boy and bone

Chapter 21

A church that has been in disrepair for a long time. Bamboo scaffolding has been erected on the outside of the church. The repair work is expected to start tomorrow.There are still some utensils and furnishings inside the church that have not been cleaned up, but they are all covered with white cloth. It should not be long before someone in charge of carrying them will come.

Under a huge stained glass in the church, there is a harpsichord piano that is seriously out of tune. It took a long time for Culis to adjust it before he could barely play the appropriate notes.

According to memory, he played the song sung by a bard in the central square that he just passed by.He had heard the vagabond poet speak in archaic tones, but to Curliss it still sounded fresh to him.

The smooth notes echoed throughout the church, without the cooperation of human voices, he could still recall the lyrics of the bard in his heart:

"Traveler, traveler, you are the first guest.

Here is gold everywhere, here is roses, here is paradise.

It's a pity without her.

far away she,

she who left me,

She won't come back.

Traveler, traveler, you are the lucky guest.

Here is gold, here is roses, here is paradise.

It's a pity without her.

far away she

she who left me

She won't come back.

Traveler, traveler, you are a wise guest.

You should send a paper boat and tell her you don't miss her anymore.

because you are in the golden land

Here, gold is everywhere, roses are full of gardens, and it is a paradise of bliss.

Only without her.

She loved me like breathing.

She is more rose than gold, more heaven than rose.

Now she has faded.

far away she

She who is far away from me.

Traveler, traveler, strange guest.

Here is gold everywhere, rose gardens, blissful paradise

Why not stop.

Gone sadly. "

Curris tapped the end note lightly.

A priest stood behind him at some point.

"Sorry, did I bother you?" the pastor said, "You played very well."

"Thank you." Curris happily accepted the pastor's compliment.

"The land of this church has been sold, and it will be demolished tomorrow. Why are you here?" The pastor stared at the strange young man.

Cullis replied: "I was just passing by and saw this place with nostalgia."

"Have you been here before?" asked the priest.

"No, the church where I got married is very similar to this place." Curris replied gently.

The pastor looked Curlis up and down. Although he was not dressed in gorgeous and exquisite clothes, he could have the texture of high-quality fabrics. On the other hand, this dilapidated church seemed to be inconsistent with his dust-free nobility: "In this It seems that you have had a hard time getting married in such a place."

Curris just smiled and didn't respond.

The pastor, who is good at listening and observing, explained in his unique thick tone: "Everyone will experience some suffering, but fortunately everything will pass."

"Yes. It's all over." Culis raised his gray eyes, and he watched the pastor quietly.

Suddenly they looked at each other, and the young man's gaze was as soft as a sunny day, which made the pastor still willing to continue chatting with the young man in front of the harpsichord piano.

"When it comes to getting married, your expression looks very peaceful. I think you must have a very good lover and a happy marriage." The pastor said.

The young man's eyes lowered in acquiescence, and the corners of his mouth curled into an enviable arc.

The pastor understood, and he was willing to inquire about people's happy lives: "Excuse me, where is your lover now? Has she visited this place with you?"

"He is not by my side now, he..." The young man seems to be lost in memory: "He was captured by a group of bad guys. They hurt him, tortured him, and finally burned him to death." The young man narrated calmly, and he was equally calm On his face, a tear trickled down silently and quickly, and soon, the young man wiped away the traces that flowed down his cheeks with his fingers.

"Sorry, I lost my temper." Curris has not recalled the past for a long time, and he did not expect that he would still be cowardly about what happened back then.

"You don't need to apologize." The pastor didn't expect such an ending, and his pity was filled with anger: "What happened to your lover is simply inhumane. Such a cruel evil person will definitely be punished by God forever .”

"I think so too." Kuris's gray eyes hide a dying nothingness.

However, the pastor didn't pay attention to the slight changes in a person's eyes. He just said sympathetically: "Do you need me to pray for your lover? Eliminate the pain in his soul and gain eternal peace."

Curris lowered his eyes, his eyelashes twitching slightly: "Instead of making him peaceful, I prefer him to be a little noisy, so that it looks like when he was alive."

The pastor looked at the red-haired young man with pity: "You have an optimism that comforts God."

Curris smiled.

At this moment, a faint call for help came from a corner in a certain direction in the church: "My lord..."

The pastor was alerted by this familiar and weak sound.He found the source of the sound almost immediately.

Behind the various furniture covered with white cloths, in an imperceptible, light-tight corner, a leaning body slid against the wall into the realm of the afternoon sun.

The pastor noticed a large area of ​​red in front of the man, and he stepped forward to help the man in shock: "What's going on?"

"...My lord, the scriptures have been taken away. It's dangerous. Quickly notify... Transfer other... scriptures..." The eyes of the man in the priest's uniform had become hollow and blurred.

"Who! Who hurt you like this? What about the others?!" The pastor saw that his weak breathing was intermittent, which was a sign of hopelessness.

The dying priest raised his finger with difficulty, and tremblingly pointed in the direction behind the priest.

Before the pastor turned his head away, a drop of thickened liquid dripped onto his face from above. The pastor wiped it with his hand. When he finally recognized that it was a drop of blood, his pupils shrank suddenly, and he couldn't help but Slowly raising his head in disbelief, his congregants, his believers, and his friends were all nailed to the vault murals through their chests with black crystal pillars like spears.

Then I heard the gentle male voice who had just chatted with him for a long time say another sentence: "I can help you with the things you need to transfer."

A bone-piercing chill ran up the pastor's back. Without even calling for help, a blood-colored finch pierced a hole in his chest through his back. When he lowered his head, there was already trickling water warm blood.Not long after, his body collapsed.

The blood swallow passed through the pastor's body, hovered in the air for a while, and then flew into the hands of the red-haired man. Kuris took out the handkerchief prepared in advance and carefully wiped the blood-stained small body of the blood swallow.

At this time, there was a black mist swirling around Kuris out of thin air, and gradually condensed into a human figure. This figure was covered with a hood, and the whole body was covered with cloth. It carried a wide and long blade on its back. The mist looks more real and more human.

Curriss threw away the soiled handkerchief, and before leaving the church, he looked back with some nostalgia for the last time. When he told the person who suddenly appeared beside him, he said with a smile: "It will be hard for you to take this place again." Clean up."

Wearing a hood, the guy who looked like a man and a magic servant lowered his head slightly and followed suit.

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In front of the iron gate of the old-style church, many passers-by were besieged. They all poked their heads to find out what happened inside, but they were able to alert the dispatched personnel of the Knights Temple who were far away on the top of the mountain. They came all the way here to investigate, but their curious and persistent eyes were pushed back by the patrols guarding outside the church.

Unlike the ignorant onlookers outside, the interior of the old-style church is a scene in a cruel purgatory.

The corpses of 24 believers, including a bishop, were twisted into arbitrary shapes, and placed neatly in every corner of the southeast, northwest, and southeast like potted plants.

"Ugh... I said, the murderer must be a pervert." The patrol members who were investigating the bloody scene held their breath while recording the scene with a pen.

The team member next to him wears a belt around his neck, and a bulky mechanical camera is attached to each end of the belt.The team member squatted down. Holding the heavy camera, he took out two translucent gray sheets from his pocket, habitually blew the non-existing floating ash on them, and then inserted the two sheets into the camera. In the specially reserved groove at the front end, it looks like a pair of fish eyes embedded in the metal sheet.Then he aimed the pair of 'fish eyes' at a drained and shriveled corpse lying on the ground, and briefly pushed down a mainspring extending from the side wall of the camera in the shape of a half-wing of a butterfly, and the inside of the camera There was a sound of rolling gears and chains. After half a sound, the team members in charge of taking pictures took off the two pieces of 'fish eyes', and then put them in the sun to have a look. A phantom was printed, and he said: "Looking at the situation, it may be some fanatical heretic who committed the crime."

After finishing speaking, he put the used gray glass slides into one pocket of the waist bag, and skillfully took out two clean sheets from the other side pocket and put them in front of the lens of the camera. appearance.

"The church is in such a mess now?" the team member asked.

The team member holding the camera said: "It's because the teachings are too chaotic, each sect and faction insist on their own opinions, and they all think that they are the orthodox... Our side is okay, the real bloody storm is on the Eastern Continent." .Even they can fight over silly questions like 'Which god planted sage or rosemary first before the creation of the world?'"

"...It's better to have a small place like ours, simple and safe." The rookie team member said.

The team member who was taking pictures of the dead body laughed: "Look around you, do you feel safe?"

The rookie team looked around at the scene of suffering in hell, carefully and repulsively walked around a corpse, but unexpectedly tripped over the corpse placed behind, and the rookie team sat down on the corpse.

The senior team member who was leading him next to him said in surprise: "Get up quickly! You are sloppy!"

The newcomer was startled and scolded, his face turned blue and red, and he apologized again and again while muttering to defend himself: "Can't these corpses be piled together? Open them one by one, and put them so close together." , as if to cover the entire church, it is not convenient for people to walk.”

"This is the Soros Formation." A soft and steady voice suddenly sounded from behind.

The rookie team turned around in fright, but when they looked up, they found a strange face, not from the patrol team, and said instead: "Sir, outsiders are not allowed to enter here."

The camera senior beside him stood up quickly after seeing the gold-rimmed white robe worn by the other party, and saluted: "Your Excellency the Knight."

The team members explained: "They are the knights of the Holy Deer Palace, and they came to assist in handling this matter."

The newcomer stared in amazement at the man in white robe who seemed to be as old as himself in front of him, and quietly said to the senior beside him: "I thought there were old men in the Holy Deer Palace."

The senior coughed a few times to cover up the embarrassing words of the newcomer, and then asked, "What do you mean by the Soros Formation?"

The man in the white robe didn't mind smiling, and said, "The Soros array is a static type of rune array, which is different from the consumable dynamic runes that are quickly produced by our usual emergency response. Its effect is more durable. , but the previous layout structure also requires sufficient time and energy. It is a type of ancient magic array. The main function of the Soros array is to absorb vitality and magic. People who use this type of array basically have two purposes: one is to quickly heal Injuries, prolonging life, and replenishing the amount of mana. After the construction of the Soros formation is completed, it can be activated only when the target is standing in the designated position in the magic formation. Calculated. Someone is using them as their own nourishment and tribute, and that person should be on the verge of death."

"Why?" the newcomer asked.

"He drained all the lives of 24 people and the amount of magic in their bodies, which shows that his own vitality and magic power are extremely empty. He tortured them so that they were powerless to struggle but not to death, and then according to the pre-calculated, 24 people Put them in a fixed position on the talisman array, and then suck them dry..." The white-robed man said while thinking, "The murderer has laid an ambush here in advance, he has completed the talisman array in the church, and is waiting Prey caught..."

The white-robed man leaned down and carefully inspected the surrounding corpses that had been squeezed to the point where there was only a piece of skin wrapped in thin bones. They all had a dry wound in the shape of a half-crescent, but the shape of the half-crescent was not Complete, their edges are more or less slashed or even torn, as if the same place on these people has been attacked by different people, and the last blow seems to cover up all the previous blows. Fake wounds created by scars.

The newcomer noticed that the man in white robe was staring at the wound on the corpse for a long time, so he followed suit: "A crescent-shaped wound? What could cause such a strange..."

The pupils of the white-robed man suddenly shrank: "The eyes of sorrow..."

"What's that?" the newcomer asked.

The white-robed man came back to his senses, quickly shook his head and said: "It's nothing, maybe I made a mistake." The white-robed man paused, and then said: "Who is the captain? I want to understand the situation with him."

"Front, in front." The team members pointed.

The white-robed man was on a mission, so he walked past them with a smile.

At this moment, the new members of the patrol found that there were several people in white robes in the church at some time, and they were investigating around the church without being stopped.Except for the person who collided with him just now, the other people in white robes do look quite old, but their tall and straight figures can still show their vigorous spirits, and the dust-free white robes on their bodies make them even more so. His temperament added a bit of unattainable arrogance.

The newcomer was puzzled: "Why did you invite them all the way? Holy deer knights are very expensive, right?"

The senior said: "We invited them. The 24 dead believers and their bishop Varov are all under the protection of the Holy Deer Palace. They all died strangely overnight, and the Holy Deer Palace must of course come forward." Let's investigate."

The newcomer asked: "Will the Holy Deer Palace still protect the believers? Don't they only deal with cases related to curses?"

"The Holy Deer Palace is not a real heavenly palace, they are also in the vortex of interests in the mortal world."

Seeing the puzzlement on the newcomer's face, the senior who had been holding the camera straightened up, taking it as a rest, chatted with the newcomer and said, "Varov the deceased, here, it is the one nailed on the wall in front." The senior took the newcomer His face moved to the window, so that he could face up to the half-body corpse.

And under the reluctance of the newcomer, he explained: "He and his believers moved to our town about six or seven years ago, and they have been promoting the teachings of Dongfei. Our town has established Older people believe in the Rao religion, and younger people don’t believe in religion. If it weren’t for someone who got too drunk and went to the wrong church, their church might not be able to admit a confessor for a year, but they could Settling here all the time, don't you wonder what they live on?"

The newcomer defiantly turned his gaze to the senior: "Relying on the bishop's allowance?"

The senior said: "The bishopric of the Eastern Fei religion is in the Eastern Continent. They do not enjoy the treatment of the Western Continent."

The newcomer asked, "Then why?"

"These 24 people used to belong to the Dongfei Church in the Eastern Continent. After the new Pope of the Dongfei Church came to power ten years ago, there was a big change in their church. The new pope was sent to the Western Continent to preach. It is said to be missionary, but it is actually almost exile. The traditional orthodox religion in our Western Continent has always been the Laotian religion. Resolutely, if these foreign sects cannot be integrated into the teachings of Rao, they will be identified as lunatics of Pagan IIIIIIII, and their survival situation will be extremely difficult. Some Dongfei believers with firm beliefs committed suicide within three years after arriving in the Western Continent."

The newcomer curled his lips when he heard that, he didn't understand why this group of people couldn't think about it: "Then integrate, why don't they know how to be flexible, the most important thing is to live."

The senior smiled: "Yes, there are also some Dongfei believers who think so. They 'fused' with Rao and survived on the western continent. But Varov and the others have found a more ingenious method, allowing them to neither Even if they betray their faith, they can live comfortably in a foreign land. They have sought asylum in the Holy Deer Palace."

"The Holy Deer Palace, which has always been in the neutral camp of the world, will not shelter a certain person or a certain group for no reason, and if the Holy Deer Palace is really partial, it will house all the Dongfei believers who were exiled here, and Not only to protect this one... When Varov was in the Eastern Continent, he was one of the cardinals in charge of the church's religious affairs. He had a very high status. Before he was exiled, he secretly brought the original scriptures that recorded the supreme teachings of the Dongfei Cult to the Western Continent. , that is the supreme symbol of the Dongfei religion, and it is also one of the eleven ancestor holy weapons, which is of great significance. , and hoped to recycle them to make full use of them, but due to inheritance and other factors, not all of the eleven ancestor holy weapons belonged to the Holy Deer Palace. Varov took this as an opportunity to ask the Holy Deer Palace to protect the original holy weapons, At the same time, it also protects him and his disciples who are the inheritors of the holy martial arts."

"...Senior, you are so powerful, how do you know so much? You are as powerful as that holy deer knight just now!" The newcomer sighed.

"The whole town knows it, but you don't. Newcomer." The senior put his hands on the top of the newcomer's head, ruffled his hair vigorously, and said, "Learn from now on."

"Then, do you think that Valov's death was caused by people sent by the Eastern Continent?" the newcomer boldly speculated.

"Go to work, who the murderer is has nothing to do with us, we just sort out the clues, and the rest is for the Holy Deer Knights to worry about." The senior squatted down, picked up the camera and was about to wind it down.

"Senior, has the original scripture you mentioned been snatched away?"

"Work!"

"Yes."

"Hello, I'm Kerns, Knight of the Holy Deer Palace." The young man in white robe said.

The patrol captain in the small town saluted back: "Your Excellency, Kerns. As expected of the holy deer knight, you are quick to move. You arrived within half a day after the news reached the holy deer palace."

"No, in fact, we received an order half a month ago to set off here to escort Bishop Varov and his congregation to relocate, but we didn't expect it to be a step late."

The captain lamented: "Father Valov is very kind. He and his disciples get along very happily with the residents of the town every year here. Although we don't believe in the gods of Dongfei, we still pray like A good man like him returns to the arms of the gods he depends on."

The man in the white robe said: "I observed it just now. There are scaffoldings around, and some facilities in the church are not complete, and some are covered with white cloth. May I ask if they are leaving here? Why? The Holy Deer Palace did not Without contacting Bishop Varov, several seniors and I also set off secretly, and they should not know that they will be in danger before we arrive."

"I know this too well... I thought that Father Varov and the others would report all their whereabouts to the Holy Deer Palace... You know, after all, their situation is quite special... When they decided to sell this old church, We thought you knew it, so after they completed the application procedures, we didn't ask them in detail why they wanted to leave."

The white-robed man pondered: "...Have you found the original Shengwu?"

The captain spread his hands: "We are still cleaning up the scene, but so far we haven't found the original text. But we found out that they have already packed away books and other things."

"Where did the package go?"

"It was detained by us in the Xinguan, you can go to check it at any time."

The white-robed man joined the other white-robed men after asking the patrol captain, and he reported to the other white-robed men what he had just learned in a respectful tone.

One of the white-robed seniors seemed quite calm and said: "Since the original scriptures are not here, we should leave as soon as possible. It is important to go to the Xinguan to retrieve the original scriptures."

The young white-robed man said, "Wait a minute, senior, what should we do with the death of Bishop Valor, and who will be responsible?"

"If you want to find out the truth, we will not stop you, but remember not to spend too much time and report back to the Holy Deer Palace on time."

The young white-robed man responded next: "Yes, senior. I have actually found some clues."

One of the white-robed men held this young holy deer knight in high regard, and said happily, "Let's hear it."

"Yes, senior. Bishop Varov and his disciples died in the Soros formation. Before they died, they were all seriously injured by a weapon that could cause half-moon wounds. This directly caused them to be unable to fight back and break free. The reason for the battle."

"Half crescent moon?" Some shrewd old men in the white robes have already reflected that something is wrong.

The white-robed man said: "Yes, according to the superficial knowledge of this junior, currently only the Eye of Sorrow, one of the Eleven Saints, can cause such wounds. I request that the current user of the Eye of Sorrow, the Knight Commander of the Sacred Deer, be interrogated immediately."

The objection rose sharply: "The knight commander presided over the meeting in the Holy Deer Palace before I waited for the departure. Do you think he can teleport to this small town to kill people and then go back to the meeting?"

The white-robed knight said: "I didn't say that the knight commander is the murderer, I just said that the eye of sorrow may be the murder weapon."

"sophistry."

A sensible elder in white robes said: "It's about the honor of the Holy Deer Knight, not to mention that our purpose of this trip is only to ensure that the original code is safe. We will not interfere with other foreign affairs."

"If there is no original text in the books that Varov packed in the letter hall, is it not a foreign matter?"

"..."

In the white robes, two highly respected elders looked at each other, and one of them said earnestly: "It's normal for young people to be impetuous. When you become a holy deer knight at your age, it is inevitable that you still have some shortcomings. As a Senior, I think you still lack experience. In the name and power of the five elders of the Holy Deer Palace, I sent you to the desert ghost castle branch for six months to hone your will. I hope you will fulfill your duties and always pay attention to the movements of the bone centipede there. , to ensure that it will not endanger the surrounding residents, and it will not go out of the safety range we have defined."

"Senior?" The white-robed man couldn't believe it.

"Your Excellency Knight Kerns, please accept the order." The eyes of the elders in white robes were as firm as ice.

"...Yes." The young knight swallowed silently.

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