Chapter 366: Decisive Battle

*Hum*—

Pink energy washed over his body like a tide.

Xia Nan could feel that there seemed to be some invisible thing lurking in the energy, intending to penetrate his spirit.

But before he could concentrate his attention to resist, accompanied by the slight tremor of the 【Dream-Weaving Corridor】 silver ring on the ring finger of his right hand, all the invisible energy that touched Xia Nan's body was absorbed, turning into 0.001% charging.

"Bang, bang."

One after another, two muffled sounds rang in Xia Nan's ears.

The front one was heavy and short, like an iron pier falling to the ground; the back one was relatively light, as if struggling twice, accompanied by staggering footsteps before falling to the ground.

A glance from the corner of his eye swept past.

Margaret and Suoerding had lost their combat ability under the impact of pink energy and fainted to the ground.

Fortunately, their life breath was still stable, and they were not dead on the spot. After the influence of the gem energy passed, they should be able to restore their sanity.

Thoughts flashed through his mind.

In front of him, on the altar at the innermost side of the church, the old priest in a gold-edged ceremonial silk robe was the first to open his mouth:

"So it was you."

Against the backdrop of the dazzling pink light in his eye sockets, the eyes that only had a blurred outline turned slightly, his gaze sweeping up and down Xia Nan's body, first lingering slightly on the exposed chain of 【Tears of Spring Breath】 on his neck, and then falling on the 【Ash Meteor】 straight sword in his hand, as if looking for something.

"It was strange when I received news from Hans before, so... that rich merchant from Niumu, Huolake, did you help him get rid of the mental control?"

Hearing this, Xia Nan remained calm on the surface, but his heart sank.

The previous conjecture became reality.

"Hans"... was the inn owner's name.

Before, because he accidentally came into contact with Huolake's pastel gem and helped the other party lift the charm effect, he had considered whether the huge contrast in the merchant's performance before and after would arouse the suspicion of others in the town.

And the inn owner's probing and night attack confirmed his hypothesis.

Now, even Priest Moxi in front of him knew this, and even knew that it was he who helped Huolake lift the control.

Looking at it this way, the inn owner's action like suicide before death was precisely to transmit information about him to Moxi in the church through the gem on his chest.

Fortunately, through the observation Xia Nan made in an instant just now, the priest's gaze and expression, the other party should not have noticed the existence of the 【Dream-Weaving Corridor】.

"These gems, the things that happened in the town, were they all done by you?"

Naturally, he couldn't answer the other party's question directly. Xia Nan was not good at eloquence, and dealing with people, probing for information through verbal communication was not his strength.

Rather than struggling with the other party's topic, it was better to change the train of thought, lead the initiative of communication, ask only what he wanted to know, and avoid answering to reveal information as much as possible.

Even if it fell into the worst situation, the other party didn't answer, it would be at most each saying their own.

But unexpectedly, the priest's performance at this moment was exceptionally frank.

Moxi raised the pastel gem he was holding to Xia Nan, and raised his head slightly, glancing at the huge and brilliant pink beam of light that shot straight into the sky above his head, "And this."

"Then I did contribute a part to it."

"Why?"

Xia Nan asked subconsciously.

At the same time, he used this short time to observe the surrounding environment and the priest in front as much as possible, collecting information and preparing for the battle that would likely come.

Of course, he also had the idea of delaying time slightly to see if his two teammates could wake up from the coma.

Without any cover, a few smiles appeared on the corner of Moxi's mouth, his tone was peaceful, answering the adventurer's question in front of him:

"Child, perhaps you cannot understand."

"But I am saving them from the torment of this world full of pain and suspicion."

The voice was gentle and calm, as if explaining a matter of course.

The expression was even more relaxed and natural, just like the sunny morning when he first met Xia Nan.

But all of the above, if combined with the environment where the entire Yangjiao Town had fallen, set against the huge beam of light on his head, and those eyes that had been completely swallowed by pink light.

It appeared so weird, making people feel cold in their hearts.

"Saving?"

Xia Nan only felt absurd.

Even the look in his eyes looking at the priest in front had changed, and a hint of mockery rose from the depths of his pitch-black eyes.

If the other party had simply admitted that they wanted to complete some kind of ritual by sacrificing the entire town, or were attempting to use some mechanism of the gem to absorb the townspeople's life force to extend their own lifespan.

Then he might not have thought much of it, just considering the other party to be an evil-aligned person who had gone astray, something all too common on the Aifala Continent.

But the priest claimed that he was doing this to save the townspeople...

Xia Nan only felt that the other party was a madman deceiving himself.

Seeming to notice the disdain of the black-haired adventurer in front of him, the gentle smile on Moxi's face did not change in the slightest; he merely shook his head gently with a soft expression devoid of any malice, just as he had done countless times before when facing those uneducated, ignorant, and honest farmers in the town.

"Child, you are too young to see how cruel the world outside is."

"Faith can be shaken, goodwill can be betrayed, and hard work can go to waste; I have seen these with my own eyes... and experienced them myself."

"But here, in a small piece of land like Yangjiao Town, they will never have to experience these twists and pains again."

"Their hearts will forever be filled with the 'love' and 'serenity' of the Goddess; is this not 'salvation'?"

Xia Nan had lost the patience to continue communicating with the priest before him.

When a person's ideas are completely contrary to one's own, any debate or argument is merely a futile effort.

Even in his past life, when facing netizens on the internet who had also received a complete, systematic education in a similar background, he had never convinced anyone in the discussions of countless controversial topics.

He knew that in the vast majority of cases, people simply threw their own viewpoints at each other; it is difficult, or rather, rare, to start from the other person's perspective. So-called debates are merely searching for loopholes in the other's words and counterattacking.

As for this priest in front of him, who was seventy or eighty years old and had a growth experience and life background completely different from his own.

He did not feel that he could change the deeply rooted concepts in the other's mind just by saying a few words.

Xia Nan did not have such a knowledge reserve, nor did he possess such eloquence and patience.

Thinking of this, his heart actually calmed down.

The look in his eyes as he gazed at the priest was no different from the look he gave the dirty, smelly green-skins in the Goblin Lair on any given day.

But before he truly took action and cut off that head, he had one last question.

"You seemed to mention the 'Goddess' just now?"

"Is everything you are doing the will of Lady Chauntia?"

Moxi's expression faltered involuntarily.

Xia Nan could observe that after his words reached the priest's ears, the pink light in the other's eyes flickered twice unconsciously, and the right hand gripping the white wax wood staff tightened and then relaxed instinctively.

The change in expression was only for an instant, and in the blink of an eye, it returned to normal.

The priest smiled, his eyelids drooping slightly, revealing a posture of pity and piety.

"The path of faith sometimes requires some... guidance."

"How is this not a blessing from the gods? It is better than the lambs suffering in confusion."