Chapter 1983: The Tower of Watching

"Yes, I am Qieke fu... And the previous Saintess? Has she already... gone to meet the Lord?" Qieke fu looked at Xueli, the expression on his face somewhat shaken.

"Yes, she has already gone to meet the Lord." Xueli nodded slightly: "You have all worked hard these years."

"Maliya... you are fortunate." Qieke fu made the sign of the cross over his chest, and he murmured: "I never imagined that our parting thirty years ago would be the last time we saw each other."

"Do not be too sad, Qieke fu." Xueli said: "She is luckier than all of us."

"Pope... what exactly happened?" An old man's expression was extremely angry: "We have guarded this place for thirty years; we should have returned long ago."

"I am sorry, I am deeply sorry. Because there were some internal problems within the Pope, I have let you all down." Xueli bowed and apologized to these people repeatedly.

Because it was indeed internal strife within the Pope that led to these people being abandoned here.

Although it was not Xueli's fault, she was the Saintess of the Pope, so these matters had a certain connection to her, and she also bore a certain responsibility.

"What is the use of an apology? Thirty years... we have been trapped here for thirty years. We dared not leave, because once we left, the Barrier of the Endless Coast would have no one to maintain it and would break."

Another old man roared angrily: "Once it breaks, the three thousand Blood Clan inside will seize the opportunity to come out. We did not leave because we were unwilling to betray our faith and our original intention."

"But what have you been doing? Did you only remember us after thirty years? Everything we had has been ruined here."

Xueli sighed, because the Pope was short of people, so the elderly who came here to guard were actually not young at all.

In these thirty years, how many people died of old age? They died without ever being reunited with their families; this must be said to be a great sorrow.

"Where is Ivan? I want to speak with him directly. I want to ask him what on earth he has been doing these thirty years."

"That's right, when we first came here, he told us that there would be a rotation every three years, and we would only need to stay here for three years."

"And now... it has been thirty years."

The crowd was very agitated; they gathered around one after another, demanding that Xueli give them an explanation.

Xueli raised her head, tears shimmering in her eyes: "Old Ivan, he has already gone to meet the Lord."

"He is dead?" The scene suddenly went quiet.

An expression of disbelief appeared on the faces of all the old men; they truly had not expected that Old Ivan had already left them.

In everyone's eyes, Old Ivan's status was irreplaceable; they lowered their heads one after another, made the sign of the cross on their chests, and mourned in silence.

"Everyone, listen to me." Qieke fu sighed slightly, "I believe the Pope has not forgotten us. It has been thirty years; I think there must be a reason for this."

"Regardless, Saintess Xueli has come now, and she will surely bring us good news."

The people in the room quieted down, and everyone's gaze fell upon Xueli, waiting for her to give them an explanation.

"Everyone." Xueli slowly raised her head, her eyes full of apology: "I know the predicament you are all in, and I also know that you are very angry inside right now. After all, you have been forgotten in a dark corner of the world for nearly thirty years."

"Some things did indeed happen within the Pope, to the extent that we have been busy with infighting for these thirty years and neglected you. Here, I apologize to everyone." Xueli bowed deeply.

"What is the use of an apology? Do you know how many of us have died? They were all full of respect for the Pope." An old man's face carried a trace of sorrow.

"My wife is no longer here, my parents are no longer here, and my grandson has grown into an adult, but I have never seen him. The Pope forgot us; can the pain he brought us really be resolved with just a few words?"

"Xueli..." Qieke fu sighed and said: "You must understand us. After all, we have guarded this place for thirty years. If there is no good explanation, I fear this matter will be difficult to resolve."

"Qieke fu, I have nothing to explain. I admit that this is a mistake made by the Pope." Xueli raised her head: "Logically, I should bear some of the blame, but now I have more important things to do."

"What more important things do you have to do?" Qieke fu asked with some confusion: "Shouldn't you be bringing people to rotate the shifts?"

"What is the point of rotating shifts?" Chen Yu said slowly: "The Blood Clan has lived here for so many years; they have long been unable to endure the darkness here."

"Therefore, in recent years, they have acted frequently, attempting to break free from their constraints and let the world return to the Dark Age, so more and more Blood Clan have broken through the constraints and run amok where we live."

"I think it is necessary to resolve the matter here once and for all and make their race disappear."

"Heh, kid, you speak quite lightly. Do you really think we don't want to resolve the problem here once and for all?" An old man sneered: "This is a place where Dark Creatures live. This place is under the Curse of Satan, so as soon as we enter, all our power disappears."

"Otherwise, why do you think we have allowed them to exist for hundreds of years in such a small place?"

"That's right, Xueli. You know that this place is where the sunlight cannot reach, the most suitable place for the Blood Clan to survive." Qieke fu said: "We cannot enter here at all, otherwise our power will disappear. It is precisely because of this reason that the Tower of Watching exists, and that we exist."

"Qieke fu, this is a Cultivator from the East. His power is not bound or affected by the power of the Endless Coast." Xueli said.

"So what? He is only one person." An old man stared at Chen Yu: "I don't believe his individual power can contend with the entire Blood Clan."

"You people, do you know why you can never progress?" Chen Yu smiled: "Because each of you carries arrogance and prejudice, so you have no way to progress at all."

"What did you say? Kid, don't look at me as old, but I can take on five kids like you by myself." An old man's face turned gloomy.

"Old man, you must never speak so absolutely." Chen Yu smiled slightly and said: "Your power does not come from yourself."

"And I don't want to fight you either. With your old arms and legs, if you get hurt, I won't be able to afford the compensation."