Chapter 125: The Madman in the Mountains

Walking on the muddy village road of Laihua Village, Silas suddenly missed his days on Earth a little, as one wouldn't get both feet covered in mud when spring thawed.

Moo moo… Woof woof… Snort snort

The mooing of cows, the barking of dogs, and the snorting of horses came from the courtyards on both sides of the road, mixed with human voices from near and far. In a daze, Silas felt as if he had returned to his childhood rural home.

"Esteemed Father, may I ask if you are a clergyman?" an old man wearing a worn-out black fedora and a rough leather coat asked tentatively.

Silas responded with a smile, "Yes, I am a clergyman of the Church."

Instantly, the old man let out a sigh of relief. "Thank heavens, you've finally arrived."

People generally referred to Church personnel in two ways. One was "Church personnel," meaning ordinary Church staff responsible for normal Church work, as well as prayers, sacrifices, baptisms, and aid-related tasks, like Ada and Sheryl; they were Church personnel.

The other was what the old man called "clergymen." Clergymen specifically referred to Church personnel who dealt with mysticism and were responsible for mystical incidents.

Because they possessed extraordinary power and were more likely to receive the Goddess's grace, they were initially called "mystical duty Church personnel," which was gradually simplified to "clergymen."

Silas asked tentatively, "And you are…"

The old man took off his hat, revealing a head of salt-and-pepper hair. "My name is Martin Richardson. I am the village chief of Laihua Village. It was I who sent the request to the Church the day before yesterday."

Hearing this, Silas smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Village Chief Richardson. My name is Silas Sotos. I am the clergyman who has come to deal with the small blood bats this time."

Seeing the amiable and approachable Silas, Village Chief Richardson was very happy and enthusiastically led Silas to the meeting hall in the center of the village, which was specially used to receive higher-level leaders.

After sitting down, a simple and honest middle-aged woman brewed a cup of red tea for Silas. Village Chief Richardson began to explain the situation in detail.

"This group of small blood bats suddenly appeared in the woods to the east this year and has already killed two villagers who went into the woods to gather firewood."

Mentioning the two deceased individuals, the old village chief looked sorrowful.

Silas asked, "Can you be more specific? The location and number of those blood bats."

The old village chief recalled for a moment. "They often appear in the poplar forest on the mountainside. There are several animal carcasses nearby, probably gnawed clean by them. As for the number, it's around thirty. That was the initial number. Now, they come to our village every night to suck blood. More than ten villagers have been attacked and injured, and two cows and one horse have been killed by these little beasts!"

Silas frowned slightly upon hearing this and fell into deep thought.

The old village chief, seeing Silas's expression, immediately felt his heart tighten. "Mr. Sotos, can this matter be resolved?"

Silas nodded slightly. "The problem is not big, and the situation is similar to what I expected. However, there is one issue I need to confirm."

"Please speak."

"Small blood bats only have a pair of small, hollow teeth for sucking blood; they don't have canines or incisors. They cannot consume any animal tissue. You just mentioned that there are many animal carcasses nearby. What's going on?"

The old village chief thought for a moment, then suddenly realized. "Oh! It might have been eaten by that madman."

"Madman!?" Silas's eyebrows twitched.

The old village chief nodded. "About two years ago, a madman came to the woods near the village. He was covered in hair all over and was crazy, eating anything. Although he had no sanity, he was very afraid of people. Since he wasn't a threat, and the woods actually became much safer because of his appearance, we didn't pay much attention."

"Two years ago? Madman? Covered in hair all over?" Silas grasped the key points of the matter.

The old village chief smiled. "We occasionally see him these two years. He runs away when he sees us, like a wild monkey. He sometimes kills some wild animals to eat. If we're lucky, we can even pick up some leftover meat and fur behind him."

Hearing this, Silas quickly thought, "Could this fellow be related to that incident from two years ago?"

"Alright, I basically understand everything now," Silas stood up, preparing to leave.

The old village chief asked, "Can you solve it? Do you need our help?"

"No need. Just tell me which forest it is," Silas said casually.

It was not convenient for ordinary people to see such mystical matters.

Afterward, following the old village chief's directions, Silas walked out from the road on the east side of the village and, along a winding path, arrived at the foot of a small hill.

This hill was not large, only a mound. The highest point was only a few dozen meters, the slope was gentle, and it was covered with dense trees.

The snow on the hillside had not yet melted, but there were many small paths trodden by previous people in the middle.

Silas casually took out a two-finger-sized, pitch-black thing that looked like a lump of soft flesh.

This was the corpse of a small blood bat, given to him by a hunter when he had just come out.

Silas squatted down and handed the blood bat corpse to the Husky. "Come, smell it."

The Husky leaned over, its black nose twitched, then it sneezed, looking disgusted.

"Haha, I'll give you beef tonight, a pound and a half. Now, follow the lingering scent in the air and help me find them," Silas said, patting its head with a smile.

Awoooo!

Hearing "beef," the Husky immediately became excited. It sniffed the air with its nose and ran off happily towards the hillside.

Silas quickly followed, thinking while running, "Two years ago, mad, covered in hair all over – this is definitely not a coincidence. Who is he then? Is he someone from another organization who survived the attack by the scythe-wielding old man? Or is he a Church clergyman who went mad after being attacked?"

"No matter what, since I've encountered him, I have to take a look. From the description, he has no sanity now and is very afraid of people. His aggressiveness is not strong. Even if I encounter any danger, I still have room to run."

Thinking of this, Silas made up his mind, preparing to find an opportunity to look for that madman.

While contemplating, Silas had already followed the Husky into the woods.

The path on the hillside was still relatively easy to walk. The Husky didn't take any detours at all, following the scent with a clear purpose towards the southern mountainside.

Silas quickly followed. After running for about five minutes, Silas leaned against a tree, panting heavily, his eyes fixed on a small cave, only about one meter high, in a depression not far away.

"Cave-dwelling, corroding hard rock with corrosive saliva to form caves, building nests inside the caves to store blood – it should be correct!"

Silas said, then casually took out the fire talisman from his package. His staff transformed into a longsword, and he cut the dead branches he had picked up into small, easily combustible pieces.

He tied these small wooden pieces together with silk thread, infused spiritual energy into the fire talisman, and abruptly struck it.

Swish, the wood began to burn. Silas, carrying this string of flames, quickly ran up and threw it into the cave entrance.

Instantly, a thick plume of smoke billowed out from the cave entrance.