Chapter 77: The Return Journey (Last Part)

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I tilted my head and thought for a moment.

“Hmm… not sure. But, very strong.”

Everyone fell into deep thought.

After a moment, the man in the long robe spoke: “You’ve all been to the scene, Miss Sylvia’s power is undeniable. If even she thinks it’s very strong, I believe it must be blood sacrifice.”

“Little Syl, after he advanced to the third stage, how long did it last approximately?”

“Not long, one minute.”

“Hmm… this situation is somewhat different from what I’ve known before. Even when the Gate of Truth was most active, enemies like this never appeared. Very few people can adapt to the third stage, extremely few. According to what you said, this person clearly couldn’t adapt to the third stage, yet the Fire of Sin still manifested. This person… is he the one with burn marks on his face?”

“Yes.”

“Think carefully about the scene again, was there anything strange… or abnormal?”

What was strange… that’s quite a question, I thought these people were strange from start to finish.

That kind of self-consuming flame, the Fire of Sin. I couldn’t understand who besides a psychopath would want to do such a thing, gaining temporary enormous power, but then being burned to death in an instant, what meaning was there in that? What were these lunatics thinking?

Is the power of “Faith” really that terrifying… Although there were examples in my previous life, no matter how absurd the heterodox ways were, there would always be some ignorant people who would fall for them. While I didn’t understand this principle, I knew it, but…

But whether it was Valarr or the golden mask, or even those masked assassins, these people didn’t give me the impression of being the type to blindly believe in something intangible.

They seemed quite practical, Valarr was even ambitious, so what was their purpose? To control the lifeline of the Valen Empire through Edward?

This was the most likely possibility, but was it necessary to go to such extremes… Don’t they understand the principle of sustainable development?

I believe that so-called God of Truth must be able to give them something else besides letting them burn themselves to death.

Oh right, I remember Valarr mentioned someone at the end… a lady, what was her name again?

Can’t remember.

Suddenly, I recalled a detail and immediately spoke up: “One thing. They, before releasing the flames. Inhaled guguo grass.”

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.

“They inhaled guguo grass? Both of them?”

“Both.”

“Hmm, this is quite strange… Doctor Chris, what do you think?”

Carlos spoke to the plague doctor sitting aside, but after waiting for two seconds, he received no response.

“…Doctor.”

He gazed indifferently and gently pushed the plague doctor’s shoulder.

“…Hm? Ah, sorry, I was thinking. What is it?”

“…Were you sleeping?”

Faced with Carlos’s questioning, the plague doctor immediately denied: “What? How could that be!”

“What were we just talking about?”

“About the heretics… that, they were transporting goods to Order City…”

“Hmm, that’s where you fell asleep.”

“…I told you, I was thinking.” The plague doctor continued to deny, anyway, he was wearing a mask, no one could see his face, “How could I be so discourteous as to do such a thing in front of a beautiful lady.”

“So, regarding the heretics and guguo grass, what’s your opinion?”

“Heretics and guguo grass? It’s obvious.” The plague doctor rested his hand on his chin and comfortably crossed his legs, “According to my understanding, there are some heretics in the Eastern Continent who firmly believe that the Fire of Sin can free them from suffering. Of course, most people who think this way are either living at the bottom of society or lazy good-for-nothings. But being burned by fire… certainly isn’t something people would find comfortable. So at some point, some people chose to use guguo grass to numb their senses before burning themselves… perhaps it’s become a long-standing habit?”

Carlos gave him an exasperated look upon hearing this.

“It can’t be that simple, please be serious.”

“I am being serious. Your understanding of guguo grass only stays at the most superficial level. Do you know that guguo grass smoke, besides causing hallucinations, can also make people lose their fear?”

He continued while tapping the beak of his mask.

“The difference lies in the amount inhaled. It’s like drinking alcohol, drink a little and you’ll be tipsy, but drink too much and you’ll be hungover, maybe even unable to remember what you did the night before. The same applies to guguo grass. Inhale a specific amount, and it will turn people into mad dogs. They won’t feel fear and will do everything in their power, even if it means using their teeth, to tear their enemies to pieces.”

“More than 200 years ago, there was a small country in the west called Wilard, where the king would make his soldiers do this… Later he was stabbed to death by his own guard who had overdosed on guguo grass and mistook him for an enemy. So these heretics are probably imitating them…”

“Sometimes we tend to overthink things, but most people are actually quite simple. Because they’re not living very happily, if you can make them happy — what the heretics call liberation from suffering — they’ll be willing to do anything. In this aspect, guguo grass is quite the tool.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you had studied this.”

“Ha! I am a doctor, an excellent doctor. How could a doctor not understand guguo grass, such a miracle of nature?”

“I meant the heretics.” Carlos leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head, “Chris, do you remember what the previous Pope said?”

The plague doctor immediately responded: “Don’t try to understand the heretics’ way of thinking, because you might be assimilated by them… that’s what he said, right?”

“Good that you know.”

“But there’s another saying: to defeat your enemy, you must first understand them.”

“Haha, you have a point there.”

“You two…”

“Shh——”

“Oh, look look…”

“Little Syl is dozing off…”

“Haha, how interesting…”

“You’re in no position to laugh at others…”

“…Let her sleep for a while…”

…………

I don’t know how long passed, but in my drowsy state, I vaguely felt someone gently shaking my shoulder.

“…Little Syl… wake up…”

I irritably brushed away the hand and turned to my side.

“…Let me… sleep a bit more…”

In my hazy consciousness, I heard Madam’s voice.

“She’s very tired… Scalliger… carry her…”

“We… parish…”

“Let’s go back…”

A pair of warm large hands lifted me up horizontally.

His chest carried a pleasant warmth, and following that, the scent of nice cologne entered my nose, mixed with a faint smell of furnace fire.

Must be the Duke.

So I found a comfortable position in his arms and fell back asleep.

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