Chapter 128: The Missionary

Walking down the mountain, Silas still felt some lingering fear.

"Fortunately, I was witty enough; otherwise, I might have really kicked the bucket today," Silas thought, recalling Luke's powerful spiritual energy with a chagrined expression.

Just now, the two had engaged in a friendly discussion for an hour and achieved remarkable results, reaching a deep consensus on the issue of dealing with the Church.

Luke highly praised Silas's intelligence and caution and expressed his approval and admiration for Silas's act of rescuing the Demoness.

Silas affirmed Luke's powerful abilities and expressed sympathy for his past experiences.

After exchanging opinions, the two reached a friendly strategic cooperative relationship.

Afterward, the two separated. Luke said he needed to first deal with the hair on his body, and they would discuss detailed issues later.

The suppressive effect of the Evening Bell could last for forty-eight hours, which was enough time for Luke to take care of his personal hygiene and obtain a new identity.

Lost in thought, Silas returned to the village.

Just as he entered the village, he saw a large group of villagers gathered in the square in the center of the village, seemingly looking at something.

Silas moved closer to take a look and saw a white-haired middle-aged man in a black priest's cassock delivering a benevolent sermon, speaking about the benefits of believing in the Lord of Radiance, and so on.

Silas was not surprised by such missionaries.

The Belland Empire was not a one-religion country; belief was relatively free.

As long as it was registered and legal, any religion could be believed in.

For example, this Radiant Church was a very old and established church.

There were many churches similar to the Radiant Church, including the Forest Order, the Elven Homeland, the Sun King's Sanctuary, and so on.

As long as the doctrines were positive and conducive to human unity and peace, they could freely proselytize within the empire.

Silas didn't linger here but directly found the still-waiting village chief, showed him the corpse of the Bat Queen, and indicated that the crusade was over.

The old village chief, upon hearing this, said happily, "Thank you, Mr. Sotos. Thank you for the Goddess's protection."

Silas smiled, looked down at the time, and saw it was only twelve o'clock.

"Oh, by the way! The Church said there seem to be water ghosts haunting nearby and asked me to investigate. Can you show me the location?" Silas said.

The old village chief, upon hearing this, said somewhat embarrassedly, "Well, I thought you weren't responsible for this matter. Just now, a few missionaries passed by and said they could help us solve the water ghost problem. The price was to let them proselytize in the village. So I agreed."

Silas was somewhat surprised upon hearing this and thought to himself, "It seems they are not ordinary missionaries after all!"

"It's alright. Just tell me the location. I'll go over and take a look. What if they are not professionals and leave something behind?"

The old village chief, upon hearing this, looked grateful and sighed, "Thank you for being so considerate of us. It is my greatest honor to meet a clergyman like you."

Silas smiled, politely thanked him, and then got the specific address from the village chief.

The location where the water ghosts appeared was by the river, about three hundred meters south of the village.

This river was a tributary of the Yige River, about twenty meters wide, with a central depth of thirty meters. The water flow was not fast, and small boats could navigate it.

The river was rich in aquatic products and was one of the main economic sources for Laihua Village.

When Silas had just arrived at the riverside, before he even saw anyone, he heard a farmer's anxious voice.

"You can't blow it up! You can't blow it up! This is an irrigation canal. Farming is about to start. If you blow it up, the fields inside will die of drought!"

"Get out of the way! Which is a greater threat, a small piece of farmland or a water ghost nest? Don't you know?" A clear and firm voice came.

"No! No! If this is blown up, our families won't be able to survive this year!" The farmer's voice was about to cry.

Hearing such an anxious voice, Silas quickly ran over. After crossing a bridgehead, Silas saw a farmer looking at three people with a pleading expression.

These three people were dressed differently.

Leading them was a female knight in white heavy armor, carrying a shield and a longsword.

The female knight's armor was very sturdy. Only a pair of azure eyes could be seen; the rest of her body was completely covered in armor.

There were two men beside her.

One man was burly, wearing a strange black robe and a triangular steel helmet.

He had a knife at his waist and a large axe on his back.

The second one's attire was very familiar: two swords, one large and one small, on his back, a crossbow and explosives at his waist, and various potion bottles in the pouch on his thigh. He was a Demon Hunter.

At this moment, the knight pushed the farmer aside, preparing to place the bomb in her hand on the edge of an irrigation canal.

"Stop!" Seeing this, Silas shouted loudly and quickly ran over.

Seeing the farmer's anxious plea, Silas felt a dull ache in his heart.

His parents on Earth were farmers. He remembered clearly from his childhood that when a road was being built near their land, a lot of farmland was crushed. Seeing those flattened young seedlings, his mother had cried several times.

For farmers who had no other income, farmland was everything to them.

He knew very well the consequences if this irrigation canal was blown up; it meant that a large area of farmland behind this canal might die of drought.

The farmer over there, upon seeing Silas, was like someone who had found a savior. He ran over and pleaded, "Father! Father! Please persuade these three esteemed sirs!"

Silas took a deep breath and said with a gentle expression, "Don't worry, sir. I will help you solve this matter."

"Thank you, thank you!" The farmer, hearing this gentle comfort, couldn't help but cry.

After comforting the farmer, Silas turned to look at the three and questioned, "Who are you? Who gave you the right to blow up the irrigation canal here?"

The armored knight carefully sized up Silas and said, "We were invited by the village chief to deal with the water ghosts by the river. Now, the water ghosts' nest is built under this irrigation canal. I must blow it up and exterminate the water ghosts."

Then, the burly man carrying the large axe beside her asked in a gruff voice, "We are missionaries of the Radiant Church. Who are you?"

Silas stepped forward and casually took out his identity card. "Church of Holy Blood, Purple Moon Agent, Silas Sotos."

"Purple Moon Agent!?" Hearing this, the three were simultaneously shocked.

According to their information, the clergymen of this institution were not ordinary clergymen.

Silas stepped forward, blocking them. "This irrigation canal cannot be blown up. This matter is now officially handed over to our Church of Holy Blood for handling. You can leave now."

The Demon Hunter beside him, with a pair of golden vertical pupils, stared at Silas and said in an emotionless voice, "Why do I feel like you are shielding these water ghosts?"

Silas turned his head and stared back at him, retorting sharply, "You are not qualified to judge whether I am shielding them or not. From your actions just now, you have seriously threatened the safety and interests of the children of the Three Moon Goddess. I have serious doubts about your behavioral philosophy, so please leave immediately."

Demon Hunters were naturally fearless. He slowly drew his steel sword and said coldly, "No one has ever been able to stop me from crusading against magical beasts. You are playing with fire, young man."