The sounds of footsteps echoed from outside the temple, and Lin Jiang saw a group of townsfolk holding torches.
Their expressions were numb, their figures stiff, moving toward this place like marionettes on strings.
Even she was startled by this scene, but as she quickly turned around, she saw Su Ming’an walking toward that coffin.
"—What exactly are you trying to do? Do you want to drag us down with you again?" she yelled, with the blood-colored pattern marks on her body flashing continuously.
"Don’t overestimate yourself," Su Ming’an said, before he lifted the lid of the coffin and lay down inside it.
"..." Lin Jiang stared blankly as this person nonchalantly picked a coffin to climb into.
...What was he doing? Digging his own grave?
"Let’s go!" she grabbed Yamada Machiichi, who was standing nearby. She knew that the situation was definitely not normal, they had already been dragged through a whole night without anyone to cut off, and they couldn’t afford to lose more mbers; otherwise, they would have no chance of success at all.
Yamada Machiichi glanced at the closed coffin, did not move, and let Lin Jiang pull him as she crushed a crystal, teleporting away through space.
"Bang!"
The door was pushed open, and the townsfolk performing the ritual entered.
Su Ming’an lay inside the coffin, hearing a faint sigh.
"...You’re here again."
The next mont, he heard Moli’s extrely soft voice.
The whispering of the townsfolk outside resembled the sounds of that night when Moli was married off.
After the townsfolk left, Su Ming’an lifted the coffin lid and saw Moli lying beside him, dressed in blood-stained clothes.
"Moli." He looked at her.
He knew that the Moli at night must be the girl who was permanently imprisoned in the temple, waiting alone for a deity who would never arrive. She was really naive, listening to every story he told, believing every word he said, like a blank sheet of paper... and very much like the girl he had seen in the instance.
And the Moli during the day... He guessed that was the ghost.
The ghost wasn’t completely trapped in the temple.
On the contrary... it could even control Moli’s body, walking about during the dayti.
And the real Moli could only wake up at night, without so much as seeing a glimpse of dawn—she seed utterly content, even if she watched the sa nightlife day after day, remaining the way she first was; he could hardly imagine how long she had been here.
Perhaps she had been here so long, she almost forgot her own past, only rembering that her na was Moli, with so vague mories of her life... but she rembered very clearly that she couldn’t leave this temple and that she must wait, always wait.
...Waiting for the deity who could never co to marry her.
Su Ming’an rembered his task—to reveal Moli’s sins.
Perhaps his task was to expose the Moli during the day, possessed by the ghosts.
"Lighthouse Brother." Moli looked at him, her eyes as clear as ever: "... Can you continue telling stories?"
Listening to this call, his heart stirred slightly—a feeling he hadn’t experienced for a long ti.
She was an NPC, a person who couldn’t be saved; logically, he shouldn’t have felt too much about it.
But, at this mont, emotions wanting to save her unexpectedly arose in his heart.
He quickly suppressed these thoughts, looking at her favorability which was now at 50 points.
After confirming that she really only had these vague mories during the night, he knew that Moli at night was actually of no use anymore.
She couldn’t provide him any useful information; he had already learned all this through the personal instance earlier.
He felt sowhat inclined to leave, but the ti had passed and the door still couldn’t be opened.
He could only sit down first, looking at the expectant Moli, and begin telling her the stories she wanted to hear.
...
The candlelight flickered.
The woman caressing the bottle gazed at Lv Shu, a hint of astonishnt appearing in her eyes.
"Poison Traveler Number One?" she repeated his words, her expression then changed slightly, "Traveler Number Four, although I do not wish to interfere with your actions, I want to confirm your thoughts once again—your true thoughts, are you really intending to poison Traveler Number One?"
Lv Shu clenched his fist.
His eyes were sowhat numb, the light in them gradually fading, like the last vestiges of sunlight at sunset.
"I..."
He said softly, his fist clenched tightly, the pain almost piercing through his skin becoming distinctly clear.
A faint sound ca from outside the door.
He suddenly looked up, with a mixture of hope and despair in his gaze towards the door.
At that mont, he thought—it would be good if Su Ming’an was here to kill him.
The door was gently pushed open, and a small black shadow darted in.
"ow~"
A cat’s ow.
Lv Shu lifted his eyelid and saw a black cat with a fiery red tail, and nobody else outside the door.
The black cat watched him warily, a paper scroll tied to its legs with a rubber band.
"An unconventional way to deliver a ssage." Sharina glanced over, "Traveler Number One possesses abilities that truly transcend the rules."
Lv Shu removed the paper scroll, which only contained a few simple words conveying a very clear directive.
[Poison Number 11, Lin Jiang.]
He stared at the paper scroll for a while as if trying to see through it.
The black cat was still waiting there, seemingly anticipating his actions, its claws sharpened as if it would scratch him if he failed to follow the instructions.
Although, for dealing with such a wee creature, Lv Shu had many options available.
He stared at the paper scroll, sitting on the bed motionless, like a person frozen stiff who had not yet recovered from the shock.
"Traveler Number Four... possessing the witch’s function, my dear traveler." Sharina propped her cheek with her hand, her beautiful eyes watching him, "Make your choice... Although I do not know why there has been such a drastic change in your attitude before and after, whatever it is, do not betray your true heart."
The bottle beside her contained a luminous green liquid, beautifully shimring under the candlelight.
Lv Shu once again closed the live stream that was frantically shouting, "What are you doing!" "Do not abandon Ming An’an!" "Hurry and bring him back I’m dying here—!" He took out another paper scroll with the clues of the prophet, and read it again like studying a holy scripture.
His steady gaze trembled slightly.
...
As the first light of dawn entered through the window, Su Ming’an stopped speaking.
The girl dressed in a red wedding dress slightly closed her eyes, as if she had fallen asleep.
He quickly stood up, his sword already firm in his hand.
The warm morning light steeped through the tall window at an angle, casting a glow on the girl’s golden ornants, dazzling the eye.
And in the mont he squinted slightly, he t a pair of eyes as sharp as a hawk’s.
That look was no longer confused and innocent, lacking the harmless deanor of a rabbit.
"... You’ve discovered it." Her gaze instantly locked firmly on Su Ming’an.
"The ghost that possessed Moli’s body." Su Ming’an looked at her, "It’s ti for exile, co and face the judgnt with ."
"How ridiculous." "Moli" laughed softly, her eyes carrying scorn, "I gave you the chance to change Moli’s past—and yet, is that all you’ve understood?"
Su Ming’an remained silent.
In fact, whether Moli was guilty or not, and whether the Ghosts themselves were guilty, was irrelevant.
Considering the change in Moli’s favorability during the dayti, she might have been pretending, or she might have truly felt an increase in affection for him.
But none of this would change based on soone’s innocence.
"No matter how you try to defend yourself, the one who caused her death, the one who hard Moli, was you." Su Ming’an said, "Now, you want to ask soone else to save the Moli of the past—you are deceiving yourself, not being kind-hearted. Make sure you understand that."
He suddenly felt a burst of cold air.
A blood-red veil flashed in front of him, and a pale arm adorned with jingling gold bracelets flashed before his eyes.
He quickly grabbed the hand of the "Moli" that attacked him, and saw a shining silver blade suddenly appear on her bracelet.
A sudden pain shot through Su Ming’an’s hand. It seed as if a blood-red rune flashed on "Moli’s" wrist, and the next mont, he saw white fur growing on the back of her hand.
The frail body of the girl suddenly burst forth with imnse strength, she swung fiercely, breaking free from Su Ming’an’s grip. The blade glinted with silver light, and the sharp edge almost reached him instantly!
Under the "Ming" state, Su Ming’an’s strength value suddenly surged, and his sword edge instantly cleaved through the dagger advancing towards him. His left hand, hanging in the air, imdiately moved forward to wrap around the girl’s neck, lifting her entirely off the ground.
"Ugh, ugh..." The face of "Moli" turned bright red, she seed in pain.
As she struggled, the gold jewelry shimred in the morning light with a sowhat glaring brightness, causing Su Ming’an to squint slightly.
...It seed too easy.
It was like facing an opponent who knew no martial arts, possessing strength but no skill. He believed his swordsmanship was terrible, but his opponent’s combat skills were even weaker, much weaker... not at all like a mastermind.
...If he killed her here.
Su Ming’an looked at "Moli" struggling in front of him like an ordinary girl, helpless, and then at the fur on her hands.
He rembered that his task was to reveal her sins in front of everyone, not to kill her just like that.
He still released his hand.
"Huff, huff, cough, cough, cough..." "Moli" fell to the ground, coughing continuously, her eyes on Su Ming’an showed more fear after the narrow escape.
But at the sa ti, he also saw the deep hatred hidden in her eyes.
"I see." Su Ming’an understood, "Although Sharina’s potion didn’t completely trap you in the shrine, allowing you to use Moli’s body to move around during the day—you still haven’t fully recovered your power."
Su Ming’an suddenly understood what Sharina had said, what had been said in the Oracle.
...
[The twelve Outsiders can rescue Terry from the Eternal Curse.]
...
The townsfolk were misled, they didn’t realize sothing was wrong with Moli, who should have been dead, reappearing. Even Mayor Mitchell doted on Moli as if she were his daughter.
But, the Outsiders could notice, could find these abnormalities.
As long as he found a way to eliminate this Ghost, the task would be perfectly completed.
anwhile, he also heard a prompt from the system, as if affirming his guess:
[Dawn Line·Perfect Pass progress 75%]
... Only one last step.
To drag this weak Ghost out and expose her in front of everyone, everything would then be completed.
Su Ming’an approached her, suddenly seeing a strange smile on "Moli’s" face.
As that smile appeared on her flushed face, Su Ming’an unexpectedly felt an emotion, remarkably similar to his own forr self, emanating from her.
"Outsider, you simply don’t understand, these ’Pilgrims’ humble yet steadfast faith," she said with a smile.
"I probably can’t understand anymore," Su Ming’an said.
"Hmm," Moli sneered softly after hearing his words, spreading her hands, "Traveler from the outside, your insight is too superficial, and your understanding of faith is too shallow..."
She brought her fingers to her lips, letting a deep voice leak through her red lips:
"Rember this, the deity they worship—it has always been , standing right before your eyes."
"Bang!"
Suddenly, Su Ming’an heard a door slamming like thunder at the entrance.
At the sa ti, the sound of footsteps like a tidal wave erupted suddenly, swirling around the doorway.
The wooden door was kicked open forcefully, and the golden Morning Glow poured in. He turned his head to see the townfolk, faces filled with anger, holding gleaming weapons and staring straight at him.
"Traveler from the outside, you who wished to seduce mine, the sinful traveler," Moli said, pointing at him with an icy voice, "My dear believers—kill him, to protect your deity, to maintain... the eternal peace of the town."
The townfolk surged in instantly, and Su Ming’an imdiately stepped forward, grabbing Moli.
He still rembered Sharina’s words—Moli must not die, her body was a vessel that contained the Ghosts.
Clearly... even after Mitchell beca the mayor, these people had not found their original deity.
The Ghosts had successfully deceived them, becoming their new faith.
He forcefully pulled Moli toward the shrine, only to discover there was no way out, the incoming townfolk had blocked the doorway tightly, with sickles and clubs surging forward, seemingly disregarding Moli’s condition as they attacked him.
He quickly jumped onto a nearby counter, crossing over a floor that was being furiously scratched by the weapons of the crazed townfolk. He noticed a candlestick still burning nearby; seizing the still-burning candlestick, he threw it at the townfolk crowding below!
"Clang—!" His sword t a townfolk’s sickle, and he found these people to be incredibly strong. He could clearly see that their hands were growing fine white fur, as if it had just sprouted.
"Boom—!"
The fla ignited instantly, and the burning townfolk, seemingly oblivious to the fire on their bodies, continued their relentless attack towards the counter.
The group seed to feel neither their wounds nor the pain, adopting an insane attitude solely focused on killing him.
[You killed Townfolk Hol, Exp 1000]
[You killed Townfolk Walker, Exp 1000]
[...]
[HP-430! (Bleeding!)]
He gasped for air—after chopping down two townfolk who tried to pounce on him, he suddenly felt a sickle’s blunt edge scrape across his waist, a sensation of piercing pain erupted, and he could even feel sothing liquid sliding down his belly.
Before him was a bright Morning Glow, the blades of the townfolk’s weapons glistening dazzlingly.
He turned around, thrusting his sword into a nearby person’s neck and flicking his wrist, sending the head flying. The next mont, he heard swift wind sounds, as if countless attacks were coming from his left.
[You killed Townfolk Jiali, Exp 1000]
[HP-210! (Heavy blow!)]
[HP-56! (Grazing wound!)]
[HP-110! (Blunt weapon strike!)]
In his vision, the townfolk, their bodies engulfed in flas, moved as if unable to extinguish themselves automatically, gradually spreading the flas to others, forming a connected blaze yet not a single cry of pain was heard, creating a bizarre scene.
The small shrine resembled a miniature zombie siege, except the assailants were not disgusting, horrific zombies, but the forrly amicable townfolk who had sold their own fruits.
The contrast was imnse.
Su Ming’an glanced at Moli, who had collapsed to one side.
She was smiling at him.
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