Listening

When Bishop Fei Ge of the Northern Bishop saw Pope Lan Ge on the main throne again through the projection, he felt a moment of disorientation.

Normally, a meeting of bishops should be held once every five years, since a single meeting consumes a considerable amount of communication crystals, so each meeting does not last very long.

But since the death of Bishop Corey of the West, their meetings have almost become a monthly routine.

So when they were summoned again, the four bishops looked at each other, wondering if yet another unfortunate soul had gone to meet Ke Li. Only after confirming that everyone was still alive did they turn their attention back to Pope Lan Ge.

Perhaps it was the monthly meeting that had taken a toll on Lan Ge's energy, as a deep weariness lingered on his face.

And indeed, that was the case. Before they could even offer their greetings, Lan Ge went straight to the point and said, "Something has happened to Holy Sound."

... Holy Sound?

The four bishops were even more surprised, because this was a place they had never paid any attention to.

"The Lord of Holy Sound... is also dead?" the Southern Bishop asked.

The word "also" is very scary.

Fortunately, Lan Ge shook his head. "That's not the case. The Lord of Holy Sound is different from the Lyra God. Apart from the god himself, there is no power in this world that can kill the Lord of Holy Sound."

"I see."

The four bishops felt somewhat relieved.

"But the Holy Sound Kingdom is about to be destroyed."

The bishops. "..."

Lan Ge rubbed his nose, looking quite troubled. "Take a look at the details now."

After saying this, the four Rhine God who had been waiting behind the bishops placed the prepared documents in front of them.

The bishops immediately began browsing, while listening to Lan Ge speak calmly.

"Simply put, someone played the Seven Sound Divine Song at the Grand Ceremony, thereby severing the connection between the Lord of Holy Sound and the Holy Sound. Although the Lord of Holy Sound was not harmed, the players of the Holy Sound have mostly disappeared."

The four bishops grew increasingly alarmed as they looked.

The Northern Bishop was the first to finish reading, then looked up at Lan Ge and asked, "What's the current situation with the Holy Sound?"

"Uprisings, uprisings in multiple places." Lan Ge did not speak, but the Father beside him stepped forward to explain, "Even the Primordial Two Great Families, who hold the highest status in the Holy Sound, have not been spared, and in fact... their situation is the worst. That is why the Primordial Two Great Families sent a letter to His Majesty asking for help, hoping that we would send troops to help quell the rebellion."

The Northern Bishop nodded, thinking to himself that it was no wonder His Majesty was the first to know about the Holy Sound. After all, geographically speaking, he was the closest of the Four Great Churches to the Holy Sound.

As for the riots that would occur with the Holy Sound, the Northern Bishop was not too surprised, since the Holy Sound was essentially a slave system, and the players were the whips that controlled the slaves.

Now, the whip has disappeared.

But it disappeared in this way...

By this time, Bishop Luo Qi of the Eastern Bishop had finished reviewing the information and asked Lan Ge, "Should we send troops?"

The Northern Bishop asked, "You want to help them quell the rebellion?"

"No, what I mean is, we can use the pretext of suppressing the rebellion to send troops and take over the territory of Holy Sound," Luo Qi said excitedly. "I'm willing to lead the charge!"

Northern Bishop: "..."

"There's no point in taking down the Holy Sound; we don't have enough Knight to defend it," said the newly appointed Western Bishop, He Li. "Besides, the Lord of the Holy Sound Lord of Holy Sound has only temporarily lost contact with it; he's not dead. Once He re-establishes contact, are you going to face the Lord of Holy Sound?"

Luo Qi thought about it and felt that what He Li said made sense, so he nodded. "Then let's go fight Lyra, since the Lyra God is dead anyway."

Everyone: "..."

"The era of territorial expansion is over, Luo Qi." After a long silence, Lan Ge finally couldn't take it anymore and tapped the table, signaling Luo Qi to calm down. "And that's not the point I want you to see. The point is, the source of all this chaos, the player of the Seven Tones... is not dead. The Holy Sound has confirmed that he is on the run, and..."

Lan Ge paused for a moment.

"He took the body part of Visas from the Holy Sound."

The four bishops quickly quieted down.

Visas's... body parts.

Another one lost?

One bad memory after another came flooding back.

"You think Ulu was involved in this?" The Northern Bishop immediately guessed what Lan Ge meant.

"It's hard for me not to think about this," Lan Ge said. "Although there is no clear evidence, first it was us, then Lyra, and now it's the Holy Sound. And most importantly, we still haven't found Ulu."

The bishops became serious.

If Ulu is also involved, then the problem is indeed very serious.

If that's the case, wouldn't Ulu have... four pieces of body parts?

"It's not just four pieces of body parts," Lan Ge said. "Although we don't know if that Seven Sound Player is him, even if he isn't and is just an accomplice, he is still a very powerful person. According to the Holy Sound, he is very likely the last and most powerful Seven Sound Player in the world."

The bishops felt increasingly overwhelmed as they listened.

The original Ulu was already troublesome enough to deal with.

Now there's another accomplice of the Seven Sound Player?

What is this "Holy Sound"?

Feeding him directly into his mouth?!

Even the usually calm and collected Fei Ge couldn't help but complain inwardly at this moment.

But he soon realized something was wrong.

Wait a minute, why is he the one complaining?

Logically, shouldn't Luo Qi be the one yelling and cursing at this point?

Why can't I hear his voice?

Fei Ge looked at Luo Qi, who was sitting quietly and obediently, which puzzled Fei Ge even more.

From the moment Lan Ge mentioned Ulu, Luo Qi remained silent.

Has something happened?

Before he could ask further, Lan Ge spoke again, "But there is also good news. The player is seriously injured and should not be able to survive. To survive, he can only keep using the power of the Seventh Note, but in that case, his Seventh Note will not be able to do much. Moreover, the Holy Sound has already bitten him."

Fei Ge looked at Lan Ge again. "Does Holy Sound still have the power to pursue?"

"There are still some areas on the mainland that haven't been completely affected," Lan Ge said. "They've also recalled the people from the Land of Oath."

The Land of Oath...

The Southern Bishop said, "If I remember correctly, this shouldn't be allowed, right?"

"It is indeed not allowed." Fei Ge nodded and said, "This is God's Contract. Under no circumstances can the garrison in the Contract Land be withdrawn. This is something that the Eight Great Churches ... even the four major Esoteric Sect must abide by. In principle, unless there is something wrong with God, it cannot be violated, but..."

But it was God who had the problem.

"Two months ago, Lyra withdrew from the Land of Oath," Lan Ge said. "And now, Holy Sound has done the same. The Oath Followers are not happy, but there's nothing they can do. Holy Sound just wants to bring that Seven Sound Player back."

"Also for the body parts?"

"No." Lan Ge shook his head. "It's for the notes. As I said before, the Golden Seventh Note on that player's body are the last and most complete ones. They regard them as Fire Seed, so they will do anything for them."

"So, they don't know about Ulu?"

"Hmm, I don't know." Lan Ge nodded slightly. "So, this is also our opportunity. The Primordial Two Great Families have promised that as long as we help them retrieve the Seventh Note, they can give us that body part."

"They've got a good plan," the Southern Bishop said. "They can still trade things that have already been lost."

"They don't have anything more to offer," Fei Ge said. "And we can use their tracking to find Ulu and retrieve all four body parts."

At that moment, Luo Qi suddenly spoke up, "If that's the case, I'm willing to lead the team!"

Luo Qi's words were tinged with excitement and anger, as if he wished he could kill Ulu as soon as possible, which made Fei Ge glance at him again.

"No." Lan Ge rejected Luo Qi's suggestion. "He has too many body parts. There are too many uncontrollable factors if we face him head-on. So let's continue using the Devourer, let the Holy Sound people provide the location, and we'll follow up with the Devourer."

"If we follow up with the Devourer..." Bishop He Li of the Western Bishop said with some concern, "Would it harm the people of Holy Sound ... I'm sorry, I have no problem with that."

"If it really comes to that, then it's their own problem," Fei Ge said. "But if the Devourers accidentally follow us to a densely populated town, the situation won't be very pleasant, and it could very well affect our own city."

"It's alright," Lan Ge said calmly. "According to the Holy Sound People's report, the Seven Sound Player is currently located at the Borderlands, and his next target appears to be... Wildfire."

"Wildfire?" The Northern Bishop narrowed his eyes slightly. "Then there's no problem. In places controlled by the Esoteric Sect, anything can happen."

Seeing that the plan had been accomplished but he had done nothing, Luo Qi couldn't help but feel anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

Because the Devourer is the only creature in this world that can ignore the power of Visas's body parts.

The reason Rhine was able to possess so many body parts was because they had the power to control the Devourer. For thousands of years, they had used the Devourer countless times to hunt down the body part holders, and they had never failed.

This time will be no exception.

"Now that the decision has been made, let's not delay any longer." Lan Ge looked at Fei Ge. "Fei Ge, your area is the closest, so the Devourer is in your control. Remember, I must see those four body parts; the rest are not my concern."

Upon seeing that Lan Ge had made a decision, the four bishops immediately bowed with their hands on their chests, Fei Ge also assured them, "I will not let you down, Your Majesty."

Lan Ge nodded and said, "It has now been confirmed that the body part that Holy Sound lost was an ear, and his rule is..."

"Listen."

Borderlands.

A very special place.

Because this place does not belong to any church, it is also known as the God Forsaken Land.

Only a very few people know its origin—the dividing line between orthodox and Esoteric Sect.

On one side are the two major orthodox churches, Holy Sound and Rhine, while on the other side is the Wildfire Esoteric Sect.

Such a unique geographical location naturally destined this place to be chaotic, with many heretics wanted by the orthodox religions and leaders of the Esoteric Sect trading and living here.

The vast majority of outsiders don't survive more than three days here.

Right now, in the eyes of tavern owner Tim, there is such an outsider.

He wore a long robe that was completely disproportionate to his physique, as if he wanted to wrap himself up completely, which made him look rather mysterious.

But in Tim's eyes, it was an extremely tempting prey.

Tim had seen his face when he came in.

He had delicate features but a pale complexion, resembling a young, handsome refugee.

Tim then guessed his identity.

The young Father of the Rhine.

These features are too obvious.

Tim then expertly served the young Father three glasses of wine, and then said with a smile, "Please enjoy."

The wine certainly had problems, but not the kind of problems that were immediately obvious.

Tim knew that the Father at Rhine had the ability to detect poison, but it didn't matter. Individually, the three drinks were harmless, but combined, they would cause poisoning unless consumed in a specific order.

Only Tim, who made these drinks, knew this order.

Therefore, this young Father either doesn't drink at all, or he only drinks one cup to survive.

But Tim knew he wouldn't do that, because those young Father who escaped from the Rhine always trusted the Rhine's magic.

"Come on, little fat sheep."

Tim watched as the young Father picked up one of the wine glasses, took a small sip, and then slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

But Tim's smile vanished when he picked up the second glass.

Because the order is correct.

... Damn, is this guy really that lucky?

He cursed inwardly.

But I didn't think too much about it. After all, I drank the three cups in order. Although the probability of encountering each other was low, it wasn't entirely impossible.

So Tim picked up the folding cleaver and started cooking for the little Father.

Anyway, he has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, so he's not worried that this little Father won't take it.

However, whether it was a steak that was half normal and half poisoned, cutlery that only worked when moistened with saliva, or folded napkins, all the little tricks were naturally neutralized by the other party.

That's when Tim realized that what had just happened was no coincidence.

This guy knows everything!

But how did he know?!

There are several methods among them that Tim hasn't used yet.

How did he see through it?!

"You're the one who told me."

The light, airy voice startled Tim from his reverie. He looked up and saw the young Father looking at him with a half-smile. Before he could react, the young Father spoke again.

"You poisoned me four times, so that counts as four lives," he said. "Each life is worth a thousand gold pieces, so just give me four thousand gold pieces."

Tim narrowed his eyes slightly.

He grabbed the folding meat cleaver from the cutting board and slammed it down in front of the young Father with a loud bang.

"Don't think you're something special just because you have a few tricks up your sleeve," Tim said coldly. "Do you even know what this knife is for?"

"For cutting meat?"

"Yes." Tim walked up to the young Father, looking down at him. "When it's folded up, it's cutting beef, but when it's unfolded, it's cutting human flesh... Do you want me to unfold it?"

The young Father smiled, "I see..."

Tim snorted and was about to make a few more threats when, "Boom!"

Several beams of light shone in from outside the tavern.

The young Father simply shifted his body slightly to the side, dodging the beams of light.

But Tim didn't react that quickly, and his outstretched hands were instantly smashed.

He screamed and fell to the ground, then saw more than a dozen mages enter through the blasted breach.

What on earth is going on?!

"That's exactly how it is," the young Father said with a smile. "That's life. You never know whether an accident or tomorrow will come first."

Tim stared blankly at the young Father.

The young Father picked up the meat cleaver that had fallen to the ground and then, with a "clang," began to cleave it.

Tim's horrified face was reflected in the blood-stained and rusty blade.

"Bring it on."

Bai Wei said with a smile.

"Let me get used to this new body a little longer."