Their Own Schemes

On the outskirts of the town, Wildfire Chief Wu De was quietly watching the slowly setting sun in the distance.

He was surrounded by Wildfire Cultist.

"Chief, are we sure we want to act tonight?" a follower asked.

Wu De glanced at the other man. "Otherwise what? You want to go against the boss's will?"

"No, of course not!" The believer shuddered, then quickly said, "It's just that we haven't received any news from Chief Lauren yet, so I'm wondering... if something unexpected has happened."

Upon hearing this, Wu De frowned slightly. "Haven't received any news yet?"

"Yes, the people we sent to investigate haven't returned yet."

Wu De's brow furrowed even deeper.

This was indeed an unexpected situation that he couldn't help but pay attention to.

According to normal procedure, Lauren should have already dealt with that troublesome brat by this point in time, or more accurately, she should be called... Saint.

That was the first and most important step in the leader's path to godhood.

He is now in charge of the second link.

Although these two links are not directly related, if something happens to Lauren, their actions tonight will also be meaningless.

But what might happen to Lauren?

They were simply facing a Saint who had not yet awakened; with Lauren's strength, there shouldn't have been any surprises.

Could it be... the Rhine?

Wu De recalled that Lauren had mentioned during their last meeting that Rhine had been rather restless lately and seemed to be planning something.

Could it be that those damned perverts have really set their sights on this land?

Just as Wood was Wu De, a subordinate rushed over and whispered a few words in his ear.

After listening, Wu De unconsciously showed a surprised expression.

His subordinates told him that in the evening, a man claiming to be Rhine Father checked into the town's only hotel, accompanied by a masked man.

More importantly, judging from the aura, that person seemed to be the Saint that Lauren had been chasing.

The Father of the Rhine... the Saint...

Are they all in this city?

If it weren't for the fact that the person reporting was Wu De's most trusted subordinate, he would probably have thought the man was talking in his sleep.

So what exactly is going on?

What exactly happened to Lauren?

Wu De for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

The sun is about to set completely and night is about to fall; he must make a decision as soon as possible.

Should we proceed according to the original plan?

After a long pause, Wu De slowly spoke.

"Regardless of what happened on Lauren's side, since the Saint is right in front of us, let's finish his work together."

"Yes, sir!" The subordinates bowed with their hands on their chests, their movements as precise as statues.

Wu De looked at the city that was about to be completely swallowed by darkness and spoke softly.

"This is all for our leader, for our Lord who is about to come into the world..."

"Let's do it! Kill all the Hunter!"

"Let night fall here!"

"Let these ignorant fools see who the real savior is!"

At a command, all the Pursuer, including Wu De, vanished instantly, transforming into streaks of black shadows that entered the town before them before nightfall.

"Lost?" Fei Ge looked calmly at the Rhine Knight before him. "Why don't you be more specific... what's lost?"

The Rhine Knight before me was in very poor condition. His left arm was missing, and the wound looked like it had been inflicted by a wild beast, with fine teeth marks all over his armor.

If he hadn't used his divine magic to stop the bleeding, he would never have been able to return to Fei Ge.

But clearly, Fei Ge didn't care much about the Knight's life or death; he was more concerned about... the Devourer.

Two days ago, this Knight Squad entered Wildfire's territory with two Devourers. Fei Ge had originally expected them to bring back Ulu's corpse and the pieces of his body directly.

But not only did they fail to bring it back, they also lost one of the Devourers.

This was something Fei Ge absolutely could not accept, so his seemingly calm words concealed his suppressed anger.

This anger made the Rhine Knight in front of him shiver, almost unable to stand up.

"I'm sorry... Bishop Fei Ge," the Rhine Knight stammered, "An accident has occurred."

He then told Fei Ge everything that had happened the night before.

After listening, Fei Ge frowned deeply.

Because... it's strange, it's really too strange.

The Rhine Father they had been tracking who possessed body parts was not Ulu?

If it's not Ulu, then who could it be?

The Seven Sound Player messed up the Holy Sound?

Where did Ulu go?

Moreover, I heard that the other party was accompanied by a little boy, which makes them seem like someone from Rhine.

Isn't Ulu the only traitor in the Rhine?

And who is that little boy?

Also, his men were ambushed by a giant wolf during the battle, and the barrier of divine power was also broken. How did this happen?

Judging from the Knight's description, it should be the Wildfire Cultist, but how could those Wildfire Cultists, who are all strength and no substance, possibly break through divine magic?

Only divine magic can break divine magic. The Wildfire Cultist doesn't even have a god above them, so how could they possibly use divine magic?

Moreover, it seems that the giant wolf was initially being hunted down by the Wildfire Cultist.

What's going on here?

They had a traitor in Rhine, they had a traitor in Holy Sound, and now there's a traitor in Wildfire, this cult?!

Even though Fei Ge considered himself the most intelligent of the Four Archbishops of the Rhine, he was still feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information.

What exactly happened?

Shouldn't this have been a simple matter of them hunting down Ulu and retrieving his body parts?

Why is it getting more and more complicated?

Fei Ge rubbed his temples in frustration, forcing himself to calm down before analyzing the situation.

First of all, the fact that the Rhine Father being chased wasn't Ulu at first glance is indeed quite concerning, but upon closer inspection, it seems there's no need to worry so much, since his only goal on this trip is to obtain the body parts.

To put it extremely, it would be acceptable to only recognize body parts and not the person.

The movements of the Wildfire Cultist, however, require some attention.

Upon entering Wildfire's territory, Fei Ge vaguely sensed Wildfire these faithless cultists seemed to be plotting something, the boy being chased being the best proof. In other words, Wildfire's current actions weren't aimed at their invasion, but rather their invasion had simply run into the cultists' actions.

In fact, monitoring the Wildfire Cultist was Fei Ge's job, because his church was the closest to the area.

But to be honest, Fei Ge never took the Wildfire Cultist seriously.

The reason is simple: these guys don't even have a god behind them.

In this world, mortals without divine Protection are nothing more than a rabble, no matter how much they struggle. If the Rhine's territory hadn't reached its limit, they could have easily conquered and occupied this land that once belonged to the Senro God in half a month.

Such a weak "opponent" is naturally not worth paying attention to.

But this time, Fei Ge had a vague feeling that these guys were really brewing something very troublesome.

Since that's the case...

Fei Ge pondered for a moment, then looked up at the Knight before him again.

"Are you sure that Rhine Father and that wolf boy both escaped and weren't caught by the Wildfire Cultist?"

The Knight nodded. "Yes, I saw with my own eyes that the Father whose identity I did not know take the wolf boy away, and the rest of the Wildfire Cultist had been killed. I originally wanted to continue the pursuit... but I really couldn't control two Devourers by myself. In addition, after the divine magic failed, the Corpse Ghoul could also attack me, so I could only bring back one of the Devourers with all my might."

Fei Ge glanced at the coffin beside him.

The devourer that was brought back has been sealed away.

Fei Ge walked to the coffin, looking at the lock on it, and said softly, "In other words, it's now a cat-and-mouse game."

"... Cat and mouse?" the Knight asked. "You mean the Wildfire Cultist is chasing that fake Father and the wolf boy?"

"No," Fei Ge shook his head. "We're the ones who catch them."

The Knight was puzzled. "But we have now lost track of them."

"You lost it, but it didn't." Fei Ge placed his hand on the coffin. "If that guy really had body parts on him, then it would never have lost him."

"But we've lost the bell, it's out of control..." The Knight started to say, then suddenly realized what Fei Ge meant, his eyes widening slightly. "You mean..."

"The Wildfire Cultist calls their most elite troops the Pursuer, so it's time to show them what the best Pursuer are like."

The Knight's mouth dropped open. "But if we let the runaway devourers run rampant, many will die..."

He dared not continue.

"A lot of cultists will die," Fei Ge said with a smile, continuing the Knight's words. "But this also points us in the right direction, doesn't it? We just need to follow the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and when we reach the end, we will naturally get what we want."

Incidentally, this can also solve the problem of the Wildfire Cultist once and for all.

Whatever they're plotting.

As long as all living things are killed,

Then there won't be any trouble.

Wei Ke pulled his hood down uneasily.

Although he had checked several times before leaving the house to make sure there was nothing wrong with his outfit and that A De part was well hidden, he still felt nervous.

Once discovered...

No, no, no, it won't be discovered.

Wei Ke took a deep breath and then walked towards the little girl not far away, who was the young proprietress who was arguing with Bai Wei.

"Um... hello." When he saw the girl's gaze fall on him, Wei Ke subconsciously took a step back, but still forced himself to say, "I wanted to ask, how do I contact Hunter in this city?"

The little girl tilted her head. "Hunter?"

"Yes, Hunter."

It was Wei Ke's own decision to go out and find the Hunter.

Because he suddenly realized something: after meeting Bai Wei, no matter what happened, his first reaction was to ask Bai Wei.

That's not right.

Putting aside the possibility that Bai Wei might be lying to him, even if he isn't, Bai Wei isn't from this land, and the information he has might not be accurate.

If that's the case, there's absolutely no need for him to put all his eggs in one basket.

Shouldn't he be focusing on gathering more intelligence and information right now?

Just as Bai Wei said, the biggest difference between humans and animals is that humans can think independently, so he also needs to break away from Bai Wei to think independently.

Uh, speaking of which, does thinking independently from Bai Wei, based on Bai Wei's words, actually count as breaking away from Bai Wei?

Wei Ke found himself lost in thought.

The more I thought about it, the more itchy my scalp felt, as if something was about to grow out of it.

"Hey, hey, hey." A hand waving in front of his eyes interrupted Wei Ke's thoughts. Wei Ke looked up and saw the landlady looking at him with annoyance. "What are you doing? You asked me a question and then started spacing out. Do you even want to find Hunter?"

"Oh, oh, oh, oh." Wei Ke snapped out of his daze and nodded repeatedly. "What I'm looking for, what I'm looking for."

If he had to say, Wei Ke would rather trust the Hunter than Bai Wei, the Rhine Father.

After all, all the changes he is experiencing now are due to the Old Hunter's guidance, which led him to the lost Sacrificial Ground.

It's highly likely that only Hunter who have also been to the Lost Sacrificial Ground will know what exactly happened to his body.

Unfortunately, over all this time, the only Hunter Wei Ke has ever truly interacted with is the Old Hunter who has already passed away. So, Wei Ke, the new Hunter, has to rely on asking others to find out the whereabouts of other Hunter.

Fortunately, the young proprietress did know the Hunter's whereabouts. She asked, "What do you want with the Hunter?"

"Uh." Wei Ke scratched his head and answered honestly, "I have a few questions to ask."

"Ask a question? Isn't this a commission?"

No, it's not.

"If that's the case, would a retired Old Hunter be suitable?"

"Okay, okay!" Wei Ke nodded repeatedly. "That would be even better."

The older the better.

Because that means knowing more information.

Under Wei Ke's expectant gaze, the young proprietress smiled and extended her hand.

"What?" Wei Ke didn't react at first.

"Pay up first," the shopkeeper rolled her eyes. "Who's going to take you if you don't pay?"

"Uh, okay."

A few minutes later, Bai Wei, who was sitting by the window with a cup of hot tea in his hand, watched as Wei Ke followed the bouncy little landlady out of the hotel.

It looked just like a loyal little dog.

Wei Ke went to find the Hunter with Bai Wei's permission... no, more accurately, at Bai Wei's suggestion.

Just as Bai Wei has always said, Wei Ke needs to find himself.

Because who Wei Ke really is depends solely on himself, and Bai Wei cannot interfere.

And all Bai Wei could do was...

"I really hope that in the end I don't have to kill you with my own hands."

Bai Wei finished his hot tea in one gulp and turned to leave.