The warmth and dryness of the "Giant Bear's Lair" was like heaven to Mark, who had been sleeping in the open air for a long time.
The huge wooden bathtub was filled with hot water (the work of fetching water and burning firewood was all done by the hardworking little angel Mu), which washed away the coldness and the foul smell of the market.
Finally lying on the hard bed covered with thick animal skins, Mark sighed with contentment.
The howling cold wind outside the window makes the comfort inside the room seem almost luxurious.
Xiao Mu, who had taken a hot bath together, curled up beside his pillow and snored softly with satisfaction.
Mark closed his eyes, listening to the creaking of the wooden buildings and the faint noise in the distance, and almost fell asleep.
However, at some point, a very faint sense of "existence" that was incompatible with the night environment, like a stone thrown into calm water, aroused the instinctive ripples of Mark's "Soul Harmonizer".
The sleepiness disappeared in an instant.
He kept his breathing steady, his eyelids slightly closed, but his soul's perception extended cautiously like invisible tentacles.
Although it is not as good as Monica's identification technique's direct detection, it can clearly and passively receive all-round subtle disturbances in the environment.
Outside the door.
The roof of the small building across the alley was covered with a thin layer of ice.
There, there is a deliberately suppressed, turbid soul fluctuation filled with greed and vigilance.
The man was staring at the door of the "Giant Bear's Lair" through the gap in the broken window at the end of the corridor on the third floor of the hotel, which was never closed tightly and was covered with thick oil paper.
The guy's eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the wooden board and focus on the purse that he placed on the bedside, which was shiny even in the dim light.
It contained the few gold coins he had left after the purchase, but it was still a considerable amount.
Mark's heart trembled.
It seems that because of my purchases and actions during the day, I have been targeted.
Mark did not suspect those ordinary vendors at the bottom of the market.
They are all low-level ordinary professionals, they should not have the courage to make moves on me.
The red-nosed Frost believer, the scarred and bloody man during the day, and the woman from the Pleasure Temple who was frightened away by the aura of holy light... the faces of various forces flashed quickly in his mind.
Who would be so interested in a lone "Holy Light kid" who spends money lavishly?
Since you failed to preach during the day, you started to have evil thoughts at night?
The soul's perception carefully captured the breath of the observer.
It was cold and rough, with the smell of oil smoke and low-quality tobacco from the years of struggle at the bottom of the settlement. It had no obvious elemental bias, unlike the believers of the Frost Temple or the Battle Blood Sect who carried a specific aura of "divine grace".
But this soul aura... I clearly came into contact with it during a conversation today!
Mark's spirit suddenly shook.
It was the old dwarf stall owner who asked for dried meat from him in the filthy alley and kept complaining about the exploitation of the Black Anvil Church!
The old fellow whose soul was originally filled with numbness and despair, was now filled with greed and a kind of... eagerness to complete a task?
“Black Anvil Church…” Mark snorted in his heart.
The old dwarf’s complaints during the day are still fresh in my mind, such as “more greedy than a black digger worm”. Now that I think about it, that complaint may not be just a simple grumble, but more like a kind of... foreshadowing.
An introduction to approach him, an outsider who looks rich and a little "kind-hearted"?
They didn't figure out their own background during the day, or they were afraid of the identity of "Holy Light" and didn't dare to act in public, so now they are playing dirty?
Mark didn't alarm the other party.
He turned over and deliberately made a light snoring sound, as if he was sleeping soundly, but the tentacles of his soul had silently locked onto the turbid soul hiding outside the window at the end of the corridor.
To find out the details of the Black Anvil Church, it seems that this watcher who was accidentally hooked has become the best clue.
…
Deep within the so-called "sanctuary" of the Dark Church lies an underground chamber filled with strong incense and with dense runes carved into the walls.
Enzo felt like a piece of pig iron thrown into a forge. His head was dizzy and groggy, completely soaked and wrinkled by the mellow liquor and the warmth and softness of the two women.
The leather armor on his body had long been stripped off, and he was wearing a rough but heavy black cloak instead.
The cold stone slab was covered with intricate and twisted lines, forming a huge ritual array that exuded a heavy dark aura.
"...pure dark favor...primal power...the Lord's gaze is upon you, lost child..."
A gaunt figure in a robe inlaid with dark gems was brandishing a short bone staff and chanting a difficult and blasphemous prayer.
This is the high priest of the Dark Church of Fordragon.
Several believers in the same black robes knelt at the edge of the magic circle, their bodies trembling slightly with excitement or fear.
Enzo was placed in the center of the magic circle, his limbs bound by invisible dark forces.
The high priest's so-called "awakening" ceremony began.
Dark energy as thick as ink seeped out from the magic circle and wrapped around Enzo's body like a living thing.
With a biting chill, they tried to penetrate into his pores and probe into his soul, to activate and guide the "Dark Divine Grace" that they perceived.
They felt that if someone like Enzo, who was favored by the God of Darkness, did not immediately join the Dark Church, it must be because the grace of the God of Darkness in his body had not yet been activated.
At first, Enzo only felt a cold sense of restraint, which made his drunken brain a little sober.
But then, as the dark energy penetrated deeper into his core, it tried to touch the source of his power.
A presence that is completely different from the dark aura, but more powerful and heavy, like a dormant volcano awakened by the digging of ants!
Buzz——!
Enzo's strong body shook violently!
The dark energy bound to him was instantly torn apart by a tremendous force bursting out from within!
No longer pure black, the light was extremely contradictory.
The pitch-black background is like the deepest dark night, but flowing with silver threads as bright as starlight, and a faint heart-pounding colorful halo can be seen inside!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Several dark green soul lamps at the edge of the magic circle exploded and went out instantly.
The believers who participated in the ceremony, including the high priest, felt as if they were hit in the chest by an invisible hammer. They groaned and staggered back, their faces filled with extreme fear and disbelief.
"No... Impossible!" The high priest screamed, his bony fingers trembling violently as he pointed at the godlike, demonic figure at the center of the light. "Darkness favors... but this power... this pressure..."
He did feel the pure and majestic darkness, but the purity and vastness of this darkness far exceeded the gift bestowed by the Lord of Whispers under the command of the Dark God he served.
Perhaps only the true Lord God can...
But darkness is different from holy light; it is cold and arrogant. Doesn't the canon say that the God of Darkness, aside from a few subordinate gods, has never been intimate with any mortal?
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