Chapter 349: Deceased: Gou Feng

Deceased: Gou Feng

There was only one scream. After it rang out, the entire court fell silent again.

Since retreating from the inner hall to the outer courtyard, Cheng Shi's gaze no longer focused on the hall, but cautiously sized up the surroundings.

He was afraid that the scream was just a trick to attract attention, while the real danger might be hidden elsewhere, so his expression was extremely solemn.

Zhang Jizu had the same thought, but when he saw Cheng Shi's vigilant appearance, he tacitly moved his gaze toward the hall, forming a complementary posture with Cheng Shi's alert area.

Just because of that lord, after simply probing each other a few times, the two suddenly became tacit partners, seemingly never having thought that the other would pit them.

Zhang Jizu came with a bodyguard mission, so naturally, he couldn't learn from Grand Marshal Hu Wei and kill the protected object. As for why Cheng Shi trusted him so much, it was probably because of that lord on the bone throne.

He found it hard to imagine how wonderful that lord's expression would become if he were killed by that lord's Chosen, and then had to "confront" Zhang Jizu at the Fish Bone Hall during the next audience.

He didn't like excitement, so he likely wouldn't allow such a situation to happen.

Therefore, Cheng Shi wasn't worried that Zhang Jizu had a problem; he was worried that his other three teammates had problems, and big ones at that.

Why did the people who traveled together all disappear after entering the courtyard, leaving only a scream for the two of them?

This was too strange and didn't conform to common sense.

Cheng Shi cautiously sensed all the changes around him and asked in a low voice:

"Can you sense the changes in 【Time】?"

Zhang Jizu narrowed his eyes and shook his head slightly.

"You suspect Tian Xie is hunting?"

"It's not impossible."

"But I didn't sense any remnants of 【Time】 deduction. At least in the courtyard, there isn't any."

Cheng Shi frowned, his eyes rolled, and he said: "It's been a while, go in and see?"

"Okay, you go first."

"?"

Cheng Shi glanced at him sideways, slandering in his heart:

Isn't this the move I used to use when I was a priest? Why is this person so proficient?

"You're not afraid of death, why don't you go first?"

Zhang Jizu explained very seriously:

"First, I am a priest, naturally lacking attack means, not suitable for a vanguard to open the way;

Second, even if I am His believer, guarding the gate of 【Death】 for Him to select offerings, I cannot often do some meaningless swaps. This concerns the piety of faith;

Third......"

"Third, I'll go first! Master, stop chanting, I'll go first, is that okay?"

Cheng Shi hurriedly interrupted his spellcasting and walked forward with a speechless expression.

Numb. What kind of person is this? Nagging like Tang Seng.

And "piety" this, "piety" that. I think what you're considering isn't piety, but your future, right?

Seeing Cheng Shi agree to his plan, Zhang Jizu followed with a squinty-eyed smile.

Thus, the two walked back one after another along the path they had retreated from. When they reached the bottom of the spiral staircase, Cheng Shi looked at the dim second floor and suddenly roared:

"Brother, are you still alive?"

The hollow sound echoed in the hall for a moment, and no one responded.

Cheng Shi frowned, held the scalpel in front of him, and at the same time, his right hand pinched the ring between his fingers, stepping onto the stairs step by step.

Zhang Jizu followed closely, constantly examining the footprints on the stairs, and whispered:

"Something's not quite right.

The gate of the inner hall is open, and this place is not far from the courtyard. We couldn't have failed to hear the sound of such heavy stomping. Besides, he clearly knew someone was behind him, why didn't he call for help when he was being chased?"

Cheng Shi paused his footsteps and said without looking back:

"First possibility, the footprints are the ending evolved by the 【Time】 assassin. He overwrote the chase in the deduction to the present, so we couldn't have heard the stomping sound in another spacetime.

Second possibility, someone annihilated the sound.

But since you didn't feel the residue of 【Time】 power, that means the second possibility is more likely.

Of course, it's also possible that Tian Xie is an expert and has the means to erase residual power.

But no matter which one it is, it means our tour group has disbanded.

Tsk, clearly we were citywalking together just a moment ago, and they started fighting in the blink of an eye. People's minds are really hard to guess.

It's still us liars who are simple, never having bad intentions."

You didn't say you were a Wood Elf from the Plant Protection Association, how did you become a liar?

Not pretending anymore, right!

"......" Zhang Jizu twitched his eye corner fiercely, unable to respond.

The two walked cautiously. Not long after, they reached the second floor. The windows on the second floor seemed to be sealed, with only a little light shining in through the gaps in the sealed window boards, but this level of brightness couldn't illuminate the entire space at all.

Cheng Shi poked his head out and took a look, finding that the entire second floor was extremely dim. Near the stairwell, several rows of large bookshelves blocked his view. Through the gaps between the overlapping bookshelves, he could vaguely see something placed on the floor inside, and there seemed to be some decorations on the ceiling.

Beside the bookshelf were several messy footprints. Looking at the traces, it seemed Gou Feng rushed behind the bookshelf, turned back, and then rushed in again.

The overlapping state of the footprints showed the shock and unease in his heart. Cheng Shi paused his footsteps here and shrank his head slightly.

There might be a problem behind the bookshelf.

He signaled the squinty-eyed man to be careful, then took out a spherical magic lamp from his portable space, threw it high, and smashed it toward the depths of the second floor over the top of the bookshelf.

The ball lamp hit the ground with a "clatter," rolling into a corner and hitting the wall before suddenly lighting up. In an instant, bright light spilled over the entire second-floor space. Cheng Shi, prepared, covered his eyes so as not to be dazzled by the light, then quickly lowered his hand and looked forward.

But who would have thought that this one look would make cold sweat seep from his spine.

"This is......"

Looking inside through the gaps between the bookshelves arranged like a maze, he first discovered that the ceiling of the second floor was densely packed with one infant corpse after another. They were curled up like fetuses still in gestation, wrapped around their ankles by things similar to umbilical cords, and then hung upside down from the ceiling.

The space was sealed and windless, so these eerie infants shouldn't have swayed, but as sounds gradually arose, they actually swayed slowly along with the sound waves, like strings of creepy, terrifying human-flesh wind chimes.

Cheng Shi was truly startled. He instinctively retreated a step, but his back was pushed back by a hand.

Zhang Jizu walked up with a frown, his gaze sweeping over these upside-down eerie infants, without a trace of shock in his eyes, but instead saying even more puzzledly:

"Evil infant?

Not quite right. Didn't you say the evil infant was split and burned?"

"......"

It was this sentence that almost pierced Cheng Shi's lie, instantly purifying the slight fear in Cheng Shi's heart, making his toes involuntarily curl tightly against the floor.

He didn't dare to look back for fear of being seen through, so he had to walk forward with an awkward expression, saying while walking:

"...... That was just a method of punishment in a certain era. Perhaps it has changed now."

"Seems to make some sense." Zhang Jizu nodded lightly and followed his pace.

"However, since the evil infant represents the Divine Nurturing Church's denial of faith, why do they still hang these things here instead of destroying them?

No matter how I look at it, it feels like a sacrificial ritual of an evil cult, not like any method of handling evil infants."

Cheng Shi couldn't answer this question, so he could only laugh it off:

"You think too much. What if it's not that complicated?

Maybe the court wasn't treated well after being abandoned, and the staff here just wanted to air-dry some bacon to eat. Look, isn't it much more reasonable this way?"

Zhang Jizu didn't refute, just continued:

"Air-drying meat should involve opening windows for ventilation. Sealing the windows is a bit illogical."

"......"

Not brother, at this time, making a joke is just to relieve the mood. You don't have to be so rigorous......

Cheng Shi twitched his mouth, said no more, and shifted all his attention to the "human-flesh wind chimes" on his head.

The arrangement of these upside-down dead infants clearly had a pattern. They were separated by the same distance, and even faintly formed a symbol.

Out of caution, Cheng Shi didn't reach out to touch them, but he was wondering if someone was really desecrating 【Birth】, and this place was a secret place of blasphemy.

But he then thought of the Divine Nurturing Church. This church that advocated "gestation" didn't seem to value the status of newborns as much as the 【Birth】 believers who advocated "birth." Coupled with the crime of "evil infant," maybe they really handled evil infants this way?

After all, he didn't understand what was written in that archive either.

Brother Mouth is the same, still refusing to make a sound until now.

Cold-blooded! Ruthless!

If this really was the Divine Nurturing Church's method of handling evil infants, then this method was indeed a bit rough.

But it was also reasonable. After all, the civilization of the Life Era was never refined; they had always been rough.

Just as 【Memory】 said, the gods of 【Life】 were also rough.

While Cheng Shi looked up at the top of his head, Zhang Jizu wasn't idle either. He narrowed his eyes, pushed Cheng Shi to keep moving forward, and observed everywhere while walking.

Just as they had just passed through the bookshelf and arrived at the empty rear, the two's figures suddenly stalled.

Because they were shocked to find a pool of blood on the floor in front of them that was terrifyingly large!

And in that pool of blood, which still had warmth, a severed hand lay alone to one side. The body that should have been connected to it sat slumped on the floor between two rows of bookshelves, leaning against the wall, eyes already closed.

"!"

Seeing this corpse, the two's gazes fixed, and their expressions sank at the same time.

Gou Feng!

This believer of 【Birth】, in the trial sent down by his Benefactor, seemed to have not even lasted half a day. ===== CHAPTER 350 =====