Chapter 22 Tonight, the hunt for the Church
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The solemn Red Apple Church.
Under the nightfall, the side profile of an angel reliefs on the outer walls of the spire overlapped with the Purple Moon, casting an enchanting glow.
A dense flurry of footsteps approached from the end of the street.
Two heavily armored Guardians with the Red Apple emblem on their chests led the way, holding torches as they advanced toward the church.
Dozens of church sentries formed a long procession behind them.
Some guards even held dog leashes, the rotting hunting dogs draped in red cloth obediently following the group.
Upon arriving at the church, the procession streamed inside through The Great Gate in an orderly fashion, leaving only two sentries at the entrance.
Inside the church.
The prayer room.
A young woman lay crumpled on the floor in disheveled clothing, a deep gash on her throat, her blood spread all over the ground.
Clearly, she had been dead for some time.
Sturton's plump figure, garbed in a Monk's robe, stood not far from the body.
In his hand, he held a beautifully crafted short knife, its shining blade still dripping with blood.
"Rose above, why is there no response yet..."
Sturton wiped sweat from his brow with a handkerchief in his other hand, his beady eyes fixated on a Golden Goblet upon the praying altar.
The goblet was filled with fresh blood that occasionally rippled outward.
After a long while.
An old voice came from the goblet:
"Sturton, this is the third time you have called upon me... I hope you can provide a convincing reason."
"Bishop, sir!"
The rotund Monk was overjoyed, hastily drawing closer to the goblet.
"When will you journey to Emerald Town? The Transcendent who destroyed the Red Apple prison is likely hiding right here...
As long as you arrive, that guy won't have a chance to escape!"
The blood in the goblet stilled for a moment, and just as Sturton began to doubt, the old voice spoke again:
"Will warned me before, and now it seems that the criminal is most likely a Transcendent from the History and Ritual Association, who disguised himself as a sacrifice to infiltrate the prison, and eventually rebelled and killed our Priest Carter…"
"Their goal is clear; it's the Sunflower [Mysterious Object]...
The upper echelons of the church have made some guesses about it; it's highly likely to be what remained from a Saint who caused the collapse of the Royal City of Beryl over ten years ago."
"Had not the Sun Church and the Shelter put on dual pressure, Lafa would not have secretly transferred it to a remote small town like Emerald Town...
But how exactly did those damned rat people come to know of this...?"
Suppressed fury resonated within the old voice, and Sturton mopped his brow frequently.
He wanted to remind but dared not remind the Bishop, not wanting to know these secrets at all.
"Could there be a traitor within the church?"
Sturton asked in a low voice.
The blood in the goblet paused again.
"You really have a pig's brain, Sturton! Who among the followers of Rose would dare to betray!?"
The old voice scolded, then seemed to temper its rage, gradually calming.
"Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you…
Right now, all you need to know is that the sinner will not escape, the church will make him into fertilizer for the garden."
"After Carter's death, there's a gap in the church's Transcendent Combat Power in Emerald Town, but you don't have to worry about him...
No matter where he flees, he will eventually reunite with his accomplices, bringing along the stolen items."
"The church has already identified those behind this operation, such that I cannot leave at the moment... but their time of death is near."
"Just keep yourself hidden for a while, and do not call upon me again unless it's for something significant."
The old voice faded, and the blood within the Golden Goblet became still.
Sturton felt more anxious rather than reassured after hearing the Bishop's words.
Since the Priest's death, he had been in a state of extreme insecurity.
"I'll just stay in the church and not go out for a while..."
He exhaled deeply, turning to leave.
Suddenly, he noticed a large black rat on the floor, staring up at him.
"A rat...?"
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Sturton was startled.
The large black rat squeaked, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
The portly monk, watching the mouse flee, felt an increasing unease.
"Why has a rat suddenly appeared..."
He had heard of some strange transcendent abilities in the Mystic Realm and, just to be safe, he hastily chased after the rat in the direction it had gone.
But as he stepped out of the prayer room into the courtyard outside, he unexpectedly saw a chaotic array of guardian corpses on the ground.
Without exception, each of their necks was twisted 180 degrees, and their bodies bore numerous tiny bite marks.
The flesh was a mutilated mess, utterly horrific.
"!!"
Sturton jumped in fright, trembling as he took a few steps back.
"It's... it's here! That guy really did come to kill!"
Why didn't I hear anything? How did it get all the way inside the church?
Sturton immediately ran back to the prayer room, picked up the Golden Goblet, and grabbed a hand crossbow hidden underneath the prayer altar.
Then he returned to the courtyard and ran towards the back door of the church.
As he pushed open the iron gate of the courtyard, he suddenly heard a shrill dog yelp.
Followed by that, the rotten carcass of a hunting dog was flung at his feet.
It was gasping for air, clearly on the verge of death.
Looking up, he saw a man concealed in a cloak seizing a short sword from the hands of a church guardian, forcefully piercing it through the other's body.
The guardian let out a scream, spraying out glaring fresh blood.
Thunk!
The body fell, the rimmed hat rolling off to one side.
Then Sturton saw several large black rats gathering around the cloaked man, one of the familiar rats jumping into his palm, squeaking.
As if it was whispering secrets to him.
The scene was exceedingly eerie, causing Sturton to feel chills down his spine.
This man, could he be the criminal who killed the priest and stole the "Mysterious Objects"…?
Chen Lun let out a wry smile upon hearing the little rat's report.
Turned out the nonsense he had spouted on the spur of the moment was actually reported to Red Apple Church by that guy, Will.
No wonder they were so off the mark; the Transcendents of the History and Ritual Association, who walked the path of the Earth Faction, did indeed love to steal, especially from other people's graves.
However, what Chen Lun didn't know was that it was precisely because the History and Ritual Association had recently excavated the grave of a certain high-level member of Red Apple Church that they were utterly convinced of this deduction.
Chen Lun bent down to let the rat go, then turned his head to look at Sturton.
The latter felt a cold shiver down his spine, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
"Heretic! Accept your death!"
The hoarse roar exploded in his ears.
Two armored guards strode forth from behind Chen Lun, their long spears aimed directly at his head as they brought them crashing down.
Crack!
Chen Lun turned and raised his hands, grabbing the spear shaft below the spearhead.
The fierce and heavy strike instantly halted.
The two armored guards hesitated for a moment, noticing that the cloak-wearing man's hands, now visible, were covered in dark golden scales.
Glancing slightly, they could see under the hood of the cloak, a pair of vertical pupils like those of a venomous snake.
"Die!"
They heard a single, indifferent word.
The next second.
Bang!! Bang!!
A surge of tremendous force accompanied by intense pain sent the two armored guards flying outwards.
Boom!
Their heavy bodies crashed onto the stone pavement, fracturing it with cracks.
Numerous bricks shattered into gravel, flying everywhere.
The armored guards' breastplates were dented as if hammered, creating a large crater, and the bodies inside were probably not spared.
Beneath their fully sealed helmets, fresh red blood slowly began to seep out.