A gathering place for French residents deep in the swamp.

It is a large living area, covering an area even larger than the Marsh Town Center, which was originally intended to be the Marsh Town Center when the administrative body was first established.

But at the time, it was met with strong opposition from the locals.

Most of the people who lived here were slaves who had been exiled from Faku or bought and sold.

Uniformly dark-skinned and extremely xenophobic.

It's been more than a day since she came here, Betty took Amanda to take a tour of the gathering place, even if she was accompanied by Betty, but the eyes of the people around her looked at Amanda, but she always felt a little weird.

The attitude is quite friendly, and there are no bad words, but the scrutiny in her eyes makes her very uncomfortable.

Moreover, there are many rules here, many strange customs are preserved, and there are even some areas where outsiders are strictly forbidden to approach.

"Are we going to soak here for the whole holiday?"

Amanda yawned boredly.

When she first came, she was really interested in this particular custom, but after a long time, she inevitably felt a little bored.

"We're going to sunbathe."

"And it's been raining here lately, and I feel like I'm getting moldy."

Betty was much quieter.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine after tonight."

"Today at midnight, according to the old custom, I will have a coming-of-age ceremony, you are my best friend, I hope you can witness this moment."

"And ......"

"I'm going to show you something else too."

"Some truth about this world."

As soon as this topic was spoken, Amanda immediately became interested, and she jumped out of bed and came to Betty barefoot.

"Tell me, what the hell is going on?"

"You guy, your mouth is really strict enough, I've been here for more than a day, can you hold back and not say anything?"

Betty smiled.

"Seeing is believing, and when you see it, you will naturally believe it."

For some reason, although I haven't seen each other for more than ten days, the originally familiar friend makes Amanda feel a little strange.

The sun set, combined with the constant haze, and the depths of the swamp soon darkened.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Betty, the sun is setting, you need to get ready."

"We? Do I want to participate too? ”

Amanda was a little confused.

The visitor smiled.

"You're a friend of Betty, naturally our guest, and on this occasion, I want you to dress up."

"Come with me, someone will help you get dressed, trust me, it's going to be an amazing journey."

The man took Amanda by the hand with his only right hand and walked out of the house.

"Go ahead, Betty, they're waiting for you."

The old woman led Amanda to a hut not far away, and as soon as she entered, several people were already waiting for her.

"We worship the ancient gods and believe that the turn of night is the most sacred time of the day, when our people will be reborn."

"It's different from the second birth of the born!"

The one-armed old woman explained to Amanda.

Although Amanda doesn't like her surroundings very much, she respects other people's beliefs and doesn't want to embarrass her friends at this critical time.

Someone stepped forward and spread Amanda's hair, knotted it nimbly, and quickly made a complex hairstyle.

"Wear this."

Someone next to him handed a crown of feathers from different birds, brightly colored and arranged in a specific combination, although it was only woven from feathers, it looked extremely luxurious.

Soon, Amanda's neck, wrists, and ankles were covered with gorgeous silverware, bone ornaments, and a rattan robe, which immediately added a bit of mystery.

After all this was done, the people in the room quietly retreated.

The dimly lit hut was surrounded by only a few white candles, the flickering candlelight reflecting on Amanda's face.

"Distinguished guests, please be patient."

In the faint candlelight, the old woman's originally kind face looked a little hideous.

With that, he pushed the door open and left the room.

Amanda waited for a long time in boredom, until she was a little impatient when the door opened again.

This time, everyone was dressed in ancient costumes, and the old woman led Amanda through the quarters and into the woods.

By this time it was completely dark, and the woods in the darkness looked terrifying and eerie, and although Amanda was accompanied by a group of people, Amanda still felt a hairy feeling in her heart.

Just as she was retreating, Betty's voice was heard not far away.

"Amanda, I'm here."

Betty's decoration is similar to Amanda's, at first glance the colors are complementary and look very harmonious, but her face is painted with a lot of strange patterns, and Amanda can't recognize her for a while.

"Your family has enough rules."

Amanda whispered, "If I knew this was the case, I wouldn't have said anything." ”

"I don't like it either, but tradition is tradition." Betty also looked a little helpless.

Amanda took two deep breaths, "What are you wearing on your face?" The smell is weird. ”

"Some berries, twigs, and even the blood of wild beasts......"

"God, how can you paint that kind of thing?"

"Stay away from me...... Amanda joked.

It took nearly an hour to walk.

The woods were dense and the visibility around her was not very high, and Amanda had long since lost her way, and she didn't know where she was being taken in a circle.

Until everyone walked through the woods completely, and their eyes suddenly opened up.

In the distance, in the clearing, there were strange statues carved out of various logs, and in the middle was a tall building made of stones, surrounded by a group of people, no lights, only dozens of torches crackling in the night wind.

"We're here."

Betty retracted her smile, and the expression on her face became solemn.

She stepped forward quickly, raised her hands above her head in a strange pose, and then fell to her knees, her forehead pressed against the ground.

"My dear child, are you ready to embrace the arms of the gods?"

The leader is a middle-aged woman with white hair, except for her hair, her skin and figure are well maintained, and from the appearance, she is somewhat similar to Betty.

"I am willing to give everything I have, my mother!"

Boom!

The middle-aged woman knocked on the wooden staff in her hand, but the small voice resounded throughout the audience, "The initiation ceremony begins!" ”

Immediately after that, the people around took action, and Amanda was dazzled by a set of tedious rituals, and the time passed minute by minute, and soon it was close to midnight.

It was only at this point that all the initiation ceremonies were completely completed.

Just when Amanda thought it was all over, she heard the middle-aged woman in the lead raise her cane again, and this time everyone knelt on the ground at the same time.

"The initiation ceremony is over."

"Start the sacrificial ritual!"

Amanda's heart suddenly sudden, and an inexplicable tremor welled up in her heart.