The Fallen Church Knight

"Little one, this character is..."

In the Deep Forest at night, John began teaching Parr how to read and write. The textbook was the Beast Slaughter Manual worth a hundred gold coins, and he was teaching him the writing of the Wind Wolf Kingdom.

"Mm, I remember it."

Parr studied very seriously. On top of that, he already knew the Wind Wolf Kingdom's everyday spoken and written language, so he learned incredibly quickly.

"Set off!"

At dawn the next day, just as the sun peeked over the horizon, the big man and the little boy set off once more. There was really nothing much to say—long journeys were destined to be dull.

As time passed, the once novel and unfamiliar scenery gradually became familiar. Parr no longer had any interest in looking around. Instead, he trudged along behind John, thinking about how to catch a Stupid Rabbit.

Before Parr even noticed the passage of time, the sun had risen overhead, and it was noon.

"Let's rest here!"

John found another small clearing in the forest and began eating and resting.

"Dead rabbit! I'm back!"

Parr only ate a little before getting to his feet and charging into the grass. He had no appetite right now. All he could think about was catching that outrageously arrogant Stupid Rabbit.

"Hahaha."

After eating, John continued watching Parr's performance, bursting into laughter from time to time. He was just short of cheering aloud. If he had not been afraid of provoking Parr, John truly would have done so.

The third showdown between predator Parr and the Stupid Rabbit began.

This time, Parr's plan was clear. I can't pounce at it. I need to make the Stupid Rabbit jump. It can't push off anything in midair, so that'll be the best time to strike. I just have to be careful—the direction it jumps is completely random. This is the real training for reaction speed! Uncle John really should've told me sooner. Otherwise, I could've eaten roasted rabbit yesterday.

With a clear plan in mind, Parr sprang into action. Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the area and spotted another gray Stupid Rabbit. Why had rabbits that loved courting death so much not gone extinct yet? Was it because they bred so much? Rustle, rustle...

Parr slowly approached. Once he was close enough, he suddenly took several huge steps forward, trying to provoke the Stupid Rabbit into jumping.

However...

"Dead rabbit! Stop right there!"

The Stupid Rabbit gave Parr, this two-legged beast, a contemptuous glance, then turned around and hopped away. It did not leap high at all. Feeling as though his intelligence had been insulted like never before, Parr flew into a rage and began another chase.

Huff... huff...

"No! I can't let this dead rabbit lead me around by the nose. I need to calm down. Calm down..."

Parr took several breaths and calmed himself. He stood in place and thought for a moment.

Smack! "I've got it!"

Having come up with another idea, Parr slapped his palm, then found the Stupid Rabbit in the grass and crept toward it.

"Hey!"

With a low shout, Parr pounced. The Stupid Rabbit leaped high into the air, and at that moment, Parr stomped the ground and forcibly stopped himself. This time, his attack had been a feint.

"Let's see where you run now!"

Parr looked up at the Stupid Rabbit soaring high overhead and reached out with both hands.

Closer, closer—victory was within Parr's grasp! Squeak, squeak!

The Stupid Rabbit had clearly noticed as well, but it was not panicked. It even seemed like it wanted to laugh. As an old rabbit, how could it have survived this long without any skills? At the critical moment just before Parr grabbed it, the Stupid Rabbit, with no foothold in the air, twisted its large ears and forcibly changed the direction of its descent. Then it kicked Parr's small hand, using it as a foothold to leap away and land in the grass.

"Ow!"

Parr clutched his reddened hand and hopped about, but he was not discouraged. He had only been one step away from success this time. He would definitely succeed next time! Yet until they set off again, Parr never succeeded. This time, he had met a true opponent—an old Stupid Rabbit. No matter what tricks Parr used, it could counter every one of them. Its jumping movements were impossible to predict. Several times, Parr had almost caught it, only for its large ears to change its direction and leave him empty-handed. When possible, it would even kick Parr once, utterly arrogant.

"Damn rabbit!"

"Little one, let's go."

The dull journey continued. But as evening approached, John suddenly stopped walking.

"Uncle John, what is it? Are we resting here today?" Parr stopped and looked around. There was no clearing nearby.

"No."

John shook his head, stepped aside, and pointed at a patch of tangled grass ahead.

"Little one, look over there."

"Oh?"

Parr focused his gaze and was immediately startled. There was a person lying there! No! That was not a living person, but a dead one! And it was a dried corpse.

"Uncle John..."

"Let's take a look."

John raised a hand to stop Parr from speaking, then walked over. Parr hurriedly followed, his large eyes sweeping the surroundings in case danger appeared.

"It's a Church Knight."

When they reached the body, John recognized the man's identity at a glance. Pointing at the corpse's torn white light armor, he said, "Only Church Knights wear this kind of light armor. It makes it easier for them to move around in cities."

"Mm."

Parr was not afraid. He had cut down so many Walking Corpses that a dried corpse could not scare him. But why was there a Church Knight's corpse here? Could it be...

"It should have been the work of the two cultists who appeared in your Haystack Village."

Before Parr could ask, John gave the answer. They had thought of the same possibility. Squatting beside the corpse, John examined it as he said, "This body was eroded into this state by dense death elements. Using death elements to erode people's bodies is the Death Cult's specialty. He must have tracked those two cultists here. In other words, he was a knight from the Azure Stone City Church."

"..."

Looking at the shriveled corpse, Parr shuddered. He thought of the gray mist that had drained his Stamina and Mental Power back then. So the Black-Robed Man had held back! Otherwise, he would have ended up like this too.

"That was really dangerous."

Parr muttered in a low voice, still shaken. Then he saw John stand up, clap his hands, and look ahead.

"This isn't the main battlefield."

The place where Parr and John found the Church Knight's body truly was not the main battlefield. After walking forward another dozen steps and pushing aside the grass blocking their way, they saw an area ahead where trees had fallen and green grass had withered. Two shattered Black Robe corpses lay on the ground. Through their torn robes, Parr could see that their skin was bronze-colored.

"Bronze Walking Corpses!"

Parr could not help crying out. He had not expected to find two Bronze Walking Corpses already slain here. Could the dead Church Knight from earlier have done this? That would have been incredible—almost on John's level.

John also recognized the identities of the Black Robe corpses, and surprise appeared on his face. "I never expected that cultist to have four Bronze Walking Corpses. If all those Walking Corpses had been there at the time, it probably would have been a hard battle with an uncertain outcome."

After saying that, John turned to Parr and patted his little head. "I have to say, little one, your Haystack Village was truly lucky. If that Church Knight had not risked his life to take out two Bronze Walking Corpses, you might not have lived to see the sun the next morning. So, you know what we should do now, right?"

"Mm."

Parr nodded, then turned and walked toward the Church Knight's corpse behind them.

"Uncle John, I want to cremate him and take him back to the Azure Stone City Church."

"Good lad!"

A satisfied smile appeared on John's face as he watched Parr's back, and then he followed him.

"I'll help you."

In the Deep Forest, Hardwood and Oilwood were the most common, while Ironwood and other trees were rare. Before long, with John's help, Parr gathered enough Oilwood blocks to cremate the corpse, and he witnessed John's method of using Battle Qi to dry wood.

Oilwood had to be sun-dried before it could be used. What John did saved Parr a great deal of effort. Otherwise, Parr could only have gathered dry branches.

Whoosh...

As evening fell, thick smoke and firelight rose from the clearing created by the battle between the Church Knight and the cultists. Parr and John stood nearby, silently watching.

Suddenly, John said something that sounded like a joke. "Little one, if one day I die at the hands of cultists like this brave Church Knight, you must collect my body too."

"Mm."

Parr nodded seriously. He would definitely collect John's body. Not only that, he would also...

"Uncle John, if you die, I'll avenge you too. If you have family, I'll take good care of them for you."

"You brat!"

John was amused by Parr's serious expression. He lightly smacked the back of Parr's head and said irritably, "You brat, are you really hoping I'll die that badly?"

"But you said..."

After the cremation, Parr gathered the Church Knight's ashes and placed them together with the light armor he had worn and some personal belongings, wrapping them into a small bundle.

Crackle, crackle...

It was already late, so John and Parr did not continue their journey. Instead, they built a fire on the spot and rested. After eating some rations, Parr had no mood to catch Stupid Rabbits tonight. He only stared blankly at the firelight, lost in thought. He was thinking about that Church Knight. What had made him pursue alone from Green Stone Territory to White Deer Territory? And what had made him refuse to retreat even when he knew death was certain, advancing until his final breath? "Damn cultists!"

Suddenly, John's furious curse beside him caught Parr's attention. Coming back to himself, Parr turned and saw John holding a small notebook, his face filled with anger as he waved an arm and cursed the cultists.

"Uncle John, what is it?"

"Little one, come look. This is the diary of that Church Knight from earlier."

John flipped the notebook in his hand to a certain page and handed it to Parr. Pointing angrily at a passage, he said, "Here. That Church Knight wrote that he accidentally discovered the cultists' trail. Since the situation was urgent and he had no time to personally notify the Azure Stone City Church, he asked the deputy captain of an Azure Stone City Patrol Team he met on the road to notify them. But..."

As he spoke, John took another small notebook from his clothes. This was the list of Death Cult cultists in Green Stone Territory that they had found on the Black-Robed Man.

"That deputy captain named Ma Xi was a deeply hidden cultist, so..."

"So that Church Knight never received any support." Parr finished John's unfinished words, anger appearing on his little face as well.

"I'm definitely going to chop that deputy captain to death!"