Chapter 751 (2/2)
The paladin nodded. As he raised his wine glass, his hand trembled involuntarily.
“I put on my gear and looked out of the window. In the public square right in the middle of the village, there were a few Sacred Warriors who were glowing with white light. They seemed to be talking about something. There was also a priest conducting a purification ceremony with two of the Sacred Warriors—from the light their bodies emitted, I could clearly see the dead bodies of the villagers strewn all over the ground. Their blood filled the entire place to form a magic array that made my hairs stand on end the moment I laid eyes on it!”
At this point, more than one adventurer was already packing up and preparing to run away.
“Who are those clergymen?” another adventurer asked.
“They are followers of the Master of Justice,” replied the paladin. “Watching them made my hairs stand on end. I hurriedly ran over to them. After a short chat with them, I found out that someone had just held a ceremony to make an offering here. That person wanted to open the portal leading to the abyss to summon the powerful devils. But that fellow was not lucky enough because the souls of the ordinary villagers don’t have much strength. So he could not completely open the portal. The clergymen had detected the evil aura, so with their teleportation spell, they arrived directly in the vicinity within a short moment. And because they had come so quickly, those heretics were forced to make a hasty escape, leaving behind only the scene of an offering used in an unsuccessful summoning ceremony.”
“Then you got to count yourself lucky. If the clergymen didn’t come, when the devils were summoned, you’d be found even if you were hiding under the bed.”
“Yes, I was lucky. But that village was out of luck!” the paladin said with a sigh. “I was dragged into a lengthy interrogation. And I even had to undergo the lie-detector test three times before the clergymen were finally convinced that I had nothing to do with this matter. So they let me go. Right, they even dragged me into helping out with the funerals of the villagers—a total of 51 people, men and women, old and young, and repairing a leakage…”
With that, the paladin shook his head again as he took another drink.
There was a long silence in the tavern. Then another adventurer said, “But… there are murder cases elsewhere too. I can recall a dozen deaths in Grey Goat Village.”
“Offerings, those are certainly offerings!” the paladin said adamantly. “Once these cults hold large-scale activities, they will absolutely make more than one offering!”
The adventurers looked at one another, mostly seeing their unease reflected in each other’s eyes.
“So… which place is safest for us to go to now?” a young adventurer asked at long last. He could not hold himself back any further and raised the question that everyone was concerned about.
“Go to the capital. It may be safer there,” someone said.
“No! Leave the Commonwealth of Gold Coins as soon as possible. That’s the one true way to stay safe!” said another.
“But after leaving the Commonwealth of Gold Coins, where else can we go?” someone asked.
“Get on a boat and head south. Even if the cults want to make offerings, they usually will not make trouble at sea…”
“No! Head north instead. Or simply go directly to the Republic of Northwest!” a middle-aged adventurer said loudly. “There is law and order in the Republic of Northwest, and the security is very good. It’s not easy to get a job, but it’s still possible to make a living as a worker… I’m getting on in my years, so I can just take advantage of this opportunity to retire!”
The adventurers had a frenzied discussion, and soon, people were leaving. In the end, the only one left in the entire tavern was the drunk paladin who had fallen asleep on the table.
However, no one noticed that the edges of his mouth had curved into a somewhat cunning smile…