Chapter 28: Scavenging in Progress

"The surrounding plants are getting larger and larger, and I feel my emotions becoming restless; the farther I go, the stronger the desire in my heart. Can you block it somehow?" Lei Kedun slowed his steps; he found his body had already begun a physiological reaction.

"This is the divine power of the Mother Path affecting you; it hasn't brought any negative effect to you, and it is even rapidly healing your injuries. I cannot block it unless your body itself repels this power," the crow said, perched on Lei Kedun's shoulder, without a hint of concern.

"You call that 'no negative effect'? I can't go around meeting people like this, can I?" Lei Kedun said wordlessly.

"We came here to scavenge in secret, so who are we meeting? Besides, once your wounds heal, your body will deem the effects of this divine power as negative, and then I can use that to block it outside your body. When trouble arises, think more," the crow said, a hint of impatience in its voice.

The brainless Lei Kedun decided to stay silent; since the big boss had spoken, he would just listen. Lei Kedun kept hurrying toward the hospital, and the plants he passed had grown so lush they nearly covered the entire road. Moreover, virtually every animal Lei Kedun saw—even the tiny insects that had long vanished—were burrowing up from the ground, beginning a grand cycle of life with their companions.

At last, under the influence of this divine power, his wounds were essentially healed, and Lei Kedun instantly felt the ever‑building reproductive desire in his heart dissipate like water without a source.

Lei Kedun finally breathed a sigh of relief; if the divine power's influence lingered any longer, he thought he would lose control. As a young man with abundant qi and blood, such desire was truly hard to endure.

The road ahead had completely vanished; all that remained in his sight were dense, thriving trees, giving Lei Kedun the feeling of returning to a primeval jungle. Fortunately, the surrounding small animals and insects were engrossed in busy mating, and none emerged to bother Lei Kedun.

Lei Kedun trudged through the thicket for over ten minutes before finally seeing something different.

"What is that?" Lei Kedun asked, surprised, as he stared at the massive structure surrounded by countless vines and branches before him.

The entire building seemed to come alive, trembling and struggling as if something were trying to burst out. Yet the surrounding vines and trees grew wildly, entwining the tower, as if to seal whatever was inside from the outside world.

In front of the massive building tangled by those wildly growing vines and trees stood a pitifully small figure. From a distance, Lei Kedun could recognize him as the Archbishop of Harvest Church, Ma Dan, whom he had seen when he once accompanied his father to the Harvest Church; the archbishop wore a simple linen robe embroidered with various plant patterns.

Though from afar his figure seemed tiny against the colossal building, Lei Kedun remembered the archbishop clearly from the Harvest Church: he stood nearly two meters tall, bore some giant lineage, and carried a very upright bearing. He was exceedingly gentle, radiating a maternal glow that made anyone standing before him feel comfortable, and he had long, indigo‑black hair that reached his heels.

Now his long hair was rooted into the ground like roots, continuing to grow, leading Lei Kedun to instinctively suspect that the vines and branches enveloping the building were mutated extensions of the archbishop's hair. Though he knew this was the archbishop's extraordinary ability, Lei Kedun still felt unable to look directly at his full head of hair.

Because the surrounding plants and the central building were locked in a tug‑of‑war, a clearing remained around them, sparing Lei Kedun from having to keep weaving through the thicket.

"The hospital you visited earlier looks out of control inside. Archbishop Ma Dan of Harvest Church is suppressing it, trapping it within that hospital. If the Earth Church has no other saints, the archbishop won't hold out much longer; the thing inside will eventually break free," the crow on his shoulder concluded after carefully assessing the scene.

"Is the thing inside really that strong? By the way, why is there only this archbishop here? Where are the other members of the Earth Church?" Lei Kedun asked, puzzled.

"They're inside that building!" the crow's gilded eyes flashed blue‑white as it scanned the surroundings.

"Huh? Inside? Sending people to their deaths? How are the Earth Church members even fiercer than those of the Storm Church!" Lei Kedun felt he didn't quite grasp this world's mindset.

"They possess a special seal that can, for a short time, concentrate or disperse powers of the same path within a certain range. Now each of those Earth Church members can, to some extent, draw on the archbishop's power," the crow explained.

"So what are we supposed to do now? You aren't going to let me into that building too, are you? Even if I go in, my small frame won't help, and there are no gaps left in the vines and trees that wrap it," Lei Kedun turned to the crow that had led him here to scavenge, asking with confusion.

"Just follow my instructions. I'll look for a weak spot in the seal; someone inside will surely burst out from that point, and we only need to snatch an item from the one who emerges," the crow said calmly, as if everything were under control.

He still wanted to ask the crow for more information, but the bird ignored Lei Kedun, its eyes lingering on the blue‑white glow as it carefully observed the path ahead wrapped in vines and trees. A voice without tone sounded in Lei Kedun's mind, guiding him to avoid the Archbishop of Harvest Church and walk to the side.

Lei Kedun always felt as if the crow on his shoulder had suddenly become a different person.

"Can this still be registered under a cut‑off number?" Lei Kedun mused silently, reaching no conclusion.

Following the crow's guidance, Lei Kedun arrived at the right side of the building. This spot conveniently blocked the Archbishop of Harvest Church's line of sight. Yet Lei Kedun did not relax; the vines and trees that wrapped the tower were extensions of the archbishop's hair, and Lei Kedun had no doubt they served as his eyes.

"No need to worry; I've employed psychological invisibility, so before we expose ourselves, the archbishop won't notice us. Her main focus now is battling the out‑of‑control monsters inside the building," the crow on his shoulder seemed to know Lei Kedun's thoughts.

Lei Kedun nodded, then asked, "We're not waiting for members of the Earth Church, are we?"

"No," the crow on his shoulder said evenly.

"The blood clan? Or a third party?" Lei Kedun continued.

Since they're not Earth Church members, they must be the blood clan originally staying here, or the faint third‑party presence hinted at on the clown.

"Both. Your target is the blood clan; my target is whatever the third party left behind," the crow said, its voice devoid of emotion.

Lei Kedun stopped probing further; the crow's tone was completely different from before, and Lei Kedun was certain the crow had switched accounts, its current presence likely being the original consciousness projected here. Regarding the crow's identity, Lei Kedun formed some conjectures in his mind.

The tower entwined by vines seemed to undergo an indescribable deformation, and Lei Kedun even thought he heard the building emit a painful, guttural roar; its suffering made him want to sympathize, to approach and soothe it.

"Don't listen!" a calm, restraining voice of the crow echoed in his mind, and Lei Kedun felt as if he too were infected by that voice, becoming composed. The previously chaotic, bewildered mind cleared up.

Lei Kedun suddenly became alert; he realized he had unknowingly been tainted by that voice. Had the big boss not been by his side, he would already have been compelled by the voice to touch the vines wrapping the building. Though he didn't know what effect that would have on the other party, he was certain it would result in his immediate defeat.

After cautiously stepping back two paces, Lei Kedun used his own spiritual sense to seal his ears, gazing solemnly at the building ahead, which now resembled a giant battling a mass of vines and branches; a strange feeling spread from his heart.

"Don't stare at it; your eyes can perceive more, but right now it's beyond what you can bear," the crow's voice echoed again in Lei Kedun's mind.

"It knows my secret‑peeking eye? Then does it also know that I possess another pathway's trait?" Lei Kedun strained to keep his expression and inner calm, turning his head toward the crow perched on his shoulder.

Unfortunately, Lei Kedun saw no information in the crow's eyes; the bird's eyes shone with bright blue‑white light, staring unblinkingly at the anomaly ahead.

After the warning, Lei Kedun was still curious about what exactly was happening to the building ahead, but now he could only suppress his curiosity, refraining from staring or listening.

Lei Kedun stood there, head lowered, sealing his ears with his spirit, and using his peripheral vision to scan the surroundings, judging whether danger lurked and if he needed to retreat a distance.

The crow on Lei Kedun's shoulder remained motionless as if its soul had left its body; unless he felt the increasing pressure of its claws on his shoulder, Lei Kedun might have thought it was asleep.

At that moment, a faint blue glow slipped secretly from the twisted, struggling building and entered the crow's eyes on Lei Kedun's shoulder.

"Gah~!" the crow on his shoulder chirped softly.

"What happened?" Lei Kedun asked aloud.

The crow gave no reply; instead, the building wrapped in vines and trees suddenly sprouted a massive hand made of soil, moss, and blood‑red thorns. The hand thrust out, then slammed down hard onto the ground before Lei Kedun, leaving a huge crater, before it was abruptly lifted again.

As the massive arm moved, the vines that had tightly bound the building began to tear and snap. With a roar full of fury like a beast's, more vines burst from the ground, winding toward the breaking‑through hand.

Lei Kedun forcefully suppressed his curiosity; when the huge hand slammed in front of him, he almost couldn't restrain himself from looking up.

"Go to that pit ahead, take the blood clan inside out, quickly! This guy has gone completely mad, ready to perish together with the Archbishop of Harvest Church," for the first time, Lei Kedun heard panic in the crow's voice.

(End of Chapter)