Chapter 59 The Truth
God's power is limited.
This was something Uru had never thought of. In fact, this sentence itself was the greatest blasphemy, even more blasphemous than Bai Wei's view yesterday in the library that the power of the God of the Rhine would pollute the minds of believers. Uru subconsciously wanted to deny it: "This is impossible..."
"Is it impossible, or are you unwilling to accept this reality?" Bai Wei said with a half-smile, "In fact, there is very direct evidence, and you, as a priest, also know it."
Ulu subconsciously asked: "What?"
"How many knights were there when Rhine was first founded?"
This is also basic common sense. Ulu almost didn't hesitate and answered in his mind: "Ninety-seven thousand six hundred and eighty-two people."
"You remember it very clearly." Bai Wei said calmly, "So what about now?"
Ulu's eyes under the mask gradually widened. He stopped at the end of the team and supported himself against the wall with his hands, barely stopping his body from shaking.
"That's right... 97,682 people." Ulu answered with great difficulty, "No increase."
"The standard for a Rhine Knight is to be able to enter the lowest level of the 'God's Blessing' mode, receiving the power of the God of the Rhine, which is also the most powerful weapon of the Rhine." Bai Wei said slowly, "But why has the Rhine been unwilling to expand the scale of the Rhine Knights for hundreds of years?"
Bai Wei paused, not giving Ulu too much time to think about this question, and continued.
"But in stark contrast, the population of the region under Rhine's rule has more than doubled since the founding of Rhine hundreds of years ago."
After saying this, Bai Wei felt Ulu's body trembling even more violently, and his heart was beating so hard as if it wanted to tear his chest apart.
"The power of God is limited, so the scale of the Rhine Knights cannot be expanded..." Uru murmured, as if he was talking to Bai Wei, or as if he was talking to himself, "But the population under his rule is increasing, which means that Rhine's control over the area under his rule will become weaker and weaker, and this process cannot be reversed, so..."
Ulu couldn't say the next words. He felt like there was a knife against his neck. Once he said those words, the knife would instantly pierce his throat.
But Bai Wei had no such concerns. He spoke for Ulu: "So, in order to ensure absolute dominance, those extra, uncontrollable people..."
He paused again, as if to give Ulu some time to buffer, or as if to prepare to appreciate Ulu's subsequent expression.
Finally, he spoke it slowly, word by word.
“…it should be cleared away.”
As soon as these words came out, Ulu's body swayed again. Even though he was holding on to the wall, Bai Wei's words almost made him fall down.
But he quickly stopped, and then, as if he had thought of something, he shouted to Bai Wei in his mind: "No, no, that's not the case!"
Bai Wei did not say anything, but just listened quietly to Uruna's words as if he had grasped the last straw.
"You want to say that Rhine wants to control the population, so they use those black bugs, right? You want to say that my mother was also killed by those bugs? But that's impossible! These bugs need to be recycled, but I have never seen a Night Crow Knight outside of Som City! And, do you know how many people are under the rule of the entire Rhine?!"
"Millions! Tens of millions!"
"Just relying on these bugs that need to be recycled can kill so many people?"
Ulu seemed to have grasped Bai Wei's weak point and began to counterattack frantically.
"Visas! Maybe you think you are very smart, maybe you think all your lies are perfect! But it's not like that, they are full of loopholes! You can't fool me, you can't fool me!"
The last half of the sentence was not just thought in Uludu's mind, but blurted out directly. The loud words echoed in the mask, making a dull and strange sound.
Ulu wanted to laugh, wanted to laugh out of relief that he had discovered Bai Wei's conspiracy, wanted to laugh out loud and mock Bai Wei's clumsy lie.
But in fact he couldn't laugh. Under his crazy output, Bai Wei didn't say a word of rebuttal. He just listened quietly, as if he was watching a crappy clown jumping around wildly.
"When did I say that your mother was killed by that bug?" Bai Wei said, "What you just said is all correct, but it's not quite right."
Ulu repeated subconsciously: "A little short?"
"Yes, that little bit is the final, complete truth." Bai Wei said softly, "Do you want to witness it with your own eyes?"
Before Ulu could say anything, he heard footsteps.
That was the sound of heavy leather boots stepping on puddles, dull and crisp.
He subconsciously raised his head, and within his field of vision, two night crows walked out of the darkness, with a frightening luster reflected on their black masks, as if the god of death was waving at him.
Wu Lu subconsciously wanted to step back, but Bai Wei's voice sounded at the right time: "You are only one step away from the truth."
He stood still.
"Matthews." The leader's voice came, the voice behind the mask was chaotic and noisy, "What's wrong with you?"
Ulu took a deep breath, straightened the mask that had been tilted due to excessive excitement, and whispered back: "I'm fine."
Then he walked towards his two colleagues.
This time, he did not pause or speak again. He followed them in silence all the way back to the Night Crow's base.
But he did not go back to the dormitory directly, but came to a special warehouse next to the dormitory.
The Night Crow leader stopped, looked back at the two team members, and asked, "Whose turn is it to contain today?"
Another Night Raven replied, "Matthews."
The leader turned to look at Uru, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "Matthews, I know you are not in good health today, but rules are rules. The admission must be in order, so you have to do it."
Uru nodded, and then the leader took off his cloak and handed it to Matthews.
Hanging under the cloak are boxes containing "holy insects".
"I don't need to remind you. As usual, put it where it belongs." The leader patted Ulu on the shoulder. "Also, don't touch things you shouldn't touch, you know."
Finally, after giving the key to Uru, the leader left with another night crow.
Ulu took the key and looked up at the warehouse in front of him.
From the outside, this is just a normal warehouse, but even Uru can feel the subtle surge of magic in it.
He knew that the truth that Bai Wei mentioned was behind this door.
After taking several deep breaths, Ulu opened the door of the warehouse with the key, and then he felt a cool breeze with a fishy smell blowing on his face.
He took a deep breath and walked in.
The warehouse was large, but the lighting was not good. There were only a few oil lamps on both sides of the main road in the center, which barely allowed people who came in to not be blinded. But the more so, the more uneasy the darkness on both sides of the main road was. In the flickering candlelight, shadows flickered in the corners, as if something was hidden and could jump out at any time.
Ulu walked alone on this main road. The warehouse was so quiet that the only sound he could hear was his own footsteps.
He originally thought that this situation would continue for a while until he came to the truth that Bai Wei wanted him to see.
But what he didn't expect was that not long after that he heard a slight "creaking" sound coming from deep inside the warehouse.
Ulu was a little dazed.
This sound,
He seemed to have heard it somewhere.
Ah, it was a dream.
He had heard it in his dream last night, but last night's dream was a memory, which means...
Ulu unconsciously quickened his pace, and his heavy boots created a loud echo in the empty warehouse.
He ignored the strange-looking boxes around him, and didn't care where he should put the black bugs in his cloak. Now Ulu just wanted to find the source of the sound.
So he stood in front of a sea of flowers.
……flower?
Looking at the sea of flowers that suddenly appeared in front of him, Ulu was a little confused.
How could flowers appear in a place where the sun doesn't shine? And they are so large, as if they were specially cultivated.
Just as Ulu was about to study what was going on with this flower, he heard a "crunching, crunching" sound again, like the sound of a cicada chirping.
Only then did he remember what he was looking for, so he immediately looked around and finally followed the sound to a table. Hundreds of yellow boxes were neatly stacked on the table. They were somewhat similar to the boxes that the Night Crows had used to collect the "holy insects" before, but also somewhat different.
And the "creaking" sound came from one of the boxes.
Ulu subconsciously raised his hand and wanted to open the box.
But he soon thought of something and his hands froze.
Because the last time he opened this strange-looking box, it contained Visas' finger, which is the one he has in his hand now.
This finger cost him half his life.
So…what now?
Such strange thoughts came into Ulu's mind, but he soon realized that he was too nervous. At this moment, his heart beat as fast as a beating war drum.
Finally, he reached out and opened the box.
With a "click" sound.
When the box was opened, the "creaking" sound immediately became louder, and Ulu also saw the source of the sound - a dark-black insect, somewhat different from the holy insect, but equally ugly.
It has wings like a cicada and there is a broken cocoon next to it, as if it had just hatched from the cocoon not long ago.
And now, it was making a "crunching" sound towards Uru.
At this moment, Ulu was stunned.
He had seen the bug.
That summer twenty years ago.
…
"Mom, I just saw a very strange bug."
"Why is it strange?"
"It's chirping like a cicada, but it seems a little different... I'll go catch it and show it to you!"
"No, Uru. You're not sure if it's a pest or not, and it's not bothering you, so why are you trying to catch it?"
Even after so many years, Ulu still can't forget that face that was pale due to illness, but very serious.
"Be a good child, Ulu."
His mother told him so.
…
While Ulu was lost in his memories, the insect moved.
It spread its immature wings and flew up slowly and limpingly, like a bee looking for flowers. Ulu watched it fly into the sea of flowers and land.
But it did not fall on the flowers, but on the soil.
Then, its weak wings fell off, and its whole body quickly grew larger, quickly transforming into a long worm.
It was like a fish entering the sea, immediately swimming in the vast soil, looking very full of vitality.
But in stark contrast are the flowers.
Those flowers are withering at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Where the worms had crawled through, the flowers fell down in large numbers.
Just like the food that died overnight twenty years ago.
At this moment, Ulu understood everything.
He collapsed to the ground, looking at the rapidly withering sea of flowers. He subconsciously stretched out his hand, trying to grab something, but he could grab nothing.
A huge and violent emotion hit his heart.
Make him want to shout and scream.
But he couldn't make any sound, as if he had been deprived of the ability to speak, and even when he tried his best he could only make meaningless whimpers.
Nothing could be heard except despair.
"This is the second part of the God's Chosen Plan." Bai Wei's voice sounded slowly, "In Som City, they need to be 'careful' to a certain extent to avoid choosing some inappropriate people. But outside of Som City, they don't need such a 'gentle' approach. They can be more direct, just like what you have seen."
Ulu was breathing heavily, but still couldn't make any sound.
He felt like he was being pushed into deep water. He struggled to breathe, but the more he struggled, the more he suffocated.
"In Som City, they select worthy targets, either 'seeds' who can enter the church, or 'widows' who have a certain amount of property but no one to inherit it. They will prepare a long and meticulous death for these people, and take over their inheritance without letting anyone see any flaws."
Bai Wei's voice still echoed in Ulu's mind.
"But outside of Som City, they don't need to. They only need to create 'natural disasters' again and again to kill their targets one by one. But even so, they can ensure that they will not kill everyone, and they can even leave the 'seeds' they want. You should also know what they do, right?"
Ulu's body kept shaking. He wanted Bai Wei to shut up, but he still couldn't make a sound.
"They just need to give each household a minimum ration, and then the ones who survive will definitely be the children, which is the seeds they want."
"As to why."
"Because no mother..." He paused, then said softly, "would watch her child starve to death."
At this moment, Uru finally passed that point.
He made a sound he had never made before.
Despair, pain, madness.
All kinds of thoughts mixed together, devouring the last of his sanity, so that he rushed into the rapidly dying sea of flowers like a wild beast, and then dug the ground frantically like a wild dog.
He wanted to find the worm.
That one,
Bugs he should have killed twenty years ago.
It’s already 4,000 words, but there’s still one chapter left today!
(End of this chapter)
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