"...What do you mean by extracting two dragon bones? Extract them from where?"
Su Cheng looked blankly at the commander.
"From a dragon's body," Sasha curled her lips. "Obviously, some people know where to find the Dragon race."
Footsteps echoed in the corridor.
The newcomer hurried over, stood before their room, and knocked cautiously.
Su Cheng could hear this entire sequence of movements.
Logically, someone running over like that should be pounding on the door urgently. Yet, the person stopped at the door and waited a few seconds before knocking.
Moreover, the knocking was very light, as if afraid of disturbing something.
Curious, she went to open the door.
"My lords—"
The tavern owner stood outside, panting and covered in sweat. "Is there a Lord Su Cheng here? The High Priest of the temple has come looking for you!"
The Bishop of the Iron Cage Town's temple had previously left for Golden Amber City to attend a meeting, so the highest-ranking official here now was the High Priest.
High Priest was a senior title among the clergy. A cleric had to pass two trials and various rigorous assessments to be promoted to High Priest.
For the vast majority of clerics, attaining such a rank was practically their lifelong goal.
But most people couldn't achieve this even after spending decades or a century.
Acquiring the title of High Priest required true strength. Once they accumulated the corresponding merits, they would have the opportunity to earn the title of Bishop and be assigned to a higher-level temple.
Therefore, lacking the title of Bishop didn't mean a High Priest was weaker than an average Bishop.
As for the common folk, even if they didn't understand all these intricate details, they still knew that this was a remarkably important figure.
And now, she had actually come to the tavern in person to look for an outsider!
This outsider must be an even more formidable character!
Su Cheng pondered for a moment. "...Is it because of what happened on the street just now?"
The owner's gaze toward her was filled with awe. "I don't know either. I hope this hasn't disturbed you—"
Su Cheng shook her head and went straight downstairs.
The hall was completely solemn. The guests who had been drinking and chatting were now holding their breath in silence.
The tavern had originally been quite empty, making the figures of the few clergy members stand out even more.
Su Cheng walked over and greeted the middle-aged woman in the center. "Your Excellency, High Priest."
The woman was dressed in a white and gold uniform, holding a gem-studded cane. Beside her were two young priests and two Paladin squad leaders.
"My lord," the High Priest returned the greeting. "I have been ordered to deliver a letter to you."
Saying this, she took out a letter and handed it over with both hands.
Her posture was very solemn, which made Su Cheng turn serious as well, receiving it with both hands.
Generally speaking, teleportation arrays relied on anchor stones to work. The processing of these stones was extremely complicated and difficult, requiring some very rare ores.
Most factions used specially trained magical beasts to send messages.
The Holy Church, however, was wealthy and imposing. All of its temples—from large cities to small villages, as long as they were official temples, regardless of their size—would have at least one miniature array. Also known as a letter array, it could transmit very lightweight items, such as letters.
The exact transmission speed depended on the distance between the two arrays, but the difference was only a matter of seconds.
"A letter I just received," the High Priest said in a low voice. "...It was specifically addressed to be given to you."
Su Cheng touched the envelope. Her fingertips felt the pattern of a flaming cross ring on the wax seal. The gold-red sealing wax had solidified into a hard shell, its edges curling up slightly.
She flipped the envelope over. A golden silk ribbon was wrapped around the back, printed with dense, fine runes.
A paladin nearby handed her a letter opener.
Su Cheng thanked him and slowly opened the envelope. The edges of the snow-white stationery were stamped with a holy emblem. The ink was very fresh, the handwriting as sharp as a knife's carving, and the curling flourishes between the letters were incredibly beautiful.
—To the esteemed God's Favored, Lord Su Cheng:
May you forever bathe in the grace of the Light.
Following a thorough investigation by our spies, it has been confirmed that Count Goller Aurelia IV and her clan colluded with the Shattered Face. Disregarding imperial law and holy doctrines, they polluted the sacred territories with bloody sacrifices, murdered innocent civilians, and vainly attempted to infiltrate heretical beliefs to subvert the foundations of the Orthodox Church. Fortunately, thanks to your vigilance, we were able to strike preemptively. All the heretical thieves in Yellow Cedar City have been executed.
I am delighted to hear that you have selected an academy, and I offer my sincere congratulations. May God's blessing be with you always, and may your journey be smooth. We shall meet again in the Imperial Capital.
Ling Yang, Commander of the Holy Church's Northern Continent Knight Order, Silver Moon Empire Eastern Jurisdiction.
Su Cheng: "..."
Su Cheng turned the letter over and checked to ensure there was no more content on the back. She couldn't help but look at the High Priest in front of her. "They directly wiped out their lair?"
The High Priest was a bit taken aback. "I am unaware of the letter's contents. If you have any questions, why not write a reply?"
Su Cheng immediately knew she didn't know the inside story. She looked at the envelope again. "Hmm, Your Excellency, are you in charge of managing the letter array in the temple? Do you have any way of knowing where this letter was sent from?"
"Yellow Cedar City."
"And the time was probably just a short while ago? It only takes a few seconds to send it over anyway, and then it took you a few minutes to come here from the temple, right?"
The High Priest nodded slightly.
Su Cheng thought to herself that it seemed they had cleared out the Goller family castle this morning, and after getting everything sorted out, he wrote her this letter.
"...Your Legion Commander is quite highly educated. Some of the phrasing looks like ancient common tongue."
"It's the rule," the High Priest smiled. "When writing letters using the letter array, one must keep the wording as concise as possible. The shorter the letter, the better..."
Even though a big shot like the Legion Commander wouldn't be reprimanded even if he wrote in a long-winded manner, he didn't become a Legion Commander the moment he joined the Church, so he had definitely formed the habit long ago.
Su Cheng was speechless. "If we're considering the cost of transmission, it would be better to make the envelope thinner."
She didn't want to continue discussing this kind of issue with others, and stated that she was going to write a reply. "Where is the nearest stationery store? I don't have any good paper!"
The High Priest quickly invited her back to the temple, saying they could provide pen and paper.
Su Cheng went along with her and was invited into a guest lounge, where pens, ink, and scrolls were laid out on the table.
Holding a quill pen, she thought for a long time, only to realize she couldn't write that kind of overly refined prose. She simply and straightforwardly thanked him for his blessings, expressed that she was also looking forward to seeing him in the Imperial Capital, and promised to treat him to a meal when the time came.
"...No."
Su Cheng silently rolled up a piece of paper and stuffed it into her pocket, then started writing again. She first stated that the matter wasn't her credit and that she had just been speaking nonsense casually.
"No good."
Sighing, she crumpled up another piece of paper and, with a headache, began writing a third version. This time, she was barely satisfied with the content, but she made a slip of the pen in the middle.
Annoyed, Su Cheng wrote it a fourth time, handed it to the High Priest to send off, and then hurried back to the tavern.
Sasha and Camus had both run off. Only Kai was still waiting for her. Seeing her return, he lifted the severed head. "Are we going now?"
Su Cheng: "...The Shattered Face is a cult devoted to the God of Jealousy, right?"
After receiving an affirmative reply, she briefly recounted what had just happened.
"It seems my previous analysis was pretty close. The countess didn't know who the real culprit was, so she sent people to eliminate all the suspects. But now she and her entire family are dead because they colluded with the followers of the God of Jealousy—"
And the Shattered Face, at that.
These deities had more than one cult organization, just as the Holy Church was a cult of the God of Light, but merely the largest one.
This Supreme God had a vast number of sects. Other deities might not have as many, but they usually had more than one.
Different sects of the same deity also had somewhat different styles of doing things.
For example, some sects liked to offer sacrifices to their deity to gain power, or simply to please them.
Other sects focused more on recruiting new members or spreading a certain ideology.
Their methods would also differ.
Like the Shattered Face, they seemed to enjoy capturing beautiful men and women, disfiguring them, driving them to agonizing mental breakdowns, and then sacrificing them to the God of Jealousy.
The God of Jealousy was also a very abstract character. As one of the seven golden flowers under the Dark God, he originally had an affair with the male lead in the original novel.
But for some unknown reason, it seemed they slept together and then had a falling out over something later.
Su Cheng figured she must have skipped a chapter and missed it, but regardless, this guy was definitely not someone easy to deal with.
"As far as I know, neither Countess Goler herself nor any of her relatives are particularly powerful experts."
Su Cheng thought for a moment. "Of course, they must have some skills, but I reckon a Holy Knight at the division commander level could easily deal with them, right? It wouldn't require a legion commander to step in, unless she was a Blessed of the God."
Whether directly or indirectly, if she caused the death of the God of Jealousy's Blessed, being targeted for revenge by that guy would be a huge hassle.
Su Cheng still remembered the terrible things the God of Lust and Filth had done, and just thinking about it made her stomach ache. "How about we set off right away? Once we reach the imperial capital, I'll go ask Ling Yang myself."
The letter didn't mention it, but the legion commander himself must know whether the countess was truly a Blessed.
Kai looked down at her. "We'll hit the road once the dragon eagles have eaten and drunk their fill. But before that, I'd like you to do a little training."
Su Cheng: "?"
He shook the severed head in his hand. "Let's turn this in first."
The two immediately headed to the town hall.
News traveled fast in this town, especially among the government employees, who were all extremely well-informed. They all knew that a mage and a warrior had killed someone on the street, and that the High Priest himself had gone to the tavern to visit the mage and invited her back to the temple. This had to be a remarkably important personage.
Therefore, the mayor personally came out to welcome them, even stating that there was no need to check the deceased's identity; the man was undoubtedly a wanted criminal.
Su Cheng sighed. "Better check it anyway. We aren't here to extort money from you; we just want to familiarize ourselves with the process."
As it turned out, her teammates had been right. The town hall staff quickly found the corresponding magical portrait. It was an image printed on special paper that looked very much like a photograph, with an extremely high degree of accuracy. Because it was a magical drawing, it even appeared faintly three-dimensional, somewhat like the effect of wearing 3D glasses.
However, the bounty for the assassin wasn't very high. He was a mixed-blood half-gnome who had once assassinated a young noble master.
The young master's guards had knocked off the assassin's mask, exposing his true face, which was how he became a wanted criminal.
But this young master was only a lower-ranking noble and not a particularly powerful figure, so the bounty was now only fifty gold coins.
"Actually, that's still quite a lot. It's just that I've been making large transactions recently, so I've grown numb to money. I just bought..."
Su Cheng trailed off as she spoke.
She didn't want to talk about spending money on a gift in front of the person receiving it.
"...some snacks," Su Cheng stammered under the commander's gaze. "I think the prices here are a bit expensive."
The black-haired man smiled, his eyes gentle. "Mhm."
He had also just browsed a few shops, including some selling food, and the prices were more than thirty percent cheaper than in Golden Amber City.
But there was no need to point that out.
Whoever made the kill gets the bounty; Su Cheng declared that it was only fair. Kai didn't decline further and walked out carrying a bag of gold coins.
"Wait—"
As they walked into the square in front of the town hall, Su Cheng suddenly raised her hand. "Why don't you put the money into your spatial equipment?"
Fifty gold coins wasn't a huge amount, but it wasn't a small amount either. It wasn't something you could just casually stuff anywhere.
He still wasn't dressed properly. His robust upper body was only crisscrossed with leather straps, his cloak draped over his shoulders, and his leather pants outlined the firm, full curves of his thighs.
Su Cheng's gaze paused on his legs for a moment.
The pants were completely filled out by his muscles; the pockets probably could barely hold a few coins, let alone fifty. That was absolutely impossible.
"No need," Kai pressed her hand down. "I'll spend it very soon."
Su Cheng: "?"
This was fifty gold coins! Converted, it was equivalent to half a million RMB.
Was he also going to buy a gift or something?
"Wait a minute."
As they passed a small tavern, Su Cheng watched the commander turn and go inside. A few minutes later, he came out carrying a full case of liquor.
The gold coins were gone.
Su Cheng: "..."
Was the liquor at this place a bit overpriced?
"It's the finest aged vintage from their cellar," Kai looked quite pleased. "I could smell it—"
He carried the huge case with one hand, the bottles inside resting quietly upright without clinking against each other at all.
Su Cheng never liked to meddle in how other people spent their money anyway. Besides, these experts had different constitutions; drinking a lot of alcohol wouldn't harm their bodies, so there was even less to say.
Su Cheng: "As long as you're sure you didn't get scammed, that's fine. I was actually going to say I could help out."
He looked at her. "Are you really going to use the power of the Contracted God on something like this?"
"Something like this?" Su Cheng repeated. "I'm willing to help you at any time and in any way. Seriously, by the way, is there a sweet one? Let me have a taste."
Kai shook his head. "There is, but—"
"I'll pay you for it!"
"That's not the issue. It's the upcoming training; I'm afraid you'll throw it all up."
"?" Su Cheng's pupils quaked. "What are you going to do? Are you going to beat me up yourself?"
He looked at the shocked young girl, his gaze sweeping over her slender and graceful figure. "No, there's no need for combat training at this stage—"
Su Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt that something terrible was waiting for her.
Kai helplessly gestured for her to relax. They happened to be passing by a bookstore, and he asked if she wanted to go in and take a look, which left Su Cheng feeling somewhat surprised.
"Mages should all quite like reading books, right?" he said, somewhat uncertainly. "Well, actually, I like it too."
The bookstore had a very small storefront. In front of the door was a crooked tree, with a wooden board hanging at an angle from its branches, bearing a scroll painted in faded paint.
The room inside was long, narrow, and winding, filled with the scent of ink and dry grass. The bookshelves against the wall near the entrance were piled high with various illustrated books, all about feed mixing, animal husbandry, paddock construction, and so on.
Su Cheng saw Camus from afar, standing at the very back, flipping through a book in the corner, looking extremely focused.
She didn't want to disturb him, so she quietly asked the shopkeeper behind the counter if there were any ancient legends about deities.
Since the town had a long history, perhaps there would be some inherited lore?
The shopkeeper told her to go to the back and look for a dark red bookshelf. Su Cheng did as instructed, carefully squeezing past a certain blond man.
The blood mage cast his eyes down to glance at her, but said nothing.
On the wooden shelves stained with red paint, many heavy parchment scrolls and books were piled up.
Some covers had words like Chronicles of the Gods and War of the Dragons embroidered in gold thread. They all looked a bit worn and were stamped with hand-copied numbers.
She opened one of them. The yellowed pages were densely packed with text, accompanied by colorful illustrations that were slightly faded due to age.
Su Cheng looked closely at the content and realized it was a romance story, a fantasy written by an author about falling in love with a god.
She read a few more and found that none of them were official histories; there was even some erotica.
Su Cheng: "..."
After flipping through for a while, she unexpectedly discovered books related to the God of Darkness. By the Church's standards, these would be considered forbidden books.
They didn't mention any evil sacrificial rituals, just some ambiguous poetry.
"That is the maggot of vanity crawling in the reflection, the devil whose mind is corroded by evil flames—"
Her fingers paused.
"Arthos, known as the golden morning dew, with a brow ridge like a snow peak at dawn, and a lip line like a midsummer rose—"
"And his younger brother raised the silver hammer, letting that golden hair be soaked in red dew, his emerald eyes shattering like broken ice."
"The corpse lay in the rose bushes of the graveyard, and from then on, every petal grew fangs, gnawing at the skirts of passersby."
"The murderer fled in the moonlit night, cloaked in blood and fury, bowing before the shrine of the Ageless One."
The Ageless One was one of the aliases of the God of Darkness, carrying a hint of a respectful title, but here it seemed more like sarcasm.
"Look, that Grand Ceremonial Envoy who serves the darkness. His golden hair is the remains of a melted crown, every strand tempered in the toxic flames of jealousy. His eyes are sulfur lakes soaking malachite, every line a twisted thorny iron wire."
"The prisoner of war with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes is nailed to the cross, his wails cast in molten lead. The handsome and gentle colleague's body rots, pecked by vultures outside the shattered coffin..."
Su Cheng: "?"
The following verses became fragmented, and some parts seemed to have been worn away.
"The flames of war in the white night sweep across the sky. The general stepping out from the enemy ranks bathes in the morning light, his silver hair pure as fresh snow, his stature towering like a mountain."
"What kind of beauty and power is that—"
"The fratricide's flames of jealousy were ignited. He roared, screamed, and cursed as he advanced."
"When his sword blade was broken, he tore out his opponent's spine to use as a weapon. When his arms and legs were severed, he grafted the enemy's severed limbs for his own use—"
"He fell at sunrise, and the holy fire burned away the shadow of sin."
"Millions of broken faces in the sea of mirrors repeat the same sentence to him: You will never obtain it, so you must destroy it."
Su Cheng: "?"
She felt a chill all over her body reading this.
"What is it?" Camus walked over at some point. "Are you—"
He glanced at the poetry collection the young girl was holding, and seeing the text clearly, his expression suddenly became somewhat subtle.
Camus: "...Are you very interested in Jellal?"
Su Cheng looked up, "What?"
The blood mage blinked, "The God of Jealousy."
Su Cheng grimaced in pain.
It really was!
No wonder the story looked familiar. Except for the gender change, from killing a sister to killing a brother, everything else seemed almost identical to the original work.
Su Cheng: "I was thinking, I might have offended the God of Jealousy, but judging from these stories, he seems like a very troublesome person."
Camus: "..."
If an ordinary person said this, they would mostly just be talking nonsense. After all, not just anyone had the ability to offend a deity.
But when she said such words, there was not the slightest doubt or mockery on his face.
Camus: "That Count was his favored one? And now the people from the Church have killed the Count?"
Su Cheng sighed, "Your mind works really fast. Yes, I suspect there is such a possibility right now—"
She flipped through the book. The next page of the poem had been torn out, leaving only a short epilogue at the end.
If you suddenly feel a burning pain on the back of your neck by the window, it is because he has cast his gaze there.
Should a strand of golden hair be more radiant than his, it shall be gouged out to serve as a lamp wick,
Should an inch of flesh and bone be more lustrous than his, it shall be crushed into bloody pulp,
Flee quickly, before he notices,
For in your pupils is imprisoned a more perfect dawn.
—Scores of the False God, End of Chapter Seven
