Why it never ends

Chapter 1058 Spring Hunting

"… Two or three pages of scolding?"

"Not entirely, I see there's a chart below..." Before Hesta could finish his words, another email from Pacat appeared at the top of the mailbox.

The three heads immediately came together.

"Dear Jane," Hesta read softly, "I have received your letter. We will discuss it in detail when you return."

Several people fell silent.

"…What is the old lady thinking?"

At this moment, someone knocked on the door. Several young girls invited them out, but did not say what they were going to do. After several stalemates, Zoe went out on behalf of the three people, leaving only Hesta and Victoria in the room. Hesta closed the computer and repeated Versin's words verbatim.

The smile on Victoria's face disappeared almost immediately, and then she asked the same question as Hesta - but the two had no idea how to verify this data.

"If this data is true, Deep Anchor will certainly not let this place go... Who wouldn't want a stable source of mercury needles?" Victoria said, "Two to three hundred mercury needles are enough to form a complete regional battle sequence. Converted to this, as long as there are four to six thousand pregnant women giving birth every year, the mercury needles produced here every year are enough to form a pretty amazing combat force organization."

Hesta returned to the computer and tapped on the keyboard. Soon the population data of District 12 popped up on the screen.

In the past ten years, the population data released by District 12 has been based on Emanlia and its surrounding areas, and the southern region is basically not included in the statistics. Of the approximately 50 million people in the entire Northern District 12, Emanlia accounts for 23 million of them, of which 16 million are in the urban area - this 16 million urban population is the only source of fertility data.

"There are 22 newborns in Emanlia," Victoria said. "According to the 1: probability, there will be more than people with the Mercury Needle ability."

"Welsin said 'this side'," Hesta said, "The population density in the mountainous area is not that high—"

"The question is, where exactly is the 'this side' she's talking about?" Victoria asked, "One hundred kilometers from here? Five hundred kilometers? One thousand kilometers?"

Victoria looked at Hesta. "The population density here is not as high as in cities, but the fertility rate of women is probably much higher than in cities. Think about what we saw at school this morning. Some mothers' eldest daughters are already in their teens, and their youngest daughters can only walk. They are basically giving birth all the time. But the problem in mountainous areas is the medical conditions. Not every child born can grow up safely—"

"...So we need a nursery." Hesta lowered his eyes slightly, "We need... 'socialized care'."

"Yes," Victoria said, "Don't you think this is two lines? On the one hand, we promote education, postpone the age of women's first child, and extend the life of women of childbearing age; on the other hand, we look for efficient and centralized childcare methods to maximize fertility efficiency—"

There was a hurried knock on the door.

They both turned around at the same time and saw a local young girl had opened the door.

"You guys can come out for a moment too?" the girl said. "Your companions have been chosen. It's your turn now."

"…What do you want to pick?"

"Come out!" She walked into the house with a smile, pulled Victoria's sleeve and was about to go out. Victoria was about to break free when Zoe's voice came from the yard.

"Victoria, Jane, come out, they have prepared gifts for us!"

The two finally stepped out of the door. Zoe was standing in the middle of a group of young people in the yard, holding a cloth bundle in her arms. Victoria curiously stepped forward and lifted a corner of it: "What is this?"

A piece of bright and clear fabric was revealed. "It's the dress they're wearing..." Zoe's mouth was stiff, "They wanted to measure my size, but I refused, so they just gave me the fabric... You two can go pick one too."

Hesta followed the girls to the other side of the settlement, where a lot of fabric was spread out on newly made bamboo boards. Manna was also there, helping Hesta and the others translate.

These fabrics are all ordinary white linen, but the locals use colorful plant leaves, mineral powder and animal blood to tie-dye them into various beautiful patterns. The layers of gradient colors are dazzling, showing a strange but vivid vitality.

"I don't need it," Victoria said, "They worked so hard to make it. It would be a waste if I don't wear it..."

"Then I'll take two." Hesta said, "Yours is mine."

"Ah You?"

Hesta pointed to the cloth placed at the very edge, "The dark blue one over there, take one and say you want it."

Victoria did so immediately.

Hesta walked around carefully for a few times and found that the number of colors of each fabric seemed to have a pattern. The material on the far left was pure color, with only light and dark colors showing gradients. As you walked towards the middle, the fabric began to contrast colors. The further to the right, the brighter the color, the higher the saturation, and the stronger the dangerous atmosphere unique to the rainforest.

"I want the one on that table over there," Hesta said, pointing across the yard. "Can I have that?"

Manna shouted with joy, praising Hesta for her good taste, and then told her that she couldn't take it, because it was specially prepared for hunters in the spring hunt. Only one was made every year and it couldn't be given away.

"Spring hunting... but it's almost summer now," Victoria asked softly, "isn't it a little late?"

"There is no such thing as early or late, because our hunters are not hunting birds or beasts, but mountain spirits."

"When exactly?"

"We have to wait," Manna said, "until the mountain god's spiritualist releases the sacred deer on the highest peak of Lesbos, then the spring hunt can begin."

"Is that peak far from here?"

"It's far," Manna replied, "but don't worry about missing it, because our sentinels have long been guarding the path that the sacred deer must take. Once the spring hunt begins, each of us will hear the horn - the horn that sounds all over the mountains."

"And your hunters set out to hunt?" Hesta asked.

"No," Manna glanced at her, "Whoever hunts the deer will be the mountain god's hunter for the year. All those who participate in the pure hand-hunting cannot use guns or set traps... We must use our own bows and arrows to hunt in an upright manner."

“Will everyone be attending?” Zoe asked.

"Of course not," Manna said, "Spring hunting is a woman's job. Men can't and won't do it."

Victoria and Hesta turned back at the same time - from the moment they saw the fabrics, they had a subtle feeling that these overly bright colors did not belong to any traditional religion they knew. Even for the pragmatic Buddhism that had been changed beyond recognition, they seemed too gorgeous.