Chapter 63

That morning, Xiaoman picked out a set of new clothes in lighter colors and more formal from her personal space, put them on, and went to the tavern.

Antin, the eldest daughter of the family she was staying with, was getting married to her fiancé—they were soon to be a newlywed couple.

The stepmother was wealthy and generous to her stepdaughter, so Antin's wedding had everything. This was a city of art, and everything was professional, from performances to dresses, all with clearly marked prices, and the quality was better than in other places.

Antin sincerely invited Xiaoman to attend her wedding, and Xiaoman agreed.

When Xiao Man was invited before, he calmly reminded her: "I am not a beastman."

Since the night she killed Elliotta, she has never used a disguise to hide her identity.

The bride, who inherited the mongoose bloodline, sincerely took Xiaoman's hand, even though the former's soft skin that had never been tempered by work was rubbed by the hard rope in the latter's hand.

"Of course I understand that, but we all wanted to invite you. Without you, the wedding would be missing one person's blessing from friends." An Ting looked into Xiaoman's eyes with a smile.

"Okay. I'll go." Xiaoman nodded.

So she came as invited.

The two half-sisters from two different marriages had a good relationship, so Rona happily agreed to be the flower girl for Antin.

Just now, she was wearing a veil and walking in front of the newlyweds, scattering flower petals, walking with her head held high and looking as solemn as a little female general.

The newlyweds who got married today have been together for a long time and have a harmonious relationship. Just by looking at the way they walked in hand in hand, you could tell they were very happy.

Several groups of musicians worked together to play cheerful and lively music with due diligence. The tavern and the tents outside were filled with guests who came for the parents of the newlyweds or themselves. Both families were well-off, and as dishes and wine were served one after another, people offered their blessings more sincerely.

Everything is so harmonious.

Most of the guests came in groups, or at least they could find acquaintances to sit with quickly because of their common network of relationships. Xiaoman had met An Ting before the wedding, so he chose a secluded seat and ate his meal in silence, while carefully watching this happy and harmonious wedding ceremony.

This is something that she and the people around her have a hard time experiencing. Since her status is different, she no longer needs to dream of having easy access to everything related to "ordinary". Just being able to participate in one or two things as a guest is considered lucky.

Suddenly, someone came quietly and sat down next to Xiaoman. After he sat down, he wiped the table with his fingers and saw that there was no oil stain on the surface of his gloves. He nodded slightly with satisfaction.

It's Chen Xing.

In the presence of outsiders he would wrap himself up in a serious manner, but the embroidered patterns on his cloak, which usually glowed beautifully in dim places, now seemed to have surrendered to the joys of worldly feasting and became as dull as an old carpet with chaotic patterns.

"Good afternoon. It seems you like the dishes. I've made note of them." Chen Xing spoke softly, keeping the volume low enough for only the people at this table to hear.

"There is no evil thought here, right?" Xiaoman said.

She saw no need to explain to the man that she was rarely picky about food, so she simply brought up another topic, namely the purpose of his visit.

"Yes." Chen Xing tilted his head slightly and quickly returned to normal.

"But rarely, and only to the extent of jealousy. ... You know, jealousy actually tastes sour, like bad fruit that never ripens, while envy is bitter sweet, so sweet that you want to stick your head into the river and drink a lot of water to dilute it."

Chen Xing talked about the taste that perhaps only he and Star God could understand, as if it were a little interesting.

"So you are here to eat other emotions?" Xiaoman asked, skipping over the information that was difficult to identify.

"I'm not that greedy. And once I taste a little sweetness, the evil thoughts become more bitter. It's really a torture if I can't swallow it. - This time I'm here to urge you to leave. I heard from the Winchester channel that they are secretly collecting people like you. The reason is unknown." Chen Xing quickened his speech.

Xiao Man herself didn't know what value the disabled people, whose status was lower than that of the abandoned people, had. Could it be that the power of the external system casting she had shown before was found to be related to race? It was possible.

She thought about it and felt that compared with her possible remaining life, she had indeed stayed in the City of Art for quite a long time. She had visited all the places she needed to visit, attended Antin's wedding, and the painting that was left as a trace of her existence had already been framed. There was nothing wrong with leaving now.

"I see."

As for what Chen Xing had said about the duty of killing star gods, Xiao Man had personally experienced the instincts that were aroused, and even knew that he might be the one who had gone the furthest in terms of strength among all his peers who were barely making ends meet, but he still felt that it had nothing to do with him.

Starlight and psychedelic shadows flashed before her eyes, then were thrown away, and her blue eyes looked back at the newlyweds who were receiving blessings.

"Do you like poetry?" Chen Xing suddenly asked.

"No, I only read fairy tales."

But…actually, when I listen to the poems performed in singing, I seem to understand a little bit. Of course, it’s only the most superficial part, as if I can hear the roar or sigh of the people who wrote the sentences.

Xiaoman was thinking as he sipped the sour fruit wine that was not intoxicating but was just for pairing with the dishes.

"Poetry is actually a very good thing," Chen Xing said. "People re-carve what they think is a real reflection on the thick pastel surface. It is false and beautiful. The sinners who harbor jealous hatred so low that it exudes bitterness, the poems they compose are beautiful enough to be passed down for thousands of years. The boundaries between truth and lies are blurred."

The way he speaks is usually so vague and confusing that even if others hear him, they would just think it is meaningless chatter.

But Xiaoman thought about the nature of his own talent from the last sentence, and seemed to have some enlightenment.

Is what I want, what I hope for in my heart, just to discern the truth from the falsehood when comparing words with my heart? It seems not. It is not like that.

Some people never said anything false to me that went against their true feelings, but until they left, I didn’t know the truth and didn’t realize that they had such a past.

I just want to give my friends, my mother, and those who have done nothing wrong but have been thrown into more miserable situations time and time again, a chance to live in peace, no longer having to bear the so-called guilt alone and being bloody just to live, but to be able to be emotionally simple and happy like the people at this wedding.

A faint blue flame spontaneously ignited, flashing and extinguishing at her fingertips like an illusion.

Until this moment, Xiaoman finally vaguely understood what purpose it should be used for after the awakening ceremony.

"Thank you." She said to Chen Xing.

"You really don't want to take me with you?" Chen Xing asked again. If it were someone else who had traveled with Xiao Man, they would definitely not be so shameless.

"..." Xiaoman stared at him in silence, but it was a pity that he couldn't see this guy's expression through the silver mask.

She simply raised her wrist, opened her palm, and reached towards Chen Xing's neck.

The person who had said "Are you going to use me to test your knife next?" reacted completely differently and subconsciously shrank back to avoid her grasp.

"You don't want to die." Xiaoman said.

"...Maybe." Chen Xing realized that he was not as unattached to life as he said, and laughed at himself.

Having expressed his refusal, Xiaoman stood up and left.

An Ting ignored her husband's aggrieved expression, and walked over holding her layered wedding dress to give Xiao Man a big hug. As if she had a premonition, she was the first to show her most beautiful smile and said directly to Xiao Man, "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Xiaoman let go of the fragrant and warm body in his arms, then lowered his head and touched the hair of Rona who came over.

[Pink Star is ready to update. Two chapters in a row.] Mr. Adjutant gave a prompt reminder.

"Where is the plot collected?" Yuan Qian asked.

[Just now.] Mr. Adjutant is obviously playing dumb.

"Let me remind you that I was still able to see when Number Five was taking action..."

"You're making me feel bad for my job." said the adjutant, just like he was the harmless and competent customer service representative.

However, at the same moment, a humanoid monster with long hair dyed with a strange dark purple color leisurely led himself and walked outside the city of Flora.

"My name is Nirvana."

He announced to the nobles who had received the news and rushed over that the situation in Jino City was exactly the same as what the messenger had reported.

"The bell of doom has sounded. To show my sincerity, I come here in person to collect sacrifices from the seven cities."

The Bronze City was not so obedient a day ago. Even though the Jino family vaguely realized that something was wrong based on the appearance, they still chose to eliminate the provocateur with too much contempt because the provocateur was alone and had no support.

As a result, they suffered unprecedented damage.

It was exactly the same as the cemetery of Mansa Kinos which had been hit earlier, only it was much wider, sharper and narrower, with countless spikes growing out and tearing apart half of the city.

The instigator bent over, picked up a bloody piece of bone, and held it between his fingers.

Accompanied by a clear and sharp high note like a whistle or a bird's song, the bones suddenly grew into small planets full of spikes, and the next moment they exploded into pieces all over the sky.

In the moment before they were completely shattered and vanished in the wind, all the fragments reflected exactly the same picture: blue eyes as calm as those at the bottom of the sky or an icy lake, which you will never forget once you have seen them.

"Please hand over the sacrifice." Now that he no longer pretended to be human with a smile, his monstrous nature was exposed.

"Excuse me, what kind of sacrifice do you need?" The only nobleman left alive at the scene spat out blood in gulps. Feeling that his life was temporarily safe, he asked cautiously and slowly.

"Hmm... let me think about it. Then it's a dirty heart. The dirty heart of the disabled."

"As many as you can get, all of them. Find them all, dig them out and give them to me."

He seemed to make the decision very casually, and then he disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a nightmarish scene.

The disabled are rare and short-lived, and their lives are made even more difficult by those rumors, so they have always put on fake features that can deceive others, and live in hiding among the abandoned people.

The nobleman thought that both of them were abandoned by natural elements, and it would be extremely difficult to distinguish the former temporarily. He had to search them one by one. He also looked around for traces left by monsters. He realized that the time limit was obviously very tight. His eyes went dark, and he wanted to pass out while he was dazed by the blood loss.

But since the news did not leak on a large scale, Flora, who was closely related to the matter, also received the news in time, and she must have been able to hold herself together and not faint.

The nobles belonging to Flora no longer dared to underestimate the other party. In view of the fact that the support from the temple was far away and the defense force of a single city could not be compared with the mysterious man who caused such a large-scale disaster, the noble could only bow his head and ask for instructions cautiously, even though she herself felt that the scene was absurd:

"What is the sacrifice?"

"Same as last time. Are you ready?" he asked kindly.

"...Please wait a moment, we will go collect them immediately!" It was very strange that the nobles who believed in the Star God were so respectful to the monsters derived from the Star God, but it was also a harmonious relationship that should be like this.

Yuan Qian admired the adjutant's ability very much. His teammates were so professional and reliable in creating such occasions. Chen Xing's collective impression in the forum was that of a strange good guy, all thanks to him.