Chapter 100 (2/2)

“Ha-ha! Mr. Ray, you think highly of me!” Zesheng laughed loudly and happily.

After laughing, he started telling what he knew.

Originally, he did not seem to know more than the others. But when he sold the manor and fief, he occasionally learned some unusual news. It was said that before the chief priest of Church of the God of Aristocracy started, he had arranged his successor, and he almost went on board empty-handedly because he left some of the most powerful magic props in the local shrine.

Zesheng specifically asked those on the only surviving ship. Coincidentally, almost every one of them was impressed by the chief priest, and even those who had not seen him before clearly remembered how he died. When they met Timsar, the chief priest held high the holy emblem of the God of Aristocracy and prayed loudly. His body shone with a bright light which once even blocked the erosion of the decaying shadows.

He only resisted for a short time and was soon swallowed by the darkness and erosion that swarmed to him before being killed by Timsar. But it was precisely because of his efforts that he attracted the attention of horrible creatures that allowed the ship with a survivor to escape.

It was also the reason that no one ever doubted that the Church of the God of Aristocracy was playing tricks. Only the craziest person could doubt a warrior that sacrificed himself for others!

However, Zesheng found something wrong with the description of those survivors. In the face of Undercurrent Timsar, a horrible monster, could a chief priest only use such a conspicuous and simple means to confront it? And, as a priest of an evil god, why should he actually sacrifice himself to save others?

This didn’t make sense! This didn’t make sense at all!

He secretly asked a pastor of the God of Knights, a mighty chief priest about what should be done when encountering a magical creature like Timsar. The pastor replied after meditating. In his case, he should pray that God would bestow grace upon him, allowing him to detonate all the sacred powers he accumulated over the years, and to try his best to give that monster a heavy blow.

“You are a good pastor. How about in the case of an evil priest?” Zesheng continued to ask.

“An evil priest is the same. Good priests protect others, and evil priests attack the enemy. Although the starting points are different, the final choices are not,” the pastor answered without hesitation.

Zesheng was even more dubious. What exactly was the reason the chief priest of the God of Aristocracy chose such an honorable, but not so helpful, way to fight? Why not choose a direct detonation?

He considered and could only come to one conclusion.

The priest did so to save a few people and to let those people clearly see how he died, so they would not suspect him or the Church of the God of Aristocracy. As for why he would make everyone not suspect himself and the church, there could only be one conclusion, too.

Everything was a pre-arranged conspiracy!

His story ended here. Through the process, Ray didn’t speak and instead listened quietly until he had heard all the narratives. Then he asked his question after some thought.

“That is to say, all this is actually your guess, and there is no reliable evidence?”

“Yes, I have no evidence,” Zesheng said with a smile. “If this was a conspiracy, then there would not be many people involved, perhaps only the businessman uncle who organized the voyage. But he also died on the sea, along with his butler. And I couldn’t investigate it even if I wanted to.”

Ray frowned. As Zesheng said, if this was the conspiracy of the chief priest of the Church of the God of Aristocracy, then the conspiracy was too ruthless. In order to preach, the chief priest sacrificed not only his partners, but also himself.

They might not have been able to find any clues—at least not in the Golden Tower City—if they wanted to investigate into such a conspiracy.

“What about discussing it with Aunt Teague?” Ray suggested.

Seeing him frowning, Zesheng said, “When my uncle was still alive, we often went to discuss with Uncle Parne and Aunt Teague whenever there were any problems. He said Aunt Teague was a very intelligent and talented person who, although lacking some long-term vision, could often draw up good plans when there were established goals. She could find problems and pitfalls in plans that others didn’t.”

Ray was slightly surprised. “Then why don’t you ask her?”

“It was not necessary before,” Zesheng said with a crooked smile. “At that time, Aunt Teague could not even protect herself. Even if I told her the information, what use would it be, besides having her worry in vain?”

Ray sighed and accepted his advice. Soon after, he again visited Knight Parne’s house and told Aunt Teague Zesheng’s information.