Seeing her parents frozen stiff, Little Black Rabbit felt even more embarrassed.
"Father, Mother, isn't this ceremony a bit too formal? Even if I am the Divine Child, I'm not yet ready to stand on my own. Is it necessary to be so respectful to me?"
As soon as she said this, not only her parents but all the Moon Rabbits froze. The procession that was playing music almost went off-key, and all the Moon Rabbits stared at Little Black Rabbit, dumbfounded, wanting to say something but not having the status to speak on such an occasion.
In this strange atmosphere, although Little Black Rabbit felt something was off, she didn't realize too much was wrong.
Her young age and lack of experience, coupled with the fact that there were only a few people in front of her, made her think, if my parents' grand ceremony isn't for me, the Divine Child, then who else could it be for? It couldn't be for Su Mo, who has no connection to the Moon Rabbit clan, right?
With that thought, seeing everyone's reaction, Black Rabbit tried to suppress her excitement and continued, "Could it be that this ceremony is so important that it can't be interrupted? Or do I have to respond with a corresponding ceremony?"
Her train of thought, as jumpy as a rabbit, mulled it over for a few seconds. Then, she raised her right hand slightly, recalling the content of her bedtime stories, and said with a feigned deep voice, "Father, Mother, you may rise."
Screech!
The strings of an instrument made a sound like a saw cutting through wood, and the majestic music fell completely silent.
Seeing the posturing rabbit-eared girl, the Moon Rabbits in the procession could no longer continue playing.
Watching Little Black Rabbit's gleeful and eager expression, they all covered their faces, realizing that this child had completely misunderstood.
"Pfft!" This time, Canary couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. It had been a long time since she had seen a child as cute as Little Black Rabbit.
"Eh? What's so funny, Big Sister Canary?" Little Black Rabbit looked at everyone blankly, not understanding why they were all acting so strangely.
It wasn't until her parents finally couldn't take it anymore, and after confirming that Su Mo wasn't angry, grabbed her pair of active rabbit ears with darkened faces, that Little Black Rabbit finally realized the problem.
"Eeek, it hurts, it hurts! Mother, I already told you to rise, why are you still doing this to me? I'm the Divine Child now, isn't it a bit presumptuous of you to... Father, where are you? Father, come and save me!"
Sensing that something was wrong, Little Black Rabbit immediately cried for help, her eyes still filled with confusion.
I thought my status had really been elevated and I wouldn't be disciplined by my parents anymore. Why does my mother's murderous gaze look like she wants to eat bamboo-shoot-fried rabbit meat? It's too scary!
Subconsciously, she tried to ask her gentle father for help. However, this time, even her father didn't say a word to stop his wife's actions, only leaving Little Black Rabbit with a "you're on your own" back.
And under Little Black Rabbit's desperate gaze, he led the Moon Rabbit clan to bow once more to Su Mo. "Welcome, Your Excellency Su Mo. Please allow me, in the name of our main god, Indra, to welcome the arrival of the Master of the Christian Church!"
The rest of the Moon Rabbits bowed in unison, their posture even more respectful than when they were worshipping their own main god.
Seeing this, Little Black Rabbit's eyes widened, and she finally realized what she had gotten wrong. So this grand display by her parents wasn't to welcome her, but to welcome this Lord Su Mo!
And the name her father used wasn't the Moon Rabbit clan's, but that of their creator, Indra. This meant that the Moon Rabbit clan alone wasn't even qualified to receive him.
Only by bringing out their rarely seen main god did they have the qualification to stand before Su Mo with such a humble attitude.
It was only when she heard her father's last sentence that Little Black Rabbit finally remembered why the name Su Mo sounded so familiar.
The Master of the Christian Church... isn't that the one who started a war involving millions of god-groups not long ago, one of the two top existences among the god-groups, on par with the World-Honored One of Buddhism?
No wonder the Moon Rabbit clan had brought out the highest ceremonial etiquette, usually reserved for their own main god, Indra.
It wasn't because the other party deserved a ceremony of this level, but because the highest level of ceremony the Moon Rabbit clan had was only this.
To put it in perspective, the other party's status was equivalent to that of Shakyamuni, the main god worshipped by their own main god, Indra.
The difference in hierarchy was immeasurable.
And just now, in front of this great existence, she had questioned them, calling them impostors pretending to be from Arcadia. And in front of this great lord, she had rudely told her parents to rise?
"Ah..." At this moment, Little Black Rabbit finally understood what she had done and the fate that awaited her. "I'm so dead!" Her rabbit ears drooped instantly, and the light in her eyes faded, completely losing the will to live.
In any mythology, etiquette was something the gods and buddhas valued most. A single act of disrespect could not only lead to personal death but could even decide the fate of a nation.
This time, she was in big trouble!
"Waaah, thank you, Lord Su Mo!" A moment later, Little Black Rabbit followed closely behind Su Mo, clutching the corner of his clothes, her eyes watery as she thanked him incoherently. If she had a favorability bar above her head, it would have shot up to eighty percent in one go.
After all, the one who had saved her from the brink of despair was Su Mo.
Su Mo's simple words, "I was just playing around with this child, Black Rabbit," had completely erased the scolding and pressure from her parents.
Even the entire Moon Rabbit clan seemed to heave a sigh of relief.
They weren't blind; they could see that Su Mo was just helping Black Rabbit out. But this action proved that Su Mo had a very good impression of Little Black Rabbit and wouldn't hold a grudge over her earlier rudeness.
This was already a pretty good outcome.
Otherwise, if they had encountered a god who was strict about etiquette, even if a divine punishment was brought down upon the Moon Rabbit clan because of this, Indra wouldn't have been able to say anything about it.
The hierarchy between a god's retainers and a god was absolute, let alone a master of a god-group like Su Mo.
After Su Mo spoke up for Black Rabbit, her parents were immediately filled with gratitude. Of course, their gazes towards Black Rabbit were still the "death stares" reserved for parents.
After all, they knew what their daughter was like. Even if the public account was settled, a private lesson was unavoidable.
This gaze made Little Black Rabbit not dare to get close to her parents, and she hid directly behind the kind-hearted Su Mo. In her youth, she instinctively felt that only by Su Mo's side was she absolutely safe.
After the small interlude, under the grand welcome of the Moon Rabbit clan, Su Mo's party arrived at the center of the City of the Moon Shadow, the venue for the Divine Child's birth festival.
It was late at night, and a bright, clear moon hung at the zenith of the sky. For the Moon Rabbit clan, moonlight was an excellent source of power.
It seemed they had only just learned of Su Mo's arrival, as the Moon Rabbit clan hadn't had time to arrange a venue. They could only arrange the main seat for Su Mo's party and have other Moon Rabbits serve them diligently.
As for Little Black Rabbit, as the protagonist of the birth festival, she became the most idle one. As long as she sat behind Su Mo, no one dared to say anything to her, not even her parents.
"So, you got the news from Shiroyasha and were told to entertain Lord Su Mo well?" Canary chatted with Black Rabbit's parents for a few sentences and quickly understood the situation.
Looking at the Moon Rabbit clan's attitude of fawning over Su Mo and making him the absolute center of attention, she still shook her head, a little dissatisfied. "If that's the case, where is the Divine Army guarding Trāyastriṃśa? If they received the same news, they should have come to pay their respects as well, right?"
For others, the treatment given by the Moon Rabbit clan had reached its limit; this welcome ceremony was already grand enough. But for Su Mo, to be greeted by only a 4-digit community was already considered a slight.
Just like at the Fire Dragon's Birth Festival, where Su Mo was not qualified to make an appearance, a celebration of this level was only worthy of a distant blessing from him. That was why the Moon Rabbit clan didn't have the etiquette to receive an existence of his level.
Hearing Canary say this, Black Rabbit's parents shook their heads, also looking a little confused. "We don't know about that. We've already sent a message to the Divine Army, but no one has responded."
"No response?" Although it was possible that the message was ignored by the Divine Army due to the Moon Rabbit clan's low status, the Divine Army stationed at Trāyastriṃśa were elites and couldn't be so foolish.
Not to mention, a considerable portion of the Divine Army were angels from the Christian church. How could they ignore news about their own god?
Recalling the reason Shiroyasha had been temporarily transferred, a very strange thought suddenly popped into Canary's mind. "Could it be that something happened to the Divine Army?" If nothing had gone wrong, how could they fail to even perform a basic reception?
As soon as she said this, even Canary herself found it absurd and shook her head with a laugh. "How is that possible?"
Leticia also joined in, shaking her head with a serious face. "The Divine Army is a top-tier organization formed by the gods of the Celestial Realm by pooling all their war gods. Although they haven't made many moves over the years, their strength is unquestionable. How could something have gone wrong so easily?"
"Leticia, you're raising another flag with that sentence!" Canary immediately retorted. "Besides, the Divine Army has never been invincible. Even a million god-groups were taken on by a single person before, weren't they?"
Hearing this, Leticia was slightly taken aback, then silently glanced at Su Mo.
Indeed, the matter of Su Mo beating a million god-groups had happened just over a month ago. The Divine Army really didn't have much of a presence in front of him. But...
"Even if they're not invincible, the number of existences in Little Garden who can defeat the Divine Army and a million god-groups head-on is very small," Leticia said seriously. "Apart from a few exceptional beings like Lord Su Mo, the World-Honored One of Buddhism, and the Twin Goddesses, only a Last Embryo has this possibility. But how could a Last Embryo appear so easily?"
As she spoke, ignoring Canary's superstitious "stop, stop, don't raise any more flags" comment, she continued to add, "Besides, the war god guarding the eastern Trāyastriṃśa is Indra of the Twelve Devas. Even if his character is questionable, his strength is at the top among the war gods. How could something have happened to him so easily?"
Her voice had barely fallen when...
BOOM!
The earth trembled, the sky shook, and fragments of Trāyastriṃśa fell from the sky, crashing down like meteors and creating huge craters.
A golden figure fell straight from the sky and crashed heavily into the center of the festival square in the City of the Moon Shadow, creating a huge meteor crater.
The sudden turn of events threw the entire Moon Rabbit clan into chaos.
"Canary, you..." The battle-hardened Leticia was able to remain calm in the face of the unexpected. She immediately looked at her companion, hoping that Canary could use her intelligence to find the source of the commotion.
But at that moment, she found that Canary was staring in horror at the meteor crater in the center of the festival square, her expression far from calm.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Leticia frowned, very surprised. Canary had been through as many dangerous situations as she had. With her mental fortitude, even in the face of life-threatening danger, she wouldn't lose her composure to this extent. This small commotion had actually surprised her so much?
Before she could ask, she saw Canary rub her eyes and speak in a dry voice. "Leticia, my eyesight isn't very good. Can you help me take a look?"
"What?" Leticia tilted her head.
Canary suppressed the tremor in her voice and asked, "The guy in the golden armor who just fell from the sky... is that Indra?"
"Okay, I'll go and see—wait, what did you say?!" Understanding dawned on Leticia, and her face instantly mirrored Canary's horrified expression.
The thing that just fell... was Indra?