Chapter 359: Beam of Light, Birdcage

Center of Yangjiao Town.

Church.

Cold and icy moonlight passed through the vine-shaped window lattice, casting mottled and distorted shadows on the floor.

The warm and soft atmosphere of floating dust in the daylight, like a granary, dissipated into nothingness as night fell, leaving only terrifying dead silence.

The wall lamps were extinguished, and the candles that should have been lit fell quietly into the depths of the darkness.

In such a large church, the only light source was the pale silver moon outside the dome skylight.

And it was under the shroud of that silver-white moonlight, which shot down from the dome like a spotlight.

The hunched, thin, and old figure, just like the previous twenty thousand nights, knelt at the feet of the Goddess, offering his pious and humble faith to her.

Unlike the past, Priest Moxi, who usually appeared in simple attire, changed into a brown-green ritual robe that only appeared on him during major festivals or celebrations on this night, exceptionally solemnly.

The hem and collar were embroidered with gold thread, and the silk-like smooth and delicate texture made the moonlight falling on it look like a thin veil of light mist draped over the priest.

Bowing his head deeply, the pale hair was like withered frost grass;

lips moving, chanting hymns, his thick and sturdy hands like a farmer's were folded in front of his chest, but where the palms were joined, it did not reveal the Goddess's rose holy emblem, only revealing a touch of gorgeous pink.

Priest Moxi slowly spread his palms, and the pink brilliance flashed in the air, revealing the pastel gem in his palm, which was crystal clear, with viscous pink smoke rippling and flowing inside.

Rough fingers rubbed the surface of the gem almost obsessively and gently, and the pink light flickering in the air seemed to be responding, and also seemed to be tempting.

Outside the moonlight, in the depths of the shadows.

The towering stone sculpture of the Goddess of Agriculture could only vaguely see a blurred outline, and only the occasional flash of pink light illuminated her face for an instant.

Still kind and tranquil.

But the eyes that stared silently from the darkness had a few more points of unspeakable compassion under the cover of the shadows.

Suddenly, as if sensing something.

Moxi suddenly raised his head.

Pale and turbid eyes looked upward, meeting the solidified eyes of the Goddess sculpture that had no spirit.

Pious as before, but besides that, it was a complex emotion mixed with fatigue, struggle, disappointment, determination, and pain.

Having prayed for countless days and nights, Moxi said nothing, just looking at the great existence to whom he had once sworn to offer everything.

And "Chauntia" naturally could not descend divine grace because of such a humble member of the clergy who was the smallest in the sect.

Time seemed to freeze.

No one knew how long it lasted.

Until a loud noise suddenly came from the night somewhere in the town outside the church.

Immediately, the pastel gem in Priest Moxi's palm flickered twice, as if conveying some kind of information.

Only then did he slowly lower his head with a gray and determined expression.

The barely audible murmur echoed leisurely in the air:

"Great and merciful Mother of All Things... why did you turn your back again..."

*Crack*—

The crisp and abrupt sound of shattering suddenly rang out in the church.

Five fingers clenched tightly, and under the squeezing of that powerful hand full of flesh folds, cracks appeared on the surface of the gem.

"BOOM!!!"

Dazzling pink light soared into the sky, turning into an eye-catching and huge beam of light, swallowing the moonlight, shooting from the church dome into the depths of the clouds.

Then it slowed down, condensing the bright light and spreading and falling in all directions.

At a speed that seemed slow but was actually impossible for ordinary people to react to, in just a few seconds, it turned into a hemispherical light shield that shrouded the entire Yangjiao Town.

It was like a pink glass bowl inverted on the table.

Although Xia Nan and Margaret's speculation about the inn owner at dinner had no actual evidence, combined with the strange atmosphere of Yangjiao Town, it made Huolake and others increase their vigilance and plan to adopt a more aggressive defense strategy.

While quietly changing room personnel and taking turns on night watch, they tried their best to avoid Huolake being alone, even leaving a professional to look after him when resting at night, until the caravan replenished supplies and left the town.

But unexpectedly, on the first night the plan was implemented, they had a harvest.

For Xia Nan, who needed very little sleep, guarding the first half of the night was very easy for him, and there was no possibility of dozing off.

Perhaps limited by the environment, unable to perform training such as 【Spinning Slash】 or 【Tooth Hunt】, but practicing 【Gravity Control】 with coins while sitting in a chair was also a very effective way to pass the time.

Precisely because of this, with a clear mind and even an active state, he discovered the footsteps that were hidden very well on the surface but were unusually clear under his perception almost immediately.

And using the stealth technique he learned from the 【Dream-Weaving Corridor】 dream, which was not very brilliant but completely enough for ordinary people, he hid in a blind spot of vision in the room that was not noticeable.

He appeared suddenly a second before the inn owner made a move and repelled him.

Considering that he might need to interrogate the other party later, Xia Nan specifically left the other party's life, left the inn owner's head, and just stretched out his leg to kick the other party out of the room.

He considered his strength control to be quite good.

Under the premise of not kicking the other party to death, it should also make the vast majority of ordinary people lose the ability to stand up again, almost fainting.

For the sake of insurance, he even used some special means, secretly applying gravity control to the inn owner.

But unexpectedly, this fat ordinary town resident burst out with power far exceeding ordinary people in an instant, raised his right hand holding a short dagger, and fell heavily.

The blade collided with the pastel gem on his chest, and the energy flow burst and spread.

Good news, this kind of energy had no harm to the human body, especially adventurers who had already obtained professional levels, at most a mental trance for a fraction of a second, not even counting as control.

Even Xia Nan didn't need to bear this bit of mental control, and the energy that spread to his body had already been absorbed and charged by the 【Dream-Weaving Corridor】.

Bad news, the reason for the inn owner's action was likely not thinking of dying together, but just wanting to confirm something through the last time of his life.

Considering the other party's probing of Huolake during the day, Xia Nan guessed that what the other party wanted to test was who in their team possessed the ability to free Huolake from the charm state.

And reflecting on the actual performance of several people facing the energy impact.

Compared to other adventurers whose spirits were momentarily trance, Xia Nan, who had no reaction to the impact fluctuation of the pastel energy, undoubtedly confirmed his identity in the inn owner's heart.

*Crack*—

The seemingly sturdy pastel gem appeared exceptionally fragile under the stabbing of the blade.

The pink energy bursting with cracks surged instantly, the linen clothes shattered, revealing the inn owner's naked upper body.

Only to see that pastel gem, actually like some kind of special heart, deeply embedded in his skin and flesh, revealing only a thin layer on the surface of the skin.

And the knife that the other party stabbed to crack the gem was like falling on his heart.

The vitality of the whole person passed away at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But strangely, this middle-aged man, who was usually hospitable and only turned his face when talking about gem-related topics, now faced death, but there was no pain or despair on his face. ===== CHAPTER 360 =====