Chapter 348: May the Path Ahead be Guided by the Gods: The Death of the Chief Justice

"Geimuowa"?

The anger that had just surged within the Earth Pontiff Lei Meng was suddenly doused, as if by a basin of cold water.

Looking at the Water Pontiff Xinaiding with her eyes cast down, and the Chief Justice Gu Lide, who wore a smile and a calm, composed expression, he suddenly understood what had been puzzling him.

Having been a member of the former [Black Scripture] and rising to become one of the six Great Pontiffs, the Earth Pontiff Lei Meng was naturally no fool who possessed only strength.

"Geimuowa" is one of the divine languages passed down from the Six Great Gods, initially thought to be some kind of special, mysterious magic incantation.

Until later.

On the eve of the Great [Dark God]'s confrontation with the [Eight Greed Kings], the pontiffs serving before him personally heard many self-muttered "Geimuowa"s.

It was only through the pious weeping of the believers that they finally learned from the gods that it meant "death."

Passed down to this day, only those in the Theocracy who hold high status and have made great contributions are honored with the title of "Geimuowa" upon their death.

The pious believers of the [Dark God] pursue eternal peace and have always considered receiving this honor the highest distinction!

The atmosphere was silent.

"Heh."

Chief Justice Gu Lide chuckled softly, his fingertips tracing the black divine seal on his chest, as if he had long known the result.

The Earth Pontiff Lei Meng opened his mouth, his eyes complex: "You... Lord Gu Lide, is it worth it?"

Being the Chief Justice, yet acting as the diplomat to welcome Tang Zheng and the people of the Holy Kingdom—the deep meaning behind this finally had an answer.

"As Chief Justice, to face the death of innocent infants and be unable to stop it, this is my dereliction of duty and my sin."

"Even if those three 'Dominion Authorities' were destroyed by that child, why must it be our human infants?"

Chief Justice Gu Lide raised his head, his aged, cloudy gaze looking toward the starry sky:

"The war between the Theocracy and the elves has lasted a long time. In terms of lifespan alone, apart from those dragons, there should be no race that surpasses the lifespan of elves."

Mentioning "dragons."

A flash of wariness and deep fear crossed the faces of the two Pontiffs.

"I have had contact with that Team Leader Tang several times, and I have also studied the experiences of the other party in the Kingdom, the Empire, and the Holy Kingdom."

Chief Justice Gu Lide continued to gaze at the distant starry sky, his vision becoming a bit more blurred, and his tone becoming calm and indifferent:

"Whether it is selling potions to commoners at a low price or participating in the Hill incident, this Team Leader Tang can be considered a good person, yet he is not rigid and has a certain sense of the big picture."

"The failure of this negotiation was destined; the other party could not accept using infants as materials for integration. It is just as well that those three 'Dominion Authorities' were destroyed."

"The key is the 'Integration Potion.' Witnessing the power of that child is enough to deter the other party. If I use the big picture of humanity's situation as leverage, the subsequent strategy only needs to be gentle to achieve cooperation."

After speaking.

Chief Justice Gu Lide took a lingering look at the night sky, withdrew his gaze, and looked at the two Pontiffs in front of him: "When one is old, one tends to talk more. If the infants of the elf race are to be used, the opinions of that child must also be considered."

"Heh, I presume you six Pontiffs have already considered various strategies; just take this as the ramblings of an old man."

He shook his head.

"Cough, cough."

Chief Justice Gu Lide turned around again and looked at the ancient bell tower church, his robe adorned with black patterns fluttering in the night wind, seemingly wiping the ground:

"I must perform my morning prayers."

"May the path ahead be guided by the gods—even though tonight is overcast."

At this moment, the stars in the night sky were twinkling, and there were no clouds at all.

Inside the guesthouse.

Tang Zheng opened his eyes, temporarily cutting off the vision sharing of the Mourning Sparrow, and his sight fell back onto the crude map in front of him.

The Mourning Sparrow only possessed the ability of vision sharing, but could not hear what the three were talking about.

However.

Seeing the map in front of him, he had some faint guesses.

"Sure enough, I still don't like these people from the Theocracy." Tang Zheng leaned back on the sofa, whispering with a calm expression.

The next day.

—Dawn.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The tolling of the holy bell rang out, piercing through layers of air and echoing over the entire capital of the Theocracy.

Tang Zheng stood before the transparent glass, looking out at the main road where a large number of believers had gathered in a short time.

These people poured out from all directions, heading toward the direction of the ancient church bell tower.

The situation before him clearly indicated that something major had happened.

"Dead? To be precise, it should be suicide, right."

Tang Zheng crossed his arms over his chest, watching the scene outside the window indifferently. With the help of the Mourning Sparrow's vision sharing, he naturally knew what had happened:

"If one didn't know the process, if this were other adventurers, they would probably be eighty percent shocked or convinced."

"Heh, even 'death' is being calculated."

This was also the reason why Tang Zheng didn't like this group of people from the Theocracy.

"On the Holy Kingdom's side, there should be some movement by now, right?" As this thought just rose in Tang Zheng's heart.

Boom!

The roar of weapons clashing exploded in the courtyard below the guesthouse.

On the emerald, neat lawn.

Various sacred statues were arranged in the spacious courtyard, along with fountains, gardens, and meticulously laid cobblestone paths.

At this moment.

Two parties were confronting each other.

Dozens of pontiffs and clergy lay on the ground, groaning in pain.

Clementine held a short awl in both hands, stepped back to open the distance, and looked at the angry Remedios opposite, curling the corners of her mouth.

"Get lost! You low-status person!" Remedios's face was cold:

"Let someone of higher status in your Theocracy come to see me, or is it that your Theocracy doesn't even understand basic etiquette, and even wants to restrict our movements!"

"Sorry, oh."

Clementine shrugged her shoulders: "Because something major happened on our side, you cannot leave the guesthouse for the time being."

"This is an order from higher up. I am just an executor. If the Holy Knight and the Young Lady continue to have unnecessary conflicts, then I will have to be impolite too~"

Although she said that.

Clementine showed an eager-to-try expression on her face.

"Go to hell!"

Remedios had long wanted to teach this crazy woman in front of her a harsh lesson. She gripped her holy sword with both hands, wanting to continue the attack.

"Wait a moment, Captain, this is the capital of the Slane Theocracy after all."

"Peach" Isadoro walked up at this time, speaking in a low voice to stop Remedios, and then looked at the opposite side:

"Miss Clementine, may I ask if you can tell us what major event has occurred?"

"Oh, an old man with a relatively high status died."

"Please accept my condolences."

"Can we meet that Chief Justice who contacted us as a diplomat?"

"Sorry, oh, the old man who died is him~" Clementine licked her pink lips and spoke with an innocent face.

She felt that this matter was quite interesting.

However, since she was in the Theocracy and there were many people around paying attention, she couldn't show a grinning face. "Peach" Isadoro was stunned, clearly not expecting such a thing to happen. Upon remembering some of the regulations in the Theocracy, his face couldn't help but turn black.

"So."

Clementine played with the short awl in her hand and spoke again slowly:

"A big shot with such a high status as the Chief Justice has died, and he has had direct contact with you for a long time during this period."

"Just in case, none of you can leave the guesthouse now, oh."

"Peach" Isadoro's face turned even darker.

Yesterday.

Through the probing and contact by "Black" Pavel, and the intelligence brought back that Team Leader Tang might have had a falling out with the Theocracy.

"Peach" Isadoro had been happy for a while.

The enemy's negotiation failed.

Naturally, it was only beneficial to their Holy Kingdom.

Coming here this time, nominally to demand an explanation from the Theocracy, since Team Leader Tang had a falling out with the Theocracy, the significance of demanding an explanation was no longer great; leaving the Theocracy with Team Leader Tang was the most important thing.

And now.

It was already impossible for them to leave.

It was clear that they had just had a falling out yesterday, and this happened today.

If it weren't for the fact that Chief Justice Gu Lide had such a high status, "Peach" Isadoro would have suspected that the Theocracy was deliberately setting a trap.

In an instant!

The atmosphere in the field became somewhat subtle.

Clatter, clatter—

The sound of armor rubbing and heavy boots stepping on the ground rose.

Over a hundred soldiers of the Theocracy rushed in from all directions to surround the Holy Kingdom's party, each soldier staring at the people of the Holy Kingdom, revealing uncontrollable anger.

Although Chief Justice Gulide held the reins of the Theocracy’s judiciary, his personal fame and prestige were extremely high.

Furthermore, with a personal image of being "approachable" and "equal," he left an excellent impression in the hearts of the Theocracy's ordinary citizens.

Now that Chief Justice Gulide had suddenly died,

how could the crowd of Theocracy soldiers have any good attitude toward the people from the Holy Kingdom side?

"That old guy's death has nothing to do with us!"

Remedios spoke in a cold voice.

As soon as these words were spoken,

the hostility of the surrounding soldiers became a few shades more intense.

A curve of interest appeared at the corners of Clementine's mouth; she had no intention of intervening at all. Instead, she hoped that this foolish woman, Remedios, would have a direct conflict with the Theocracy.

That would be too interesting!

If these ordinary soldiers died, then they died.

"Peach" Isadoro and "Black" Pavel’s expressions changed slightly, and they stood in unison behind Remedios, assuming a defensive posture.

The crowd of soldiers gripped the weapons in their hands nervously.

The three people before them were powerhouses who had stepped into the "Heroic Realm." If a conflict really broke out, let alone their small number, even a unit of a thousand men would only be slaughtered to the last.

"How lively."

A faint, gentle chuckle came from inside the guest house.

A figure in white priest robes walked out of the main door and looked at the confronting crowd: "Are you all planning to trigger a war between the two countries?"

"We are also very surprised about the matter of the Chief Justice."

"Everyone of the Theocracy, please accept my condolences. If there is anything you need my cooperation with, I will certainly do my best."

Tang Zheng walked to a position not far from Remedios, glanced at Clementine who was secretly inciting trouble, and said gently: "Captain Remedios, I wonder if you have any interest in coming to my place for a cup of tea?"

Faced with the invitation,

"Fine." The furious Remedios’s expression improved quite a bit, and she nodded, recovering a bit of her arrogant appearance.

——Room living room.

The three of them, Remedios and her companions, sat on the sofas on either side.

Aside from Remedios, whose gaze was somewhat unfocused as she occasionally sized up the environment of this spacious living room, "Peach" Isadoro and "Black" Pavel both had their brows slightly furrowed, not knowing what they were pondering.

Clearly, what happened today made the two of them notice something unusual.

Pure white porcelain teacups were placed on the table.

"The black tea provided by the Theocracy is quite good. Perhaps I can ask for some when I leave the Theocracy."

Tang Zheng spoke with a light laugh, picked up the teapot on the table and tilted it; the amber tea soup flowed out from the spout, emitting swirling heat.

"It is indeed top-tier black tea, but it is still a few shades worse compared to the top-tier black tea of our Holy Kingdom."

Remedios lifted her chin and spoke disparagingly:

"The taste is a bit astringent. If you could use our Holy Kingdom's black tea combined with fruit slices, it would have a unique fruity fragrance."

"If Team Leader Tang likes it, I can gift you some next time you come to our Holy Kingdom."

"Is that so." Tang Zheng simply smiled after hearing what Remedios said.

"Peach" Isadoro let out a sigh that was almost imperceptible; he didn't care about the black tea issue right now.

The situation before them was truly somewhat bizarre.

"Team Leader Tang, is that Chief Justice Gulide really dead?"

"Peach" Isadoro’s gaze was solemn, and a cold glint flashed faintly; he suspected whether there might be a trap in this.

After all, this matter was only heard from the mouths of people from the Holy Kingdom, and its truth was questionable; perhaps it was just to restrict them.

"It shouldn't be fake."

Tang Zheng put down the teapot in his hand, brought the teacup in front of himself, and shook his head:

"The words spoken by that Miss Clementine might contain elements of falsehood, but the performance of that group of Theocracy soldiers does not look fake."

"Peach" Isadoro recalled the hostile gazes of that group of Theocracy soldiers, and his heart sank.

"Things have become a bit troublesome, Team Leader Tang."

"Peach" Isadoro spoke seriously: "Given the current situation, I am afraid we cannot leave the Theocracy as quickly as possible."

"Then let's fight our way out!" Remedios snorted coldly, crossing her arms over her chest:

"With the strength of our four Heroic Realm powerhouses, the Theocracy cannot stop us."

"Peach" Isadoro was slightly stunned; he discovered that this was indeed a method.

Tang Zheng did not speak, but merely picked up the black tea on the table and took a sip, his expression calm and composed.

The death of Chief Justice Gulide gave him a deeper understanding of the Theocracy!

"Heh, too eager for success."

Whether it was the future assassination of Gazef, or the long-standing hope that the Kingdom would shoulder the heavy responsibility of humanity on that fertile land.

Or the experiment of keeping the demi-humans in the hill region and letting them conflict with the Holy Kingdom to increase the Holy Kingdom's crisis, all explained the problem.

The Theocracy always wanted to exchange the smallest cost for the greatest result, or plot more through a single event.

To put it nicely, they wanted to become fat in one bite.

"The humans of this world only have a history of 600 years in total; their foundation is indeed lacking too much." Tang Zheng sighed inwardly.

(End of chapter)