Chapter 163: Plundering the Light's Faith

On the river surface of the Donghe, countless boats — medium and small — were packed densely together. Some had sails, some had oars, some drifted downstream. On board were gaunt, sallow-skinned humans in tattered rags, men and women, old and young alike, looking like refugees fleeing disaster.

The Donghe was not an official name; it referred to the river that flowed into Fallen Longhu from the east. The river was not wide — at most twenty meters.

The water was also not deep, only able to accommodate various medium and small flat-bottomed boats. However, the route was not entirely smooth either; in some places it was too shallow, and only trackers or small boats could tow their way through.

If it was a medium-sized boat or a small boat with a canopy, it was fine — there was something to shade them from the scorching sun. But if it was a small boat without a canopy, the people on board could only cover their bodies and heads with cloth, splash some river water on themselves to cool down, and tough it out like that.

Repeated splashing and sun exposure left them with cracked, blistered skin.

The medium-sized boat at the very front was a sailboat, already the largest vessel in the entire fleet.

A cloaked figure, wrapped tightly in a black cloak that concealed them completely, stood at the rail, anxiously peering into the distance.

Behind him were several black-armored knights clad in black armor, dressed entirely as knights — except their knightly armor was a bit faded, with patches flaking off here and there, looking mottled and worn.

One of the knights spoke up and asked: "My lord, will there really be food here? Enough food to feed these ten-odd thousand people? I heard that the water of Fallen Longhu is salty?"

The cloaked figure replied: "Of course there is. The terrain here is flat, the reeds are lush — theoretically it can be farmed. We just need to find a village and see if they've planted anything, and we'll know whether we can grow crops. Even if we can't grow anything, the fish and shrimp in this river can keep everyone alive. It's better than staying where we were and being eaten alive by bugs."

At the thought of those sky-covering, earth-blanketing bugs, the cloaked figure and all the black-armored knights couldn't help but shiver. This was also the reason they had chosen to flee into the desert — those bugs couldn't penetrate deep into the desert; they'd be baked to death halfway.

Sure enough, once the fleet entered the desert, the bugs vanished.

It was the right choice, but along the way, the scenery they saw was utterly desolate, making one's heart tremble involuntarily. If there was no food, would they all starve to death in the desert and become white bones poking out of the sand dunes?

"But what if the people here refuse to take us in and insist on driving us away? I heard many of them have a sand-bandit background." The black-armored knight asked, troubled.

Their ten-odd thousand people already counted as refugees. No place could take in over ten thousand people in one go — there simply wasn't enough food to spare, so they would inevitably be driven away.

The cloaked figure said angrily: "Is the sword in your hand just for decoration? Whoever wants to drive us away — kill one when you see one, kill a batch when you see a batch. Cut our way through and protect these people who trust and follow us with all their hearts!"

The cloaked figure roared with overwhelming momentum. Inspired by him, the black-armored knights went wild like they'd been injected with chicken blood, hollering and whooping.

After the boats reached shore, the black-armored knights mounted their precious warhorses and surged onto the beach like madmen, crashing head-on into Seeing Ange, who had come over prepared to meet the enemy.

The cloaked figure tapped his staff on the ground, and his voice carried far across: "Villagers ahead, listen — we have come here to settle and develop..."

Before he could finish, the cloaked figure got a clear look at Seeing Ange's appearance, and his legs went weak as he dropped to his knees: "Oh my god, Lord Seeing Ange?! The ascetic Seeing Ange!"

The black-armored knights beside him, hearing that name, all went weak in the knees; a few couldn't hold on and slid right off their horses.

Seeing Ange, who had come running over carrying a large scythe, tilted his head in confusion: "Who are you?"

The cloaked figure pulled back his hood, revealing an old face: "It's me, my lord — Faller, Faller from Mara Town, the one who escorted you, my lord, from Mara Town to Kelun Town. Do you still remember me?"

Seeing that old face, Seeing Ange remembered, and his gaze shifted to the black-armored knights: "And them?"

The black-armored knights gingerly lifted their helmets, revealing a batch of familiar faces — all of them from the knight squad that had originally escorted Seeing Ange. Right now they were all cowering, not daring to look Seeing Ange in the eye.

It couldn't be blamed on them for being afraid. The scene of Seeing Ange chasing Shamala in a rout was still fresh in their memory — and the current Shamala was a Fallen Angel whose very name made people blanch.

If he could chase a Fallen Angel into fleeing, did Lord Seeing Ange's strength even need saying?

And yet, Seeing Ange was still an ascetic — this identity they firmly believed in. And what were they now? Polluted Fallen Apostles, running head-first into an ascetic. Wouldn't Seeing Ange have to purify them on the spot?

Nai Ge Li Si fluttered over with a rustle: "Oh, it's you guys? How come you're here? An... whoever-it-was said you guys had already been polluted by Shamala, and even banded together to form some Fallen Legion organization. So? Is your Fallen Legion planning to occupy this place?"

Nai Ge Li Si projected himself onto Seeing Ange. He had long since seen them, but they had never seen a brass dragon.

The moment he saw Nai Ge Li Si, a flash of inspiration struck Faller: "A young brass dragon! An assassin! You're the ones who assassinated Nicola!?"

All the knights were collectively dumbfounded. What? Lord Seeing Ange, who possessed pure Holy Light power and had chased a Fallen Angel into fleeing in panic, was actually the assassin who killed Nicola?

Although this fact was absurd, once it became a hypothesis, all the problems could be explained. Why couldn't anyone find any trace of the assassin? Why were checkpoints set up layer upon layer along the road, yet not a single clue found? Turns out it was these very people who had escorted the assassin out.

Oh oh oh, heavens — they themselves had become tools to cover the assassin's escape. Lord Seeing Ange was an assassin, an enemy of the Light. What should they do? Would he kill them to silence them?

Wait, hold on — they themselves seemed to have become enemies of the Light too. Wasn't it perfect that Seeing Ange wasn't really an ascetic? Otherwise he would have had to purify them on the spot?

Faller and the knights exchanged glances, all realizing this point. It seemed... this was the best outcome? They wouldn't die?

Faller, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly thought of that syllable Nai Ge Li Si had blurted out earlier, and said in shock: "Lord Huang Tong Dragon, you just let a syllable slip — An? Whoever? Anthony? You really are acting on Anthony's orders!"

Nai Ge Li Si snickered, too lazy to explain. Anyway, this scapegoat — Anthony had to take the blame whether he wanted to or not. Carrying a few more didn't matter.

"What's going on with your armor?" As they talked, Nai Ge Li Si noticed the black-armored knights' armor — their plates had lost their paint, surfaces mottled and worn.

A knight smiled bitterly and picked at a flake of paint: "Originally knightly holy armor. Later we repainted it, but the paint quality was bad. After a long time it ended up like this."

"Tsk tsk, this looks absolutely terrible — better off not painting it at all," Nai Ge Li Si said.

"Lord Faller said we're all polluted. If we don't paint them to tell us apart, then later the Church will hit us, and the Fallen Legion will hit us too — it'd be a real hassle," the knight said with a bitter smile.

While everyone was chatting happily, Seeing Ange suddenly let out a whoop and took off running into the distance. The refugees getting off the boats had caught sight of the rice paddies swaying in the breeze by the river, and were going crazy trying to rush into the fields.

How could Seeing Ange possibly let that happen? With a great shout, a whole bunch of guys swarmed over.

There were Titan Giants whose running made the earth tremble, Bone Dragons that spread their wings to blot out the sky, Silver Dragons that flew like lightning with a whoosh, and Lightning that ran like lightning.

Of course, there were also the little zombie carrying two hoes and the little angel with wings spread. Judging by their stance, one wave could push all the refugees surging onto the shore right back into the river.

"No! No! My lord, show mercy, show mercy! Nobody move! Nobody move! Anyone who moves gets beaten to death!" Faller was frantic, so anxious that black light was emanating from his body. As the black light flickered, his voice rolled across the entire field like a parching thunder.

"Oh? Fallen Holy Light? You're using it quite skillfully," Nai Ge Li Si said in surprise.

Faller smiled bitterly — was there time for this now? "Lord Huang Tong Dragon, please show mercy, show mercy — don't kill them."

Nai Ge Li Si smiled: "Don't worry, they didn't reach the rice paddies — they'll be fine."

Faller turned to look, and sure enough — the humans who had been excitedly rushing toward the rice paddies the moment they landed, upon seeing a swarm of Titan Giants and giants charging at them, were scared into retreating even faster. But getting off a boat was easy, getting back on was hard — quite a few fell into the river, or got wedged between the boats and the shore, wailing loudly.

A few who were drowning were still fished out by the Titans reaching in; otherwise they would surely have died.

No casualties were caused. Faller breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head, and said to Nai Ge Li Si with a bitter face: "My lord, our people have fled here as refugees, hungry and thirsty. I wonder if you might have any surplus food? Could you sell us a little?"

"Sure, of course no problem. First, let's get everyone settled," Nai Ge Li Si said.

Faller's face was bitter as he said, somewhat embarrassed: "Uh, well, my lord, our numbers are a bit large, I wonder……"

"Oh? How many?" Nai Ge Li Si asked.

"T-ten... thirteen... no... four... five thousand, perhaps." Faller was too embarrassed to give an exact number.

Fifteen thousand people — that was a very large number, far beyond what the village before them could accommodate. The food alone would be enough to eat out all the nearby villages. They couldn't exactly ask others to give up their own rations and go hungry themselves, could they?

Who would have thought Nai Ge Li Si would sound a bit disappointed: "Only fifteen thousand? That few? How would that be enough to eat?"

"Huh? Few? Is the food little? A little is fine, just sell us a little — enough to get through these few meals, then let them go catch fish in the lake. We absolutely won't disturb you, my lord. If it's inconvenient, let them go to the other side of the lake." Faller misheard, taking it as the food being scarce.

This was the normal understanding — as long as his brain was working properly, no one would think Lord Nai Ge Li Si meant they had too few people.

"Hehe." Lord Nai Ge Li Si knew no one would believe him even if he said it. Who would believe that just over ten minutes ago, its most headache-inducing problem was what to do with the rice by the lake?

No one to eat it, no way to store it — the most likely outcome was rotting in the fields. Who would have thought the Goddess of Luck would bless them, delivering a whole bunch of starving wailing refugees on the spot. These people could not only consume that grain, they would become labor force and believers — simply perfect.

"Settle them down first. Let them eat the grain. John, have someone cook porridge — portions for fifteen thousand people."

The refugees came down from the ships one after another. They were herded onto an open patch of ground. Purple Bones shouldered a big stick and held up a megaphone rolled from tree bark, loudly repeating: "Line up, line up. Men on the left, women on the right, neither-men-nor-women stand in the middle."

Following her words, a dozen or so eunuchs stepped into the middle.

"Stay in line, walk on past. my lord will treat and purify you. Anyone with wounds, illness, or parasites, expose them ahead of time — my lord will give you special attention." Purple Bones held up the megaphone and shouted loudly.

Under her big stick, few people dared to act up, obediently tucking their heads and walking forward.

Seeing Ange stood on a rock, half a head taller than everyone, continuously casting Purify. He had done this many times already — it was second nature. He could even split his attention two ways: one hand farming in the Palace of Rest, the other hand casting nonstop.

Having cast Purify too many times, his proficiency was off the charts. Originally a first-tier spell, it could now produce the effect of a third or fourth tier. Almost a single cast and the minor wounds and grime on an ordinary person's body were gone. If not enough, two more — not even a second needed.

After a journey of enduring hunger and blistering sun, many of them had skin cracked and flesh split, a fierce stinging pain, black and red and rough. Some who cared about their looks didn't even dare show their faces.

The moment they passed before Seeing Ange — whoosh — wounds healed, skin whitened, grime vanished, even their clothes became spotlessly clean.

Purify could not purify parasites like fleas, but it would destroy their living environment. After a single Purify, the hair was cleansed spotlessly clean.

Those fleas, likewise cleansed spotlessly clean, crawled out in a daze, packed up their belongings and started moving house.

What was this? This was a miracle. At the end of the road of flight, there stood a person holding sacred light, who had dispelled their sickness and pain, purified their filth — was this leading them to the legendary heaven where the ground was paved with rice and the riverbeds flowed with honey?

Some instinctively dropped to their knees and began kowtowing in worship. Streams of pure faith-power surged forth.

Yet this faith-power did not flow toward Seeing Ange. Instead, it slowly gathered into a clump. Once it accumulated to a certain degree, it suddenly vanished — flowing off to who-knows-where.

Seeing Ange tilted his head, then suddenly leaped to the spot where the faith-essence had vanished. His Plane-Piercing Hand trembled, and he thrust it in.

The Plane-Piercing Hand disappeared into the air. When he drew it back out, his hand was already gripping that clump of faith-essence.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si hurriedly flew over.

"They want to run." Seeing Ange pointed at the faith-essence in his hand. Normally Seeing Ange was very casual — when others offered soul-flames, he would return grain, an equal exchange, fair to old and young. If they didn't offer, he didn't care — just no grain then.

But now — he had finished the treatment, and the offered soul-flames wanted to run?

After hearing Seeing Ange out, Lord Nai Ge Li Si's expression turned strange. He said, somewhat incredulously: "These people mistook you for a member of the Church of Light, so when they offered their faith they got the target wrong — that's why it flew off. That's normal. But Ange — you intercepted this faith halfway. Do you know what you've done? You've plundered faith-essence that belongs to the Gods of Light."