Chapter 3: Another Shepherd
The mont the words fell, l suddenly froze, a bone-chilling cold spreading from her spine throughout her body.
Her consciousness began to blur, as if countless tiny black tentacles were eroding her nerves.
Jessica's arm was wrapped tightly around her waist like a cold iron hoop, and the chill was coming from that very spot.
l wanted to break free, but she found that her limbs had completely lost sensation.
And more fatally, her mouth was opening uncontrollably, as if so syllable was about to burst from her throat.
“My body....is out of control....”
“Beco my younger sister, okay?”
Jessica continued to ask, “I will love you just like your sister does. I will take good care of you and cherish you. Okay, l?”
“N-I don't want to....”
l used all her strength to forcibly turn the agreent that was about to co out into a refusal.
And the mont her words fell, Jessica's face suddenly beca distorted and surprised, as if she had encountered sothing extrely unbelievable.
At the sa ti, l's previously powerless limbs suddenly regained their strength, and her heavy body once again beca light.
Seizing this montary opportunity, l imdiately pushed Jessica away with force and then ran into the alley.
She didn't know why she didn't run towards the main road, but instead ran into the alley that seed like a dead end.
It was as if at this mont, the first thing that ca to her mind wasn't to escape, but sothing else.
Sothing more important than escaping.
She ran into the alley with all her strength and then snatched up the blood-stained dagger from the ground.
“To actually be able to break free from my control.... it seems I've underestimated you.”
Jessica's voice suddenly beca deep, carrying an inhuman rhythm.
“Indeed, even a newborn Shepherd should not be underestimated.”
“What are you trying to do....”
l gripped the dagger in her hand, the cold hilt giving her a sliver of security.
She could feel her hand trembling, yet her heart was surprisingly calm.
“What am I trying to do?”
Jessica sneered, walking towards l step by step, the wound on her abdon had healed at so unknown point.
“Of course, to do what a Shepherd should do.”
As Jessica approached, the ominous aura in the air grew thicker, as if even the surrounding air was being dyed with a dark color.
“A little girl shouldn't play with such dangerous things. Co, give it to .”
Jessica reached her hand out towards l, her voice carrying a hint of bewitchnt.
“Don't co any closer!”
l spoke subconsciously, but the mont her words fell, she saw the smile on Jessica's face widen.
At the sa ti, her body seed to beco heavy once again.
“What... is happening....”
“This is a mystic art, my dear.”
Jessica slowly walked into l's attack range, but l did not attack her.
And Jessica seed very interested.
She squatted in front of l, studying her face, which was distorted by fear.
This is my way of shepherding.
Answering the doubts of the bewildered lambs, guiding the direction for the lost souls.
Whether you ask a question, or I ask you one, as long as we have an exchange, you will gradually be controlled by .
Jessica reached out and gently caressed l's cheek, whispering softly in her ear:
“Think about it, how much did we just talk heart-to-heart?”
l felt a chilling cold.
Jessica's cold fingers brushed across her cheek, the touch feeling like snake scales scraping against skin.
She wanted to retreat, but her body was like a puppet controlled by invisible threads, unable to move at all.
“You see, we've already established such a deep connection.”
Jessica's voice had a strange echo.
“You told your na, your family, your life. Every conversation allows my mystic art to take a deeper root inside your body....”
Jessica's fingers slowly slid down and stopped at l's throat.
Her fingertips tapped lightly on her throat, feeling the delicate texture of the young girl's skin.
l felt her consciousness slowly dissipating, as if she were subrged in icy water, gradually losing sensation.
She wanted to struggle, but her body was not under her control.
“However, you really did surprise a little,” Jessica continued, to be able to resist my control, it seems you are much more special than the other lambs.
Ah I can't wait to turn you into my flock.
You will definitely be the most special one.
As Jessica spoke, she suddenly reached out and choked l's neck, her nails digging deep into the flesh.
“Co on, respond to , let's get to know each other better!”
“Clack—”
The dagger slipped powerlessly from l's hand, making a crisp sound as it hit the ground.
A cruel smile played on Jessica's lips, her eyes gleaming with a strange light in the darkness.
l felt a strange power eroding her consciousness.
Even though it was just a painful groan, it was still considered a response to Jessica.
Those invisible ropes took over her body bit by bit, occupied her consciousness, and pried open her ntal defenses.
Her lips trembled uncontrollably, as if she would say sothing at any mont.
Suddenly, l's gaze went past Jessica and landed behind her.
Towards the red moon that was silently watching everything in the sky.
“White....”
l spoke indistinctly.
“What?”
“The moon.... is white.”
Amidst Jessica's anticipation, l suddenly uttered a sentence of unclear aning.
A blasphemous sentence.
Jessica's pupils suddenly contracted, the force in her hand unconsciously loosening.
This sentence was like a heavy hamr, shattering her composure.
“You lunatic!”
Jessica pointed at l in terror, “Do you have any idea what you're saying!”
Suddenly, Jessica seed to realize sothing and looked up at the sky.
In the sky, the eternal red moon seed to be enraged by this treasonous statent, its blood-colored light suddenly becoming blinding.
A suffocating pressure descended from the sky, and the air filled with a sacred yet violent aura.
Jessica's body began to tremble slightly.
She could feel that she was being watched by so indescribable great being.
After realizing this, Jessica's face instantly turned pale, as if she had fallen into an ice cavern.
She was not a believer in the Red Moon to begin with.
What she believed in was (Knowledge).
That was a deity who stood in opposition to the Red Moon!
Even if the Red Moon could forgive a believer's offensive words spoken out of a need to survive, it would absolutely not let her, an infidel, go.
The hands choking l loosened involuntarily, as if deterred by so greater power.
At this mont, Jessica couldn't care about anything else.
She imdiately knelt on the ground, drawing so kind of symbol on her chest with her hands, muttering words under her breath.
Knowledge above, guardian of wisdom, revealer of truth, I pray for your gaze.
Please shelter your believer, shelter her from the Red Moon's harm.
l fell to the ground, coughing violently.
The moonlight poured down as if it were tangible, casting a blood-like glow on her pale face.
She looked up at the sky.
The scarlet moon was emitting an ominous light.
After catching her breath, l bent down, picked up the dagger, and aid it at the defenseless Jessica, who was wholeheartedly praying to (Knowledge).
The dagger glinted coldly under the blood-colored moonlight.
l's hand held the hilt steadily as she slowly approached Jessica.
Her throat was still aching faintly, but the opportunity at this mont was fleeting.
(Kill that despicable inducer)
(Lead the lost lamb back to the right path)
Frantic whisperings sounded in her ears, urging the young girl to act, but l felt no revulsion at all.
As if she had intended to do so all along.
If I don't kill her, then Veronica will also.
Thinking of this, l tightened her grip on the knife in her hand, and a layer of red light blood in her amber pupils.
So bewitching.
Jessica knelt on the ground, completely absorbed in her prayer, utterly unaware of the danger behind her.
Her voice was trembling and hurried, constantly repeating her plea to (Knowledge).
“Click—”
Suddenly, the sound of l's footsteps startled Jessica.
She turned around abruptly, but it was too late.
The sharp dagger had already plunged into her back, the sound of the blade tearing through flesh and blood was clearly audible.
“Aaargh—!”
Jessica let out a shrill scream.
She tried to struggle, but l's other hand was now holding her shoulder down firmly.
Under the moonlight, the young girl's face was bathed in blood, the corners of her lips slightly upturned with a hint of frenzied charm.
Under Jessica's pained gaze, l pushed the dagger in her hand deeper.
Warm blood flowed down the hilt, dyeing l's palm red.
Soon, Jessica's body began to tremble violently, and the prayers in her mouth turned into intermittent whimpers.
l abruptly pulled out the dagger, and blood imdiately spurted out.
Jessica fell forward, her hands scratching weakly at the ground.
The young girl watched Jessica's corpse with indifference.
Just as the red moon in the sky watched all this with indifference.
Her hand was still trembling, blood dripping from her fingertips to the ground.
The crimson moonlight shone on the blood-soaked l, carrying a sense of morbid beauty.
“I.... killed soone....”
l looked down at her blood-covered hands, her heart unexpectedly calm.
At the sa ti, the whisperings in her ears sounded like the wind:
(Presenting the sacrificial rite)
Her breathing gradually steadied, and a strange calm enveloped her heart.
l raised her head and looked at the red moon above.
The moonlight poured down like blood, dyeing the alley a strange shade of red.
Her gaze fell back on Jessica's body.
The filth that had once terrified her had long since disappeared, leaving only an ordinary corpse.
“Sacrifice....”
l muttered to herself, and then, another round of whisperings sounded in her ear.
The whisperings seed to be a prayer, but also like a recitation of so being's revered na.
l's mouth opened and closed subconsciously, like a parrot mimicking speech, slowly repeating the whisperings in her ear.
“Eternal Red Moon, please listen to my prayer. With this hunt of the infidel as a sacrifice, please forgive my previous disrespect. Please accept this death I offer you, along with her flesh and blood.”
As l recited the prayer, a strange wind suddenly swirled up in the alley.
The light of the blood moon beca more bewitching, but it was no longer filled with violence, as if responding to her prayer and forgiving her disrespect.
“Wooooo—”
The grim wind howled, sweeping up the fallen leaves and dust on the ground.
l felt an inexplicable force surging towards the corpse from all directions.
The pool of blood on the ground began to flow strangely, as if it were alive, converging in a certain direction, taking the blood splattered on l's body along with it.
Jessica's body began to fade at a visible rate, until it finally disappeared completely from before l's eyes.
Watching this scene, l felt not the slightest fear in her heart; instead, she felt that everything was as it should be.
She watched all of this quietly, not even noticing that the bruises on her neck had already disappeared unknowingly.
This was the Red Moon's small gift for this sacrifice.
After Jessica's body and blood had completely disappeared from the alley, l discarded the dagger in her hand and walked slowly to the spot where the body had vanished.
There, a wisp of white light was floating quietly.
(Kill those impure lambs)
(Shepherd those lost souls)
Now, the impure lamb is dead, and the lost soul still awaits the Shepherd's guidance.
l reached out her hand and gently touched the wisp of white light.
The light danced in l's hand like a lively fla.
Imdiately after, the light drilled into l's palm, bringing a warm sensation.
“Whoosh—”
The night wind blew, sweeping up l's long hair.
She felt that so knowledge had appeared in her mind out of thin air.
A mystic art incantation for healing, a recipe for a healing potion, information about a secret gathering, and also information about other Shepherds.
This was a part of Jessica's mories from before her death.
l let out a light breath, then tidied her clothes a little, left the alley, and set off on the road ho.
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