IWOL Chapter 317: Human Cross

Cui Zuojing helplessly hugged the child that had already stopped breathing in his arms.

It took less than an hour for the child to go from showing symptoms of a low-grade fever, to having difficulty breathing, to the absence of breath.

Cui Zuojing found the clergy’s lounge and wrapped the child tightly with the clothes in their closet. In his arms, it was also very warm. But these measures didn’t work at all. The child burned higher and higher, and he kept crying until he no longer had the strength to even cry anymore.

Cui Zuojing was distraught. The concern of higher animals for cubs came from the instincts carved in their bones. Although this wasn’t his child, when he saw the spreading blood spots appear under the child’s soft and delicate skin, Cui Zuojing’s whole heart was still tightly gripped.

But there was nothing he could do. He could only watch the child gradually lose his breath in his arms.

He only came into this world for a few hours, and now he went back with the gods again.

According to the sentences left in the coffin, this child was an important figure in the box. Now that he was dead, how could the plot related to him continue?

Cui Zuojing’s heart was in a state of confusion. Although the newborn was fragile, he’d tried his best to take care of him. But somehow, the child had contracted this unknown, rapid disease.

Cui Zuojing recalled the decaying corpse in the nave.

The so-called curse of the heretics was indeed some kind of pestilence. He was in close contact with the priest and the heretic in the kitchen, and so he may have been infected.

He must find Victor as soon as possible.

But before that, he needed to dispose of the child’s body.

In order to prevent the spread of the disease, he should burn the sick body, but there was no conditions for cremation here. Cui Zuojing decided to return to the nave and put the child together with the priest, and then close the coffin lid.

On the way to the nave, he saw the marks left by Dong Zheng and Victor at the corner of the wall. He was shocked, but knowing that Victor was with Dong Zheng, his tensed heart eased slightly. This meant that Dong Zheng wouldn’t be at risk of contracting the disease

He quickly rushed to the nave and opened the heavy coffin lid again, only to discover that it was already empty.

The priest’s body was gone.

Had someone been here? Or was it that…the corpse ran away?

Cui Zuojing frowned. A strange smell was exuding from the coffin. He covered his mouth and couldn’t help coughing twice.

The ominous premonition in his heart became more serious. He put the child’s still warm body into the empty coffin. Cui Zuojing once again silently read the bloody sentence on the inside of the coffin wall and then put the lid back on.

Now that he knew that Dong Zheng and Victor were in the church, the most stupid way would be to follow the signs to find them. In doing so, they might miss each other again. Now that he no longer had to worry about the child, Cui Zuojing decided to make loud movements to attract his companions.

But how to make this big movement?

——

Dong Zheng and Victor were in the field of roses.

Dong Zheng had already explored the church, and Victor the graveyard. The only place they hadn’t checked was the beautiful field of roses in front of the church.

In the rich and sweet rose scent, Victor keenly noticed an unusual smell. He wrinkled his brows suspiciously, knelt down, twisted a pinch of mud, and put it up his nose to smell it carefully.

Humans’ sense of smell was much weaker than that of cats so Victor turned into a cat. He lowered his head and sniffed carefully. After digging out a small patch of dirt with his claws, he buried his nose in the small pit. The faint smell had become clearer.

“There seems to be something underneath,” Victor stood and said.

Dong Zheng crouched down and began digging with Victor. They couldn’t find a suitable tool to dig, so they could only use their hands. After digging about 20 centimeters deep, Dong Zheng touched a hand under the soil.

The hand was cold, with the fingers curled up stiffly. Dong Zheng paused. He and Victor looked at each other, and immediately went to another place ten meters away and started digging quickly.

The roses on top of the bodies were fragrant, concealing the ominous, rancid stench coming from underneath. After digging for a while, Dong Zheng came across a hard object that shouldn’t be in the soil—it was a person’s head facing down .

The man’s collar was dirty with mud, but he could still see that it was a white robe, with a silver-white cross on the thin thread between his neck.

Dong Zheng stopped. His nausea surged up, and he had no desire to dig any more.

He had found the people of faith who had disappeared from the church.

These people were killed by the infidels, and their bodies were buried at the entrance of the church. The infidels then planted a large tract of roses to cover up the rotten stench with the fragrance of flowers.

Victor dug a larger area, until the upper half of the entire corpse was exposed to him. He tore off the man’s clothes and saw the dense internal bleeding spots on his skin, as well as large areas of decay.

“He died of physical harm caused by the meme.” Victor covered the corpse back up with dirt. He stood up and said, “It’s unclear whether the anomaly carrying the meme was brought in by the infidels or if it originally existed within the church.”

“In this way, the drama of the box could be divided into two completely different possibilities.” Dong Zheng nodded. “The heretics brought the anomalous object and infected the clergies. They were buried here. Or the anomalous object already existed in the church. Those black-robed men called heretics then came to clear the anomaly and dealt with the corpses of the infected clergies.”

The latter situation seemed absurd. If the anomaly already existed in the church, how did the clergies survive? But in the box, any situation may appear. Perhaps, the reason the current logic might seem far-fetched was because they just hadn’t collected enough clues to support it yet.

“The most urgent thing is to find Linhai. His identity is the Holy Son. Uncle, you probably haven’t confessed your crimes yet. If you commit a crime again before confessing to Linhai, the armored black mist will hunt you down.”

But where was Linhai? Was he okay?

No one knew the answer.

They silently continued to explore the rose field, hoping to find other clues. At this moment, a loud noise came from a corner of the church. It was extremely heavy, as if two walls had been knocked down with great force.

Dong Zheng jerked his head back to look. Not knowing what it could be, he and Victor exchanged glances and ran towards the church.

——

Cui Zuojing was planning to cut off the gorgeous chandelier in the side hall so that it could smash down and attract the attention of his companions in the church. The brand on his face showed no signs of disappearing, and he knew that although the armor was temporarily chasing other people, it was bound to shift target and come after him again.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”

Cui Zuojing suddenly turned his head. His pupils shrank when he recognized the voice.

It was Wang Que!

Cui Zuojing immediately gave up all his plans and ran towards the direction of the sound. The woman’s scream was growing hoarse, every note full of crying blood.

“Go away! Don’t come here!”

The colored windows flashed by, and Cui Zuojing saw fresh blood that he hadn’t seen before on the corridor. The corpse of a black-robed man was hanging upside down on a tall cross. The still warm blood slowly dripped, attaching to the cross and winding down like a snake.

When did he die? Who killed him? Who hung him up there?

Cui Zuojing had no time to think about this. He rushed across the corridor, turned the corner, and ran up to the second floor. A previously locked door in front of him was now open, leaving a gap.

Cui Zuojing pushed the door open and rushed in.

In the next second, the enchanting blood red was reflected on his retina, and it seemed that this was the only color left in his sight.

On the high wall was a woman hung like a rag doll. Her hands and feet were nailed to the cross and a crown bedecked her head. Her blood dripped down the wall like some kind of bizarre and sinister pattern.

Wang Que’s black pupils had lost their previous luster and remained silent forever, staring straight at the statue of Mary holding the Son on the opposite wall.

There were countless insect corpses scattered around the floor, all so densely packed that it was almost impossible to find a place to put one’s feet down. No matter what dangerous thing Wang Que encountered, her transparent insects had always tried their utmost to protect her. But now they laid scattered about, weak and curled up, and were gradually melting into a pool of viscous liquid.

This time, they also tried their best, but in the end, they failed to protect their owner.

Cui Zuojing looked up at Wang Que in a daze. His mind was blank. This was the first time he faced the death of his companion at such close distance after many years.

When Allen died, he didn’t see it in person, and his feelings were still with the clown. Now, Cui Zuojing stood there blankly, warm liquid flowing quietly down his cheeks, dripping onto the transparent corpses of the insects at his feet.

The blood-stained red horse chess pendant that was tied around Wang Que’s neck with a string was suspended in the air, still shaking gently.

Luo Yan had given it to her in a dream in the circus.

Heavy footsteps came from a distance, accompanied by the piercing sound of a giant sword being dragged, getting closer and closer.

He didn’t know how much time had passed. Cui Zuojing backed out of the room. The black fog in armor had already passed the corner, and the twin soulfire eyes saw him.

The tsunami of grief in his chest was drowning Cui Zuojing. Finally, he looked at Wang Que nailed high on the cross like Jesus Chris, and closed his eyes forcefully, letting his tears fall.

The armor quickened it’s pace and couldn’t wait to cut off the sinner’s head.

Cui Zuojing whimpered low in his throat, and a sweet smell came to his tongue. But facing an inhuman enemy, all he could do now was to turn around and escape.

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