In Ricas' memory, the earth often begins to wake up in the white sand, and it becomes anxious early this morning, which seems to indicate that this is an unusual day.
"You must remember that His teachings are the most wonderful notes, and His footsteps are the most exciting drumbeats."
Rikas folded his hands together and stood behind the chanter with his head down. He was soft yellow sand under his feet. In front of him, behind him, on the left and right, there was an endless sea of ​​sand. The air was roasted by the scorching sun. The hot high temperature tried every means to penetrate the defense line of his light yellow robe and invade his pores.
He couldn't concentrate, it was too hot here, and there was grit under his feet that burned his skin. In addition to the sound of the wind, only his mentor and his chanting sound were left in his ears.
The chanter wearing a white robe and a white turban pounced a piece of white cloth on the gravel, then knelt down, facing the direction of the sun rising, and bent down while reciting. Behind him, in addition to the "little chanter" Rikas, there were more than a hundred people in the entire caravan, but they had no mats, and the only thing that could separate them from the hot gravel was their robes.
No one knows the true name of the chanting master, the servant who cleans the tent for him, nor his disciples know, because once they become servants of the Sun Emperor, people can only call that person "the chanting master", and those who have the most prestige and whose lifespan reaches 80 years old will be called the great chanting master.
Ricas studied with a chanter at the age of 6. Now at the age of 15, he is not young. He has short gray hair and protruding hands. His body is stronger than his peers and his chanting sounds.
Although I have read the chapters I have read for many times, Rikas has not really understood them yet, because their meaning is really obscure, and the language of the chanting is far from the language of his tribe. As a 15-year-old boy, he can only understand the superficial meaning - He is the master of everyone, and the master of the stars and the sky. He is an eternal burning two-headed eagle. Only by being completely loyal to Him can the demons in the dark night prevent the invasion of his soul and rise to a paradise full of sweet milk and oasis after death.
Of course, Ricas is not without any problem. Sometimes he wonders, what will be above the stars? What is it besides heaven? Is the bloody battle between angels and demons described in the Sun Sutra real?
And the mentor never quit his doubts, or even told him not to think.
"Just recite it."
One of the most important criteria for becoming a chanter is to be able to recite a whole thick "Sun Sutra". This is not only the only classic of the church, but also not just faith. It also contains the laws and lifestyles that people must abide by. It can be said that the "Sun Sutra" is the foundation of the Ata civilized world.
Soon, the morning class was over and the caravan became busy again. They had to arrive at the next hiding place before the sun was hanging above their heads, otherwise the anger of the Sun Emperor would turn them all into mummies in the sand.
This is the world where Ricas lives. From the day he is born, everyone must be tested by the sun.
As the chanter taught, He was never a merciful master.
His tribesmen called their world Ata, which translates to a somewhat vulgar word - The Boat of Sand.
Even before Rikas began to become a small chanter, he didn't know what "Ganlin" was. His mentor explained that it was the greatest kindness of the Sun Emperor, that is, precious water would be descended from the sky. The last time Ganlin appeared was said to have happened two thousand years ago.
At least as far as Riccis knows and sees, their world is only deserts, deserts, mountains where no grass grows. The temperature during the day is enough to kill people, and the cold at night is extremely deadly. In this case, no life should exist.
However, people are always tenacious. How the earliest ancestors survived is a long history, while those excavated caves in the mountains are the oldest civilization ruins in the world. In this world scorching sun, there is a small world where life can live. The ancestors dig down and finally found an underground river that is said to be born in the extreme north. They called it Ruchuan, because in ancient myths, this river was chiseled out by a huge underground worm.
In fact, as far as Ricas's eyes were concerned, the incredibly smooth underground passage was not like a worm that could be chiseled out, and he even noticed the spiral marks that had been wiped out by time.
But no matter what, this underground river has nurtured the life of this dry world and built a rare civilization in this world.
Due to the complexity and darkness of the underground world, and the huge drop caused by the underground rivers due to the terrain, the world has not formed a unified country in the general sense. Most civilizations exist in the form of tribes and small city-states. Their residences are often built on temperate zones far from the equator and poles in the northern and southern hemispheres, and most are built around the huge underground caves in the desert, and even directly build complex semi-underground cities along the caves like giant mouths, so that they can enjoy the sunshine and plant the ration crops they need most, and also facilitate water withdrawal from the deep underground.
Although the terrain and climate have caused most of the residence to be isolated, as people successfully domesticated a large drought-resistant pack beast called Sahan Beast more than a thousand years ago, long-distance trade was made possible, and caravans of all sizes were born.
As the caravans emerged, the Sun Cult Order, and the Sahan Beast was one of the gifts brought by these messengers from the stars. They brought not only the Sun Sutra, but also the civilization of this world, which also made the golden double-headed eagle logo quickly established in most tribes and city-states in the Ata world.
Well, of course, it is just a legend that comes from the stars. The earliest group of missionaries in the sect have long become dry bones in the tombs. Where they came from will always be a mystery.
Anyway, Rikas didn't know that he didn't plan to touch the tutor's bad luck. After all, he was not a chanting master at his age. If it weren't for the sake of his dead father, his tutor might have told him that he had no talent in this area. This time he followed the caravan to Saika City. On the one hand, the tutor was going to participate in a chord's gathering, and on the other hand, he asked him to participate in a chanting assessment for the last chanting. The Sun Cult has no upper and lower classes, and the chanting masters are in principle equal, and the great chanting masters are just an honorary title. Their only power is to give a chanting person "block the head" and "pass the book", that is, to grant the formal chanting master qualifications.
However, Rikas himself has no confidence. If this time it doesn't work, then he, who is about to be 16, has to take off his chanting robe and go back to his hometown to make a living and get married. However, it is probably a bit difficult for him, who is a fatherless man like him.
Or he can also become a city-state guard or a ranch bodyguard. Although he is not good at endorsing, it is still good to dance guns and sticks.
Chapter completed!