Chapter 235 | His Story II
Three days of ash for atonement.
Four days of water for prosperity.
The first day is the day of atonement.
The second day is the day of reparation.
The third day is the day of absolution.
The sin of the subconscious. The sin of the vulnerable. The sin of ignorance. These were all what needed to be atoned for, but the scale of the ritual varied depending on one’s income and status.
Those who have coveted their neighbor’s belongings, those who have defiled their offerings, those who have made false oaths—they must confess their sins, pay back the damages tenfold, offer blood sacrifices during the ancestral rites on the day of ash. This was in accordance with the divine law, which was separate from each domain’s governing law.
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Blood flows during the festival.
This is a commonality not just in this country but also in the lands beyond the White Mountain Range. With only a single mountain range separating them and no vast seas or deserts to completely isolate them, races, languages, and religions are bound to be similar.
Religions have splintered into different sects, each calling the others heretics, but they share the same name for their god and very similar sacrificial methods.