[…]

[You step out from the Courier Mole Cricket’s abdominal cavity and push open the Firefly Spirit Temple’s great door…]

[Missionary Kim is praying devoutly before the Firefly’s divine statue…]

[When he learns that you have successfully explored the Crawler Tribe and returned unharmed, Kim is overjoyed, but his joy does not last long before he seems to recall something and falls silent.]

[Kim tells you that Tentacle City is only a border town on the edge of the realm of the Despicable One. He knows of a large city closer to the center of the realm, said to be the fief of the Despicable One’s offspring, but regretfully he has never been there…]

[As Kim speaks, he takes out a map and hands it to you.]

[You have obtained Map of Bush Cricket City (Map)!]

[]

[What is more regrettable is that he cannot accompany you on the rest of your journey…]

[Even through the mask, you can sense some reluctance from Kim.]

[Kim explains that it is rare in the realm of the Despicable One to encounter another believer who shares faith in the Primordial Firefly, and you are even the Firefly’s Favored Servant, bearing a mission…]

[But he must remain in Tentacle City, because his goal has never changed nor wavered.]

[He must keep searching for the location of the underground nest and find the girl who once saved him from the demon’s lair…]

[Will you invite Kim to travel with you to Bush Cricket City?]

[You tell Kim that he has been searching in Tentacle City for so long without gaining any information about the underground nest.]

[Has he ever considered changing his method of searching for the girl?]

[Since he knows the girl is the Desire Wet Nurse’s youngest and most beloved daughter, has he thought that she might have already left the underground nest and gone to other places in the realm?]

[The Bush Cricket City you are about to travel to is the territory of the Desire Wet Nurse’s offspring, the domain of the girl’s elder brothers and sisters.]

[Rather than blindly wasting time searching in Tentacle City, it would be better for him to go to Bush Cricket City with you. Perhaps from there he can learn of the girl’s whereabouts…]

[Kim seems somewhat moved. Seeing this, you hurriedly add that once you reach Bush Cricket City, you will help him search for the girl’s traces, and if you discover anything, you will inform him at once.]

[Convinced by your persuasion, Kim finally nods.]

[He calls the Courier Mole Cricket, and the two of you head to Bush Cricket City together…]

[Continuous tremors come from within the dark abdominal cavity as Kim tells you that Bush Cricket City is different from a border town like Tentacle City.]

[As a frontier location, Tentacle City has a sparse population. Whenever the War Hatchery produces a new batch of Ascended beings, they are sent to the front lines of the war.]

[Bush Cricket City, however, belongs to the domain of the Despicable One’s offspring. Many Ascended are kept as soldiers to guard the territory. Although he has never been there, Kim knows Bush Cricket City must be fraught with danger…]

[…]

[After a long journey, the seat’s vibrations subside. Through the flesh membrane on both sides of the abdominal cavity, you see a snowy brightness unlike anything you have seen before.]

[The membrane opens. A chill wind blows in, wrapped with drifting white snow.]

[You look outside and see nothing but white in your field of vision…]

[Snowflakes fill the underground space. Each flake is the size of a palm and emits a bone-chilling cold.]

[The ground is already covered with a thick layer of snow, and the ice and snow extend to the large city not far away.]

[The once prosperous Bush Cricket City has somehow fallen into ruin. Snow-covered broken walls and shattered remnants jut up, forming mottled shadows on the white canvas.]

[Missionary Kim beside you is stunned. He stares blankly at the falling snowflakes, the eyes showing beneath his mask filled with terror.]

[He grabs you just as you are about to jump out of the abdominal cavity and shouts frantically at the Courier Mole Cricket. Run, run!]

[Burrow underground immediately! Hurry, quickly!]

[Kim hastily throws out a Milk-Sap Matsutake. The Courier Mole Cricket catches it in one bite and slowly closes the flesh membranes on both sides.]

[With a shake of his cloak, Kim takes the chance before the abdominal cavity is fully shut to fan out all the snowflakes that have fallen inside.]

[As the membrane is about to close, you glimpse through the gap what seems to be a gigantic shadow floating above the endless white snow over the ruined city…]

[The Courier Mole Cricket chirps once and rapidly burrows into the ground…]

[As darkness once again envelops the abdominal cavity, Kim collapses onto the seat, panting heavily, cold sweat dripping down from his mask.]

[He takes quite a while to calm down. Facing your puzzled gaze, he counters with a question…]

[Did you not come to the realm of the Despicable One from the outside world? How can you not know of the White-Fleece Snow Season?]

[Seeing your bewildered expression, Kim has no choice but to explain…]

[Whether inside the realm or outside it, Ascended beings consider the White-Fleece Snow Season a grace bestowed by the Despicable One.]

[Maggot-people who bathe in the white snow find it easier to undergo Ascension, and heretic Ascended have a chance to advance to the next stage of Ascension.]

[In the eyes of Ascended beings, the White-Fleece Snow Season is a blessing, but for aberrated believers in the Primordial Firefly, it is an unadulterated divine punishment.]

[If the Primordial Firefly’s believers are contaminated by even a little too much snow, they fall into madness and ultimately die.]

[But everything has two sides. Thunder can bring creation as well as destruction.]

[Do you remember those crazed Ascended wandering around Tentacle City?]

[A portion of those heretics were insane from birth due to uncontrolled consciousness.]

[But more of the crazed heretics became that way after accepting the white snow scattered during the White-Fleece Snow Season.]

[They indulged in long, unrestrained bathing in the snow. Doing so did indeed raise their chances of advancing to the next stage of Ascension, but at the cost of gradually approaching madness, just like aberrated ones tainted by the snow, until they finally went insane.]

[Kim himself has experienced many White-Fleece Snow Seasons. Each time, he hid deep underground in places the snow could not reach in order to escape disaster.]

[The scale of snowfall you just saw during this White-Fleece Snow Season is unprecedented. In all his life, Kim has never seen such a massive, overwhelming snowfall.]

[Bush Cricket City was once a great and prosperous metropolis. Its fall into ruins must certainly be linked to this White-Fleece Snow Season.]

[At this moment, the city ruins, if nothing unexpected has occurred, have already become a paradise for crazed heretics…]

Lin Xun immediately thought of a genetic weapon.

The Desire Wet Nurse had very likely used the Primordial Firefly’s life factor to create a genetic weapon like the White-Fleece Snow Season.

Using white snow to both grant advancement to her own people and exterminate heretics dwelling on the divine kingdom’s land was truly killing two birds with one stone.

But as the saying goes, talking about toxicity without talking about dosage is just playing tricks.

Perhaps the genetic weapon’s targeting was not all that precise, or perhaps Ascended beings were themselves created from the Primordial Firefly’s life factor, making them a closely related species that led back to the same origin.

As a result, the White-Fleece Snow Season was deadly poison to aberrated ones, yet the Ascended could not fully resist its toxicity either. As long as they wallowed in the snow for too long and exceeded a certain dose, they too would fall into madness.

“Then why did the Desire Wet Nurse not use such an almost broken weapon as the White-Fleece Snow Season on the front lines?”

Lin Xun quickly let go of the question.

The White-Fleece Snow Season was a genetic weapon aimed at aberrated ones, but he himself was not an aberrated being. All the shells he possessed were Ascended shells, and shells not belonging to this world certainly could not become the targeting focus of the White-Fleece Snow Season.

[The trembling of the abdominal cavity suddenly stops. A familiar grayish light shines from beyond the membrane.]

[The membrane opens, and the Courier Mole Cricket has burrowed into an unknown underground space.]

[The underground space before you is very vast. Not far away lies a huge plaza, bustling with figures of all sorts of Ascended beings.]

[Several dozen Courier Mole Crickets are also resting here at your side.]

[You have arrived at the Plaza Beneath the City!]

[Startled, Kim quickly shakes his black cloak. The cloak changes color to match the surroundings and instantly mimics and blends into the environment.]

[The Ascended beings in the plaza not far away are all listening closely to the speech of a tall, thin figure at the center of the square and pay no attention to the commotion here.]

[You possess the shell of the Ascended Brutalist Warden!]

[Kim maintains his mimicry and secretly follows you as you approach the plaza…]

[The tall, thin figure at the center of the plaza wears a gray-white long robe and a carapace mask that hides his face. Only a hoarse voice can be heard from beneath the mask…]

[…]

[…In the past, the Desire Wet Nurse’s offspring were granted many fiefs. His Highness Belatu, bearing the title Guardian of the Divine Kingdom, defected on the front lines and joined the demons’ evil camp.]

[The great Desire Wet Nurse is merciful and magnanimous. Even in the face of the offspring’s treacherous defection, she could not bear to inflict too harsh a punishment.]

[His Highness Belatu has now reentered the cycle of life and awaits his next birth to once more serve the Desire Wet Nurse.]

[The rebel army loyal to Belatu stationed in Bush Cricket City have all received the baptism of the blizzard and have been given the punishment they deserved.]

[Once the angels complete their pilgrimage, the unprecedented blizzard will abate.]

[Then you will be able to return to Bush Cricket City and rebuild this great and prosperous city…]

[And the new Bush Cricket City, of course, should have a new master.]

[The great Desire Wet Nurse has granted this land to her most beloved youngest daughter Flanda. When the new Bush Cricket City is rebuilt, your queen Flanda will come to rule over it…]

[Until then, all affairs of Bush Cricket City will be handled by Flanda’s most faithful servant, that is, by him, Nightmare Yuri…]

[You suddenly hear Kim, still in mimicry beside you, mutter in disbelief. Flanda… So the girl who saved him from the demon’s lair was called Flanda?]

[But how can this be… Did Flanda not say she would definitely leave the Desire Wet Nurse and throw herself into the Lord’s embrace?]

[Why is Flanda still serving the Desire Wet Nurse?!]

[The tall, thin figure named Nightmare Yuri finishes his proclamation. All the Ascended beings in the plaza depart, riding Courier Mole Crickets away.]

[Only Nightmare Yuri and a few guards remain.]

[Nightmare Yuri looks at you, who have not yet left, with a gaze that carries a note of warning…]

[Kim suddenly pats your shoulder. Though you cannot see his expression, you know he is signaling you to act.]

[Righteous Apostle, what will you choose?]

[1. Strike without hesitation, kill the guards, and force Nightmare Yuri to spill information about Flanda.]

[2. Leave immediately. You know the real Flanda is imprisoned in the Abandoned Ancient Nest, and Nightmare Yuri is clearly lying.]

[3. Step forward and speak, claiming you greatly admire Nightmare Yuri’s bearing and want to become his servant and serve him.]

[…]

[The look in Nightmare Yuri’s eyes shifts from warning to a cold killing intent…]

The characters of the three options before him turned bright red and shook violently.

Lin Xun knew there was very little time left to choose.

His mind raced.

The real Flanda was confined in the underground nest. For Nightmare Yuri to openly spread false information and take control of Bush Cricket City, which belonged to the Desire Wet Nurse’s offspring, his strength had to be formidable.

If Kim were not by his side, Lin Xun could simply go up and fight head-on. Even if he died in the attempt, it would only mean wasting some soul strength.

The problem was that Kim was right there. If they fought and lost, this crucial story character might die, and there would be no way to revive him.

The first option might reveal the truth, but if it failed, it would mean a total defeat.

Choosing to flee in the second option would let Lin Xun leave at best. With Kim’s obsession with Flanda, he would never run away.

Thinking of this, Lin Xun immediately selected the third option.

[You ignore Kim’s signal to act and step forward under Nightmare Yuri’s gaze…]

[You loudly declare that Sir Nightmare Yuri is newly arrived in Bush Cricket City and must lack obedient servants.]

[You have been deeply impressed by Sir Nightmare Yuri’s bearing and wish to serve him…]

[The Ascended Shadow Dancer Nightmare Yuri suddenly raises a hand to stop the nearby guards. Looking over your tall, burly body with clear interest, he speaks again in a hoarse voice from under the mask…]

[You… are not bad.]

[To have the courage to make such a request directly shows that your ambition is not small.]

[However, becoming his loyal servant, not a mere attendant, is no easy task. You must pass a trial.]

[As he speaks, Nightmare Yuri points upward and continues, saying that Bush Cricket City is undergoing the blizzard baptism cast down by the Desire Wet Nurse. Ordinary people cannot move freely in the city.]

[Get contaminated by a little too much snow and you will become like those rebels, losing your sanity and turning into a lunatic.]

[At the very center of Bush Cricket City stands a structure known as the Emerald Sacrificial Ground, the only building in the city that has not collapsed.]

[If you can retrieve the Sacrificial Emblem left in the Emerald Sacrificial Ground and thereby prove your potential and strength, you will have passed the trial…]

[Will you accept Nightmare Yuri’s trial?]

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes and decisively chose ‘Yes.’

[Nightmare Yuri lets out a hoarse laugh and says nothing more. He takes his guards and leaves aboard a Courier Mole Cricket.]

[As he departs, he leaves you with a final line. Once you have retrieved the Sacrificial Emblem, go to his estate and seek him out…]

[You have learned the precise location of the Emerald Sacrificial Ground!]

[You have learned the precise location of the Belatu Estate!]

[After the plaza empties, Kim cancels his mimicry and appears at your side.]

[He takes a deep breath and loudly demands if you have gone mad.]

[Nightmare Yuri clearly does not trust you and wants to send you to your death. Bush Cricket City is now filled with elite soldiers driven insane…]

[Even if you are powerful enough to defeat those soldiers, no one can survive within the snowstorm that the White-Fleece Snow Season has already formed.]

[He may care greatly about Flanda’s whereabouts, but if the price is your sacrifice…]

[He would rather go straight to Nightmare Yuri’s estate, slaughter all heretics, and get Flanda’s clue from Nightmare Yuri instead…]

[You signal Kim to calm down. You intend to face this snowstorm trial alone.]

[After all, not everyone can, like the Firefly’s Favored Servant, ignore the divine punishment cast down by the Desire Wet Nurse.]

[You blow the Summoning Short Flute and call the Courier Mole Cricket.]

[You step into the Courier Mole Cricket’s abdominal cavity, leaving Kim only a dashing view of your back as you burrow underground and vanish…]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep