Seeing Miennes's actions and hearing his blessings, Jiang Baimian's first reaction was to turn around and look towards the corner of the rock wall.

Sure enough, with a whoosh, the jeep rushed over and stopped a few meters away.

Then, Shang Jianyao opened the driver's seat door and jumped out.

With a thud, he, also wearing a gray camouflage uniform, quickly walked up to Miennes and eagerly asked:

"Which sect are you from, and which Ruling Star do you worship?"

This reaction, this attitude, it's like meeting a half-brother... Although Jiang Baimian was mentally prepared, she still felt the urge to cover her face at Shang Jianyao's performance.

At this moment, she missed the masked life in Redstone Town immensely.

Miennes was startled, and after clearly seeing Shang Jianyao's appearance, he politely replied:

"We are from the 'Furnace Sect', and we worship the Ruling Star representing August, 'Scorching Gate'."

'Scorching Gate'... This Ruling Star seems relatively low-key, not very well-known in the north... Jiang Baimian recalled what she knew, the information provided by the company, and Bai Chen's account, and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Shang Jianyao then asked:

"Was that greeting you just performed a dance?"

Miennes didn't understand why this rather handsome young man was so fixated on this matter, but he still honestly said:

"Dancing is our way of pleasing the gods. The greeting method set by the sect is a special dance, symbolizing everyone's instinctive reaction in front of the Ruling Star."

Burned by 'Scorching Gate'? Jiang Baimian and Long Yuehong couldn't help but mutter in their hearts.

Of course, on the surface, Jiang Baimian would definitely not be so rude, and she echoed with a smile:

"I've seen some old-world books that say that in ancient times, humans also used various dances to please and communicate with the gods. This is the origin of many current sacrificial rituals."

Seeing that this team, which had easily driven away the 'Mountain Fox' bandit group, was quite friendly, Miennes relaxed a little and looked at his companions, saying:

"We don't know much about these things. We chose dance because it and fire are most pleasing to the Ruling Star.

"Our greatest respect and best blessing for someone is to say 'May the breath of the gods bathe you' or 'Offer a dance for you' while greeting them.

"If we say the latter sentence, we often add a short dance of our own choreography."

Quite interesting, but wouldn't it be too strange for an elderly person with a lot of gray hair to dance such a lively dance? Jiang Baimian had a vivid memory of the scene just now.

"Oh, oh." Shang Jianyao responded with sparkling eyes.

In the next second, he also twitched his body, simulating the expression of being burned.

After a few movements, he said seriously:

"Offer a dance for you."

After speaking, he performed another strange dance that he didn't know where he had learned.

Miennes and the others were a little bewildered at first, then asked in surprise:

"Are you also from our sect?"

"I think so, but I haven't been recognized by your Bishop yet," Shang Jianyao replied frankly.

Ha, this time he didn't ask what the Eucharist was? Is the charm of dance that great? Long Yuehong, wearing an exoskeleton device and responsible for guarding the surroundings, was both surprised and amused.

"S-Self-proclaimed?" Miennes couldn't understand what Shang Jianyao meant for a moment.

After a few seconds, he smiled in enlightenment and said:

"You want to join our sect?

"Hehe, we don't have a Bishop. The person in charge of a diocese is a 'Devotee', the person who preaches daily is a 'Praiser', and ordinary believers like us are collectively called 'Grateful Ones'."

Jiang Baimian compared these three terms with the ranks of other sects and asked before Shang Jianyao could:

"What's above the 'Devotee'? What's above that?"

"It's the 'Scorcher' and the Ruling Star's messenger and spokesperson—'God Dancer'," Miennes didn't hide anything; it wasn't a secret.

"'God Dancer'... Then is he very good at dancing?" Shang Jianyao's focus shifted immediately.

He looked like he wanted to have a dance-off with the other party.

"I haven't met 'God Dancer' Your Grace." Having talked to this point, Miennes consciously took on the responsibility of preaching. "The 'Scorching Gate' Ruling Star we worship is the embodiment of the New World Gate. Only with His approval and blessing can we humans pass through the Gate, get rid of the graylands, and obtain new life.

"This can be achieved by pleasing Him and praising Him for a long time to obtain divine grace and be guided directly into the New World, or by believing while finding the real New World Gate in a certain city ruin in the graylands. At that time, every believer who walks to the 'Scorching Gate' will be redeemed."

Speaking of this, Miennes twitched his body as if burned, and then prayed:

"Praise the Gate of the New World!"

This can be considered a sect that combines the Ruling Star belief and the New World legend relatively well... Well, it's mainly thanks to the word 'Gate' in this Ruling Star's title... Jiang Baimian listened with great interest to Miennes's account, making rapid evaluations and analyses in her mind.

This was her hobby.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment, and finally asked that question:

"What is your Eucharist?"

"Our Eucharist is related to fire," Miennes began to introduce.

The better this powerful team's impression of the 'Furnace Sect' was, the more guaranteed the safety of him and his companions would be.

And on the Eucharist, Miennes, who had been in contact with many sects, was quite proud. Seeing that Shang Jianyao, Jiang Baimian, and the others were a little puzzled, he hurriedly explained enthusiastically:

"Our Eucharist was called 'Hot Pot' in the old world."

Shang Jianyao's eyes lit up a little more.

Miennes smiled and continued:

"Flame is the darling of the Ruling Star. Using it is pleasing the Ruling Star.

"Our southern region of the 'LinHai Alliance' has a variety of spices and grows chili peppers that can be used to make the broth for hot pot.

"After lighting the coal or charcoal and letting the hot pot boil, we can put in pre-sliced meat, offal, potato slices, and bamboo shoot slices to cook...

"The specific types depend on the ingredients available. The poor have poor ways of eating, and the rich have rich ways of eating.

"Even if you don't have the broth, if you are in the wilderness, as long as you can boil water, you can enjoy the Eucharist."

Listening to this, Long Yuehong next to him couldn't help but want to swallow a mouthful of saliva.

Fortunately, his dry mouth prevented him from succeeding.

This 'Furnace Sect' has a different style from other sects... Is this a gourmet lover's alliance? I'm a little tempted... Well, it can be seen that the food supply within the 'LinHai Alliance' is relatively sufficient... Jiang Baimian glanced sideways at Bai Chen, and found that she was still focused on monitoring the captured bandits.

After listening to Miennes's description, Shang Jianyao asked directly:

"So, how can I join your sect?"

Miennes was increasingly delighted and said with a smile:

"As long as you can meet a 'Devotee', uh, a 'Praiser' will also do, you can become a 'Grateful One' under his guidance.

"Well, the nearest 'Devotee' is in Tarnan."

Tarnan... Isn't that our destination, the external trading point of 'Mechanical Paradise'? Jiang Baimian asked in surprise:

"Do the people of 'Mechanical Paradise' also believe in 'Scorching Gate'?"

Miennes shook his head:

"All the people we met in Tarnan were smart robots, and they don't believe in religion at all.

"His Excellency Li Zhe is in Tarnan to serve the merchants and hunters of the 'LinHai Alliance'. Besides him, there are clergy from other sects."

Speaking of this, Miennes explained:

"Our 'LinHai Alliance' is adjacent to 'Mechanical Paradise' and has long-term trade relations. At least half of the humans in Tarnan are from our 'LinHai Alliance'."

"You also came from Tarnan?" Jiang Baimian keenly grasped a key point.

"Yes." Miennes didn't hide this.

He sighed and said:

"We stayed in Tarnan for a while, and the trade had been completed. Everyone couldn't wait to go home.

"I thought that there would be fewer caravans in winter, and fewer people would go out from the wanderer settlements, so the bandits would definitely reduce their activity frequency and spend the winter quietly. So, I decided to take advantage of the recent cold weather to cross the Chiral Mountains and return to the 'LinHai Alliance'.

"Who knew that we would encounter the 'Mountain Fox' bandit group..."

He wanted to say that 'Mountain Fox' was a relatively famous and powerful bandit group in the Chiral Mountain area, but thinking of the one-sided battle before, he closed his mouth again.

As far as this team in front of him was concerned, 'Mountain Fox' was not worth mentioning at all.

After listening to Miennes's answer, Jiang Baimian smiled:

"Sometimes, reverse thinking is indeed effective, and doing the opposite can also be a good method.

"But the premise is that you have to consider: If things don't develop as you expected, do you have the ability and preparation to withstand the unexpected?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Bai Chen next to her asked:

"Why are you in such a hurry to return to the 'LinHai Alliance'? Anyone who has experienced wandering in the graylands knows that winter is the most difficult season."

Miennes hesitated a little.

He looked at his companions, weighed his words, and said:

"This is really hard to say.

"The personnel of 'Mechanical Paradise' in Tarnan are all smart robots. They have no need for food and have never thought about farming. All the food eaten by the caravans and hunters is either brought by themselves or obtained by organizing teams to go around. Some forces also saw this business opportunity and specialized in bringing food to sell.

"But similar things are all portable, mainly canned food and biscuits."

Miennes paused and said with a bitter face:

"After eating canned food and biscuits for a month or two, everyone misses the dishes at home very much."

He thought that this kind of 'squeamishness' would be ridiculed, but who knew that the members of this powerful team in front of him, except for the one wearing the exoskeleton device whose face could not be seen, all showed sympathetic expressions.

"In this way, Tarnan is really not a good place," Jiang Baimian couldn't help but sigh.

Shang Jianyao also sighed.