Chapter 48 Chapter 48 Psalm. "...What do you mean by drawing two dragon bones? From where?"
Su Cheng looked at the team leader blankly.
"From a dragon," Sasha curled her lips. "Apparently, someone knows where to find the dragons."
Footsteps were heard in the corridor.
The person came hurriedly, then stood in front of their room door and knocked cautiously.
Su Cheng could hear all this noise.
Normally, someone running over like that should have knocked on the door quickly, but the person stopped in front of the door and took a few seconds before knocking.
And his movements were very gentle, as if he was afraid of disturbing anything.
She opened the door curiously.
"My Lords—"
The tavern owner stood outside the door, panting and sweating profusely, saying, "Is there a Mr. Su Cheng here? The high priest of the temple is looking for you!"
The bishop of the Iron Cage Town Temple had previously rushed to Jinpo City to attend a meeting. Now the highest person in charge here is the high priest.
High Priest is a high-ranking title for clergy. A priest must pass two trials and various rigorous assessments before he can be promoted to High Priest.
For most priests, obtaining a similar level is almost their lifelong goal.
But most people cannot achieve this even after spending decades or even hundreds of years.
——It takes strength to obtain a title like high priest. Once they have corresponding achievements, they will have the opportunity to obtain the title of bishop and be assigned to a higher-level temple.
Therefore, not having the title of bishop does not mean that a high priest is weaker than an ordinary bishop.
For ordinary people, even if they are not very clear about the twists and turns here, they will know that he is a very important person.
Now he actually came to the tavern to look for a stranger!
This outsider must be a more powerful character!
Su Cheng groaned, "...is it because of what happened on the street just now?"
The boss looked at her with awe. "I don't know either. I hope I didn't disturb you—"
Su Cheng shook his head and went downstairs.
The hall was filled with solemnity. The guests who were drinking and chatting were now silent.
The tavern was originally quite deserted, and the figures of several clergymen were particularly conspicuous.
Su Cheng walked over and greeted the middle-aged man in the middle, "Your Excellency the High Priest."
The man was wearing a platinum uniform and holding a jeweled staff. He was accompanied by two young priests and two paladin captains.
"Your Excellency." The high priest returned her greeting. "I have been ordered to deliver a message to you."
As he said that, he took out the letter and handed it over with both hands.
Her posture was very solemn, and Su Cheng couldn't help but become serious as well, and also took it with both hands.
Generally speaking, teleportation arrays rely on anchor stones to work. The processing of this thing is extremely complicated and difficult, and it also requires some very rare and precious minerals.
Most of the forces' communication methods are carried out through specially trained monsters.
The Vatican is wealthy and powerful, and all its temples - from big cities to small towns, as long as they are proper temples, no matter how big, will have at least one miniature magic circle, also known as a letter array, which can transmit very light items, such as letters.
The exact transmission speed depends on the distance between the two arrays, but the difference is only a few seconds.
"The letter I just received," the high priest whispered, "...is specifically addressed to you."
Su Cheng touched the envelope, and his fingertips felt the cross fire ring pattern on the sealing wax. The golden red sealing wax had solidified into a hard shell, and the edges were slightly curled up.
She turned the envelope over and saw a golden ribbon wrapped around the back, with fine runes printed on it.
A paladin nearby handed over a letter opener.
Su Cheng thanked him and slowly opened the envelope. The edge of the snow-white paper was ironed with the holy emblem. The ink was very new, the handwriting was as sharp as a knife, and the curled silk threads between the letters were very beautiful.
——To the respected Lord Su Cheng, the God-favored One:
May you be blessed with light forever.
After a thorough investigation by secret spies, it was confirmed that it was Count Aurelia IV of Gawler and her clan who colluded with the Broken Face, disregarded the laws of the Empire and the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, polluted the sacred territory with bloody sacrifices, and murdered innocent people in an attempt to infiltrate heretical beliefs and subvert the foundations of Orthodoxy. Fortunately, your Excellency was alert, and we were able to take the initiative and kill all the foreign bandits in Huangshan City.
I am delighted to hear that you have chosen this university. I would like to extend my sincere congratulations. May God always be with you and may you have a smooth journey. We will see you again in the imperial capital.
Ling Yang, Commander of the Eastern Division of the Silver Moon Empire, the Holy See's Knights of the Northern Continent
Su Cheng: “…”
Su Cheng turned the letter over and read it. After confirming that there was no more content, he looked at the high priest in front of him and asked, "Did they directly destroy the nest?"
The high priest was a little surprised. "I don't know the content of the letter. If you have any questions, why not write a reply?"
Su Cheng immediately realized that she didn't know the inside story, and looked at the envelope again, "Well, sir, are you responsible for managing the envelope array in the temple? Then do you have any way of knowing where this letter was sent?"
"Huangshan City."
"It must have been a while ago. It only took a few seconds to send it over, and it would only take a few minutes for you to get over from the temple, right?"
The high priest nodded slightly.
Su Cheng thought to himself that he must have taken over the Gawler family castle this morning, and after finishing all the things, he wrote a letter to himself.
"...Your legion commander is quite educated. Some of his words sound like ancient common language."
"That's the rule," the high priest smiled. "When writing letters using a letter array, the wording should be kept as concise as possible, and the letter paper should be as short as possible..."
Although no one would dare to care about a big figure like the Legion Commander even if he wrote in a long-winded way, he did not become the Legion Commander as soon as he entered the Holy See, so he must have developed the habit a long time ago.
Su Cheng was speechless. "If we consider the cost of transmission, it would be better to make the envelope thinner."
She didn't want to continue discussing this issue with others, so she said she was going to write a reply letter, "Where is the nearest stationery store? I don't have any good paper!"
The high priest quickly asked her to return to the temple, saying they could provide paper and pen.
Su Cheng went with him and was invited to the lounge for entertaining guests. Writing materials and scrolls were placed on the table.
She thought for a long time with the feather pen in her hand, and found that she couldn't write anything fancy, so she simply thanked the other party for his blessing and said that she was also looking forward to meeting him in the imperial capital and would definitely treat him to a meal then.
"……No."
Su Cheng silently rolled up a piece of paper and put it in his pocket, then rewrote it, first saying that he had no credit for that matter and that he was just saying it casually.
"no."
She sighed again, crumpled up a piece of paper, and began to write the third version with a headache. This time the content was barely satisfactory, but there were typos in the middle.
Su Cheng angrily wrote it for the fourth time, gave it to the high priest and asked her to help send it away, then hurried back to the tavern.
Sasha and Camus had both run off, leaving Kai as the only one still waiting for her. Seeing her return, he raised the head and asked, "Are you going now?"
Su Cheng: "...The Broken Face is an organization of followers of the Jealous God, right?"
After receiving a positive response, she briefly recounted what had just happened.
"It seems my previous analysis is pretty much the same. The Count didn't know who the real murderer was, so he sent people to deal with all the suspects. But now she and her entire family are dead because they colluded with the followers of the God of Jealousy—"
And it is the broken face.
These gods have more than one organization of believers, just like the Holy See is the organization of believers of the God of Light, but it is only the largest one.
This supreme god has many believers and sects. Other gods may not have as many, but they often have more than one.
Different sects of the same deity may have slightly different styles of doing things.
For example, some sects like to offer sacrifices to gods in order to gain power, or simply to please the gods.
Some sects focus more on recruiting new members or spreading certain ideas.
These people's methods will also be different.
Like the Broken Face, it seems to enjoy capturing beautiful men and women, disfiguring them, causing them to collapse in pain, and then sacrificing them to the Jealous God.
The character of the God of Jealousy is also very abstract. As one of the seven golden flowers under the command of the God of Darkness, he also had an affair with the male protagonist in the original book.
In the end, I don't know what happened, they seemed to be sleeping together, and then they had a fight for some reason.
Su Cheng thought that he must have missed it by skipping a chapter, but no matter what, this guy was definitely not someone who could be easily dealt with.
"As far as I know, there are no powerful masters among Earl Gawler and her relatives."
Su Cheng thought for a moment, "Of course she's capable, but a Paladin at the division commander level would probably be able to handle her easily, right? It wouldn't be necessary for the legion commander to intervene, unless she's a divinely favored one."
Whether directly or indirectly, if he killed the jealous god's followers, he would be in trouble if he was retaliated by that guy.
Su Cheng still remembered the awful things the God of Lust had done. Thinking about it made him feel sick. "Why don't we set off quickly? When we get to the imperial capital, I'll go ask Ling Yang in person."
The letter did not mention it, but the legion commander himself must know whether the count is a person favored by God or not.
Kai looked down at her and said, "We'll set off once those dragon eagles have had enough to eat and drink. But before that, I'd like you to do a little training."
Su Cheng: “?”
He shook the head in his hand and said, "Go and hand this in first."
The two then went to the town hall.
News spread quickly in this town, especially among the government employees, who were all well-informed. They all knew that a magician and a warrior were killing people on the street. The high priest even went to the tavern in person to visit the magician and led him back to the temple. This must be a big shot.
Therefore, the mayor came to greet them in person, and even said that there was no need to check the identity of the deceased, as this person must be a wanted criminal.
Su Cheng sighed, "Let's check it out. We're not here to extort money from you. We just want to familiarize ourselves with the process."
It turned out that what the teammates said was right. The people in the town hall quickly found the corresponding magic portrait - it was a portrait printed on special paper. It looked very much like a photo, with a very high degree of restoration. Because it was a magic drawing, it was even vaguely three-dimensional, somewhat like the effect of seeing through 3D glasses.
However, the bounty for the assassin was not that high. He was a half-dwarf of mixed blood, and had once assassinated a young nobleman.
The young master's guards knocked off the assassin's mask, and his true face was revealed, making him a wanted criminal.
But this young master is just a lower-level noble, not a powerful figure, and the bounty is only fifty gold coins.
"It's actually quite a lot. I've just been doing large transactions lately, so I've become numb to money. I just bought—"
Su Cheng stopped talking.
She didn't want to tell the recipient that she spent money on the gift.
"...some snacks." Su Cheng stuttered under the leader's gaze, "I think the prices here are a bit expensive."
The black-haired man smiled, his eyes gentle, "Yeah."
He had just visited several shops, some of which sold food, and the prices were more than 30% cheaper than in Jinpo City.
But this doesn't need to be said.
Whoever kills the person will get the reward. Su Cheng claimed that this was the right thing to do. Kai did not refuse and went out with a bag of gold coins.
"etc--"
They walked to the square in front of the town hall, and Su Cheng suddenly raised his hand, "Why don't you put the money into your space equipment?"
Fifty gold coins is not a lot, but it is not a small amount either. It is not something that can be easily stuffed into any place.
He was still not properly dressed, with only a leather belt crossing his muscular upper body, a cloak hanging down at the sides of his shoulders, and leather pants outlining the strong and plump lines of his thighs.
Su Cheng's gaze paused on his legs.
These pants are so full of muscles that the pockets can't hold many gold coins, at least fifty is absolutely impossible.
"No," Kai pressed her hand down, "I can spend it quickly."
Su Cheng: “?”
That's fifty gold coins! That's equivalent to five hundred thousand RMB.
He won't buy any gifts too, will he?
"Wait a moment."
When they passed a tavern, Su Cheng watched the team leader turn around and go in. A few minutes later, he came out carrying a full box of wine.
The gold coins are gone.
Su Cheng: “…”
Is the wine here a bit expensive?
"It's the best aged wine from their cellar," Kai said, looking quite happy. "I can smell it—"
He carried the huge box with one hand, and the bottles inside were placed upright quietly without any collision with each other.
Su Cheng didn't like to care about how other people spent their money. Besides, these masters had different physiques, and drinking a lot of alcohol would not harm their bodies, so there was nothing to say.
Su Cheng: "As long as you are sure you are not being scammed, I was thinking of saying I can help."
He looked at her and asked, "Do you really want to use the power of the God of Contract in a place like this?"
"This kind of place?" Su Cheng repeated, "I'm willing to help you in various ways at various times. Seriously, if there's anything sweet, give me a taste."
Kai shook his head. "Yes, but—"
"I'll give you money!"
"It's not that problem. It's the upcoming training. I'm afraid you'll vomit."
"?" Su Cheng's pupils trembled. "What are you going to do? Are you going to beat me up yourself?"
He looked at the shocked little girl, his eyes sweeping over her slender body, "No, there's no need to fight at this stage—"
Su Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt that something bad was waiting for him.
Kai helplessly gestured for her to relax. They happened to pass by a bookstore, and he asked her if she wanted to go in and take a look. Su Cheng was a little surprised.
"I think all magicians like reading?" he said uncertainly. "Well, I like reading too."
The bookstore has a small entrance and there is a crooked tree in front of it. A wooden board hangs diagonally on the branch with a scroll pattern painted on it with faded paint.
The room inside was long and narrow, winding, and filled with the smell of ink and hay. The bookshelf against the wall at the door was filled with various picture albums, all of which were books on feed ratios, animal husbandry knowledge, paddock construction, etc.
Su Cheng saw Camus standing in the innermost corner from a distance, flipping through a book, looking very focused.
She didn't want to disturb him, so she quietly asked the owner behind the counter if there were any ancient legends about gods.
Since the town has a long history, perhaps there will be some heritage?
The owner asked her to go to the back to find the dark red bookshelf. Su Cheng followed his instructions and walked in, carefully moving past a blond man.
The blood mage lowered his eyes and glanced at her without saying a word.
On the red-painted wooden shelves were piled many heavy parchment scrolls and books.
Some of the covers were embroidered with words like "Chronicles of the Gods" and "War of the Dragons" in gold thread, and they looked a little worn, and they also had manuscript numbers printed on them.
She opened one of the books. The yellowed pages were densely covered with text and accompanied by colorful illustrations, but they were slightly faded due to their age.
Su Cheng looked at the content carefully and found that it was a love story. The author was imagining himself falling in love with a god.
I read a few more books and found that none of them were official history, and there were even some pornographic books.
Su Cheng: “…”
She flipped through the books for a while and unexpectedly discovered that there were books related to the Dark God. According to the standards of the Holy See, these books would be considered banned books.
There was no mention of any evil sacrificial rituals, just some specious poems.
"That is the vanity maggot crawling in the reflection, the devil whose mind is corrupted by evil flames—"
Her fingers paused.
"Altos, known as the Golden Morning Dew, has brows like snowy peaks at dawn and lips like roses in midsummer—"
"And his younger brother raised the silver hammer, causing his golden hair to be stained with red dew and his emerald eyes to shatter like shattered ice."
"The corpse lay in the rose bush in the cemetery, and from then on each petal grew fangs, gnawing at the skirts of passersby."
"The murderer fled on a moonlit night, covered in blood and rage, and prostrated himself before the temple of the Yearless One."
The Ageless One is one of the aliases of the Dark God, and it has a bit of a respectful meaning, but here it seems more like a sarcastic title.
"Look, His Excellency the Grand Master of Ceremonies, who serves the darkness. His golden hair is the molten remains of a crown, each strand tempered in the poisonous flames of jealousy. His eyeballs are sulfur lakes soaked in malachite, and each line is a twisted wire of thorns."
"The sharp-browed, star-eyed prisoners of war were crucified, their cries drowned in molten lead. The bodies of their handsome, gentle colleagues rotted outside their shattered coffins, being devoured by vultures..."
Su Cheng: “?”
The following verses have become incomplete, and some parts seem to have been worn away.
"The flames of battle swept across the sky during the white night. A general emerged from the enemy camp, bathed in the morning light. His silver hair was as pure as fresh snow, and his figure was as majestic as a mountain."
"What kind of beauty and power is that—"
"The brother-killer's jealousy was ignited, and he roared, screamed, and cursed as he moved forward."
"When his sword was broken, he tore out his opponent's spine to use as a weapon. When his arms and legs were cut off, he grafted the enemy's stumps for his own use—"
"He fell at sunrise, and the holy fire burned away the shadow of sin."
"Tens of millions of broken faces in the sea of mirrors all repeated the same words to him: You can never get it, so you must destroy it."
Su Cheng: “?”
She was frightened by what she saw.
"What?" Camus came over at some point, "You—"
He glanced at the poetry collection in the girl's hand, read the words clearly, and his expression suddenly became a little subtle.
Camus: "...Are you interested in Gerald?"
Su Cheng raised his head, "What?"
The blood mage blinked, "The God of Jealousy."
Su Cheng's mask of pain.
It’s true!
I just want to say that the story looks familiar. Except for the change in gender, from killing the sister to killing the brother, everything else seems to be similar to the original.
Su Cheng: "I was thinking that I might have offended the God of Jealousy, but judging by these stories, he seems to be a very troublesome person."
Camus: “…”
If an ordinary person said this, he would probably just be crazy. After all, not everyone has the ability to offend the gods.
But when she said this, there was no trace of doubt or mockery on his face.
Camus: "That count was his favored one? Now the Vatican has killed the count?"
Su Cheng sighed, "Your mind works really fast. Yes, I already suspect this possibility—"
She flipped through the book and saw that the next page of the poem had been torn out, leaving only a short final paragraph.
If you feel a burning pain on the back of your neck when you're standing by the window, it's because he's looking at you.
If there was a lock of golden hair brighter than his, it would be cut into the wick,
If there were an inch of flesh and bone more smooth than his, it would be crushed into blood.
Run away before he finds you.
A more complete dawn is imprisoned in your pupils.
——"The False God's Music Score·End of Chapter 7"
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