Chapter 210

Chapter 210

For days leading up to the Divine Birth celebration, parade floats had been touring the town's main roads. On the day itself, sixty floats were simultaneously deployed. Handsome young men and women, clad in flamboyant costumes, reenacted ancient legends, while docile lambs, led by hemp ropes held by the religious council, added a solemn note. Deep, resonant chants intertwined with joyful celebratory hymns.

Before dawn, bonfires and torches replaced the morning light, illuminating the still-slumbering town. Envoys rode atop towering elephants, while street vendors energetically hawked their wares on both sides of the road. Divine messengers from the Sacred Mountain, their faces concealed by silver masks, moved gracefully through the crowds. Their snow-white robes, embroidered with gold thread, appeared utterly sacred, drawing looks of reverence and admiration wherever they passed.

Yang Haibo stood at the inn's window, arms crossed, observing the bustling street below. A broadly smiling elephant-riding envoy, passing by, even offered him an unknown, fragrant fruit. He paused, but before he could utter a word of thanks, the cloth-capped messenger had already ridden away.

Behind him, Murphy was meticulously braiding his hair, scrutinizing his reflection in the mirror. "A bit crooked," he murmured, about to undo and re-braid it, when something hard struck his head.

"Ouch! Who attacked me?"

"It's me, what's the problem?" Yang Haibo exclaimed, his patience worn thin. "You've undone and re-braided it three times already. Enough! Do you even remember we have a mission?"

"What mission?" Murphy lazily twirled the end of his braid with his pinky finger. "Helping the divine messenger find and eliminate demons that have slipped in from hell? You're not actually planning to help that divine messenger of unknown origins, are you?"

What he said seemed logically sound, yet the fact that she actively sought help from the three of them was a significant red flag.

She was from the Sacred Mountain, a lofty attendant of the gods, while they were merely merchants participating in the Divine Birth celebration. How could they possibly be worthy of a personal plea for help from a noble divine messenger?

Though Murphy appeared unconventional, he possessed a distinctly aristocratic sensitivity when it came to matters of status.

Seeing Yang Haibo lost in thought and silent, Murphy hummed a little tune and returned to the mirror, contemplating whether glittering jewelry or a rare, natural adornment of fresh flowers would better suit his blond hair.

Two polite knocks sounded at the door, and then Luo Lin, cloaked in silver-gray, let herself in. She cradled a large crystal ball, but before she could speak, Murphy excitedly called out to her.

"Miss Luo Lin!" He turned, extending both hands—one holding delicate white daisies, the other plump, round pearls. He asked enthusiastically, "Do you prefer me with flowers, or with pearls?"

Luo Lin: "......"

Luo Lin: "I don't like either, but flowers probably look better."

That dazzling golden hair was already eye-catching enough; fewer accessories would be best.

"What a gentle lady," Murphy said delightedly. "I suddenly realized this string of pearls would suit your beautiful, moonlit-silver hair perfectly—would you like to experience my braiding skills?"

Yang Haibo interjected coldly, "Don't repay kindness with enmity."

"Never mind, come look at this first."

Luo Lin waved her hand, ignoring Murphy, who was engrossed in his grooming. She produced the crystal ball she held. Zhou Huixue had given it to them before she left, along with the incantation for its use.

However, since receiving it, the crystal ball had remained clear, reflecting none of the "evil aura" the Sacred Mountain divine messenger had mentioned—until Yang Haibo leaned in close just now and unexpectedly noticed a faint trace of black energy within the sphere.

"This just appeared moments ago, and it's already starting to fade. I’m not sure if it’s because the target moved away," Luo Lin said calmly. "If what that divine messenger said is true, then something related to demons might have just passed by our location."

"Are you thinking of investigating the source of the aura?" Yang Haibo asked.

"Not pursuing, just investigating," Luo Lin corrected him. "We still know too little about this faction, and I have a feeling that, for the sake of fairness, there should also be student participants on the side of hell and the demons."

Her words made sense. Just then, Murphy finished styling his hair and turned with a smile. "Since Miss Luo Lin suggested it, there’s no harm in going along to catch a few."

Yang Haibo shot him an annoyed look. "Weren’t you just saying you didn’t want to help that divine messenger?"

"Not helping the divine messenger doesn’t mean doing nothing at all. Don’t be so black-and-white, Hai Boer," Murphy said with a laugh. "Besides, we’ve got nothing better to do. After slacking off for so long, I should probably earn some performance points."

Recalling how this guy had smoothly cleared levels, yet his individual score ranking kept dropping tragically, the other two in the room fell into a strange silence.

The downside of having too good a mindset was that even his companions couldn’t stand it—the person in question could laughingly state the facts. Even though they were from rival schools, Luo Lin couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for him.

"Performance points aren’t that hard to earn. As long as you take initiative, you can gain some points here and there. Later, Chairman Murphy and I will hold back, and Chairman Murphy can contribute more," she said, holding the crystal ball. "If no one has any objections, shall we set out?"

"I have no objections," Yang Haibo said.

"Then I’ll thank Miss Luo Lin in advance for her understanding," Murphy said, his lips curving upward. "In the face of your kindness, I certainly have no objections either."

The three were in agreement.

Meanwhile, another group passing below the hotel chose that moment to look up at the overcast sky.

"Is it just me?" Zao Jian Chun Sha said doubtfully, touching her cheek where it felt cool. "Did a drop of rain just fall?"

"Even if it’s not raining now, it will soon—and it’ll be a rain that brings a cataclysmic flood."

Cecil cast a mocking glance toward the distant crowds still singing and dancing in celebration. "How pitiful."

While they celebrated their god, they probably had no idea that very god was planning to wipe them all out.

"Let’s go, we’re running out of time," Qi Ying said, adjusting the rainproof bag on his shoulder, which contained a specific quantity of wish-incense—a special incense made by demons. "The divine messengers will be returning from the celebration soon."

The ghost ship’s system was still part of the simulation system, which worked in Qi Ying’s favor. It was why he had been able to use his intrusion privileges to establish contact with Lorca from the hell faction ahead of time. One end of the ultimate task lay in the flood brought down by the Sacred Mountain, while the other end was in hell. To complete the ultimate task, they had to light the wish-incense containing fragments of demon contracts within the Sacred Mountain’s territory on the day of the Divine Birth and send a prayer to Queen of Hell Lilith.

This was no easy feat. Though there were many fraudulent divine messengers on the Sacred Mountain, those living closer to the summit had real skills. Even if the three of them wanted to act, they could only sneak in during this window.

Time was tight. Even Cecil had to set aside his commentary on the celebrating crowds and frown, preparing to continue up the mountain in the rain. But suddenly, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air behind them, aiming straight for Qi Ying in the center of the group—or more precisely, for Qi Ying’s backpack.

The cold gleam of a weapon flashed under the dark sky. Zao Jian Chun Sha, walking behind, paled and lunged toward Qi Ying ahead.

"Watch out!!"

-

"I should have known you wouldn’t play fair," Zhou Huixue said, holding her water-colored Spiritual State in her arms and lightly snorting. "You promised you’d let the Spiritual State follow along. Is this what you call monitoring?"

Eve spread her hands innocently, protesting as if wronged. "How can you blame me for this? I really didn’t do anything this time. Your Spiritual State was too scared to even approach the edge of Fúqiū. If it’s not up to the task, how can you blame me?" Heaven’s truth! She hadn’t even had time to do anything yet!

Who knows what she had done? When the Spiritual State returned to her, Zhou Huixue realized the Mist Raven’s perspective had stopped at the outskirts of Fúqiū—it hadn’t seen any of the crucial details.

The Spiritual State couldn’t make a sound, so she had always relied on lip-reading to interpret conversations. Without personally seeing the conversation, even though Eve had explained that the ark wasn’t finished yet, Zhou Huixue remained skeptical.

She bit her lip, feeling both dissatisfied and helpless, grinding her teeth in frustration.

The sky was gloomy, but from the direction of the town, the sounds of joyful singing and dancing could be heard in the distance. Torches formed a long, fiery orange dragon. On the day of the Divine Birth, all the Official Divine Messengers had gone down to the town at the mountain’s foot to maintain appearances, leaving only Eve and Zhou Huixue, two Acolytes, behind to watch the mountain. They stared wistfully as their seniors enjoyed themselves while also having to be ready to handle any emergencies.

It was utterly boring.

Eve stood with her hands behind her back, glancing sideways at the ancient, rustic celebration below. The wind blowing toward them was thick with sticky moisture, silently carrying an oppressive atmosphere of impending collapse.

"With such an ominous sky, how can they celebrate like this?"

Zhou Huixue whispered. She wasn’t a combat-type; her more alert nature made her more prone to stress in such environments.

"It’s like this every year," Eve said casually, kicking away a smooth pebble. "Without a long, oppressive night, how could the greatness of the dawn be appreciated?"

Clatter.

The round gray stone wobbled and rolled along the ground for a distance before coming to a stop in front of a pointed shoe covered in dust.

"Divine messenger," the dust-covered young man said, panicked. Seeing the two of them was like spotting a final lifeline. He scrambled forward urgently and said, "There’s—there’s a fight happening at the foot of the Sacred Mountain!"

"Who’s fighting at the foot of the Sacred Mountain?" Eve asked, puzzled.

Not to mention that today was such a grand occasion as the Divine Birth, given the Sacred Mountain's status in this world, how could anyone dare to start a fight right at its gates? Wasn't this deliberately trying to disrespect their god?

Beside her, Zhou Huixue's eyes unconsciously shifted away.

"It's two merchant groups... They're accusing each other of colluding with evil forces! They started arguing and then it turned into a fight!" The young man looked helpless. "All the other divine emissaries have already followed the procession to the eastern end of town. The elders sent me to find the emissaries staying behind on the Sacred Mountain to handle this!"

What use would it be to find them? Divine emissaries aren't police officers. Eve's mouth twitched, deeply feeling how backward a place without laws, ruled solely by religion, truly was.

She knew detection spells and could detect demonic energy, making her more suited to handle this. But before Eve could speak, Zhou Huixue suddenly offered, "I'll go take a look. You stay here on the Sacred Mountain and keep watch."

"......" Eve narrowed her eyes at her. "Since when do you volunteer for work?"

Zhou Huixue caught the suspicion in her tone. "Someone must remain on the Sacred Mountain. You're more capable than I am, and besides, a few NPCs fighting can't do anything to me. It's more appropriate for you to stay here."

Eve wasn't convinced, especially since when had this person ever voluntarily explained her actions? She asked bluntly, "You didn't have anything to do with instigating this fight, did you?"

"No," Zhou Huixue stated firmly. "Absolutely not. I know nothing about it."

It was unclear whether Eve believed her or not. Her aqua-blue eyes half-narrowed as she scrutinized Zhou Huixue, seemingly pondering what benefit starting trouble could bring her. Finally concluding that such trouble would offer no advantage, Eve raised an eyebrow and smiled again. "Since you're being so unusually proactive, go ahead."

Zhou Huixue's heart skipped a beat, but before she could say anything more, the sweat-drenched young man beside them urgently whispered, pleading for the divine emissary to hurry and resolve the conflict. Clearly, the brawl between the two merchant groups had escalated widely. She had no choice but to follow him down the mountain.

Meanwhile, Eve clasped her hands behind her back, ignoring both of them, and turned her attention to the summit that seemed to touch the sky—the true dwelling place of the god, as the other emissaries called it. Her eyes flickered as if quietly calculating something.

The sky was gloomy, as if a torrential downpour could begin at any moment. The adverse weather inexplicably stirred unease in Zhou Huixue's heart.

Just a few steps away, at the gates of the Sacred Mountain, the usually neat and pristine marble was now shattered into pieces. In such dim light, even with Zhou Huixue's sharp vision, she could only make out a few figures locked in a fierce struggle, their ferocity like stray cats scrapping over food. No wonder the person seeking help looked so frantic—the scale and intensity of the disturbance had exceeded ordinary expectations.

Suddenly, a burst of white light flashed, accompanied by a woman's sharp command: "Stop! Who dares to cause trouble within the boundaries of the Sacred Mountain?"

In that gleam of light, the flowing white robes and silver mask were unmistakably revealed—clearly an emissary of the Sacred Mountain.

Was there still an emissary here? Qi Ying was astonished. Then, the young man who had inexplicably attacked them earlier shouted joyfully, "The crystal ball showed they're carrying demonic artifacts!" This made Qi Ying's heart tighten. Without a second thought, while Zhou Huixue wasn't yet focused on him, he quickly shoved the backpack into Zao Jian Chun Sha's arms behind him.

"Take the backpack up the mountain first!"

Cecil, ahead of them, heard his urgent whisper and paused, shifting slightly to block Zao Jian Chun Sha's shadow along with Qi Ying.

Her Spiritual State Ability was shadow merging. The sky was dark, wind and rain whipped around, and the forest was full of shifting shadows—perfect conditions for her ability.

Zao Jian Chun Sha understood this well. She glanced warily at the others present, especially the mysterious masked emissary. For some reason, the moment that petite, aloof figure appeared, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Gritting her teeth, she said, "Be careful, both of you."

Like a giant whale sucking in small fish, the shadows swallowed her in an instant. On the other side, Murphy, who had been secretly watching the trio while acting like he was reporting to the emissary, quickly noticed one of them was missing. He cried out in shock and anger, "Someone sneaked in!"

Zhou Huixue was also frantic. "Wait! Hey? Didn't I just say fighting isn't allowed on Sacred Mountain grounds?!"

But no one was paying attention to her anymore. The emissary's words were no match for fists. To avoid revealing her true identity, Zhou Huixue didn't dare use her Spiritual State Ability. Struggling to manage the situation, she was nearly driven mad with frustration by these thugs.

Amid the chaos, no one noticed that the young man who had first brought the emissary had long lost his panicked expression. He took a few steps back and calmly slipped back into the darkness.