Chapter 227

The purification of the merit jade lotus was ineffective, indicating that the seven deadly sins are not "negative entities" parasitizing Vivian's body.

Then, the next method is spiritual salvation.

Soul salvation!

The hand placed on Vivian's head slightly contracted, turning into pressure and restraint, as Tang Luo performed soul salvation.

Vivian's soul was seized by him.

"Oh?"

In midair, Tang Luo's "soul" appeared more transparent than before, emitting a faint halo from the back of his head, his entire body faintly radiating a soft glow.

The soul of Vivian opposing Tang Luo, however, was a human-shaped shadow as black as ink.

Maintaining a basic humanoid form with limbs and head, every part of it was black, emitting threads of misty vapor.

At first glance, it somewhat resembled the little black man from Detective Conan.

However, the eyes were a pair of white circular voids, resembling whirlpools.

Below the eyes, there was no nose, only a mouth.

A mouth with full red lips, lightly pursed, easily inspiring a bold thought.

The white circular void eyes stared at Tang Luo, the mouth curling into an arc, smiling.

"Gluttony, lust." Tang Luo whispered, "But the gluttony aura is too strong, lust hasn't 'grown,' or is there still another 'master'?"

The Snow White soul before him differed from Orianna, where envy and greed were roughly balanced; gluttony far surpassed lust.

"Come to think of it, there are two 'famous' characters in fairy tales who haven't appeared yet—a prince and the dwarves; could they also be among the seven deadly sins?"

Tang Luo here seriously pondered for once, but the soul before him, a mix of gluttony and lust, gave him no more time.

That full-lipped mouth opened, revealing sharp, pointed teeth inside, leaving one with no thoughts at all.

The mouth slowly opened, widened.

As the mouth opened wide, the Snow White soul began to twist, starting to elongate from the neck.

The neck and head together became a serpent dancing in midair, an elephant-swallowing serpent!

The elephant-swallowing serpent's fangs were fully exposed, biting downward from above toward Tang Luo.

It's hard to tell whether the teeth first pierced the prey with a row of blood holes, or if it would be swallowed whole.

For Tang Luo, naturally, neither.

He "stood" in "place," too lazy to move.

The elephant-swallowing serpent collided into the range enveloped by the faint golden light, instantly igniting itself, frantically retreating and thrashing its snake head, the silent struggle appearing painful.

The golden light surrounding Tang Luo was not mere "light," but liuli flame.

He extended his hand, gave a slight flick, and the liuli flame on the elephant-swallowing serpent quickly dimmed and extinguished; Tang Luo ended the soul salvation.

Vivian's body beneath his palm trembled, she directly slumped to the ground, looking into Tang Luo's eyes, besides "wanting to eat," there was also a hint of fear.

Most crucially, the desire to eat was even stronger than before.

Like facing a scalding hot potato, wanting to bite but unable to, only able to wait for the right moment to swallow it whole.

"It's actually the sin itself—this is troublesome." Tang Luo's "everything must be done" plan died in the womb just as it began.

"Forget it, first find all seven deadly sins." The "everything must be done" plan failed, Tang Luo quickly devised a new plan: "Upon completing the task, instant salvation is also possible."

As long as his hand speed is fast enough, he can save all seven deadly sins at the moment he helps Orianna complete her task.

Thus, he happily decided.

Tang Luo waved at the place where Emilyra was hiding.

Emilyra came out and asked, "Master, is there something?"

Tang Luo said, "We plan to go find the seven dwarves; do you want to come?"

"That, I'll pass." Emilyra shook her head, "I intend to find a safe place to stay until the mission ends."

"Alright." Tang Luo didn't insist.

Emilyra had intentions to accompany him; if danger arose, Tang Luo could save her and gain some merit power.

Unwillingness aside, forced rescue is inadvisable; Li Huan's situation of forcibly saving someone is still relatively rare.

Master Xuanzang emphasized going with the flow, which can also be interpreted as "following my mood."

"Seven dwarves, what are they?" Vivian looked up at Tang Luo, her eyes sparkling with anticipation like little stars.

The subtext was: "Can I eat them?"

"No, you can't." Tang Luo said, walking over to pick up the unconscious Charles beside him, lifting him up.

"Can't eat..." Vivian looked disappointed, evoking pity.

Unfortunately, having seen her devouring evil spirits raw, everyone present could maintain an attitude of "respectful distance."

"Let's go; although dwarves can't be eaten, there might still be other edible things." Tang Luo's words made Vivian happy again, she trotted after him into the forest.

"Huh—" Watching the three leave, Emilyra softly exhaled; next, she too would seek benefits outside the mission.

Being a salted fish regarding the mission is because Tang Luo is too dangerous, but one can't enter the mission world and gain no benefits at all, just watch the mission fail and wait to return?

That would be too lame.

Pure salted fish cannot survive in the divine demon game.

"King's Sword!"

Charles roared, the broken sword in his hand smashing onto the stone before him, shattering the stone.

Flesh fragments flew and splashed onto the nearby tree trunk, scraping off a layer of bark.

"Pa-pa-pa."

Tang Luo clapped and praised, "Not bad, Your Royal Highness, this sword's power is tremendous, already bearing a few traces of the 'Lonely Nine Swords' divine rhythm."

What is the Lonely Nine Swords? It is one force overcoming ten.

No matter how many changes you have, I break them all with a single sword—oh, there's also a saying called "one sword breaks ten thousand laws," and to Tang Luo, it's all the same principle.

Sun Wukong also broke ten thousand laws with a single staff; in the end, it's still because the user has enough strength—one force reduces ten gatherings.

Charles glanced at Tang Luo without saying anything.

Two days had passed since he last saw Tang Luo and was easily knocked unconscious by the other party.

The anger in his heart became a catalyst, allowing Charles to grow stronger at a considerable speed continuously.

At the same time, Charles also learned to temporarily suppress his anger, waiting for the right moment, then he would erupt like a volcano, swallowing everything around him.

"However, Your Highness the Prince has too much killing intent—this is not good." Tang Luo didn't mind Charles not speaking and continued.

"My killing intent is too heavy?" Charles glanced at Tang Luo.

"Yes, the seven dwarfs were all killed by Your Highness the Prince." Tang Luo said.

"……" Charles said, "I only killed a few; the rest weren't done by you? And besides, those people didn't deserve to die?"

Dark fairy tales are dark fairy tales.

The seven dwarfs couldn't escape this law.

After searching, Tang Luo and his group successfully discovered the "Seven Dwarfs" in the forest—dwarf bandits who used the forest as their stronghold.

Not the dwarf race, but humans suffering from a condition, exceptionally short in stature.

Some were cursed by evil female sorcerers; others were born that way.

Their numbers far exceeded seven—nearly fifty people.

They often disguised themselves as evil spirits or similar monsters, going out to raid; the villages on the forest's edge were deserted, and their connection was even stronger.

The losses caused by these people were even greater than those caused by occasional forest monsters.

Why can we be sure they are the "Seven Dwarfs"? Because they have seven leaders in total, and they call their bandit gang the "Seven Dwarfs."

Tang Luo felt it was unlikely another group of Seven Dwarfs would appear.

However, the "Seven Dwarfs Gang" has nothing to do with the Seven Deadly Sins; those few leaders, who became somewhat altered after eating special forest items, also show no trace of the Seven Deadly Sins on them.

They are merely a group of pure dangerous bandits.

After being enlightened by Tang Luo's actions, they gained some merit power.

"Killing to protect life." Tang Luo said, "Your Highness the Prince kills for the sake of killing. I am enlightening—different."

"Hehe."

Charles snorted coldly, "Calling punching a person's head to explode 'enlightenment'? You really can boast."

"Where is your sister?" Tang Luo asked, "Didn't I tell you to watch her?"

"I'm not her nanny." Charles said.

"It's not about being a nanny or not." Tang Luo said, "I'm thinking, if you don't watch her, her recipe will probably gain another item."

Charles blinked and said, "No way."

"Believe me, it probably will." Tang Luo said.

Charles and Tang Luo quickly found Vivian, who was lying on a corpse, and clear sucking and swallowing sounds could be heard.

"What are you doing!" Charles shouted loudly.

Vivian slowly rose, turned her head, looked at Charles, and smiled: "Your Majesty, fresh blood tastes good."

Still an innocent and naive smile, but unfortunately, the words she spoke made people feel chilled.

"At least she didn't eat meat." Tang Luo patted Charles's shoulder to comfort him.

"She's already dead." Charles's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness.

"Huh?"

"Such a person doesn't deserve royal glory; kill her, don't let her leave the forest." Charles said.

"……Actually, I say this and you might not believe me." Tang Luo said, "Your royal family of four, each person embodies one of the Seven Deadly Sins—only Vivian's corruption is more obvious."

"You think I'll believe that?" Charles said dismissively.

"It's true: your father Rudolf is pride, your stepmother Oliana is greed and envy, you are wrath, Vivian is gluttony and part of lust, and sloth feels like your royal swordmaster Robert." Tang Luo said.

Charles glanced sideways at Tang Luo and said, "Then what are you?"

"Me? As a poor monk, I am naturally the cleanser who sweeps away sin, the judge of guilt." Tang Luo said with a smile.

It's a pity that enlightening the Seven Deadly Sins yields little merit power; otherwise, this mission could be said to have made a fortune.

"Then please, you, as the judge of guilt, kill her." Charles said with a mocking expression.

Tang Luo said, "Can a monk's affair be called 'killing'? Enlightenment is the correct term."