Miss Moon was tempted. She pressed her lips together tightly, staring at the outstretched hand before her, torn and hesitant — but after a few seconds, she squeezed her eyes shut and placed her hand forward.
She grasped nothing but air. The vagrant had vanished. So had the mysterious stranger who claid to know Dolgod's secrets. All that remained was empty space and the bewildered stares of those around her.
Miss Moon's face flashed with shock, but that shock quickly gave way to even greater excitent.
A man who could simply vanish before her very eyes — didn't that prove he truly ca from sowhere mysterious?
She craned her neck and looked in every direction, but the figure was nowhere to be seen. Still, she thought perhaps he was playing a joke on her, so she decided to wait — at least until the moon rose. Then the mysterious stranger could judge for himself which was more beautiful: her or the real moon.
But to Miss Moon's disappointnt, she stood there alone all night without the mysterious vagrant ever returning. What she didn't know was that he might never co back at all.
Because... Scorpio had already taken him.
Just as the elated Aph Ros was about to claim the evening's prize, Scorpio seized his hand and dragged him into a dark alley.
Aph Ros seed scared senseless. He collapsed to the ground and trembled.
Scorpio let out a cold chuckle and got straight to the point, asking whether he knew about an incident from over a decade ago — sothing involving a life that should never have been born.
The vagrant shook and said nothing, but Scorpio could clearly see he knew. So he offered extravagant rewards: co with him to a certain place, and as long as the vagrant could help find clues relating to this matter, he'd receive a fortune in gold and a genuine citizen's identity.
The vagrant was tempted — just as Miss Moon had been before him — conflict written all over his face.
But he agreed quickly enough. For a man like him, the lure of money was apparently irresistible.
What he didn't know was that Scorpio's promises were entirely fabricated. He had none of those things, nor would he bother acquiring them for an NPC. It was the only trick he'd learned from Cheng Shi — making things up on the spot.
And so, this Aph Ros from ten years in the future was carried by Scorpio's Ti deduction power into the present, overwritten onto the current tiline.
Cheng Shi listened from start to finish with a deepening frown. When the story ended, only one question lingered in his mind:
"Was that Miss Moon really that beautiful?"
"?"
"..."
Seeing the speechless looks on their faces, Cheng Shi gave an awkward laugh:
"Just lightening the mood. Don't take it seriously.
I think our assassin brother's plan was excellent — better than I could have expected. And I don't see anything wrong with how it was executed. So where did things go wrong?"
Cheng Shi rubbed his chin, furrowed his brow, and quickly spotted the flaw.
"I think I see it. So... this Aph Ros you brought back — where did he go?"
Cheng Shi had hit the crux of the matter — the very thing that had been tornting the two of them!
After Scorpio brought Aph Ros back, he happened to arrive just as the Theocracy of Growth was ushering in the God Descent. Under the overwhelming pressure of the colossal tentacle, Scorpio froze for a mont — and in that single instant of distraction, the Aph Ros who'd followed him back simply vanished!
He'd run. Slipped away from Scorpio's side without a sound!
It seed he hadn't been lying — he really might have been a forr Church worker, because in the blink of an eye he navigated from the outer courtyard to the inner hall with practiced ease, then disappeared into the crowd. The oppressive aura of the God Descent, the Head of Church's proclamations, the chaotic footsteps and deafening clamor — all of it hampered Scorpio's perception and prevented him from tracking the man imdiately. And so...
He was gone.
The more Cheng Shi heard, the deeper his frown beca. He thought for a mont, then spoke again:
"You're a 2,100-point player, and even you were shaken by that enormous tentacle. He's just an ordinary NPC — and he managed to escape in that gap?
Are you sure you saw correctly?"
"I'm sure. He had no special abilities whatsoever!
I've racked my brain, and the only explanation I can think of is that he'd experienced this scene before. Combined with being a forr Church staffer, he'd developed so degree of immunity to the God Descent's inexplicable pressure. After all, the tentacle only startled
— it didn't actually emanate any negative effects outward.
He said he once worked at the Evil Infant Inquisition. So I'm wondering — could he be an Uma Sinner?"
At this, Cheng Shi let out a knowing laugh.
"Now that's interesting. And that's exactly where the real problem lies.
You might not know this, but the fire at the Evil Infant Inquisition burned the entire facility to the ground. If he truly lived through that event, he absolutely cannot be a surviving mber of the Inquisition's staff — because unless I'm mistaken, M... Old Zhang already wiped out every last Uma Sinner remaining in Dolgod."
"...Huh? The Gravekeeper started the fire?" Scorpio was stunned. "Why would he set a fire? Was that part of our plan too?"
Gao Ya had evidently pieced it all together. Her brow furrowed as she seed to be connecting the clues laid out before her, and just as she arrived at so hazy conclusion, the alarm bells in the Church's rear courtyard began to toll once more.
"Dong — dong — dong —"
Church personnel nearby stared toward the rear courtyard in shock. They couldn't fathom that soone would dare cause trouble inside the Church while the God Descent was in effect.
Several older mbers peered back and shouted in outrage: "The library! A traitor has broken into the library!"
Cheng Shi jolted at those words. "This is bad — Turadin's back!"
With that, he snapped his fingers and vanished on the spot, reappearing in the rear courtyard corridor. Scorpio wasn't far away and imdiately shadow-stepped after him.
Gao Ya's gaze flickered between the tentacle writhing atop the tower and the direction of the library. She lowered her head in thought for a mont, then hurried after them.
But at that very instant, the terrifying tentacle swaying above the tower suddenly shifted direction and ca crashing down toward the library in the rear courtyard!
"BOOM —"
Before Cheng Shi could even reach the library's entrance, an enormous shadow blotted out the moonlight overhead, sweeping past him to slam into the ancient, stately building. Dust and debris erupted skyward; the earth heaved and shook.
That single strike virtually leveled the Church's entire rear courtyard. Everyone inside the compound was launched slightly off the ground by the violent tremor.
Cheng Shi skidded to a halt, his expression dark as he watched this ancient building — a repository of countless scriptures, sealed forbidden arts, and heretical texts — reduced to rubble before his eyes. His heart sank.
Turadin... was he still alive?
What a ruthless father. Did he know it was his own son stealing from in there?
Or did it not matter who it was — on a night this chaotic, he intended to use this devastating blow to reassert his inviolable, sacrosanct authority?
Cheng Shi spun around to look up at the tower. The figure standing before it appeared all the more "sacred" under the moonlight.
Head of Church Berios stood at the tower's summit, his cold gaze fixed on the library's direction, and once again proclaid to his congregation:
"Heretics attempted to fish in troubled waters within the Church, seeking to free the sealed forbidden texts. My Lord has guided
to destroy those texts, denying them even the slightest opportunity.
All mbers of the congregation, assemble in the main hall. The Church will organize a force to systematically purge the remaining heretics from the city. The glory of Birth shall not be desecrated by any evil!"
With that single declaration, the chaos within the Church visibly subsided. Everyone began filing toward the front hall. Cheng Shi watched the window for maneuvering within the Church slam shut, and with a frown, he ducked toward the rest area where the players had first arrived.
He couldn't go against the flow of people now. His only option was to evade everyone's line of sight first, then quietly search for Turadin's whereabouts. He refused to believe soone that clever would die to his own father's attack. Turadin would have understood his father's nature — he wouldn't have done sothing so reckless at a ti like this.
Even if his devotion to Corruption was fanatical, he hadn't lost his mind.
And so Cheng Shi followed the crowd toward the front hall, reuniting with Scorpio and Gao Ya along the way. The mont they entered, they seized their chance amid the confusion to dash toward the rest area.
But just as the three of them were about to push through the door, a hoarse voice called out to them from the far end of the corridor.
Cheng Shi froze mid-step and whipped around — the person peeking out from the end of the hallway looked sohow familiar!
That silhouette...
"My brother, over here! I'm over here!"
"Turadin?!"
Cheng Shi's eyes went wide with shock. He imdiately led the others over, but when he rounded the corner and saw Turadin's current state, his pupils contracted ever so slightly.
He wasn't the only one. Scorpio and Gao Ya froze too — one slack-jawed, the other pensive.
"Wait, how did you—"
"What's the matter, my brother? Don't you recognize ?"
...
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