Chapter 29: Saint''s Bone |
"Stop!" Fortunately, his rescuers had arrived.
Lao Mushi sat in the carriage, hastily shouting for them to stop.
Isabella rode on horseback, displaying her heroic and valiant side.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Nemus moved his foot away and kicked Jacques aside.
He had never intended to kill the man in the first place.
The moment he let go, a stream of information flashed through his mind.
[Precept Updated]
[Main Rule: Absolution]
[Precept Feedback: New (Jacques) — Saint''s Bone &%...¥]
[Saint''s Bone: Enhances the capacity to bear holy-type abilities, mitigates the side effects of holy-type abilities, and adds adaptability to the power of Faith.]
As these lines of information flowed by, Nemus distinctly felt the changes occurring in Nels''s body.
A faint itch spread through all the bones in his body, though it quickly faded away.
At the same time, Nemus could sense that his originally dim Life Aura was also transforming.
''Powers of the same origin actually trigger linked changes under the influence of the Precept? I suppose that makes sense.''
''After all, both Nels and Jacques are products of the Dartmenerly family''s forbidden bloodline cultivation experiments.'' Some of Nels''s past memories flashed through Nemus''s mind.
Jacques was quite a bit younger than Nels. The techniques used on him were visibly more mature, and since he had never defected from the family, his development was much more comprehensive.
However, by leveraging the Precept, Nemus had instantly bridged that gap in progress, perhaps even slightly surpassing it.
''After all, Jacques still requires a Secret Method to temporarily gain the blessing of Faith from a Miracle, whereas my body contains purified Faith in the form of Holy Nails.''
Feeling the shift in the power of Faith, Nemus revealed the joyful expression of a bountiful harvest.
His utilization of the power of Faith had taken another step forward today.
The purified Faith, combined with the Saint''s Bone that possessed an adaptability to it, caused the Holy Nails within Nemus''s body to show signs of "melting."
Nemus even discovered that the Holy Nails were transitioning from their original semi-ethereal state into a somewhat ossified form, merging with his natural skeleton.
''It is a pity that now is not the time for further research.'' Nemus looked at Lao Mushi, who had just stepped down from the carriage, and chose to interrogate him. "Is the Lord Priest planning to shield this Intern Holy Knight who attacked me without reason?"
Seizing the initiative often meant claiming the moral high ground.
When in the wrong, one must use Morality to justify oneself; when in the right, one must consolidate their advantage to ensure the offending party is not let off lightly.
Lao Mushi looked at the lingering smile on Nemus''s face, glanced at the snapped Knight''s Sword, and then turned to the red-faced Jacques, who was vomiting and gasping for air on the sidelines. He could not help but feel a headache coming on.
He truly had not expected Jacques to be this impulsive.
His expression turned even uglier when he noticed the yellowish-white sphere of bone exposed at Jacques''s chest as the young man writhed.
Nevertheless, after weighing his words carefully, Lao Mushi spoke up. "The young man was trapped in his own perspective and failed to think things through. It was merely a moment of impulse."
"Nels, for my sake, will you let him go?"
"I will punish him severely afterward and ensure that the Dartmenerly family behind him no longer causes you any trouble."
"Regardless, he is still young... He should not bear the burden of a crime for this." As Lao Mushi said this, he seemed somewhat dazed.
"I agreed to your request earlier because I owed you."
"Now, I am saving him because I owe him as well."
"He is also a victim, is he not?"
Lao Mushi could only offer soft, placating words at this moment. "Are you absolutely certain that the Dartmenerly family won''t cause me any more trouble?" Nemus asked, seeking confirmation.
"I am certain!" Lao Mushi declared firmly. He still had at least that much face.
In truth, the reason Nels had lived here for nearly eight years without issue was entirely because of his presence.
Although Lao Mushi admitted to having some selfish motives, more often than not, he genuinely wanted what was best for these people.
After all...
''A portion of the Dartmenerly family''s sins originates from me.'' In his heart, Lao Mushi could not help but think of his former disciple.
Thinking of how that person had changed, he let out a silent sigh in his heart.
''Perhaps I... I truly am a hypocrite.'' Thinking this, Lao Mushi looked at the reluctant Nemus and raised the stakes. "I can also personally compensate you with a mastercrafted Knight''s Sword."
"It has eleven Holy Script characters engraved upon it and possesses considerable power."
At this moment, Lao Mushi was overflowing with sincerity.
Engraving Holy Script onto an object was equivalent to enchanting it.
Most ordinary artifacts were inscribed with three Holy Script characters. For every additional character beyond that, the difficulty of the engraving would increase progressively.
By the time ten Holy Script characters were engraved, the difficulty would have already doubled.
Therefore, the more characters there were, the more the value increased exponentially.
The Holy Script dagger that Nels had previously intended to use to destroy the Demonic Contract only had nine characters.
Yet that was the sole inheritance Nels had received from his parents, making it incredibly precious.
A Knight''s Sword bearing eleven Holy Script characters would absolutely spark a fanatical bidding war among many Holy Knights.
Seeing this, Nemus decided to quit while he was ahead. He glanced at Jacques, who was gradually regaining his senses, and said, "Have him fix my door when he recovers."
With that said, Nemus no longer lingered in his doorless house and instead walked toward the village.
Looking at the empty doorframe, the others felt too embarrassed to proceed inside.
Witnessing this outcome, Isabella could not help but sigh.
She vaguely sensed that there was something wrong with Nemus. If Jacques had not been so impulsive, they might have had a chance or two to use the Dartmenerly family''s influence to push the Church into conducting a genuine investigation.
Now, that was likely no longer possible.
Meanwhile, Jacques caught Isabella''s slightly disappointed gaze. To him, that look felt even worse than being defeated by Nemus.
His pride severely wounded, Jacques let out a muffled groan and simply passed out.
Seeing this, Isabella shook her head even more. If Jacques had straightforwardly admitted his mistake, she would have at least respected him a little.
''But I suppose it is natural. He is merely a young man in his early twenties. Not everyone is like me, possessing such an acute sensitivity to the emotions of others.'' Ever since her grandfather passed away and she had sensed his final emotions, Isabella had found it incredibly easy to empathize with others.
She could deeply feel the sorrow and despair within people''s hearts.
The reason she suspected Nemus had a problem was that she had discovered she could not sense his emotions in the slightest.
It was not that such people did not exist; Lao Mushi was the same way. But Lao Mushi possessed a profound realm of Meditation.
He was also vastly experienced, making it perfectly normal for him to prevent his emotions from leaking out.
So what was Nemus''s excuse?
Isabella soon set these thoughts aside and began pondering how to clean up this mess.
With the tainted witness dead, they had quite a lot of paperwork to report next.
How did everything end up like this?