In the evening, after the afternoon rest, everyone felt refreshed. The representatives of the prominent families, rich businessmen, and famous politicians also expressed their reverence and devotion to the gods very generously.
Many golden objects were sent into the temple under the watchful eyes of some worshippers who were holding god tablets and participating in the celebration. Of course, there were also some who directly donated money. Since the gods liked gold so much, they must like money as well, right?!
Of course, from the smile on the high priest's face, it could be seen that the gods liked money very much. Not only did they like money, but they also liked checks.
"Tell the high priest that this is my respect for the gods!"
Lynch, who was wearing a bone holy tablet, put a check in a wooden box that could be opened and closed, and handed it to a clergyman.
Whether it was money or checks, they would all be put in wooden boxes by the donors. This was also to prevent others from knowing how much money they had donated and to protect the privacy of the donors.
Many times, donors would face such an awkward question: how much should they donate?
If they donated too much, they might not get a good return. People would discuss the source of the money and why someone would donate so much money. This complicated a very simple matter.
If they donated less, people would talk about it more, especially those with status. If they donated less than others, they would be labeled as "stingy" and so on.
In order to protect the privacy of the donors and avoid awkward moments, the temple used a very interesting method to avoid these awkwardness, and that was the wooden box.
The advantage of this method was that no one knew how much money the donors had donated except for the officiant. There was no comparison, no criticism, and people would maintain a respectful attitude towards the donors.
The clergyman carrying the wooden box quickly walked to the high priest's side and whispered something into the high priest's ear. Then, the high priest opened the wooden box and glanced inside.
When he saw the check signed by Lynch, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. In Nagalil, no matter what country's foreign exchange was, it was more valuable and useful than Nagalil's own Nagalil.
Looking at the several zeros, the high priest was in a good mood. He thought of his youngest son who was preparing to study abroad. Thor of the Federation could give this money to his youngest son.
As for the money being donated to the gods?
Gods don't care about such vulgar things. What they care about is piety and respect, understand?
After closing the wooden box, the high priest looked at Lynch. Their eyes met from afar. The high priest nodded slightly to show that he had sensed Lynch's faith in them, his fanaticism and respect for the gods. He also sensed the return of the gold-rimmed immortal tablet he had gifted to Lynch.
After the donation, the high priest made a final speech for today's festival and disappeared from the temple.
Some of the clergy, including priests and priests, began to dance around the bonfire in the temple. They were wearing very strange clothes, and their skin was painted with all kinds of patterns. Some were disgusting, and some were numbing. Their bodies were as stiff as wooden puppets!
Yes, they were wooden puppets at this moment. They were all marionettes in the hands of the gods, singing and dancing according to the will of the gods.
The low-ranking servants began to serve exquisite food to those who participated in the celebration. There were all kinds of roasted meat, all kinds of fruits, and some low-alcohol and somewhat sour fruit wine. People ate while watching the dance and singing local songs praising the gods.
"The high priest would like to talk to you …"
A priest came to Lynch, who was enjoying the food. Lynch looked at him, then tidied up his clothes and followed him to the back of the temple.
At this time, the high priest had presided over the activities for the whole day. There were no more important activities, so he returned to the back of the temple early to rest.
In a very empty room, Lynch met the high priest.
The rectangular room was about three to four hundred square meters. There was a high platform in the middle of the room. On the platform was a stone chair, and on the chair sat the high priest.
The room was a little stuffy. Perhaps it was because of the problem of keeping warm in winter, there was no obvious airflow. At the same time, there were many braziers in the room. The fire lit up the room, but it also made the temperature obviously higher than outside.
"Mister Lynch …" The high priest's smile became more natural. "I heard the comments of others about you. They also brought your views on our faith."
"I have to say that you are a different foreigner. At least when it comes to faith, you are different from others!"
In this era where everything changed with each passing day, the constant advancement of science and technology was breaking the ignorance of the past. However, it was precisely this fierce confrontation and conflict between science and superstition that naturally separated people with faith from people without faith.
People with faith became more loyal and devout than ever before. They never doubted what they believed in, and at the same time, they rejected different kinds of beliefs.
No matter what you said to people without faith, they would not believe that there was anything strange in this world. They could always explain some mysterious phenomena in various scientific ways.
However, Lynch was different. His words were ambiguous, and it seemed that he did not please either side. In fact, whether he was a believer or a non-believer, they could accept his words.
Needless to say, the former would tell Lynch that all the miracles were caused by the god or something they believed in. They were the only source of their faith.
The non-believers would think that Lynch was using a relatively scientific and rational way to look at these things. All he lacked was an opportunity to see through them. Therefore, they did not mind having an in-depth talk with Lynch and letting him hold the key to see through all superstitions.
This was a very clever way of saying things. Even if it could not please everyone, it would not offend anyone.
This was completely different from other foreigners. Many foreigners, such as Mr. Simon, whom Lynch knew, only had two attitudes towards local religious beliefs.
The first was the atheist, the non-believer. They firmly believed that there was no god, and they attributed belief to ignorance and superstition.
The second kind of people believed that the local beliefs were evil gods and heresy. Only they believed in the true gods.
Regardless of whether or not some of these people changed their attitudes and standpoints later on, they only had these two attitudes when they first arrived. Lin Qi was very different, and this made him special all of a sudden.
Lynch bowed slightly. The high priest thought of the patriarch of a parish. His identity was extraordinary. "I come from the Bailey Federation. It is a country that advocates freedom. Our laws promote and protect religious freedom."
"Every one of us views everything that happens around us with a tolerant attitude and a broader perspective, whether it's religion, politics, culture, folklore, or anything else. We respect everything, tolerate everything, and accept everything."
The High Priest's eyes moved slightly. "It sounds interesting …"
The corner of Lynch's mouth twitched slightly. "In the Federation, as long as you register your religious information with the religious administration, anyone can start preaching. As long as the teachings are not illegal or anti-social, no one will impose any restrictions."
"Agent of God, do you know the Church of Mother Earth?"
"Agent … of God?"
The high priest was a little confused. "Are you talking about me?"
Lynch nodded matter-of-factly. "Of course, high priest. You are the incarnation of God in the mortal world, so you are the agent of God. You exercise the power given to you by God and bear the responsibility of guiding the people to good. Am I wrong?"
Looking at Lynch's surprised face, the high priest smiled, revealing his yellow teeth. However, he quickly pursed his lips. As the agent of God, he was not suitable to show too much emotion, but he still nodded. "No, you are right. This term is very accurate. The agent of God …"
He paused, as if savoring the pleasure this new term brought him. After a while, he came to his senses. "What were you going to say? Continue!"
Lynch bowed slightly and continued. "The Church of Mother Earth, a religion you have not heard of. They advocate eating hot horse dung to cure diseases …"
Perhaps the two of them had a good conversation and the atmosphere was just right, or perhaps the number of zeros on the cheque Lynch donated to God was more than what the high priest had imagined. He was now in the right mood and was very cooperative.
He even laughed out loud in an exaggerated manner. "Eating hot horse dung can cure diseases?"
Lynch's face was serious. "Yes, it's best if it is freshly excreted by a horse. Steaming hot dung!"
The high priest laughed again for a long time. Perhaps he felt that it was a little unbelievable, so he could not help but ask a question. "I'm curious. Does anyone believe in this religion and what they say?"
The high priest's laughter gradually stopped. He frowned. "Eating horse dung can cure diseases."
"Why not?"
Lynch asked rhetorically. "In the Federation, we advocate freedom of belief. Eating horse dung sounds ridiculous, but it is not anti-social. Secondly, it does not make people do bad things. It is just eating some unhealthy and not fatal horse dung."
"And there are people who really believe it. It is said that they have tens of thousands of followers at most …"
After hearing this, the high priest laughed. "This is stupid and ignorant. I thought foreigners were all smart people …"
As he spoke, he suddenly fell silent. Even a religion that ate horse dung could survive in the Bailey Federation. Suddenly, he thought of a question. That was, if his religion moved to the Federation, would it survive? Would there be people who would be willing to believe in his god?
When he thought of this, the high priest's heart suddenly began to beat faster. That was the Bailey Federation, a rich country far beyond Nagalil. Everyone there did not have to worry about food and clothing. Everyone was very rich, just like Mr. Lynch in front of him.