Chapter 121 Chapter 121 Enemy.
Su Cheng: “…”
It looked like tragedy had already occurred.
She walked towards the house in front of her, which was also the residence of the Wayne family. She lifted up a few large wall panels and roof and looked among the ruins.
There were no corpses or bloodstains.
And judging from the collapsed debris, it doesn't look like this place has been rummaged through.
She felt that the children should not be dead yet - after all, they started packing their luggage before she left.
Leliana's men sent the bandit group to intimidate the townspeople. Even if they had other plans, they would focus on the crystal mines and secondarily on plundering wealth.
Killing shouldn't be the point, after all, there isn't much hatred between them.
Su Cheng thought uncertainly.
When she turned around, she found that Hurwitz had disappeared.
Maybe he went to investigate the surrounding area.
A master of this level would definitely show up on his own when he wanted to find her. Su Cheng didn't want to bother with him and walked down the hillside.
Many huge sunken pits appeared in the town, and there were crisscrossing cracks around it.
Almost all the buildings on the commercial street collapsed, and charred corpses could be vaguely seen under the bricks and tiles, and colorful glass shards sparkled in the sunlight.
She remembered the grand occasion of celebrating the festival a few days ago.
At this moment, the square where people were dancing and singing before turned into a terrifying deep pit, with countless burn marks and large amounts of dried black blood remaining in the pit.
On a high ground a little further away, stood several platinum tents, like lilies of the valley blooming on scorched earth, with several armored paladins standing guard nearby.
Su Cheng did not hide her figure, and they saw her.
She simply went straight over.
In the open space between the tents, a dozen surviving residents were sitting around, receiving bread and water from the clergy.
Most of them were very young, almost teenagers, with a few bewildered toddlers.
There was a pale-faced child who looked about five or six years old. He was receiving treatment from the pastor, and his cheeks soon became rosy.
"……Who are you?"
The paladins on duty looked at her warily.
They were obviously also the elite of the Holy See, and were able to sense the strength of this stranger, which was at least far superior to theirs.
"I have a friend in town," Su Cheng whispered, "Is there anyone here named Wayne?"
Several paladins looked at each other.
When the survivors over there saw her, someone took the initiative to greet her, and the clergymen relaxed a little.
"Sir Charles has always been thinking about you," the young man said loudly, "He even called out your name when he was unconscious——"
Su Cheng was a little surprised, "...He's unconscious?"
The paladins seemed to have finally believed her, and someone took her to a tent.
The silver-haired young man leaned against the bed, his face extremely pale and his breathing extremely light.
His handsome face had a hollow and sad expression, his long eyelashes were wet, and the corners of his eyes were red, as if he had just cried.
Two priests in white robes sat beside him, with endless streams of white light flowing from their palms, the other end of which sank into his chest.
Charles opened his arms slightly, revealing a small area of his well-defined chest, with purple and blue markings spreading across his bulging muscles.
Those contaminated, heterochromatic blood vessels bulged slightly from the skin and flesh, trembling from time to time, like poisonous insects lurking in the body.
“…Su Cheng?!”
He saw the black-haired girl standing at the entrance, his expression became shocked, and then regret and self-blame emerged.
Su Cheng frowned and looked at him, "What happened?"
Charles looked at the two priests and said, "Your Excellencies, may I speak to her alone?"
The two men agreed, and it seemed that they also wanted to take a break.
One of them warned him to come back within three quarters of an hour, otherwise his injury might worsen. Charles nodded silently, stood up, buttoned his clothes and left the tent.
"…I'm sorry," Charles whispered, "I wish I had listened to you."
Su Cheng looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean? Didn't you agree to my proposal?"
The two walked down the hillside, slightly away from the Vatican's camp, and stood on the desolate ruins filled with the smell of gunpowder, gazing at the desolate scene.
"...Yes, I did that, too," Charles said painfully, "but when I wanted to send them away, I was stopped on the road. They heard that the mayor had offended the secret cult and those people were coming to retaliate against us, so the mayor decided to send the children away for refuge, leaving the innocent residents to bear the consequences—"
"They're just a bunch of irrelevant people talking nonsense!"
Su Cheng interrupted him, "And the people you're sending away are your blood relatives. Their safety is the most important thing. What's more, you're only sending them to school in Jinpo City! Besides, who can stop you?"
"...They couldn't stop me, but I tried to reason with them, which delayed me. Later, my mother found us and asked me to take the others back. She said they had sent a letter and would talk to the secret cult members, and the matter would be resolved."
Charles's expression turned cold. "But they waited for those bandits."
"What about you?" Su Cheng asked, "Were you injured by the bandits?"
"There was an illusionist," Charles whispered. "After he controlled me, I lost consciousness. When I woke up, the town had changed into what it is now. Someone must have tried to kill me, but only left this behind."
He pointed to the wound on his chest and said, "People from the Vatican will be here soon."
"So you didn't see what happened along the way?"
"It's obvious," the silver-haired young man said through gritted teeth, "Those evil, greedy, insatiable secret cult members found it cheaper to kill everyone here than to pay millions of gold coins!"
Su Cheng groaned, "So the cult got what they wanted? I'm talking about the crystal."
Considering that they had previously said that the tree blood crystal was underground and passed by many people's houses, if the cult members wanted to mine the ore, there should be traces of excavation on the ground.
But as she walked along, she didn't find any relevant clues.
Charles glanced at her and said, "No. The Vatican is here."
Su Cheng: "...So who does the crystal belong to now?"
Charles frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I didn't mean anything," Su Cheng said calmly, "I was just asking about the process of what happened. After all, I don't know anything."
Charles closed his eyes and said, "The people from the Holy See will pay to purchase the mining rights and resettle the people here."
Su Cheng nodded. "I see. Also, I saw there were other survivors. Have you communicated with them? Also, have you buried your family?"
"I asked them, and they said the mayor gathered them together, and then they were knocked unconscious by the fighting spirit..."
Charles hesitated, his expression becoming even more painful. "My mother and my brothers and sisters all died near the town hall. There are only deep pits and ravines left there. Their bodies have all been burned..."
Su Cheng didn't say anything else.
The silver-haired young man lowered his head slightly and wiped away the tears that fell from the corners of his eyes. "What about you? Where are you going next?"
"...Southern Continent, right?"
"Huh?" Charles was stunned for a moment, "Why?"
They had reached the outskirts of town and arrived at the ruins of the Wayne family mansion.
Before Su Cheng could answer, a figure flashed beside him.
Hurwitz is back.
His deep green eyes, filled with arrogance, calmly swept across the injured young man in front of him, and then looked at Su Cheng.
"Let's go," said the silver-haired man in a black battle robe calmly, "I have figured out the whole story. Someone will pay the price for this."
“!”
Charles was stunned, his eyes repeatedly swept over the newcomer, "You are from the secret cult—"
He also glared at the girl in front of him, "You said you were going to the Southern Continent and you wanted to join the secret cult?"
Su Cheng crossed his arms and said, "I didn't ask if you would join the Holy See, so I have no obligation to answer your question."
She paused, "But there's nothing I can't answer. Yes, I will."
"You!" Charles' eyes were bloodshot. "You knew they did that. Those gangsters were their people. They almost killed the whole town—"
"Young man," Hurwitz said indifferently, "with your skill level, can't you see? The sinkhole in the center of your town was caused by a clash of fighting spirits. At least two great warriors are battling here. Besides you, are there any warriors above level six here?"
Charles was stunned by the question.
His mother was only at the fifth level, so naturally there was no one stronger than her in the town.
"This aura," Hurwitz looked at the ruins, "and there are two fire attributes. I'm afraid your family's fighting spirit is not that?"
Charles suppressed his anger and murderous intent, "What do you want to say?"
"Your understanding is truly admirable," Hurwitz said coldly. "The thread of events is so clear, yet you still demand an explanation? I thought you were just blindly resentful, unwilling to accept your own incompetence, but I didn't expect you to be a deluded fool."
Su Cheng couldn't help but feel a headache, "Sir, at least give him some time to think. He just lost his family."
Charles was about to get angry, but when he heard her speak, he turned around and asked, "Are you on his side too?"
"Oh my God," Su Cheng held his forehead, "Have you reported the news to the people of the Holy See? If you did, the people of the Secret Cult would definitely think you were going back on your word. If you didn't, didn't you wonder how the people of the Holy See could get here so quickly? Putting these two questions aside, the most important thing is that it wasn't a group of people who actually destroyed this town, but two people. There was a fight between two people in the square. Most likely, one of them was from the Holy See and the other from the Secret Cult. Their fight destroyed the entire town. Apparently, your family died that way."
Charles froze. "The Vatican wouldn't do that. They always—"
"Have you always cared about the lives of ordinary people?"
Su Cheng interjected, "Indeed. But you are doing business with the secret cult. You are not devout believers in the God of Light, nor are you the kind of ordinary people that the Church would care about."
She still remembers how Mithros was destroyed, how the people in the city were slaughtered, and how the truth was finally buried.
Esotericism is not a symbol of goodness.
But the Vatican is definitely not.
As I once said in my memory, in the war between the two sides, all boundaries have become blurred.
Su Cheng sighed, "Have you ever seen fire-attributed fighting? I have. Their fighting spirit flew everywhere, and wherever it flew, it was like being hit by a huge fireball. I'm talking about low-level fighters. The fighting spirit of mid- and high-level fighters can be twice as powerful, even dozens of times more powerful."
Charles lowered his head. "...So everything is because of those crystals?"
Su Cheng found it difficult to answer this question and couldn't help but look at the person next to him.
"The people of the Holy See will be happy to see the current situation," Hurwitz said calmly, "After all, there are still many people here who know the secrets of the Ancient Gods."
Charles sneered, "Perhaps the secret cult members think so too."
"Since Salon is in charge of this matter, if he wants to do this, then the day after he confirms the news, you will all be dead."
Hurwitz said calmly, "When you wake up, you'll realize that things are completely different from what you think."
Charles gritted his teeth and said, "It's easy for you to say that, but you haven't experienced it-"
"Losing family members because of the accusation of being a false god? I've experienced that," Hurwitz interrupted him. "My sister and brothers studied ancient magic since childhood and became Blessed Ones. Later, they were all killed by assassins from the Inquisition. I have always been able to see the true face of the Church. I don't hate them. They are simply driven by profit or blindly pursue their faith, and thus work for the God of Light."
Charles seemed to want to retort.
"Of course," Hurwitz paused, "I wouldn't expect someone like you to have such a clear understanding. If it weren't so rare for someone to cultivate this level of Dou Qi at your age, I wouldn't want to waste my time talking to you. Also, I suggest you search your warehouse to see if there are any rare protective magic scrolls being used."
Charles took a deep breath and turned to look at Su Cheng, "Are you going to the Southern Continent?"
He asked word by word, as if to confirm this matter.
Su Cheng nodded, "I also have something to figure out."
"Okay," the silver-haired young man chuckled, "maybe the next time we meet, we'll be enemies."
Su Cheng remained noncommittal. "If you're saying you'll be mean to me, then I should be able to get used to it quickly."
Charles gave her an angry look and walked away without looking back.
In his sad gray-blue eyes, a faint golden arc seemed to emerge, like some fleeting mark.
Su Cheng was stunned for a moment.
The shapes of those golden threads look—
Hourglass?
She watched him disappear, "...actually, he's figured it out, right?"
"It's obvious," Hurwitz nodded slightly. "For someone like this, if he wants to get to the bottom of this, then he has no choice but to join the Vatican."
Su Cheng tilted his head and looked at the silver-haired man next to him.
Hurwitz exchanged glances with her. "What?"
"Mayor Wayne, the mother of that person just now, is a level five. She should be able to survive that kind of shock, right?"
"That's assuming she didn't use some kind of family protective magic scroll," Hurwitz said firmly. "Once the magic in the scroll is exhausted, the protective barrier will absorb her life force. I've seen the mayor's body, and it's clearly caused her death. She was truly a conscientious lord, doing her utmost to protect the survivors."
"...Why didn't her own child survive?"
"If those people volunteered to sacrifice their lives and join their mother in maintaining the protective barrier, they would soon be sucked dry. I imagine their fighting spirit level would be even lower, right?"
Su Cheng sighed.
This truth is really uncomfortable.
"...To be honest, isn't it true that good people don't get rewarded most of the time?"
"If you have enough power, you can become anything—"
Hurwitz looked at the ruins. "If Mr. Wayne had practiced resisting illusions and stayed lucid during the subsequent battle, the outcome would likely have been different."
"So who controlled him with the illusion? Someone from the secret sect? Or someone from the church?"
"In his memories," Hurwitz's face darkened, "I saw the face of the illusionist. He's the one I'm tracking down."
"...someone from the Kagami-in Society?"
"Yes."
After realizing that the Kagami-kai members were still stirring up trouble and wanted to further worsen the relationship between the two organizations, Hurwitz changed his plan.
After the two of them walked together for a while, he said he wanted to leave.
"I beg your pardon that I cannot return to Highgarden with you."
The silver-haired man said calmly, "I will remain in the Northern Continent for a while. My subordinates will accompany you to ensure your smooth entry into the temple. I am sure we will meet again in Highgarden."
Su Cheng nodded, "But aren't you afraid that I'll run away? Your men are far worse than you."
The black knights stood by with expressionless faces.
Hurwitz gave him a look that looked like he was being fooled. "You're the one seeking answers, not a prisoner being transported."
Su Cheng shrugged, "Maybe I lied about wanting to go so you'd lower your guard."
The silver-haired man looked at her, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly. "...I don't think so."
All right.
Apparently he can still take a joke.
Su Cheng thought so, "Then see you in Gaoting. I hope your investigation will yield results soon, or that person will be caught."
"Thank you," Hurwitz nodded gracefully. "Have a safe trip."
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