Even he has things he must protect!
After turning a corner, the tax official's room was not far away.
This mid-to-senior level member of the local parish displayed unprecedented composure, waving his hands to both sides:
"Search separately."
"Sir, didn't His Holiness the Bishop say..."
Is this distance considered too far apart?
The tax official was immediately filled with rage:
"Who do you think you are? A temporary worker who isn't even an intern, and you dare to lecture me?"
The priest fell silent, and the tax collector continued:
"Alright, obey orders and begin the search. Kill any enemies you see; leave no survivors."
"Yes."
The two groups of priests began to move to the left and right respectively, while the tax collector himself started jogging in a third direction.
He needed to get back to his room as soon as possible, collect his valuables, and then reunite with the other priests.
"Hey buddy, look at this room."
Three players were jogging in the church when one of them suddenly looked toward the door beside him.
What happened here?
"It feels more spacious than the previous rooms, and the lighting is better."
"Oh? Is that so?"
The player was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly went to the door.
"Bang!"
He kicked open a door and began ransacking the place, with the other two following suit, searching for valuable items.
However, they found nothing of value; even common items like the robes of the Tree Worship Church were old and wouldn't fetch much money if taken out.
Misfortune, it turns out, was just a facade...
The players cursed inwardly, but continued to loot, since something was better than nothing.
Amidst the commotion, a fallen priest appeared at the doorway, his face filled with grief and indignation:
"What are you doing? Stop!"
He charged forward shouting, but stepped on some wooden splinters from kicking the door, wincing in pain.
The three players turned around, their faces revealing eerie smiles:
"Is this your room?"
The priest, pulling the splinter from his foot, cursed angrily:
"You know that, so why don't you get out of here? I'll give you a quick death."
As he spoke, he forcefully pulled the splinter out of his foot, but unexpectedly cried out in pain.
The tax official initially thought that what had pierced his foot was just an ordinary piece of wooden door, but little did he know that hidden among those fragments was a real killing move— the Blood-Drinking Thornbush (a type of caltrop).
The thorns, now nourished by the blood, have revived and are frantically absorbing nutrients from the priest's body.
Their roots are firmly integrated into their flesh and blood, and cannot be directly broken by brute force.
The tax collector was now in a dilemma; if he put his foot down, the thorny bushes would penetrate even deeper into his flesh.
But if he doesn't land, his strength will be reduced to less than one-tenth of what it was before, and there will likely be many more plant traps like this around...
He was about to hop away on one foot when he heard the footsteps of several players behind him.
Several men swarmed over the priest, piling him on top of him like a human pyramid. Some tied his hands, others gagged him, and they quickly subdued the immobile tax collector, even silencing his wailing.
The tax collector was bound with Oil Vine, the grease staining his coat. A player cornered him with a flint and steel.
Have you ever heard of being burned at the stake?
The tax official could only nod.
The player glared menacingly at the new prisoner.
"Tell us where the valuables are, otherwise..."
The player stepped back and forcefully struck the flint to the side, sending a burst of sparks flying to the ground.
The corrupt priest thought of the oil that was soaking him, and of one of the cruelest punishments in the law—burning at the stake.
He nodded frantically, his terrified face full of pleading.
Two players held knives to the tax collector's neck, and the last one removed the flint Oil Vine from his mouth.
"Speak."
The priest quickly pointed out several hidden treasure locations: under the floorboards, behind the cabinets, under the bed...
As a large town, Black Locust Town has a total of three tax officials, each in charge of different areas, and occasionally even collecting taxes twice from the commoners in the border areas.
Therefore, it is quite normal for him to have some savings that the bishop is unaware of.
Several small boxes were opened in front of the players, and the three were surprised to find that not only were there tree seeds inside, but there were even some metal coins!
Didn't the Tree Worship Church already replace currency with tree seeds?
Seeing the three men's puzzled expressions, the tax official didn't hesitate and began to explain:
"Some ordinary people can't afford to pay taxes, so they'll rummage through their homes and find some old things to give us..."
"Moreover, among those Stained Ones, quite a few like this stuff."
The three players divided up the ill-gotten gains in front of them, then exchanged glances.
The man in the lead looked at the tax officer:
Do you want to live or die?
"I want to live, I want to live."
"Take this if you want to live."
As the player spoke, he pulled something out of his coat and shoved it directly into the tax collector's left shoulder.
The other two looked closer and realized it was actually a white flag about the size of a palm.
"Damn, you've even prepared the white flag?"
"I was researching clothing making with that tailor from Dragonborn Village a while ago. We felt it was a waste to throw away some scraps, so we made a batch of little white flags. I knew they would come in handy."
"He's a genius too."
One person gave a thumbs-up, and the player who was praised turned to look at the tax official:
"If you're still alive, shout 'I surrender' to everyone you see, and they won't kill you."
"I surrender?"
The tax officer repeated the three somewhat awkward syllables, while also feeling a sense of confusion.
What do you mean by "what if I don't die in a little while"?
Before he could even think it through, he was thrown out of the nearest window by three players, crashing to the ground with the sound of the wooden window frame Shattered.
The [ Western Sharpshooter ] in the distance immediately pulled on his reins and rode forward, preparing to throw the lasso in his hand, when he suddenly noticed something unusual about the man.
The guy lying on the ground looked like a giant green worm, his whole body was tightly bound, and there was a white flag on his shoulder...
Upon seeing someone approaching on Hoofed Beast, the tax collector immediately began to shout:
"I surrender! I surrender!"
One of the foreign roommates, a [ Western Sharpshooter ], roughly understood what he meant, but showed no mercy. He swung his lasso and wrapped it around the tax collector's ankle, then dragged him toward the player's base.
As players continued to flood into the second and third floors of the church, the limited resources were eventually completely looted.
The first group of players were able to break down the door and extract the location of valuable items from the priests, but the second group could only take away their robes and other daily necessities.
When the third group of players arrived at the same place, all that awaited them was a "ruin" that had been thoroughly plundered and devastated.