Chapter 71

The hot wind seemed to outline an invisible giant beast swimming slowly across the grassland, swaying its black and white clothes slowly and steadily, and walking forward along the animal path that had been carved out by years of bare feet and hoof prints. The further in this direction one walked, the stronger the majesty of nature and wildness became.

Amara is a tiny thorn carved out of civilization that accidentally entered the perfect blue sky and boundless wilderness. It is out of place but has no fear at all.

As he was walking, suddenly a sharp arrow made a sound and hit the ground two or three steps in front of the guest from the church.

"Who are you?" The dark-skinned young girl pushed aside the tall grass that had just protected her from shooting arrows, revealing her face and staring at Amara from a distance and asked.

Through the gaps in the vegetation, we could see that this female lion was wearing a simple cloth skirt that was easy to move in, and a half-twisted straw rope was hanging on her arm. She was obviously not a member of the tribe responsible for fighting. But when she noticed someone approaching while working, she took the bow and arrow without hesitation and shot an accurate warning arrow.

These beastmen have their own advantages, as they can live all year round in areas far away from towns, without fear of being plundered by bandits or caravan guards, or attacked by hungry beasts.

"I am Amara, from the Temple. I have come to visit your patriarch and to fight her. Please convey to her that my foster mother is Bishop Suoni."

The young lion stared at him for a moment, then muttered in a voice with a stronger accent than before: "It's clearly a falcon, but its wings are tied. Suspicious, very suspicious."

Amara didn't care what she said, she just waited there quietly, watching her hand the bow and arrow to her companion who didn't show up behind her, then turned around and nimbly walked through the lush vegetation that seemed to have no path at all, to find their leader.

An unknown amount of time had passed as Amara watched the wild flower in front of her knees grow from half-open to fully open. The wild bees stared at it, causing it to bend its stem and sway for a while. The outer edges of the short, wide, pale yellow petals gradually turned white and transparent under the heat wave.

The sound of breaking wind was heard a second time, and this time it was no longer a measured warning. Amara drew his sword and deflected the short spear that was heading for his shoulder.

"How do I know you're not a fraud if you don't have a badge on?"

The lion tribe member who appeared with a wooden staff asked. She was in her prime, her brown hair had turned gray, and the scar at the corner of her mouth was dark, but the lines of her arms and legs were still strong and clear, like rocks combed by the wind. Compared with her younger peers, she had more clothes, a warrior-style shorts and an extra one on her back. The colorful ribbon on her forehead was also wider, naturally bringing out the majesty of an elder.

"I am not here on behalf of the temple this time. It is just a private visit." Amara answered in a serious tone, and took out the holy emblem he had just taken off from his arms to indicate.

Compared to the rabbit tribe that makes up the majority of the bottom population, the bird-like beast tribe is relatively rare, and because of their naturally long and thin bones, they are always very obvious in the crowd.

Amara is not the exception. He has always been so serious and upright, not to mention he is not young anymore, but he is still praised for his graceful demeanor. His gray hair brushes over his shoulders as he walks, his silver-gray eyes are sharp but refreshing, his figure tightly wrapped in a linen robe does not look as strong as the lions, but he is taller and straighter than the chief, and he does not show any sweat in the hot weather.

Looking at his posture, anyone can easily think of an adult falcon standing quietly on a branch in the wind, and their hearts will involuntarily become calm and upright.

"That guy from Sunni became a bishop?" The patriarch actually believed his identity. As he spoke, he took the holy emblem and took a look at it. With the orcs' respect for the star god, he instructed him to perform a simple ceremony between his forehead and lips, and then handed this troublesome thing back to Amara.

“Yes,” Amara said.

"...You don't look like a child she raised." The clan leader said sincerely as he walked towards the clan's residence.

"My father decided that the Falcon Tribe would be adopted by the Elephant Tribe. My nanny treated me very well. I regard the temple as my home and never envy others who have a family built solely by blood."

"Especially personality." The clan leader, or the "grandmother-in-law" that Lielie often mentioned, this clan leader who lived far away from the political center, added silently after listening to the long speech of the Sword of the Temple.

"I see. One of my disciples is a child named Taloya, who was also taken care of by Mammy. His personality is more like hers, and he is also a lion. When he is able to take responsibility for himself, I will tell him the landmarks to get here, provided you agree."

"When did the Lions become orphans that no one wants?"

"His parents were suspected of deserting the battlefield, and people think he has cowardly blood," Amara said, lowering his eyes slightly.

"But I guarantee that he is a good warrior, pious and fearless."

After spending emotional points to fill in the character relationships, since Amara has been a person respected like a teacher and a father by the young lions over the years, Yuan Qian was naturally able to know these details and speak coherently, as if he had really taken care of a little lion from a cub who couldn't hold a sword steadily to adulthood.

"It doesn't matter whether you are pious or not. Anyway, you are facing the temple, not the Father of Starlight. Warriors just need to be brave in front of the people they are supposed to protect." The chieftain said slowly. His voice was hoarse and rough due to being smoked by homemade tobacco for many years, but he was full of energy and seemed calm.

"I don't think so. Loyalty to the temple is necessary. If there is no one to control it, the races will progress from protection to fighting. The current stability is the balance of the rules that the temple is sworn to uphold."

Amara stated his argument directly, which contradicted the other party's. Judging from his expression, he didn't think much about it.

Such a person must be responsible for defeating the evil people who are really hateful, doing fair and honest surface work... He only needs to practice hard to improve himself, and then come forward to get some reputation that is deliberately prepared for him, because he must also firmly believe that this is how the world works, so that he can firmly infect others and be a beautiful living signboard for the church. It would be bad if the little lion who has never met sincerely worships him.

The patriarch thought silently.

"There's no point in talking about this. Aren't you coming here to challenge me to a fight? How do you want to fight? With real guns and swords?" She showed a dull expression and changed the subject.

"A sword-to-blade fight is not stable. A wooden sword will do."

"It's really boring."

Just as they arrived at the carefully leveled and compacted living area, they saw a short wheat-skinned figure in front of them coming out of a small window in the thick earth wall. Between its teeth was a piece of smoked meat with skin on. The meat was the size of two palms, and even the fat layer had dried up to look as beautiful as the white lines on stone.

She turned around to look and happened to meet her mother-in-law. She was startled and ran away quickly with the lion ears hidden in her hair.

But then she stepped back, holding the meat jerky and looking straight at Amara, a confused expression slowly appearing on her face.

"Have I seen you?" she asked.

"I don't think so." Amara answered calmly, with the attitude of an older stranger, into those dark brown eyes that were more comfortable and pure now that they were back home.

"Oh... okay." Lielie also felt that he had never seen this person before, so he believed it naively, and his single-threaded brain continued to work on his escape plan.

"Yang Lie is a rather naughty child. We'll deal with her when she comes back after having enough fun." The chief, who had already noticed the cub's behavior of stealing snacks, said calmly.

They then walked towards the fenced area where the young people were fighting and scuffling, while Yuan Qian silently wiped away the cold sweat from his forehead.

She is worthy of being the kid who went to the same dungeon with the protagonist... or maybe Lielie's intuition has always been very accurate. After going out for exercise, she has acquired a bit of Xiaoman's style. Her simple thinking that is not affected by external objective factors makes her extremely talented in some aspects. The results brought about by the combination of the two should not be underestimated.

Even though the person in front of her was a completely different person of different race, appearance, personality and ties, she still felt that Amara was familiar at first sight. If the Lion Clan did not have the eyes of the Dragon King that could look directly into the soul, she might have found evidence to support her intuition.

Fortunately, she had never seen No. 1 and No. 2 before, and Dust Awakening later... The intuition system is really terrible, and it is a natural match for secret workers like him who play multiple roles. If there is a similar risk in the future, she should call the adjutant to suddenly appear and take her away.

[Are you thinking about me?]

"Yes, I'm counting on you to save me from suffering." Yuan Qian believes that one must be polite when asking for help from others, especially to a typical traitor like the Demon King who only responds to soft words and not hard ones.

[There are only two words in this phrase that can be associated with me...]

"Indeed. So why haven't you come to the Fourth City to carry out the demolition yet?"

[After all, I know where Xiaoman is, and I also know where Chen Xing is, so I should be a little homesick. Anyway, I plan to have a friendly exchange with the City of Commerce first...]

“You’d better really be prepared for a friendly exchange,” Yuan Qian complained.

For Amara, who was assigned as the Sword of the Temple, fighting was of course as easy as breathing, especially when confronting the Lions who had also honed their fighting skills for decades. It did not take up much of Yuan Qian's attention. Instead, a small amount of attention combined with instinct made it easier for him to focus on his work.

Therefore, most of the Yuan Qians who stayed in Chenxing are still posting on the forum. Although it is a bit strange to say this.

"Urgent! Is there anyone who can cosplay Su Mei at No. 8 in xx city? We were late for the group photo shoot."

"Honxuan·Besa Qingshui Xiang Junwen Co., Ltd.·Eternal Burning"

"Water, let's talk about the setting xp of Pink Star"

《(Wishing House) When will the official week reservations be opened? Urgent, please leave a message about the type of peripherals you want! 》

"Go read the short extra chapter posted by the official account of Pink Star, it seems to be related to the main storyline! (Attached link)"

"I woke up and saw the living dead, but he was still singing 'The Good-for-Nothing'"

...Although the short extra seems very important, perhaps because of the contact he had just had with Lielie, Yuan Qian's intuition kicked in and he felt that the last one was more important.

He carefully clicked on the last post and opened the attached video file.

The video was obviously recorded on the spur of the moment. It was a little crooked and blocked by fingers at first, but the figure captured from a distance looked very familiar to Yuan Qian. It couldn't be said that it was only 70% similar to the original No. 5, but it was at least 90%.

The horns, the hair, and most importantly, the height, the length of the legs, and the way she walked—that’s it!

"Do you think this is you?" Yuan Qian sent it to the adjutant.

[Hehe, the counter-summoning was a great success——]

"It's not a question of when you really did counter-summon, but why did you make a high-quality imitation of No. 5 and go to the comic convention to sing "The Phantom of the Opera" with Xiaoman's cosplayer!" Yuan Qian spoke like a machine gun. Due to psychological problems, he rarely speaks at such an impassioned speed, but the desire to complain is hard to suppress.

[Don't be jealous. I can't accompany you anyway. Don't worry. I asked the girl and she told me that she can sing before playing like this. It sounds good, right?]

"That's not the problem!" Yuan Qian covered his stomach with a complicated expression.

At the same time, Amara, who had narrowly won the battle, suddenly staggered and nearly fell down. Her knees touched the ground and she supported her body with the wooden sword, coughing heavily several times.

In response to the lions' concern, he showed a somewhat rough move for the first time. He tilted his head and spit out the blood clot, letting it hit the broken sand.

"How did you get injured?" The patriarch standing nearby glanced at the black blood clot and asked with a slightly frown.

"A monster did it." Amara said succinctly, even though this made his face turn a lot paler instantly, making the group of lions whose skin was darker under the wind and sun think that he was going to die. There was no expression of pain on his face, and he was as calm as a solemn stone sculpture.

This was truly a new setting inspired by the internal injuries he had been holding back, so everything he said about the real murderer was true, and it must also be true if he used Xiaoman to test it.

[Oh no, I'm a criminal.] The adjutant, who had said that villains in boys' comics are everywhere, only muttered to himself when faced with the new black pot flying across the sky. He had no intention of clearing No. 5's reputation.