Spells and Formation

When he got closer, Zhang Jue realized that it was a church. A pillar of light radiated out from the church and shot straight up into the clouds. It was like a stage spotlight locked on the church.

The circle of light emitted a hidden red glow, and Zhang Jue had a bad feeling about it. He came to the outskirts of the church in the dark, lying on the top of a private house and looking down. He saw dozens of heavily armed soldiers surrounding the church.

Every man had a submachine gun. Several squads were patrolling around the church. It was unknown what was going on inside. Zhang Jue inexplicably remembered Zhuge Liang died in the Wuzhang Plain to build the seven-star lamp to borrow life from the sky, and it was probably the same kind of formation that they made.

He doesn't know what the people inside are doing. Zhang Jue was very curious. He wanted to find a chance to go inside. But there were so many people on the other side that almost the whole church was surrounded, so he couldn't find an opportunity to go in.

It was not impossible to break in, but it might take some time to wipe them up with so many people, and he was afraid of alerting the people inside. Zhang Jue was torn between breaking in or sneaking into the church when a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, startling him.

"Advisor Zhang." Smith touched behind him at some point, thinking that he was also attracted by the rushing pillar of light.

"Holy crap, how did you find me?" Zhang Jue said.

Smith said, "When I was in Africa, I did this kind of thing most of the time. It's a habit of mine. Advisor Zhang, your current position is actually not very good. Anyone with a good eye can see it at a glance."

In this aspect of combat, Smith was indeed an expert. Zhang Jue had a theory but could not test it, so naturally, he was no match for him.

Zhang Jue nodded and pointed at the church, "In your opinion, how can we get in?"

"Definitely not now." Smith said, "Just now, I observed their movement. There are no flaws. Obviously, someone is in charge of this situation. This church itself is not big, and we can only wait for them to loosen up on their own."

"We don't have time to wait." Zhang Jue frowned, "The people inside don't know what they're up to. In case we go in late, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch them doing whatever the fuck they're doing. It seems our only option is to break in."

Hearing Zhang Jue speaks, Smith always had the urge to grunt.

He shook his head, "Actually, you don't need to. If Advisor Zhang just wants to get in unnoticed, I have a solution."

"What is it?"

"I'll be the bait to lure them away, as long as half of the people on guard outside are distracted. With Advisor Zhang's ability, you can enter like nobody's business."

It was good to have a right-hand man. Zhang Jue thought about it. There was no other way but this.

He nodded, "Then please, be careful."

Smith made an ok gesture and turned around, and disappeared into the night. On the other hand, Zhang Jue continued to lie on top of that house, waiting for Smith's call.

Five minutes had passed. There was still silence all around. Suddenly, the sound of an explosion came from the other side of the church. With a boom, a private house was blown up.

Looking at the large fireball, Zhang Jue guessed that it should be Smith detonating a gas tank or something. The explosion was not far from the church, and the fire lit up the sky, and this side of the pillar of light intersected.

The church's guards looked at each other in disbelief. Zhang Jue saw that several captain-like men exchanged words together, then split off a small team to check the situation. This ploy to transfer the tiger away from the mountain did not seem to be successful, and only one squad was assigned.

But Zhang Jue was in no hurry. He continued to lie on top of the house and waited quietly. As expected, the sounds of conflict can be heard, a dozen submachine guns firing together. Smith was holding the SCP-127 that Zhang Jue had given him, which was extremely powerful. Each round was like a small rocket.

Soon, a squad was wiped out by him alone. The garrison outside the church heard the gunfire stop and knew that things were not good. This time they separated into three teams and walked toward the exploding house.

Zhang Jue saw from his elevated position that Smith had already drawn their attention enough. There was no time to lose. Zhang Jue then leaped straight down from the roof of that private house. While the guards' attention was attracted by Smith, he quietly slipped into the not-so-large church.

Zhang Jue was inside the church, his whole body bathed in that weird red light. At that moment, he felt as if he had entered some kind of ritual. It was slightly thicker than the air.

Zhang Jue squeezed his fingers, which seemed to have some sticky feeling. He didn't know what it was, but it certainly wasn't anything good. He climbed up to the very top of the church. Then he found a skylight and climbed in.

When he entered the church's interior, he found that the sticky substance was even thicker, like being bathed in a blood mist. He felt that his movements and thoughts were somewhat sluggish. There were mysterious symbols painted on many of the walls inside the church—all written in blood, which seemed to be some kind of incantation.

He tiptoed toward the chapel in the center of the church. But the closer he got to the center of the church, the feeling of sluggishness became more and more prominent, and he couldn't even concentrate.

He hurriedly summoned the dragon crystal and held it in his hand, and only then did he feel a trace of clarity.

What a powerful magic is this. Zhang Jue narrowed his eyes. Now he was almost sure that this place should be some sort of ritual laid down by the enemy. No wonder there were so many guarding forces outside. While inside this church, not even a single living person could be seen.

Under the protection of the Dragon Crystal. Zhang Jue finally arrived at the center of the entire church - the prayer room.

Usually, people will put down their work and come here to pray devoutly every Sunday. But at this time, the prayer room has completely changed. The entire room was emptied. Those tables, chairs, and benches had long disappeared. On the ground, there are two concentric circles painted with blood.

The walls around the room were painted with more incantations that Zhang Jue could not understand. A dozen crosses were erected in the center of the room in a twisted manner. Each cross had a person tied to it. Without exception, they were all wearing white coats.

Obviously, they were all medical staff in that hospital, but they were all caught here. The medical staff had dull expressions, eyes staring straight ahead, and seemingly completely lost their consciousness.

Needless to say, it was probably because of the magic spell that was laid on here. If Zhang Jue didn't have a divine weapon like the Dragon Crystal, I'm afraid he would have fallen into the same fate.

He hid in a corner and searched carefully. After a few moments, he clenched both of his fists. Because he had found the person he was looking for. Yang Xue was tied to the largest cross at the innermost point, and there was the center of the entire formation.

Yang Xue looked straight at him. Her eyes were dull. She had become a puppet for a long time.