Chapter 98
After a full night of snow, the roads were covered in untouched snow, making walking particularly difficult.
There’s an old saying that it’s coldest after the snow, and it’s true. Despite being wrapped in a thick coat, Zhao Ziming still felt frozen to the bone. He pinched his nose and looked at himself with disgust.
They couldn’t wear Yang Caisi’s clothes, and the bishop’s robes in the church were too distinctive for Zhao Ziming to dare wear them openly. The tattered coat he was wearing was something Yang Caisi had found for him out of consideration for Jiang Liu.
It was just that the smell was truly a bit unpleasant.
Zhao Ziming pinched his nose and sighed, his gaze involuntarily falling on Jiang Liu at the front.
After disappearing for a while, she seemed like a different person. Since leaving the church, her expression had been grave, and she led the way in silence, never mentioning what had happened last night.
Tang Rui patted his shoulder, signaling with his eyes for Zhao Ziming to go and ask about the situation, but Zhao Ziming glared back at him.
Although he wasn’t sure what Jiang Liu was thinking, this was definitely not the way to the clinic.
They followed Jiang Liu’s footsteps further and further off the main path, gradually entering an untrodden trail. The further they went, the fewer pedestrians there were, until finally, there was no one in sight.
The atmosphere became oppressive. The only sound was the crunching of their footsteps on the snow, which almost drove the talkative Zhao Ziming mad. Just as he finally mustered the courage to ask, Jiang Liu suddenly spoke.
“I saw Tang Ruo and Xu Meng last night. They’re both fine, so you don’t have to worry for now.” Her steps halted near a dilapidated house, and her gaze turned to Tang Rui. It was clear she was speaking to him.
Tang Rui was stunned for a moment, then reacted, a look of relief flashing across his face. “Really? Then where are my sister and the others?”
Jiang Liu gently shook her head without answering, instead sizing up the house in front of her.
They had long since deviated from the main road. The area was filled with empty houses that looked like they had been abandoned for some time. The snow in front of the doors was piled up to knee-height, looking as if no one had visited for a long time.
Zhao Ziming stepped forward, his eyes wide with curiosity. “What is this place?”
Could Xu Meng and the others be nearby? This place didn’t look habitable.
“A Safe House,” Jiang Liu uttered three words, then kicked away the snow in front of the door, revealing the unlocked wooden door.
The connection between the door frame and the door was rusty, and it made a piercing sound as it was pushed open.
Before Zhao Ziming could understand the meaning of “Safe House,” he saw Jiang Liu glance around, run to a low stable to grab a bundle of firewood, and gesture for everyone to go inside.
It was called a house, but it was actually just a large, empty room. There were no basic tables or chairs inside, but there was a fireplace not far away, which looked like it had gathered some dust.
Although it was empty, the footprints on the floor and some scattered words on the walls showed signs of life. There were also many empty tin cans piled up in the corner.
“Let’s sit down first. I’ve got some clues.” Jiang Liu was visibly relieved when she saw this room. She first stuffed the firewood into the fireplace. The snow-soaked wood was hard to light, but she patiently tried a few times before the fire started.
She sat on the floor and took out the parchment notebook from her pocket.
“Tang Ruo and the others are trapped somewhere and can’t get out for now. We need to discuss our next move carefully.”
The three of them exchanged glances, all sensing something from her seemingly calm words, and frowned.
Jiang He carefully sized up Jiang Liu, his tone carrying a hint of caution that was not easily detectable. “Sister Jiang, did something happen?”
Although Jiang Liu didn’t say anything, she had been acting a bit strange since morning. The pressure around her was frighteningly low. After a sleepless night, faint dark circles had appeared under her eyes, and her expression looked indescribably tired.
Jiang Liu leaned against the wall and rubbed her temples. “You guys read this first.”
The notebook was written from the mayor’s perspective. It was less a personal diary and more a detailed record of observations of the residents. Much of the writing was trivial yet profound, as if specifically intended for posterity.
There weren’t many records, only three sparse pages, with the rest being blank.
Zhao Ziming took one page, looked at it, and read it aloud.
“Ever since Joseph entered the church half a month ago, I have been unable to eat or sleep peacefully. I always feel that such wanton use of God’s power will bring down punishment. But when I mentioned it to him, he just kept showing off his new right hand. I admit that his new limbs are powerful and strong, and can better protect our residents, but for some reason, I always feel that his right hand is ‘alive.’ I can see life growing vigorously under the flesh, but Joseph doesn’t believe me, always thinking I’m possessed.”
There was a blank space below, followed by the next entry, which, from the mayor’s wording, could be inferred to be a week later.
“The residents have become more obsessed with going to the church to pray, claiming that it is all God’s will. Their wishes were granted as expected. At that time, Frina’s health was deteriorating, and Qiao Fu also had some crooked ideas. After several quarrels with me, she actually went to the church secretly behind my back. By the time I found out the truth, it was already too late. Liar! The Holy Wall is a scam, an evil demon residing in the statue of a god, acting wantonly. What should I do? No! I must stop all of this from happening. I should have known long ago, there’s a reason the church was abandoned! I must destroy this church.”
This was the last sentence on the first page. To show his deep hatred for the church, it was followed by several heavy inkblots, as if to vent his anger by piercing through the entire page.
After reading it, Zhao Ziming was full of confusion and couldn’t help but ask Jiang Liu, “What does ‘new limbs’ mean?”
Jiang Liu shrugged. “Literally what it means.”
She pursed her lips, recalling the scene she saw last night. “I suspect the old woman last night was Qiya from the clinic.”
Zhao Ziming wanted to ask something else, but Jiang He had already picked up the second page and started reading.
“No matter who you are, listen, never go near the church, and don’t believe anything you see in the church. It’s all a guise to lure you into making a deal with the devil! There can be no more sick people in the town. I must completely destroy the church.”
This passage seemed to be the mayor’s advice. Below it were some scattered plans, one of which was to find this Safe House to serve as a refuge for the residents.
By this point, his state of mind was in chaos. It was more like he was planning and calculating on his own, and many of the characters were messy and illegible.
But on the third page, the mayor seemed to have calmed down completely, and his handwriting returned to its initial calm and neatness.
“‘They’ have locked me up. Fortunately, I sent the Frina sisters away in advance. They don’t need to suffer with me. But ‘they’ won’t let me go. Those people cunningly tricked my residents and imprisoned them. Damn it! I must do something!”
After a long silence, Tang Rui read out the last paragraph in a hoarse voice:
“I have hidden the Holy Relic from the statue. I can’t let ‘them’ get it. The nun must be killed, and the church must be destroyed. Only then will everything end.”
After reading, Tang Rui carefully glanced at Jiang Liu, finally understanding the reason for her expression.
If what was recorded on it was true, then the mayor meant—
The residents they saw were ‘them,’ some kind of outsiders who didn’t belong to Sriben, and the patients trapped in the clinic were the real residents?
The people who ordered the destruction of the church were the mayor and the patients. So if they were to complete the mission, wouldn’t they have to deal with Yang Caisi?
Tang Rui didn’t dare to think about it in detail. He only felt a cold sweat run down his back and stared at Jiang Liu, not knowing what to say.
The mayor’s emotional tone was too strong, and they couldn’t pull themselves away from the phrase “kill the nun” for a while, just staring silently at the fireplace beside them.
On the damp firewood, the flames finally blazed up, and the temperature in the room warmed up. Zhao Ziming felt like he was sweating, as if being roasted over a fire.
It was Jiang Liu who spoke first. “We need to figure out two things now: whether what the mayor said is true or false, and how the Holy Wall’s prayers are conducted.”
Qiao Fu in the notebook should be the mayor’s wife. She went to the church to pray for her daughter. What was the price?
Judging from the mayor’s reaction, it should be something he couldn’t accept.
Zhao Ziming coughed, a mixture of feelings in his heart.
Although Jiang Liu’s tone was normal, he still wanted to ask, if it really came down to killing Sister Yang to complete the mission, what would she do?
What had she done to encounter such a speechless mission? Or was… this mission aimed at Jiang Liu from the beginning?
The so-called side quest was just a cover. In fact, as long as the main quest was carried out, the execution of Yang Caisi was mandatory.
It was as if the system that issued the mission was playing a small joke on Jiang Liu, making Zhao Ziming feel sorry for her from the bottom of his heart.
But looking at Jiang Liu’s calm and determined face, he ultimately didn’t ask the question. He just sighed silently and asked her, “So what do you want to do?”
“We’ll deal with the church tonight. We’re going to the clinic now. As for you…”
Jiang Liu’s gaze fell on Jiang He. She sized him up for a moment and then said thoughtfully, “You run fast. Go find Qiaose or other residents and ask about the situation. Take the opportunity to see how many people are in the town.”
Jiang He was a bit puzzled by this, but he still followed Jiang Liu’s instructions. “Okay, I’ll go ask.”
Anyway, his current identity was a doctor, so he had plenty of reasons to approach the residents and ask about these things.
“Try not to get into a conflict. If you can’t win, run to the clinic to find me. If that doesn’t work, go to the church.” Jiang Liu was not at ease and gave a few more instructions before looking at Tang Rui next to her.
“You pretend to approach the church and see their attitude.”
Although Tang Rui was not as skilled as Tang Ruo, he was much more clever than the average person and was very suitable for this kind of thing.
Sure enough, he confidently patted his chest. “Don’t worry, I guarantee I’ll complete the mission!”
It was already nearly nine in the morning. Jiang Liu put out the fireplace, stood up, and said to Zhao Ziming, “Let’s go. Let’s go meet this group of ‘patients’ again.”
She wanted to see what kind of trap Qiao Ke had prepared for her.