Chapter 27: Stealing the Goddess of Life’s Job

“I see. I truly didn’t sense it before.”

At this moment, Lin Hong was on his way back, walking and muttering to himself as he communicated with the mysterious panel.

The panel provided clear information about the followers under the Evil God’s Banquet Hall—though Lin Hong believed the Evil Clan didn’t deserve a name, so he simply referred to it as Evil God No. 1.

According to the panel, Evil God No. 1’s method of corruption was unique and occurred in distinct stages.

For instance, the two split souls Lin Hong had encountered earlier in the Imperial Capital, especially the second one with a physical vessel, were extraordinary.

They could unfold a soul domain and achieve morphological distortion within it.

That level was already considered Priest-class, where power had been converted into evil energy, with obvious characteristics.

Those like Bazi, however, were still at the Cultist-class.

They had merely received “blessings,” enhancing their original aptitude and potential, greatly increasing their cultivation speed and strength.

But their external manifestations remained unchanged for now, still relying on the host’s original cultivation system as a vessel.

Only the nature of their energy became abnormally frenzied, and the host’s personality would become increasingly violent.

Lin Hong nodded repeatedly.

Honestly, if not for the mysterious panel’s prompt earlier, he really wouldn’t have been able to detect it at first.

The mysterious panel further added that the source of Evil God No. 1’s power was closely related to negative emotions.

All negative emotions could become its nourishment.

It could be said that its sources were very broad.

Especially if large-scale panic and death were manufactured, the returns were often even better.

“What a strange mechanism.”

That was Lin Hong’s evaluation.

Because in his home universe, the Evil Clan he was familiar with followed a brute-force approach.

The most powerful beings could distort the laws of a region on their own, causing everything to wither and rules to collapse wherever they passed.

While lower-tier individuals weren’t that extreme, they were still capable of corrupting the ambient energy around them.

Why would they need so many convoluted methods, feeding on negative emotions and such?

They themselves were the ultimate embodiment of negativity.

Of course, he couldn’t be bothered to think too much about it.

He simply considered it a mutation resulting from the Evil Clan’s integration with this world.

In any case, the difference wasn’t significant.

Just kill them on sight.

By now, Lin Hong had returned to the small church.

The townspeople had all left, and the church was empty.

A slender figure approached.

It was Novella.

She seemed to have been keeping an eye on the entrance.

Seeing Lin Hong return, she proactively came forward.

Her gaze was complex, interwoven with various emotions.

Lin Hong couldn’t decipher it, but overall, there was no malice or hostility.

The black-haired girl lowered her voice and succinctly informed him that she had persuaded the two sons of Old Man Robert and had fed the old man a potion not long ago.

For the next day, the old man’s life would not be in danger.

“You’ve worked hard, sister.”

Lin Hong nodded, then asked if Novella had a way to contact the royal knights stationed outside the town.

A flicker of confusion passed through Novella’s eyes, but she answered immediately.

The two knights who had entered the town with them carried small-range communication magic tools.

They contacted those outside every quarter-hour to report that all was well.

‘They really are elites, professional and cautious.’

Lin Hong silently praised.

“What’s wrong? Has something happened? Is it related to… that person?”

Novella was sharp and asked directly, quickly connecting it to the person she had seen the young man carrying earlier.

Lin Hong didn’t hide it and shook his head.

“Didn’t get any valuable information. Only know that person was an evil cultist, had a soul restriction planted inside them. The person just exploded.”

After saying this, he pondered for a moment.

“Sister, could you have the knights outside search the town’s perimeter? See if they can find anything.”

After all, he had previously captured fragments of Bazi’s thoughts, involving words like “action” and “ritual.”

Combined with the information he just learned from the mysterious panel, Lin Hong felt they needed to be cautious and not ignore it.

They would be staying in the town for at least three or four more days.

If this border town had truly become a target for the Evil Clan’s followers, Lin Hong thought it best to eliminate all of them within these few days, not letting them endanger the innocent townspeople.

Novella didn’t respond immediately.

She looked at Lin Hong for a while, but in the end, she didn’t say anything, nodded, turned, and left the church to make contact.

Lin Hong watched her leave, then entered the inner chamber of the church.

Inside, the old butler Robert was placed on a simple bed, with his two sons keeping vigil beside him.

The two middle-aged men stood like iron towers, their postures still straight, but the bloodshot veins in their eyes were heavy, their expressions filled with grief and exhaustion, impossible to conceal.

They wanted to bow to Lin Hong, but he stopped them first, telling them to sit and rest for a while.

Their voices were hoarse.

They had clearly already learned from Novella what Lin Hong planned to do next and expressed their gratitude.

But at the same time, they were sincere, without any pretense, urging him not to force himself and especially not to harm his own body in the process.

It was evident that the eyes of these two iron-willed men had dimmed.

They had already accepted fate, clearly holding no hope.

After all, even the Royal Chief Priest had declared that the old man was beyond saving.

Ordinary methods were useless; human effort had been exhausted.

Unless the Goddess of Life descended in person.

The young master was only in his teens, not even an adult yet.

What miraculous methods could he possibly master?

It was just a momentary kindness, wanting to try.

Once he knew it was impossible, he would give up.

It was, after all, the young man’s good intentions.

Though their hearts were being sliced by knives, they had accepted this reality.

Lin Hong smiled but didn’t say anything.

He simply walked to the bedside and gently helped the unconscious old man sit up a bit for the procedure.

By the dim light filtering through the window, he saw for the first time with his own eyes how emaciated the old man’s body was under the blanket.

It could be said, it was shocking.

The entire body was covered in tiny, pore-like wounds, almost reduced to just skin, hanging loosely on the skeleton.

Where he touched, he couldn’t feel any flesh or blood.

The Evil God “Parasitic Niche,” which Lin Hong called Evil God No. 2.

This was the typical handiwork of its followers—the main body transforming into a monstrous insect, invading the human body, gnawing on flesh, blood, and internal organs, devouring fighting spirit or magical power, hollowing out a healthy body until only the skin remained, driven only by the monstrous insect that had taken residence inside.

It was unimaginable what inhuman pain this old soldier, who had followed the Duke of Vane for most of his life, had endured.

He had remained conscious, feeling himself being slowly hollowed out, akin to being sliced to death.

The two middle-aged men had already turned their heads away.

Even though they were iron-blooded soldiers who had seen all kinds of tragic scenes, the person lying on the bed was their own biological father!

His figure had once been tall and majestic, the lifelong role model and goal for both of them.

Now, he was in such a miserable state, almost unrecognizably human.

How could they remain calm?

Their teeth ground audibly, almost unable to suppress the low growls in their throats, hatred blazing in their eyes.

Lin Hong’s gaze was also cold, his heart filled with killing intent.

At the same time, he whispered: “Old man, you’ve suffered. I will definitely cure you. You can live for a long time yet, full of vitality.”

“In the future, I’ll avenge you for you, using the heads of countless evil cultists to vent your anger.”

After speaking, he let out a breath, focused his mind, and expelled all distracting thoughts.

Then, he began to operate another healing scripture, the Return to Heaven, Transform Life Scripture.

Unlike the Creation Return to Origin Sutra, which excavated human potential and strengthened the life essence, the Return to Heaven, Transform Life Scripture was a healing scripture.

It transformed energy into a form infinitely close to the initial state at the birth of life.

He intended to use this method, with energy as nourishing rain and dew, to allow the old man to regrow the soil of flesh and blood.

Lin Hong operated the scripture, transforming the energy generated by the internal cycles within his body.

Soon, his palm was covered by an extremely faint, milky-white halo, almost invisible, yet it emitted a strange vitality, making one feel as if returning to the womb.

Then, he pressed his palm against the old man’s spine.

A muffled sound seemed to come from within the old man’s body, and the entire inner chamber trembled slightly, dust falling.

Immediately, the two men, who had been bowed in grief, were startled.

They sprang up and were about to rush forward.

How could their father’s body, so fragile, withstand such a commotion?

“Halt! Do not approach!”

Lin Hong’s cold shout carried a sense of authority, instantly stopping their steps.

At this moment, his spirit was highly concentrated, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.

Because the old man’s body was too fragile.

Even though life energy was extremely gentle, extreme care was still needed.

Otherwise, even life energy could become poison, directly rupturing the old man’s life structure.

Time passed slowly in the silence.

Lin Hong was very patient, like a deity controlling the scales of life, completely focused, perceiving the changes within the old man’s body, controlling the energy to split into thousands of strands, finer than hair, slowly seeping in and soaking.

At first, the energy was like mud entering the sea, showing no ripples at all, causing the two men, who had kindled a faint hope, to sigh again, their eyes dimming once more.

But slowly, changes began to appear!

The old man’s heartbeat, which had almost stopped, seemed to stabilize a bit.

Next, the old man’s face, originally covered with an aura of death, actually regained a trace of color!

Though it was almost imperceptible, far from being rosy.

But the death aura was indeed receding, dissipating a trace!

Most obvious was the breath.

The old man’s originally faint, almost halted breathing became slightly clearer at this moment and stabilized!

Lin Hong slowly withdrew his power, letting out a long breath.

Because the flame of life, which could have been extinguished at any moment, had stabilized and was no longer continuing to dim!

It was already past midnight.

A considerable amount of time had passed, leaving him slightly fatigued.

Mainly, he couldn’t relax; he had to maintain control, continuously consuming mental energy.

The two men had long been stunned, overly tense and shocked, now almost petrified into statues.

Their attention was entirely on the old man.

Even though the changes were subtle, in their eyes, it was no less than a thunderclap.

“Father?!”

They rushed to the bedside, trembling hands reaching out, wanting to touch but not daring, only staring wide-eyed,to stare fixedly at the changes in the old man,to repeatedly confirm.

Then, they abruptly turned to Lin Hong, their eyes instantly flooded with wild joy and tears.

“This…” The two were so excited their entire bodies were shaking, lips trembling, almost incoherent.

“Really… stabilized. This is a miracle! It’s the Goddess of Life above! It’s the protection of the master and mistress!”

Lin Hong listened, his expression slightly odd.

In a sense, was he stealing the Goddess of Life’s job?