Chapter 381: We Can Cooperate, But You Have to Do Me a Favor |
"Hmph. Filthy thoughts, filthy deeds — every ruler since time immemorial has been this breed of scum. Disgusting." The red-bearded Lis Field spat vehemently, apparently harboring nothing but contempt for his Head of Church, Berios. And after his spitting, he couldn't resist turning to Cheng Shi for another jab: "You too — your face alone makes me sick!"
"..."
Berios seemed long accustomed to Lis Field's attitude and didn't bother responding. But Cheng Shi took exception to that.
?
'Insult me all you want, but leave my face out of it. Since when is being good-looking a crime?'
Yet under the circumstances, Cheng Shi couldn't exactly fire back — getting caught lying red-handed to your face was embarrassing enough. So he stood there, eyes on the floor, and took the mockery without protest.
Berios, seeing that Cheng Shi had stopped arguing, didn't press further. He — or rather, the two Birth followers in the room — didn't seem to care about Dolgod at all. Their attention was fixed on something else entirely, something the players had never been privy to.
The Head of Church studied Cheng Shi with grave intensity for a moment, then spoke in a measured tone:
"I don't care where you come from. I don't care who you worship. I can even pretend everything that happened yesterday never occurred. But only on one condition — you...
There it was!
Just as Cheng Shi had predicted, Berios wouldn't have allowed two strangers inside unless there was room to negotiate. What he hadn't anticipated was how smoothly things were progressing — even after being caught in a lie, they'd still arrived at this point. It made him vaguely suspicious.
'Could this be a trap?'
"Hmph, you fool. With that expression on your face, how do you expect them to trust you?" Lis Field scoffed, then turned to Cheng Shi with a scowl:
"I can help you collect those ridiculous so-called 'fears' in Dolgod — let you go grovel at your false god's stinking feet. But you'll need to prove you're worth the trouble.
Boy, this isn't a collaboration. It's a transaction.
I supply the money. You supply the goods. But the goods had better meet my standards."
Cheng Shi blinked in surprise. He'd assumed Lis Field was merely a chess piece Berios had placed to play factional games. Now it seemed more like Lis Field was Berios's partner.
They had shared interests?
Cheng Shi didn't respond immediately. Instead, he tilted his head to look past Lis Field at the Head of Church. Berios said nothing, but his expression clearly endorsed Lis Field's proposal.
Cheng Shi's curiosity deepened. He laughed heartily.
"I love transactions. So tell me, Big Beard — what kind of goods are you after?"
Lis Field bristled slightly at "Big Beard" but didn't erupt. He continued:
"The healing power of a false god.
I know you mongrels who worship false gods have at least some abilities. I have a patient. If you can cure her, then from this day forward, however much fear you want to collect in Dolgod — I'll provide it."
"A patient?"
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow. 'Well, what a coincidence — healing is my specialty.'
'Put it this way: there isn't a single patient in this world who's ever given me a bad review.'
Cheng Shi smiled — a genuinely happy smile.
"Honestly — if this weren't my first time in Dolgod, I'd think you two were setting me up.
How did you know I have some expertise in treating patients?
I'm not one for big talk. I'm a practical man. Lead the way — every second sooner I see the patient is a second sooner she's free of suffering."
The moment those words landed, both Church leaders visibly reacted. Berios's pupils contracted sharply, his grip on the staff cracking audibly. Lis Field's eyes blazed — he whipped out a broad-bladed cleaver and hacked it into his own shoulder.
"Here — heal me first. If you can fix this wound, I'll take you to see her immediately!"
His manic display genuinely startled Cheng Shi. Watching the spray of blood paint a harsh red line across the room, Cheng Shi frowned. Perhaps he'd underestimated the situation.
He didn't rush to act. Behind him, Scorpio stepped forward to stand at his side, whispering:
"Brother Cheng, shouldn't we go back and discuss the healing thing with Brother Zhang first?"
'Discuss with Squinty Zhang?'
'When it comes to caution, I might be a tiny, tiny bit below him. But when it comes to healing, I hold dual priest credentials as a Clown and a Fate Weaver. You're telling me I can't match a single Gravekeeper?'
Scorpio's sharp senses caught Cheng Shi's disdainful look. He stiffened and quickly rephrased:
"What I mean is — our team has division of labor. Everyone has their strengths. Brother Cheng, you're the fighter. Brother Zhang, he's the healer. So..."
'I'm the fighter...' After everything, someone had finally discovered his "shining quality"?
Cheng Shi was touched — and graciously rejected Scorpio's suggestion.
'What you said actually makes sense. To be safe, I probably should bring Squinty Zhang in. But I'm going to try first.'
'After all, even if you want to call in the specialist, you need a preliminary diagnosis first, right?'
"So as a Druid, I've decided to give it a shot!"
Cheng Shi chuckled, turned to Lis Field, and fired off a perfectly pure healing spell.
A Fate Weaver's healing spell — no talent augmentation, but for a simple blade wound, it was more than sufficient.
Sensing a healing energy distinctly different from Birth's, both Berios's and Lis Field's eyes brightened simultaneously.
Big Beard touched his now-healed shoulder, then grabbed Cheng Shi by the wrist and started dragging him downstairs.
"Come — follow me!"
Scorpio's whole body shuddered. He could only twitch the corners of his mouth helplessly. Seeing his lifeline being hauled away, he immediately fell in behind, terrified Big Beard might do something to his Brother Cheng.
Berios brought up the rear with unfathomable eyes, descending step by step — not downstairs, but underground.
They were heading to the basement beneath the Church!
Before long, Lis Field had led Cheng Shi and Scorpio to the deepest level of the underground complex. After unlocking over a dozen steel gates and triggering four or five concealed mechanisms in solid walls, the narrow underground passage suddenly opened up. Cheng Shi quickened his pace and found himself standing before a pitch-black underground lake.
And in that lake — its surface rippling with ink-dark undulations — there lay not one, but countless colossal tentacles, bloated and collapsed across the lake floor!
Innumerable jet-black eyes, dark as the night sky, broke the surface. They blinked feebly, turning to regard the visitors in the underground passage.
Even though Cheng Shi had sensed something strange hidden beneath the Church from the moment Big Beard opened the first underground gate, he never imagined the strangeness would be this!
'These aren't — they can't be the "God Descent" from last night?!'
And not just one!
His pupils contracted. His spine went rigid. Behind him, Scorpio trembled, jaw clamped shut, not daring to breathe.
The instant Lis Field saw those tentacles, he forgot about everyone behind him entirely. He sprinted to the nearest tentacle at the lake's edge and began stroking the eyelid of one enormous eye with an expression of aching tenderness, his voice gentle as a whisper:
"Go Lis, I'm back. Are you alright?
That bastard Berios had the nerve to command you. He's hurting you — he's hurting you, and you're too kind to refuse.
But don't be afraid. This time I've truly found someone who can use healing power — a foll... a follower of a foreign god. He might be able to cure you. Once you're healed, we can be together again, just like before.
Are you happy, Go Lis?"
"..."
Watching the scene unfold, Cheng Shi and Scorpio — their minds spinning through every melodramatic scenario imaginable — were both stunned senseless.
What?
...
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