
"You can just call me Madru."
"Call me Alka. Please take care of me these few days."
"You look much better than me. We should be under your care."
After a few polite exchanges, the two strangers walked forward together under the gaze of the village chief.
The village's transport team walked in front, while Alka and others lagged behind by a few meters and followed behind at a certain interval.
"What a peculiar way. This place is really interesting."
Simon looked at the transport team ahead and couldn't help but smile.
