Chapter 1311

As the manor gradually recovered the scenery it should have had, under that afternoon sun, bright yellow flames appeared on all five monsters that the manor owners had turned into. But far from wailing in the flames, they revealed joyful smiles after their spirits returned to normal.

The night curtain was opened, and sunlight spilled over the long-abandoned manor. Ghosts and mummies floated or crawled out of the mansion one by one, burned into ashes in the sunlight.

The winter afternoon sun shone on his face, and the warm feeling made Xia De feel very comfortable as well. He bent down to pick up the suitcase that had fallen into the snow, and then grasped the holy grail that had emerged from the ground. This time, the rune was 【Memory】, which was different from all the previous ones.

"I'll take this as a souvenir."

He shook the photo frame in his hand.

At this moment, the ogre's limbs regenerated, and it stood up in the ignited flames; the little monster with the rat tail grew in size and supported its old father; the two souls, gradually becoming transparent in the flames, hugged each other; subsequently, the little girl still covered her face, but also turned toward Xia De.

The family of five stood together in the flames ignited in the void, and the photo frame in his hand suddenly cracked, but fortunately, the yellowed old photograph was still intact; it was a group photo of the family of six.

Old Wosente, whose face was still terrifying, nodded.

"It belongs to you now... Thank you."

"Don't thank me; I didn't come here specifically to save you."

He waved at the five of them as a farewell, then turned his back to them, stepped through the courtyard in the snow under the sunlight, walking with uneven steps, and arrived before the fence gate.

That fence gate had already opened a crack, and Xia De even turned sideways to walk through. He turned around intending to close the gate, but looking up, he saw the dilapidated manor, which was so peaceful under the snow and sunlight. The circling crows had flown away at some unknown time, and only a few sparrows, having flown in from somewhere, were resting on the snow surface.

On the snow surface in front of the mansion, there were continuous patches of black ash. And the spot where the family of five had just been standing was now left with only a patch of black ash. He looked down at the old photograph in his hand, hesitated for a moment, then rolled it up and stuffed it into his pocket.

"It's really quiet."

Xia De sighed softly, then slowly pulled the fence gate shut, turned around, and walked along the slope toward the small forest path in the cedar forest below:

"A demon, huh..."

He muttered softly, his figure gradually blurring in the snow.

The time was already 3:00 PM on Monday afternoon. To catch a carriage back to the downtown area of Randall Valley City, Xia De still had to walk along this country road for at least half an hour before he could enter the outskirts of the city.

The snow fell heavier and heavier, and not long after Xia De passed the location in the forest downhill—which was no longer so eerie—where he had encountered the three hunters and clashed with the demon, three people vaguely walked over through the wind and snow on the small path.

Because of the legends of ghosts in this vicinity and the relic's repellent effect on ordinary people, very few people actually came here. Xia De was initially curious about who this was again, but only after getting closer did he realize that all three people opposite were Ringed Ringed Shushi.

"Did those two guys I let go earlier call for reinforcements?"

Xia De, who was not in a very good mood at the moment, happened to want to vent his bad mood, but unfortunately, his guess was wrong. After getting closer, he clearly felt the rich aura of the Sun Church's divine arts on the three of them; that was not just the aura of their clothing and their own power, but also the aura of the exorcism items they held.

Because he was too familiar with Yin Luna, Xia De was most familiar with the divine arts of the Sun Church.

It was a Ringed Ringed Shushi squad from the Sun Church, though not a full-strength squad; they were probably just here to investigate the situation.

Xia De vaguely understood in his heart, but he did not dodge them; instead, he walked straight toward them. The three people walking through the wind and snow opposite him discovered him a few seconds later than Xia De had, but unfortunately, they did not have Xia De's sensory abilities, so they were unaware that Xia De was a Ringed Ringed Shushi.

The two sides soon met on the snow-covered cedar forest path. Xia De nodded slightly to greet the three of them, and the seven-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi leading them, who was wearing a brown overcoat and holding a metal mountaineering stick-like object in his hand, asked Xia De very politely:

"Excuse me, is Wosente

Manor at the end of this road?"

"Yes."

Xia De nodded and instructed them:

"You can walk there in about ten more minutes. There is a road sign in front of the manor, you won't mistake it."

Seeing that Xia De's attitude was good, and that he wasn't even wearing gloves, yet was walking through the snow carrying a suitcase—looking at his attire and temperament, Xia De didn't look like a villager from the countryside—the seven-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi with a small beard asked curiously:

"Speaking of which, may I ask if you are from..."

He glanced behind Xia De. The end of this road was Wosente Manor, and the subsequent two fork roads led to even more distant villages. Generally speaking, no one would appear here walking in this season.

"Oh, me?"

Xia De made an expression as if he had just realized what the other party wanted to ask:

"I'm also going to Wosente Manor, but I was one step ahead of you."

He said, pointing at himself under the vigilant gazes of the three:

"If you had come three or four hours earlier, you would have seen many things. I first encountered undead blocking the road on this path, then I ran into cultists who believe in that evil god, the 【Stone Heart Demon】, at the manor gate. Later, I entered the manor, expelled the relic, and purified a large batch of undead."

He didn't mention the demon; he had basically almost solved this matter, and there was no need for the church to intervene again. It wasn't that he was worried the church couldn't handle that ancient evil spirit; on the contrary, he was worried that once the church locked onto the target, given the current number of Ringed Ringed Shushi transferred to this diocese to face the Chosen One, the demon would die too quickly. If that happened, the Doctor and Sister Sister Daifulin wouldn't get what they wanted.

However, these people would surely discover some clues once they were at the manor. Xia De was happy to see them use those slight clues to investigate and hinder the demon's plan:

"Also, the land there had fallen into madness, which I also purified along the way. You can go over and check it, then just go back and file a report. Oh, the guardians didn't appear; what a pity."

By now, the church should have also sensed the entity known as the "Guardians," so Xia De said this, and the other party should know what he meant.

"May I ask, my lord, are you..."

The middle-aged seven-ringed man asked cautiously, and the five-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi and four-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi following behind him did not show hostility; this was the difference between a squad from the True God Church and cultists.

"It's not important."

"But you possess the ability to purify the Mad Earth."

"Yes, that's because I have had contact with the Guardians. I'll give you a piece of information for free: the Guardians can grant others the power of the earth."

Xia De said:

"You continue walking forward; I'm going back to the city. I'm really looking forward to having a drink in a warm tavern; I've frozen to death today."

"Please wait a moment!"

The seven-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi said hurriedly. He didn't intend to force Xia De to stay; after all, none of the three of them could sense whether the person in front of them was a Ringed Ringed Shushi.

"Is there anything else?"

"This... we are the Ringed Ringed Shushi squad of the Sun Church from the Randall Valley Diocese, ordered to come and investigate the Wosente Manor matter. After the Eldron Lake incident last week, the local Five Gods Church discussed and believed that there must still be many unexplored twisted zones in the Del Valley area, so every suspicious location must be investigated by someone."

"I know all of this, and I know who you are; otherwise, why would I talk to you?"

Xia De said, then asked again:

"Is there anything else? If not, I'm leaving."

"Please wait... May I ask, are you... the person who purified Eldron Lake last Thursday night?"

He asked tentatively, then reached out to his companion. The young four-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi handed him a small bottle, and then the small bottle was handed to Xia De.

No. 4 Holy Water, standard supplies for a church Ringed Ringed Shushi squad on a mission. Although he could purchase it infinitely from Priest Ao Gu Si, Xia De still accepted it;

"It could be, or it could not be; this

question is meaningless."

He pointed behind him:

"However, in my opinion, you are going to be busy for a while. The problem with that manor is very big... really very big."

He emphasized his tone:

"Although I have already cleared away most of the problems, you should also be careful."

After all, there might still be remnants of the demon's power. If Xia De had the 【Night Watcher】, he could completely purify it by using this ritual sword to cast "Light-Shining Art," but unfortunately, he couldn't bring the sword with him now:

"Also, the cultists I encountered were also here for this manor, but unfortunately, they couldn't handle that relic."

Instead, he was in no hurry to leave:

"I've told you so much information, tell me something... Have you found the hiding place of the escaped cultists and the 【Blood Spirit School】? Has the thirteen-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi of the 【Blood Spirit School】, the Blood-Crying Hermons, also arrived locally?"

The three looked at each other, and it was still the seven-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi leading them who said:

"This isn't secret information. We haven't found them yet, but at least we can be sure they are still in the local area. As for Hermons, there is no news yet, but we cannot rule out that he has entered the Old Continent again."

The Blood-Crying Hermons was wounded by the Sun Church's Great Sword of Sunlight during the Darkness Descends incident in Tobesk at the end of last summer; half a year should have been enough for him to recover from his injuries.

"Of course they are in the local area; their goal hasn't been achieved yet. Either it's to summon their god, or it's for the Chosen One of the earth, or both."

Xia De ignored their surprised expressions;

"You don't look at me like a local either. A mysterious high-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi from out of town—if it's not for the Chosen One, could it be that I came specifically to join in the fun? Is it so incredible that I know about this?"

He waved at the three:

"This time I'm really going back to the city. I wish you success in your operation; this weather is really terrible. Also, I am not the God-Awakener, don't guess randomly."

With so much power remaining at Wosente Manor, Xia De was very sure that no one could divine his location.

Saying this, Xia De brushed past the three and walked along the road they had come from toward the direction of the city.

"Captain."

The five-ringed middle-aged man asked the seven-ringed Ringed Ringed Shushi holding the mountaineering stick, and the latter shook his head slightly. The three of them stood in place, watching Xia De walk further and further away in the snow, then turned around and continued to advance toward Wosente Manor.