He Wei Ni Ya

The gears rolled over the thick snow, leaving two shallow tracks on the pale earth.

The unicorn pulling the chariot let out a neigh, then stopped, refusing to move forward no matter how much its driver whipped it, and simply spun around in place.

"It's hungry," a weathered voice came from inside the carriage. "Let's stop and rest for a bit."

So the convoy stopped.

The carriage door was pushed open, and He Wei Ni Ya jumped off, her loose mage hat swaying like rabbit ears.

"Don't go too far," Lai Ang Na's voice came from inside the carriage. "We'll be back soon."

"Understood, Mentor."

He Wei Ni Ya obediently bowed, then closed the car door, suppressing her Senior Brother Doss's desire to get out and accompany her.

The howling wind made her instinctively pull her collar tighter. Then she turned around and walked away from the convoy. Her oversized robe trailed on the snow, making a rustling sound.

But she didn't go too far; she just walked to a spot where everyone could see her, but couldn't quite make out what she was doing.

Amidst the swirling snowflakes, she raised her head and let out a long breath.

As her breath froze into frost, she quietly removed the glove from her left hand and stared at the middle finger.

At first glance, this finger is no different from the other fingers, equally fair and slender.

However, if you look closely, you can still see some differences. Its thickness and the position of the knuckles are different from the other four fingers.

It's like... a man's fingers.

Of course, it is indeed true.

When He Wei Ni Ya had just reattached it a few days ago, it was a completely male finger, so much so that He Wei Ni Ya had to keep it covered with gloves.

But now, it resembles He Wei Ni Ya's original finger.

This made He Wei Ni Ya feel both fortunate and deeply wary.

"Junior sister!" a voice came from behind, "We should set off!"

He Wei Ni Ya turned her head and saw Doss waving at her.

She took a deep breath, suppressed her unnecessary emotions, and gave Doss a bright smile, "You're here, Senior Brother."

Then she put her gloves back on and wrapped her coat even tighter.

We need to be more careful.

After all, there were two other items in the inner pocket of this coat that were of the same level as this finger.

Thinking of this, He Wei Ni Ya felt a little heavy-hearted.

Rhine City.

The communication crystal was lit up, and the projections of the four bishops fell in their respective positions.

Meanwhile, in the seat of the Western Bishop, it was still He Li, but unlike the meetings he attended two months ago as a high priest, this time he was wearing the same bishop's robes as the other three.

In the past, the bishops would have exchanged pleasantries and jokes at such a meeting, but because the content of the last meeting was too shocking, no one was in the mood for that. So, at the beginning of the meeting, they turned their attention directly to Pope Lan Ge on the main seat.

Unlike the previous meeting, Lan Ge did not remain silent at first. Instead, after scanning the four people, he spoke calmly.

"Perhaps some of you already know that a god died in Lyra."

That short sentence resonated like a thunderclap in everyone's minds.

Then, the clergy who had been waiting nearby immediately stepped forward and presented the unfolded documents to the four bishops.

The three bishops from the East, South, and North immediately began to examine the information, while He Li did not, as he was the one who collected and organized most of the data, since his Somu City was the closest city in the entire Rhine to Lyra.

The most impatient of them Eastern Bishop, was the first to finish reading the information, and then immediately looked up at He Li: "Where did this intelligence come from?"

"The Lyra People saw it with their own eyes."

"... Lyra People?" The Eastern Bishop was somewhat taken aback. "Saw them with your own eyes?"

"Yes." He Li nodded slightly. "After this incident, Lyra City was mostly destroyed, and countless Lyra People were forced to leave their homes. A large portion of them came to my place."

Upon hearing this, the Northern Bishop raised his head and said softly, "Lyra People leaving their homeland... this was almost impossible before."

"Even the gods are dead, let alone humans." The Southern Bishop shook his head. "We've always known there was something wrong with Lyra, but we never imagined it would be this serious. It almost led to the birth of New God, but what's even more worrying is..."

The Southern Bishop did not finish speaking, but everyone understood what he wanted to say.

God was killed.

The last time a god died was during a divine war a thousand years ago.

Without a doubt, this is a once-in-a-millennium event, and this event alone is enough to make Lan Ge convene this meeting.

But what concerned the bishops even more than the death of the New God was the manner of his death—his sudden disappearance.

Considering that this was witnessed by countless Lyra People, it can be basically ruled out that the news is false.

A deity vanished suddenly in full view of everyone, leaving not a trace.

This manner of death gave them a strong sense of déjà vu, and reminded them of Ke Li's body, which could never be restored.

"Could it be... Ulu?" the Southern Bishop asked slowly, but he himself could not believe what he was saying.

It is absolutely unimaginable that a mortal could kill a god, even with Visas' Corpse Pieces.

"It's just a coincidence, isn't it?" the Northern Bishop said with a slight hesitation. "Moreover, based on the information presented so far, that New God has only disappeared. We can't be completely sure that he is dead yet, can we? It could also be the work of the Lyra God? After all, the Lyra God is confirmed to be alive."

After hearing the words of the Northern Bishop, the remaining three bishops couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Indeed, rather than believing that Ulu killed the New God, they preferred to believe that the Lyra God New God taken matters into his own hands.

Only a god can kill a god; this is a consensus among everyone... except, of course, Visas.

Even so, the gloom in the hearts of the bishops could not be dispelled, after all, this "non-existence" was indeed very much like Ke Li at that time.

However, the Ke Li of that time still retained a part of his body, letting everyone know that he was indeed killed by some kind of rule. But this time, the New God has completely disappeared, and no one can be sure whether He is really dead.

But the bishops also knew that what they were doing was merely guessing and inference.

Only Lan Ge could define it, so the four bishops quickly turned their attention to their Pope.

Lan Ge half-closed his eyes, as if he were about to fall asleep, but the four bishops did not dare to disturb him and simply waited quietly.

After a short while, Lan Ge slowly spoke, "It's been two months, and we still haven't found that guy."

He Li's expression froze, and he immediately lowered his head. "I apologize, Your Pope, this is my dereliction of duty. I have already mobilized all..."

Lan Ge raised his hand, interrupting He Li.

"He has that eye, so it's true that it's difficult for us to find him. That's not your problem," Lan Ge said calmly. "The problem is where he is now. There's something you might not know: a month ago, a mid-level official from Lyra sent someone to Somu City to investigate Ke Li's cause of death."

The expressions of the four bishops changed slightly, but before they could respond, Lan Ge continued speaking.

"After that, I also sent spies into Lyra, and then I learned... another interesting thing."

His fingers twitched slightly, and the priest immediately handed the bishops new materials.

This document is even more straightforward—it depicts a man whose body has been divided into several pieces, with the cuts made even neater than if they were made with a knife.

"The same way Ke Li died," the Northern Bishop said softly.

The Southern Bishop asked, "Who is he?"

"An insignificant person is not important," Lan Ge said. "What matters is how he died. If we cannot be certain about the means by which that New God died or disappeared, then we can be certain about this one's death... That Ulu fellow did indeed go to Lyra ... and he must have done something. By the way, it has been discovered that the source of the Contaminated Land of Lyra is the tongue of Visas. The Lyra People briefly possessed it, but with the disappearance of the New God, that tongue... has also been confirmed to be lost."

Silence.

A long silence followed.

Because a terrible truth is right before everyone's eyes.

That guy, Ulu, has very likely already obtained the Three Corpse Pieces.

The last person to possess Three Corpse Pieces at the same time was Visas himself.

"The three great rules are based on one person," the Southern Bishop said softly. "If that's the case, is it really possible that he was the one who eliminated that New God?"

"According to the records in the Forbidden Book alone, none of the Three Corpse Pieces had the ability to kill a god," He Li said. "But as we discussed at our last meeting, the sum of multiple pieces of the body does indeed have the potential to lead to a qualitative change from a quantitative one; otherwise, Ulu would not have been able to defeat Ke Li."

Hearing what He Li said, the Eastern Bishop couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, it's all that good-for-nothing one-eyed man's fault! If he hadn't lost, how could he have raised such a troublesome guy? When that eye was in his hands, I didn't feel anything special about it, but it's incredibly powerful in other people's hands. If I had known this, I would have just shoved that eye into his anus, at least that would have been more discreet!"

"Enough!" the Northern Bishop hissed. "How dare you be so insolent before His Majesty?"

The Eastern Bishop then came to his senses and quickly apologized to Lan Ge.

Lan Ge didn't care, and simply said, "It's useless to be upset. We should do something more productive. Regardless of whether he got the tongue or not, the finger and the eye are definitely ours, and we must get them back. If he got the tongue, then we need to speed things up even more. If the other churches find out that someone has already collected Three Corpse Pieces, then we will be in a very passive position."

"...If his goal is to collect body parts, then we can use the location of each body part as a node to deduce his next destination," the Northern Bishop said. "Therefore, as long as we send Devourers along his inevitable path, we can very likely take him down at minimal cost."

"Sending out Devourers? That's not the problem, but the problem is..." the Eastern Bishop said, "How will we know where the other body parts are?"

"Some body parts have indeed been missing for a long time, but some body parts are actually out in the open."

"Oh?" The Eastern Bishop looked at the Northern Bishop.

Before the Northern Bishop could speak, the Southern Bishop answered for him, "Take Ke Li for example, anyone with a little ability knows that his eye is practically obvious."

Eastern Bishop immediately raised an eyebrow. "Now I understand. So, there's more than one arrogant idiot like One-Eyed Dragon in this world?"

"To be honest, Luo Qi, you've gone a bit too far," the Northern Bishop said calmly. "Of course you can say now that Ke Li is arrogant and conceited, and that's fine with you. But his eye is definitely not easy to take away. Otherwise, would those guys in the Esoteric Sect who collect body parts have just watched? Over the years, not a single person has even tried to challenge him."

"So he died in the first battle?"

Northern Bishop: "..."

"Stop talking nonsense," Lan Ge said calmly. "Fei Ge's thinking is correct. There's no reason he could find those body parts that have been missing for years. So targeting the body parts that are in the open is the most likely thing he would do."

As soon as he finished speaking, the priests handed over the documents for the third time.

This time it was a map, with several points marked on it, which were clearly the "displayed corpse parts" that the Northern Bishop had mentioned.

After glancing at the map, the Eastern Bishop pointed to the white area at the top and said, "Judging from the map, the Holy Sound's location is closest to him, which means he'll go directly to the Holy Sound?"

Lan Ge glanced at it as well, then slowly shook his head. "No... this can be crossed out, Holy Sound is impossible."

The Eastern Bishop asked, puzzled, "Why is that?"

"The part of Holy Sound's body that's the most eye-catching, even if placed in plain sight, is also the most unattainable," the Northern Bishop said. "Because it's not on any one person. To obtain it, an almost impossible prerequisite needs to be met, and that is..."

"Play the Seven Sound Divine Song," Lan Ge said calmly. "But even this Holy Sound, which has been cultivated for many years, has not been played for a thousand years."

As he spoke, Lan Ge raised his finger, and Magic Power surged from his fingertip.

The marker on the map located at the Holy Sound quickly disappeared into the pure white that symbolized wind and snow.

The convoy stopped in front of the ancient buildings covered in snow.

"Teacher, I'll be going now."

"Okay, get some rest."

He Wei Ni Ya got out of the car and hadn't gone far when she heard Doss calling out behind her, "Ah, finally back! The academy is still so cold. Junior sister, how about we go get something to warm up?"

Before He Wei Ni Ya could respond, two school workers carrying staffs ran out of the academy.

The flickering light at the tips of their staffs indicated that they had just been casting spells.

"Doss, He Wei Ni Ya, you're back."

The school staff greeted them warmly, clearly quite familiar with the two.

Doss could clearly sense that the two were much more affectionate towards He Wei Ni Ya than towards him, which made him slightly annoyed, but he didn't show it. He just shrugged and said, "Yeah, I'm exhausted from the journey. I was just thinking of inviting my junior sister for a drink. Do you want to come along?"

"Oh well, forget it, Senior Brother." He Wei Ni Ya looked miserable and pitiful. "I've been sitting in the car for so long, my butt is almost numb. Let me go back and lie down for a bit."

To prove she was telling the truth, He Wei Ni Ya even swayed her body slightly.

This made the three men present glance down slightly, but they quickly looked away.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about that then." Doss shrugged. "I can't exactly go against my junior sister's butt, haha."

The two school workers dared not joke like Doss did; they simply smiled and said to He Wei Ni Ya, "It's good to go back and rest early, in case anything happens."

"Accident?"

"Yes." The school janitor waved his staff. "What else do you think we're doing? A girl named Pei La has gone missing."

Doss was somewhat surprised. "Gone?"

"Pei La?" He Wei Ni Ya tilted her head, as if recalling something. "Is she that senior student with the Silver Tier Third Note?"

"Yes, but don't worry, it's nothing serious." The janitor shrugged. "Nine times out of ten, they've fallen and passed out in some snow pit. These things happen every year, especially those from the Seed Zone, you know, Doss. Those guys are clueless about everything in the academy. They've hardly ever seen snow, and they're always having some kind of accident. Either they get lost, or they fall and pass out somewhere, and then we have to search the whole academy for them."

"Indeed." Upon hearing that it came from the Seed Zone, Doss immediately lost interest. "It was really a lot of trouble for you to find it."

"Yes." The school janitor looked at the darkening sky and sighed. "Hopefully we can find it soon. It would be troublesome if it were left out in the cold all night."

After chatting for a few more minutes, the group parted ways.

He Wei Ni Ya took her luggage and returned to the Girls' Dormitory.

Even though it was almost night, there were still quite a few people in the lobby on the first floor. They sat in twos and threes, some discussing something, some reading, and some gently poking their throats with their staffs, the silver or bronze musical notes on their necks shimmering slightly.

A subdued melody echoed in the lobby.

When they see He Wei Ni Ya, they all stop what they are doing and either greet her or nod.

Normally, He Wei Ni Ya would have responded to them one by one, but she wasn't in the mood now. After giving most of them a smile, she returned to her room.

As a Gold Rank, she has a single room.

The windows in the room were still open, so the whole room was still cool.

But when He Wei Ni Ya tapped the fireplace in the center of the room with her staff, and flames leaped up, everything changed. Even the wind blowing in from outside changed from a bone-chilling cold to a comfortably warm and drowsy feeling.

He Wei Ni Ya took off the oversized mage hat and clothes, which made her originally somewhat cute and innocent appearance suddenly look much more mature.

She stripped off all her clothes until she was only wearing a single layer of clothing, then sat down at the dressing table by the window and stared intently at herself in the mirror.

Beneath that weary face lay a deeply hidden aggression.

She spoke slowly, "You... you're awake now, aren't you?"

No one responded.

Everything seemed like an illusion.

The middle finger of the left hand no longer shows any abnormality, and is even more slender and beautiful than the other four fingers.

There was no response, which means it's still dormant?

He Wei Ni Ya didn't know whether she should relax or not. She had been on edge all this time, afraid that her Mentor in the same carriage would notice something was wrong.

Now, she can finally take a break.

So she unbuttoned the last button of her shirt.

When she had pulled her shirt down halfway, a gentle male voice echoed in her mind, "Just as I thought."

Her body stiffened.

The wind blowing in from the window intensified at that moment, blowing her clothes off completely.

So her entire back was exposed.

In the firelight, the golden Seventh Note came to life, like a leaping sprite.

But it could not leap, because it was bound tightly by five thin, golden threads.

It also resembles a spider web.

It's like...

"You are not a musical note, but a musical staff," Bai Wei said with a light laugh, "Gold Score that has not appeared in a thousand years."

He Wei Ni Ya lowered her head, looking at her left middle finger, which stood straight, while her index and Ring Finger were bent abnormally.

This made him look like someone who was sitting with his arms crossed, completely relaxed.

It is also like a god who makes believers bow down.

"Now, we can have a proper talk."