Unsurprisingly.
Two days later, Xixido, a member of the Thousand-Faced Temple's elite guard of fanatics, secretly took part in a special mission to eliminate senior members of the Silver Lamp Masters' conference.
The secondary Blood-Derived he was disguised as was merely the lowest-ranking warrior involved in the secret mission.
A week passed.
It had been nearly ten days since their last exchange of information. Jiali had not seen Xixido again or received any news from him. Naturally, he guessed that the fellow had probably gone to carry out that so-called secret mission.
Though anxious, he could only continue serving in the city guards day after day, watching over one of the entrances to this cluster of blood nests.
Until this day!
Dozens of Blood-Derived, ragged, weak, and battered, stumbled out of the Mother Nest Forest. At first, the nearby Blood-Derived assumed they were refugees from other Mother Nests. Such things had been common since the Calamity.
But when someone recognized a few familiar faces in the crowd and took a closer look, cries of disbelief rang out.
"Bishop Laili, you're Bishop Laili!"
Several Blood-Derived cried out in astonishment, pointing at a one-eared donkey Blood-Derived. They then clasped their hands in devout prayer.
Bishop Laili was merely one of the ordinary Blood-Derived among the refugees.
He was badly wounded, and his face was stricken with fear. After seeing so many believers, he did his best to appear calm. He returned the greetings of those who had recognized him, then hurried to catch up with the higher-ranking Blood-Derived ahead and return to the Mother Nest Temple.
These Blood-Derived were the Temple's core leadership: the Thousand-Faced God's attendants, messengers, and High Priests.
They were the highest-ranking clerics ordinary believers could hope to encounter.
By comparison, Bishop Laili was no more than a peripheral