Back to the Tribunal

Cheng Shi and his group carefully bypassed the church staff's line of sight, climbed over the high wall of the inner courtyard, and left the church. They hadn't gone far when they saw Gou Feng standing guard in the bushes outside the church.

The once robust and sturdy chieftain was now emaciated, his body hunched and his face pale; he was a far cry from the imposing figure he had been during the day.

But he still loved to laugh, and as soon as he saw Cheng Shi, he grinned with his bloodless mouth.

"Cheng Shi, thank you."

"?" Cheng Shi was taken aback, then realized that Zhang Jizu must have said something to Gou Feng that caused the misunderstanding. But this was a small matter and not worth explaining too much, so he nodded and said, "We're teammates, it's only right."

Gou Feng laughed even more heartily, and some color even returned to his face.

"No, nothing in this world is obligatory. You have earned my gratitude, and I will remember you."

I didn't fall in love with the wrong person.

"..."

Brother, please don't do this, I'm a little scared.

Whether you remember or not doesn't matter, I'll be thankful if you don't end up killing me.

"Let's talk about pleasantries later. First, let's find a place to hide. Afros, is there anywhere we can avoid the church's search?"

Tullatin frowned and pondered for a moment, just about to speak, when Zhang Jizu spoke first.

"I do know of a place."

"Where?"

"The Evil Infant Tribunal!"

Cheng Shi was taken aback. "The courthouse?"

He thought about it carefully for a while and felt that going to this place was quite risky.

"The courthouse was just burned down. When you came out, you must have run into church personnel who went in to search, right?"

If it were me, I wouldn't just search such an unusual place once. Although we can most likely fool the investigators, it's better not to take the risk.

But to his surprise, Zhang Jizu shook his head as soon as he finished speaking.

"I had assumed that the church personnel outside the Inquisition would care more about the burned church buildings, but after I resurrected the chief, I found that they would only go as far as the outer courtyard and were unwilling to go any further inside."

These people glanced around casually, observed the situation on the second floor, and then, fearing they might have any connection with the Wuma Sinners who had died there, they fled as fast as they could.

Ironically, after they left, there wasn't a soul in sight around the opened doors of the courthouse.

That's why I think the courthouse might be a good hiding place.

Is that so?

Cheng Shi looked slightly taken aback. He frowned and turned to look at Tullatin, only to see that Tullatin's face was also filled with shock.

But what shocked her was clearly not the attitude of these church personnel, but the fact that the squinty-eyed man was causing trouble in the inquisition.

"Did you set that fire? Did you burn all the Wuma Sinners to death?"

"No, no, no, it really was a fire that fell from the sky. We just happened to be there and happened to save a friend."

"Just a coincidence..." Tullatin's expression turned utterly speechless. "Was this accident also part of the plan?"

Cheng Shi chuckled twice, "If you think so, it's not impossible. Putting that aside for now, do you think it's feasible for us to hide in the courthouse?"

"It should be feasible. That was the former leader's private territory, and even my father was unwilling to get too involved. After the Wuma Sinners began their path of atonement, they became strange in character. Apart from the Uda people who consider themselves the children of the " Birth ", probably no one would want to provoke them."

"Then let's go!"

Seeing that Cheng Shi had made his decision, the group quickly rushed back to the courthouse.

The route back was the same familiar road. Zhang Jizu walked at the front, leading everyone along the wall to avoid all the church personnel still running around. Cheng Shi was Cheng Shi impressed by his skillful movements.

"Old Zhang, you have a good sense of the road."

"The more you walk the old path, the more familiar you become with it."

"..."

Oh no, he managed to install it.

Cheng Shi curled his lip in disdain and didn't reply.

Not long after, the group scaled the high wall and hid on the second floor of the burned-out courthouse. Looking at the pools of charred ash before them, Cheng Shi frowned and asked:

"So how exactly did these Uma people atone for their sins?"

Tullatin bowed her head and murmured something to the ashes, then looked up and said with a sigh:

"Do you remember the history I just mentioned? In the understanding of the ancient tribes, the fetus is the closest existence to Him. So these people turned back into fetuses in order to gain the sympathy of [Birth] and make Him look at them again."

Once Umbilical Cord Shackles are put on, they cannot be removed on their own; only external force can free them.

In the eyes of the Wuma Sinners, this rescue from suffering is His forgiveness of the people of Umma!

When a helpless infant, at the mercy of others, is rescued by an outsider, it means that this Wuma Sinners has cleansed himself of his sins and become a free soul free from remorse and oppression.

But the predatory nature ingrained in the Uma people is not so easily discarded. So when they are reborn, the first thing they do is often find a suitable 'Vessel' and use that blasphemous Birth Descendant Technique on her once again.

In their delusional belief, the sin of this birth should be borne by the newborn Newborn. When the Newborn grows up, it will pick up the untied Umbilical Cord Shackles and turn itself back into a fetus, waiting for His forgiveness to continue the next cycle of reincarnation.

Only in this way can the Uma people barely continue to exist today, a time when they are disliked by everyone and avoided by all.

But the poor woman who was forced to become the Uma's Vessel for reproduction did not think that way. She would only live in blasphemous fear, slowly driven mad by her own fear, and even die helplessly.

That's why I advised you not to provoke these lunatics.

But now... we probably won't encounter that kind of risk again.

For some reason, Cheng Shi felt something was off after hearing the story of the Wuma Sinners ' "exoneration." He frowned, pondered for a moment, and then asked:

"I remember that the Wuda Rioters' Divine Seeding Technique can make the next generation believe they are of Uda blood. Does the Birth Descendant Technique have a similar effect?"

Will a newborn fetus retain the Memory of the person performing the procedure?

"No, Newborn only inherit the superior bloodline and physique of the previous generation, but they still need someone to raise them and teach them to recognize and understand the world."

"I see." Cheng Shi nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly asked Gou Feng, "You... as His Believer, you know these things, right?"

Gou Feng nodded, his face pale, as if his body was still enduring immense pain.

"Indeed, I have seen these rumors in the old objects of the Life Era, which is why I escaped this calamity using this method."

Cheng Shi nodded without asking any further questions, then turned to the squinty-eyed man and said, "You guys rest. I'll keep watch tonight. After we get through the night's investigation, I'll go with Scorpio to find Lisfir first thing tomorrow morning."

Everyone nodded and cleared a space in the ruins to rest. Zhang Jizu narrowed his eyes and cast a calming Calming Technique on everyone.

"You should go and rest too. I'll keep watch," Zhang Jizu said softly as he walked to Cheng Shi's side.

Cheng Shi tilted his head and chuckled, "Why does that sound so familiar? Did you used to work the night shift every day at the Cemetery?"

"Well, my colleagues don't like working the night shift, but I don't mind, so they always schedule me for the night when they're scheduling shifts."

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "They're ostracizing you. You're so smart, you can't be oblivious, can you?"

Zhang Jizu squinted and smiled, "So what if you can tell? You can't just quit. But the night shift has its advantages. At least it's more lively in the Cemetery at night than during the quiet daytime."

"..."

Lively?

The kind of liveliness you're talking about should ideally be the liveliness of the living world.

"So this is why you chose death? You like those chattering Little Skull?"

Hearing Cheng Shi's teasing, Zhang Jizu smiled and shook his head:

"Before embarking on the path of [death], I didn't know they were so noisy, but it's good, at least the world of skulls is much simpler than the human heart in reality."

Cheng Shi glanced at the squinty-eyed man with surprise, then asked with interest, "May I ask how your colleagues are doing now?"

"Them..." Zhang Jizu's eyes suddenly narrowed to slits, and he said with a sigh, "They've probably all gone to serve that the Great One."

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly.

He understood that the "serving" in the squinty-eyed man's mouth did not mean walking the path of death like him, but rather being like those noisy Little Skull, placed beneath the White Bone Staircase leading to the Bone Throne.

Indeed, the one who survives to the end is the biggest winner. This statement applies both before and after the game begins.

As for how to survive to the end...

Some chose to kill all their opponents, while others chose to endure and survive.

Squinty eyes might be the latter, but that doesn't mean he can't be the former.

This Gravekeeper is quite interesting.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Why didn't you cast a Healing Art on our chieftain teammate? He looked rather grim."

The voice was very soft, so soft that if Zhang Jizu hadn't had exceptional hearing, he wouldn't have heard what Cheng Shi said at all.

He glanced thoughtfully at the chief, who had gone to rest alone in a corner, and said in a low voice as well:

"He refused, saying he needed pain to keep his nerves on edge and constantly alert."

"You believe that?" Cheng Shi asked in astonishment.

"I don't believe it, but since he has already refused, why should I still treat him?"

"..." That makes sense, absolutely right.

Put aside any maternal instincts and respect your teammates' Destiny.

Cheng Shi clicked his tongue, looked in Gou Feng's direction again, and said nothing more.