For the residents of Tarkus, this year's winter was abnormally hard to endure. Besides natural disasters, what made them feel the most uncomfortable was man-made disasters.
Although Oldman did not completely block the city's trade routes and allowed merchants to freely enter and leave, Doante was clearly not that kind.
However, Doante clearly did not have such good intentions. He sealed off the entire Tarkus City and forbade anyone from leaving.
Even those foreign merchants would have to expend a lot of effort to get out of here.
In this situation, there were fewer and fewer merchants going to Tarkus City, and the price of food and daily necessities naturally rose.
This caused the entire Tarkus City to be filled with complaints. Many people already had a lot of complaints about their incompetent Sir Lord. Now with this, before Oldman could attack, Tarkus City would riot.
But on the eve of the New Year's Festival, the residents of the city received an invitation from their City Lord – Doante invited all the residents to the Victory Square in the center of Tarkus City to participate in the Eternal Spring Festival there.
It had to be said that when they heard this news, whether it was the nobles, merchants, commoners, or even the leaders of the underground forces, they all had the same thought.
What was the City Lord thinking?
The so-called Eternal Spring Festival was Tarkus City's New Year's Festival. It was to pray that the new spring would come earlier.
On this day, all the residents of Tarkus City would gather in the Victory Square and enjoy good food and liquor to celebrate the end of the year and pray for the arrival of the next spring.
This was once a famous event in Tarkus City because only on this day would people put down their social class and identity. On this day, they were not merchants or nobles, they were all residents of Karkhalan City. On this day, they only existed as Karkhalan people.
Of course, there were also songs of praise for the Lord at the banquet.
But after Doante came to power, he used the excuse of wasting people's money and affecting public security to completely stop this celebration that had hundreds of years of history. This made many people quite dissatisfied. After all, the crazy festival at the end of the year was their only chance to relax, but it was ruined by the Lord.
Of course, there were more rumors that the Overlord thought that it was a waste to prepare so much food and wine for the Eternal Spring Festival. Instead of giving these good things to the commoners to enjoy, he would rather eat them all for himself.
And now, at such a crucial moment, when everyone was afraid that they might be dragged into the flames of war, this Sir Overlord actually planned to hold the Eternal Spring Festival?
What was going on in that oily head of his?
Could it be that he wanted to use this method to show that he loved the people as his own children and refute the mob's accusations?
If that was the case, then he would really be an idiot.
Although there was a lot of discussion, almost everyone was looking forward to the arrival of the Ivy Festival. After all, in such a serious atmosphere, they really needed something to lighten their mood.
No matter what the fat Lord wanted to do, it was always a good thing to be able to let people relax and revel in such a tense moment.
Although some people suspected that the fat Lord said this casually to make fun of them, it seemed that this time, Doante really intended to "turn over a new leaf." People saw the servants and soldiers of the Lord starting to clean up the Victory Square, and then put garlands and colorful ropes in it. There were even some shops that were ready to open. Although most of the merchants were not interested in this festival because their supplies had been forcibly confiscated, they still forced themselves to join in the decorating of the venue. No matter what, it was only on this day that the residents of Tarkus City would give up their stingy side and open their wallets.
If they wanted to make up for their previous losses, then this was the best opportunity.
Of course, for the bandits and thieves, it was also a good opportunity. After all, drunk people did not care about what they were missing, right?
Because of this, the originally turbulent Tarkus City strangely calmed down. Just like the bandits said, even if they really wanted to send this damn fat pig to the gallows like the mob outside said, they should at least wait until after this festival!
As time passed, Tarkus City became livelier and livelier. People seemed to have temporarily forgotten about the suffering they were suffering and the upcoming war. Instead, they kept talking about the festival.
For a moment, Tarkus City seemed to have abandoned the gloomy atmosphere and became cheerful and lively.
Finally, under the expectation of the people, the New Year's Eve arrived.
The Ivy Festival finally began.
Bright lights lit up the whole city. Everywhere was decorated with lanterns and colored banners. It was a festive atmosphere.
Cheerful music could be heard everywhere. When the sky darkened and night fell, the first firework flew into the sky and announced the beginning of the Ivy Festival.
People walked out of their houses in luxurious clothes and brought their families to the Victory Square in high spirits to enjoy the lively ceremony and delicious food.
At the same time, the bandits also came out, planning to take advantage of this opportunity to make a lot of money.
The Bishop of the Eye of Truth, who was wearing a white robe, sat on a chair and looked at the people who were laughing and talking not far away. There was a trace of uneasiness and hesitation in his eyes.
He did not know why, but he felt that this Ivy Festival was not as simple as he had imagined.
After knowing that Doante planned to hold the Ivy Festival, he had sent someone to ask him if he needed help from the Temple.
After all, the blessing ceremony of the Temple had always been a key point in the Ivy Festival.
However, what the bishop did not expect was that Doante did not even meet the emissary of the Temple of Light and sent him back.
Although he sent an invitation to the Temple of the Eye of Truth in the end, he did not intend to negotiate with them at all.
This made the bishop feel a little strange. Because of the series of conflicts and the fact that the Temple of the Eye of Truth did not express any response to Nadia's appearance among the mob, the relationship between the two parties had dropped to a freezing point.
But on this occasion, no matter what, he still had to show some sincerity.
Although Doante was indeed not a smart man, how could his subordinates not have thought of this?
Thinking of this, the bishop could not help but move his body and look at the Victory Square in front of him again. Around the square, a large group of private soldiers stood there to maintain order. These should have been the responsibility of the Temple's Paladins, but Doante rudely rejected his request and did not allow Paladins to appear on this occasion. The reason was that he would be in a bad mood if he saw Paladins. If the Temple of the Eye of Truth insisted on sending Paladins, then he would not hold this festival!
The bishop was not surprised by Doante's request.
He knew very well that Doante was such a person, and the fact that Nadia, as a Paladin, had joined the mob had already made him exasperated. With this irascible lord's stupid brain, he might really slam the table and call it quits after seeing the Paladins.
It was not that he could not do such a thing, so after weighing the pros and cons, the bishop finally decided to compromise.
After all, the people of Tagus City were already looking forward to this festival, and he did not want any trouble to happen because of the Temple.
But he did not feel good. For some reason, since the sky turned dark today, he felt a little nervous, as if something bad was going to happen.
Could it be that the members of the "National Freedom Army" would take advantage of this time to attack?
But was this really a bad thing?
The bishop shook his head. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the cold night air.
Maybe he was too tired during this period of time, so he was a little paranoid.
Dong … Dong … Dong …
At this moment, the beating of the drums sounded, and the crowd below became even noisier. People brought their families and friends to the Victory Square, smiling as they picked out the goods they wanted.
The merchants seemed to have forgotten the unhappiness they had all along, and were shouting loudly to sell their goods.
A lot of goods with words like "Year End Discount", "Jump Sale", and "Blood Tear Sale" were pushed out, and from time to time, people took out their wallets and bought one or two trinkets.
Of course, there were also some who cried out in surprise, and these were the helpless complaints of those who found their wallets missing.
After all, thieves also had to celebrate the New Year.
Dong … Dong … Dong …!
The beating of the drums became more and more rapid, which meant that the New Year had entered the countdown. At this moment, groups of soldiers with long spears walked out and walked in all directions.
Upon witnessing their arrival, the civilians who were overwhelmed by the festive atmosphere didn't avoid them like before. Instead, they cheered and yelled in excitement.
This was because they knew very well why these soldiers were here.
The soldiers walked into the street and came to the bottom of the flower ropes.
These flower ropes were tied with wooden buckets filled with sweet, ice-cold fruit juice. The final step of the entire Eternal Spring Festival was for the soldiers to pierce the wooden buckets and let the fruit juice spray out, so that everyone could enjoy the delicious drink.
In fact, in the beginning, wine was used in the ceremony, but it was later changed to fruit juice due to safety concerns. As for the reason, everyone knew.
Dong, dong, dong … Dong, dong, dong …!
The beating of the drums became more rapid, and the people below began to cheer loudly.
Sensing the enthusiastic atmosphere, the bishop stood up involuntarily. His heartbeat quickened along with the drumming as though something bad was about to happen!
But at this moment, the bishop didn't have the luxury of time to think because the soldiers had raised their pikes and pierced the wooden barrels at the top. Shortly after, the wooden barrels that had been tampered with cracked holes. Then, clear, sweet fruit juices spurted out of the holes and sprayed down like a rain of flowers.
Looking at this scene, everyone raised their hands high and cheered. They opened their mouths and tried to taste the delicious drink.
Cheers, laughter, music, and drumming blended into one. It was a bustling scene in Tarkus City!
In an instant, the atmosphere of the entire festival reached its climax!
"Ah — — —!"
At this moment, a shrill scream pierced through the air like a sharp knife that pierced through the originally cheerful and lively atmosphere.
Upon hearing the scream, the bishop was startled. He turned to the source of the scream hurriedly, only to see a civilian in agony clutching his neck with both hands. Then, he collapsed to the ground and breathed no more.
What happened?!
Before the bishop reacted to the situation, the screams from before were as though a signal. Then, the cheering crowd struggled, wailed, and collapsed to the ground. Then, they died instantly.
The lively festival instantly turned into a feast from hell!