It was as if a beam of wisdom from the Wisdom God had struck Kieren right on the forehead, and he suddenly saw everything clearly!
He had finally found a way to resolve the perilous situation!!!
The Minstrel spurred his horse forward, exerting all his strength, and bellowed at the bandits who were still driving the villagers away, "Stop!"
It must be said that Kieren’s title of golden voice wasn’t for nothing.
His sudden shout startled even the Giant Stone, who involuntarily stopped what he was doing.
The bandits had thought it must be so Knight passing by, intervening on seeing the injustice, only to see the Minstrel riding an old horse.
Giant Stone imdiately got infuriated and rebuked, "What does this robbery have to do with you?"
Kieren was still sowhat afraid of this man who nearly crushed his head, but it was exactly because he was afraid that Giant Stone would co after him later that he now had to muster the courage to stand up.
"I am a follower of the Double Rest Sect, a poet appointed by Saturday, and I cannot just watch you harm its followers," Kieren declared righteously.
"Have you lost your mind? There aren’t any followers of the Double Rest Sect here," Giant Stone scoffed.
But no sooner had he spoken than a scream rang out, "I, I am a follower of the Double Rest Sect."
The speaker was a woman, who was currently being dragged by two bandits toward a barn, one of her boots missing, her robe torn in several places, revealing her wheat-colored skin underneath.
She was clutching her chest with one hand and holding a stone with the other.
However, her struggles seed like just an appetizer before a al to those strong and rugged bandits.
Not only did her struggle fail to protect her, it seed to whet the bandits’ appetites even further.
Despair filled the woman’s eyes, she was nearly ready to resign herself to fate, yet the appearance of the Minstrel gave her a glimr of hope.
She was like a drowning person, desperately grabbing at anything within reach.
Far from clinging to beliefs about Saturday, at this mont, she would even be willing to beco a follower of the Evil God.
The bandits were all stunned by her declaration.
And as if inspired by the woman, another voice followed, "I, I am also a follower of the Double Rest Sect!"
"And ! I’ve always worshiped Saturday."
"My brother was cursed, and he left with Prophet rlin not long ago; I was just thinking of packing up my things to follow Prophet rlin too."
"I pray to Saturday every night!"
"......"
The villagers clamored, each proclaiming their own steadfast faith in Saturday, trying to prove they were the most devout of all.
Giant Stone, overwheld by their clamor, roared, "Shut up, all of you!"
The crowd fell silent again, but it wasn’t long before sobs and weeping resud.
"Just over a month ago, not many people here even knew about Prophet rlin and the Double Rest Sect. I don’t believe that Saturday has so many followers here."
A sinister smile spread across Giant Stone’s face, "If I find out who among you is lying, I will smash his head in fiercely. No, wait!"
Halfway through, Giant Stone suddenly realized, "Why do I care whether you’re followers of the Double Rest Sect? Saturday’s own poet is still our hostage, and he can’t save anyone."
"Who says so?" Kieren’s legs were trembling, yet he still had to pluck up the courage to retort.
"You intend to exchange for Prophet rlin in return for the giant dragon blood, don’t you?" Kieren spoke coolly. "Do you think if you kill so many followers of the Double Rest Sect, Prophet rlin will still give you the giant dragon blood?"
"Then we’ll just kill you too." nace sparkled in Giant Stone’s eyes.
"Fine, then go ahead." Kieren closed his eyes and said.
He was gambling, gambling that the robbers would not want to lose the invaluable giant dragon blood.
Indeed, Hawkeye’s voice rang out once more, "Don’t be rash, Giant Stone."
Giant Stone grunted and eventually sheathed his nail head hamr, "Then we better check thoroughly whether these people are truly followers of the Double Rest Sect."
"Do you even know what followers of the Double Rest Sect look like?" Kieren retorted.
Giant Stone was imdiately at a loss for words.
The Minstrel was not surprised by this, aware that beyond the giant dragon blood, these robbers knew very little about rlin and the Double Rest Sect; otherwise, his impersonation would likely have been exposed long ago.
After the first gamble paid off, Kieren’s courage grew by leaps and bounds.
He continued, "Moreover, it doesn’t matter which God they worshipped before. Prophet rlin always teaches us that Saturday is rciful and open—anyone willing to abandon darkness for light, to abide by the precepts, should not be turned away from our doors."
"So you an to say, if they decide to worship Saturday right now, we can’t touch them?" Giant Stone’s temper flared up again upon hearing this.
It turned out they had plundered hard only to find they could look but not touch.
Not just Giant Stone, the faces of other robbers also showed their displeasure.
However, Kieren still confidently said, "Exactly." He paused, then added,
"Of course, I am only your prisoner at the mont, without the might to fully protect them. So how about we make so agreents?
"Whether they are followers of the Double Rest Sect or wish to join, you can take their possessions but must not harm them, and you must leave so provisions for them, since you can’t carry away that much food anyway.
"Afterward, I will take them to et rlin and conduct the initiation ceremony. If you agree to this, I will also ask the Prophet for the giant dragon blood you desire."
Hawkeye’s gaze flickered, pondering sothing. After a mont, he finally spoke, "Alright, I was going to kill them all, but since you’ve spoken, we’ll spare them this ti."
"What do you an," Giant Stone was displeased again, "We’ve been holding back for so long, finally found so fun, and now it’s gone. Why should we listen to that sissy?"
"Shut up, enduring a little for the giant dragon blood is not a problem," Hawkeye retorted irritably. "Does anyone else have objections?"
The robbers looked at each other, ultimately unable to resist the temptation of the giant dragon blood. Including Giant Stone, although he continued to grumble, he did not object further.
Seeing this, Kieren inwardly rejoiced; there were at least seventy to eighty people in his village, old and young combined. If he could pull them all into the Double Rest Sect, it would certainly count as a great rit.
Maybe rlin would then overlook his impersonation of the poet of Saturday.
Hmm. Of course, to be safe, better to recruit even more people.
Thinking this, Kieren saw the robbers begin to plunder the village, finally even setting fire to it, burning the entire village to ashes.
The villagers watched helplessly as their hos and all their belongings were devoured by the flas, all too angry yet too afraid to speak, and filled with confusion and insecurity about the future.
Kieren didn’t forget his current role, and amidst the helplessness and despair of the people, he took out the Layakin guitar, cleared his throat, and plucked the strings.
Unlike the uneducated robbers, Kieren had put in so effort for his craft and had so understanding of Li Yu and his Double Rest Sect.
Though this understanding wasn’t extensive or entirely accurate, it was enough to fool the even less knowledgeable villagers and robbers.
There and then, Kieren improvised a song about how Saturday guides its destitute followers towards a new holand, where they could settle down and lead happy lives, and he began to sing.
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