Chapter 18: Just for Fun and Happiness
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[Fifteen Low-Rank Cultists Sacrificed]
[One Second-Rank Cultist Sacrificed]
[Life Points Gained: 5. Received title 'The Newborn' bonus, which increases Life Points to 5.5. Affected by the Red Moon, the bonus is 7 Life Points, convertible into Low-Rank Blessings]
The Red Moon smeared half the sky with its bloody moonlight.
Miss Enya, driving a carriage, crushed the light layer of rime on the mountain path with the hooves of her horses, speeding into the wild under the cover of night. An Su sat in the back of the carriage, holding a map and calculating the route.
"Next, if we travel five kilometers to the east, we will see a river, and there is a cave on the north side of the river."
An Su, combining his memories from a previous life, accurately pinpointed the location of the Cultists, "There are thirty Cultists inside, ready for slaughter."
Indeed, taking the initiative to level up is faster!
All his waiting for the Red Moon night was not in vain.
It was now nine in the evening.
In just one hour, An Su had wiped out a small Cultist stronghold, earning a blessing of 7 Life Points.
According to his plan, he intended to take down all small strongholds within a ten-kilometer radius of the City-State tonight.
Miss Enya showed no surprise that An Su could pinpoint the Cultists' location so accurately; instead, she faithfully and unquestioningly carried out his commands.
In the mind of this maid, there was no need to question anything her young master did.
She snapped the whip, turned the carriage, and soon found the small river, its cold moonlight spreading across the channel, shimmering in ripples.
Following the river eastward, they indeed found a cave, aglow with firelight and occasionally echoing with the cries and screams of children.
All of them were children with a strong presence of dark elements.
However, they were not Children of the Curse but rather Dark Children.
The birth of a Child of the Curse is accompanied by death, their dark elements so intense it's as if they are cursed into existence.
Out of a thousand Dark Children, only one Child of the Curse is born, like An Su.
Still, even if not a Child of the Curse, merely having an excess of dark elements was enough for these children to suffer discrimination or be abandoned, sold, or kidnapped.
What came next was simple.
An Su put on a human skin mask and walked straight into the cave, shouting, 'Your Xianzong has arrived!'
And just like that, as if following procedure, he was led into the cave, placed upon the altar, and then sacrificed.
In the end...
"You fucking can't do this!"
"I can't accept this!"
"I've actually been sacrificed by a damn kid!"
"Great Mother Goddess, I am your true Believer!"
An Su paid no attention to the cries of the Cultists as their faith shattered.
[Fifteen Low-Rank Cultists Sacrificed]
[One Second-Rank Cultist Sacrificed]
[Earned 8 Life Points. With the 'The Newborn' title and Red Moon's influence, obtained 11.2 Life Points.]
[Total: 18.2 Life Points]
This is the way to play!
Leveling up should be done like this!
As for those little brats he rescued, An Su had a plan for them as well.
All these children were orphans, unwanted and unloved, and also possessed dark talents, making them a talent pool for An Su's future.
In the future, when he needed to train a loyal army, when he needed secret followers, these children would prove useful.
He could entrust them to Enya for training.
So, An Su told them all to head to Chenxing Manor, where they would be taken in; at least they would get to eat cake every day.
If the Church's saints were to purge a Cultist stronghold, these cursed children were mostly dealt with on the spot.
They were not children of nobility but orphans abandoned by their parents, and no one would care about them.
Externally, it would be declared that those children were killed by the Cultists, and no one would investigate.
Even if they survived and returned, they would still be kidnapped, still be sacrificed, and after sacrifice, they would increase the Cultists' power. Conversely, if the Cult's power grew too strong, it could threaten to overthrow the Church.
For the Church, the Dark Children were a double-edged sword.
It's just that they didn't usually do a large scale cleanup.
The city's cursed children would not be killed—the first reason was the consideration of external public opinion; the Church had to maintain a facade of holiness and greatness.
The second reason was more important: some children needed to be left for the Cultists to sacrifice, allowing them to level up.
If the Cultists had no offerings to sacrifice, their ranks would remain low. Killing Low-Rank Cultists would yield very few faith points for the saints.
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Cultists should not be allowed to reach too high a rank, nor should they be allowed to remain too low;
just as with breeding pigs and cucumbers, the number of Children of the Curse cannot be too high, nor can they be entirely wiped out—it must be controlled within a suitable range.
—This is the Radiant Holy See.
The great and sacred Radiant Holy See, the high and mighty saints—these are their unspoken rules.
An Su's thoughts returned to the present. He checked the time. It was just around dawn, and the blood moon above was brilliantly resplendent.
There was still plenty of time. Next target!
He mounted his horse at once, not even bothering with a carriage,
Having received the blessings and cleansing of the Mother Goddess, An Su's body was now perfectly capable of riding a horse. He whipped the horse, which let out a thunderous neigh and galloped toward the East.
"Open up, the Church is here to bring warmth!"
Two o'clock in the morning.
"Mother Goddess of desire and the moon..."
"Your devout believer, An Su Moningsta, presents a gift..."
"Inviting you to dine with me!"
[Ten Low-Rank Believers sacrificed]
[One Second-Rank Believer sacrificed]
[Three Life Points gained]
Half-past two in the morning, next target!
"Mother Goddess of desire and the moon..."
"Your devout..."
"Inviting you to dine with me!"
[Thirteen Low-Rank Cultists sacrificed]
[One Second-Rank Cultist sacrificed]
[Gained...]
Three o'clock in the morning, next target!
[Sacrificed...]
The more he sacrificed, the more spirited An Su became.
His actions became smoother and more efficient, sacrificing wherever he went, truly embodying the great teachings of the Mother Goddess to the fullest and implementing the Church's demon-extermination spirit correctly, hitting the mark with precision and decisiveness.
All along the way, bodies were strewn everywhere, tears flowed freely, and where his horse's hooves trod, there were the laments of cultists.
He would enter, tell the children to close their eyes and cover their ears, and then proceed to sacrifice.
His silk-smooth combos were executed to perfection, wasting not a moment of extra time.
He strictly controlled the sacrifice time at each stronghold to within half an hour, never exceeding one minute over the limit.
Even Enya, following calmly with the cleanup and destroying the evidence, had increased her pace to a steady flow.
Everywhere he went, the Cultists began questioning their faith and even doubting the purpose of their lives:
Great Mother Goddess, how could you be seduced away so easily by this brat!
Are you made of brass?
Along the way, invitation after invitation to 'dine with me' went out—it's a wonder how many times he 'dined' with the Mother Goddess. Even a pig would be stuffed by now.
After An Su gave this otherworldly place a little shock of Huaxia's test-taking, he now brought them another little tremor of Huaxia's level-grinding methods.
Even Enya, who was usually unflappable, seemed a bit stunned. She blinked, "Is the Mother Goddess so easygoing?"
"They are all good girls," An Su said with a bright smile, beaming with sunshine.
Enya felt that compared to those middle-aged men cloaked in hoods and donning gilded masks, her own master's outfit was more fitting for someone mixed with a dark cult.
The fake Cultist: Sleazy expression, timid and shrinking, over fifty years old, wearing a hood and gold mask, with a hollow and void gaze.
The true Cultist: Sunshine bright, poised and natural, a flower of the motherland, wearing cotton pants and coats, with clear and studious eyes!
But no matter what An Su was up to, it didn't concern Enya. Her job was to do her part well.
"Master, dawn is approaching."
Enya burned the remains of the Cultists, eliminating the traces, then took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from An Su's cheeks, "Shall we continue?"
The blood color of the red moon in the sky had already vanished. The cool, moonlit frost spread over the clouds, becoming paler—dawn's early light could now be seen on the horizon.
"All the Cult strongholds within a ten-kilometer radius have been cleansed."
An Su consulted the map, still wearing a bright smile, "There are three days of the red moon night, we'll continue tomorrow evening."
What other mischiefs does brother Xianzong have up his sleeve?
It's all for a bit of fun, a bit of happiness.