Don't Come Back Again

"What's wrong?" Yi Weina noticed Wei Ke's unusual expression and looked at the name as well. "'Lei Ao'? Is there something wrong with that name?"

Wei Ke said, "I think I should have met him."

"Huh?" Yi Weina's eyes widened. "Impossible, right? The people here have all been dead for who knows how long... Hmm... Let me see."

Yi Weina leaned closer and looked at the birth date under the name.

"He was Hunter from a hundred years ago, born before the Senro God had even died. How could you have seen him? What's going on?"

"I don't know what happened either," Wei Ke said, "But he was the one who sent A De and me here in the first place."

"Are you talking about the Hunter you first encountered?"

Wei Ke nodded.

"That shouldn't be the case." Yi Weina frowned. "He couldn't possibly have really lived for over a hundred years. Could he be Wildfire Cultist in disguise? You mentioned before that you suspected that guy was a member of the Wildfire Sect."

"It's certainly possible it's an imposter," Wei Ke said after a moment's thought. "But why would an imposter use this name?"

"This must be a coincidence."

"I don't think so, and..." Wei Ke shook his head, carefully examined the broken skeleton, and said in a low voice, "I feel like it is this person."

"What do you mean you feel like it's this person?" Yi Weina was speechless. "He's just bones now, how could you possibly remember his taste?"

"No, that's not it," Wei Ke said, pointing to the skeleton. "I just think the skeletons are similar, they're the same size."

Yi Weina was quite surprised. "You can even tell if the bones are similar?"

"Yes, can't you tell?"

"... Don't take this ability for granted."

Yi Weina found this very strange and instinctively thought Wei Ke was talking nonsense, but she quickly thought of her grandmother.

The Wildfire Cultist had also transformed into her grandmother, to a degree that she couldn't even recognize. To this day, Yi Weina still doesn't know how the Wildfire Cultist managed to do it.

Clearly, Wei Ke was also thinking of Yi Weina's grandmother, and then couldn't help but ask, "Is there really a way to bring people back to life?"

Resurrected from the dead...

This word struck a chord with Yi Weina once again, but she quickly remembered what Bai Wei had told her—"Whether human or god, once you're dead, you're dead. There's no way to bring you back to life."

So she forcefully stopped herself from having that thought, and then whispered to Wei Ke, "It's impossible. No one can come back to life. If the Lei Ao you met really did come back to life, then what about these bones? Judging from the bones, he's been dead for who knows how many years. How could he have come looking for you a month ago?"

"...You're right." Wei Ke's voice was also somewhat low.

Yi Weina and Wei Ke both harbored an unspeakable longing for the possibility of being resurrected, but they also knew that this longing was wrong.

"So let's see what's going on," Yi Weina said. "We need to figure out why these Hunter died here, and what era they were from."

Wei Ke nodded repeatedly and began searching again.

So it's not quite appropriate to use the word "rummaging" through a pile of bones, but that's exactly what they did—searching through a pile of broken remains for something that could identify them.

To be honest, this was not an easy task, because the Hunter's clothes were worn out by time. Very few, like Lei Ao's, had their names and birth dates clearly legible. Of the few that were found, either the names were worn away, the birth dates were worn away, or neither was present.

The few plaques on the list did not contain much valuable information, except that these Hunter died after the passing of the Senro God.

"It seems to be the work of the Wildfire Cultist," Wei Ke said. "They've been hunting Hunter, just like they did with Ryan."

"It could only be them, but..." Yi Weina frowned deeply, "Why are their bodies here?"

Is there a problem here?

"Of course, have you forgotten what I said before? The Sacrificial Ground only has one entrance and exit," Yi Weina said in a low voice. "And that entrance and exit has always been guarded by the successive Senro Saintess. If any Hunter were slaughtered, we couldn't possibly not know."

Wei Ke was also stunned.

Yes, so many Hunter have died here, how could Yi Weina, as a saintess, not know?

And...

When he saw the corpses, Wei Ke felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Just as Wei Ke was about to start over, he suddenly caught a whiff of something outside Hall of Valor.

"Someone's coming!" Wei Ke grabbed Yi Weina's hand, telling her not to move.

Yi Weina blinked. "Is it Father Ulu?"

"No?" Wei Ke looked tense. "They are Wildfire Cultist."

The two Wildfire Cultist slowly pushed open the door to Hall of Valor, then exchanged glances and turned their gaze to the innermost room.

They could already smell it; it wasn't a scent that belonged here.

So they removed their weapons, entered Hall of Valor, and slowly made their way towards the inner chambers.

They wore Hunter's clothes, used Hunter's weapons, and even their hunting movements and teamwork were no different from those of Hunter.

Judging by their appearance alone, no one would think they were Wildfire Cultist.

However, Wei Ke never needed to use his eyes to confirm identities; to him, the beastly scent emanating from these two Wildfire Cultist was almost palpable.

But he remained calm.

Because he is the real Hunter here.

So, it wasn't until the two Wildfire Cultist reached the inner room and focused all their attention on Yi Weina inside that Wei Ke on the roof beam moved.

He was very fast, and by the time the two Wildfire Cultist heard the sound, it was too late.

Wei Ke leaped from the roof beam. As one of the Wildfire Cultist raised his head, it was severed in a flash of light, and blood gushed out like a fountain, splattering onto the other Wildfire Cultist.

"Damn it!" The Wildfire Cultist immediately swung his axe at Wei Ke.

This action surprised Wei Ke.

After all, he had already gotten face-to-face with the opponent, yet the opponent was still using Hunter's weapon instead of transforming into a wolf like a typical Wildfire Cultist.

But Wei Ke didn't think much of it. He swung the First Hunter Ge Man's hunting knife, which clashed with the opponent's hand axe. After a few crisp sparks flew, the opponent's axe was knocked out of his hand!

Wei Ke was even more surprised.

How can he be so weak?! Is this guy really a Wildfire Cultist?!

But that smell on him... there's no mistake.

Without hesitation, Wei Ke swung his knife at the opponent's chest again.

With a "splatter" sound, blood bloomed from the other person's chest, and then he staggered back two steps before collapsing straight down.

"You..."

He pointed at Wei Ke, wanting to say something, but he couldn't utter a word because Wei Ke's powerful slash had opened a huge gash in his chest cavity, almost crushing his internal organs.

Then his head lolled to the side, and he breathed his last, without uttering a single word.

And so the battle ended.

... What exactly happened?

What are these two Wildfire Cultist doing here?

Wei Ke was somewhat puzzled.

But it doesn't matter, the battle is over anyway.

He sheathed his knife and was about to go to the inner room to inform Yi Weina, who was hiding, when he inexplicably glanced at the fallen Wildfire Cultist again.

A hollowed-out, crushed chest cavity.

The floor was splattered with blood.

The Hunter's outfit was tattered.

All of this suddenly felt like sharp needles stimulating Wei Ke's brain, causing him to instinctively clutch his head and cry out in pain.

"Wei Ke?!" Yi Weina, who was in the inner room, heard the voice and asked anxiously, "Are you alright?"

"I didn't..."

Wei Ke instinctively raised his head, wanting to respond to Yi Weina.

Then he froze.

Because the "Hunter" lying in a pool of blood was no longer the Wildfire Cultist, but... himself!

"Get out of here, A De."

"Wei Ke" spoke softly from the pool of blood.

"Don't come back."

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"Huff, huff, huff..."

Abeike stared intently ahead.

Before him was a "zongzi" made of countless venomous snake-like Corruption Chains, and Bai Wei was under that zongzi.

Abeike could no longer sense Bai Wei's vitality.

So... he succeeded?

Abeike was incredulous.

It was a success just like that?

He just killed a guy with Five Corpse Pieces like that?!

"Visas! Visas! Visas!"

"Eat him! Eat him!"

The several mouths on his body started shouting again, giving Abeike a splitting headache.

There's no time left to think about those things.

Those guys, those despicable guys are devouring his mind!

He was already struggling with just one body part; he had to get more body parts from Bai Wei... Now, immediately!

Then his hand left the ground, and a new body emerged from the previously burned remains, like a snake shedding its skin.

However, his entire body was covered with eyes, and these eyes were all staring intently at Bai Wei's position, filled with resentment and greed.

But Abeike didn't notice; he just kept moving forward, forward, and forward again.

We're here, almost there.

Abeike extended his hand.

Once he reaches that place and obtains those Five Corpse Pieces, he will survive, and no one will be able to harm him or fight against him again.

More than twenty mouths on Abeike's body simultaneously revealed smiles.

Then they both solidified at the same time.

The moment he reached out, the Corruption Chains he had released suddenly turned around and bit into his body, rendering him unable to move.

"Tsk tsk tsk, to be honest, although I was mentally prepared, I still didn't expect it to be like this." A mocking voice rang out, "The combination of the Devourer and the power of Visas is so... ugly."

Abeike looked up and saw a richly dressed person standing in front of him, smiling at him.

Then came a series of "pfft" sounds.

Abeike's body was pierced by holy swords thrown from all directions, pinning him to the spot like countless steel nails.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he couldn't utter a word.

Because those holy swords contained the power of sealing, even the devourer cells in his body were suppressed.

How is this possible?!

"Let me introduce myself," the other party said with a smile. "I am Bishop Fei Ge of the Northern Bishop of the Rhine God Sect. In the name of the Lord, I will reclaim what does not belong to you. Of course, if I accidentally take your life in the process, then..."

Fei Ge paused, then broke into an even brighter smile.

"That's what you deserve."

Abeike's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"But who exactly are you?" Fei Ge tilted his head and looked at Abeike. "You're not Ulu, nor are you the Seven Sound Player wanted by the Holy Sound, so... who are you?"

Abeike was speechless.

"Looks like a pleasant surprise." Fei Ge looked at the Rhine Knight standing next to Abeike. "What do you think?"

The Rhine Knight pried open Abeike's mouth.

"They are teeth," the Knight said. "His body parts are teeth."

Fei Ge laughed, "Teeth? This is actually a pleasant surprise. It means that I'm guaranteed to get back at least Three Corpse Pieces."

"But he's too deeply fused with the Devourer," the Knight said. "Our current methods are insufficient to separate them. We can only burn him completely with Rhine Holy Fire and then extract his teeth."

"I see." Fei Ge showed a slightly regretful expression. "It seems we're destined not to take such a big gift without giving anything in return."

He paused, then broke into an even brighter smile.

"But it doesn't matter, we've already gained more anyway."

Fei Ge's words made Abeike's eyes widen even more.

Because what Fei Ge said was implying that the Devourer was sent by them, meaning that Abeike's current state was entirely their fault.

"Woo! Woo!"

Thinking of this, the desperate Abeike twisted his body desperately, trying to break free from the restraints and fight Fei Ge in front of him.

However, under the suppression of the Rhine Holy Sword, even the cells of a powerful Devourer could not move, let alone him.

"I can probably guess what you're going to say," Fei Ge said with a smile, "But unfortunately, you can't say anything."

As he spoke, a pure white flame, seemingly capable of Purification everything, surged from Fei Ge's palm.

"You took what you shouldn't have," Fei Ge said slowly. "So repent to my My Lord after you Purification and ask for forgiveness."

Abeike stared wide-eyed as the Rhine Holy Fire in Fei Ge's hand drew closer and closer to him, like the Grim Reaper's scythe slowly descending.

"I'll take this tooth," Fei Ge said softly.

But just as the flames were about to spread to Abeike, he suddenly heard a crisp, melodious... snap of fingers.

The powerful, murderous flames were instantly extinguished with a "poof," just like the flame on a candle.

Also destroyed were several holy swords on Abeike's body.

In an instant, all the constraints on Abeike vanished.

Fei Ge's hand was already outstretched in front of Abeike.