Chapter 27 Part 2

Jim shuddered violently, hefted his axe, and hurried to Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang’s side.

“Besides me, they’re all monsters?” Jim’s voice trembled.

Xia Xifeng thought to himself, you might be a monster too.

But Jim did seem different from the others for now. His body was still “alive” in reality. Apart from forgetting the ambush and his daughter, his memories of his life were very clear.

Xia Xifeng had probed the others; their memories of their lives were all blurred.

The very fact that they firmly believed they were residents of this town was highly suspicious.

This dream town that had appeared in the game certainly wasn’t reality. They couldn’t possibly be “alive” in this dream town.

Nightingale asked curiously, “Since you were already on guard, why did you bring us all with you?”

Xia Xifeng replied matter-of-factly, “For the story, obviously.”

Nightingale: “???”

Watching the mini-boss’s utterly bewildered expression, Qin Lang felt a slight urge to laugh.

Yes, Xia Xifeng was just progressing the story.

If you don’t bring the story NPCs to the story location, how do you progress the story?

Hard to understand the player mindset, isn’t it?

The blasted clergy still hadn’t shown a red health bar. The Nightingale before them had revealed hers. Qin Lang drew his blade and struck at the now-hostile enemy.

Xia Xifeng found a corner to hide in, making sure any charging monster would definitely collide with his staff first.

Jim was entangled by the two children. He seemed unable to bring himself to attack monsters that looked like children, his movements timid and constrained.

The old woman and the middle-aged man blocked Qin Lang.

Nightingale didn’t move, merely floating in mid-air, gazing at Xia Xifeng across the combatants.

Her eyes were filled with deep curiosity.

Xia Xifeng’s eyes, as he sized her up, were also very curious.

The moment Xia Xifeng saw Nightingale, he was on high alert. Players who’d experienced similar evil god dungeons would always be wary upon seeing a “prostitute.”

Given the traditions of various Western fantasy religious orders, every church had “temple prostitutes,” and many female clergy held this dual identity.

Whenever an “evil god descended,” the “god child” was always born from a “temple prostitute’s” womb. So, seeing a prostitute in an evil god dungeon, a player had to be vigilant.

Oh, in recent games, “temple prostitutes” were no longer gender-restricted. Young traps were also easily used as sacrificial vessels.

These poor souls, fallen to the lowest rungs of society, were always used as sacrifices, unable to even die in peace.

The moment Xia Xifeng saw Nightingale, he guessed she was probably the evil god’s vessel.

And the intelligence Nightingale displayed—unlike that of a lower-class commoner—only cemented his certainty.

See? That stomach, which remained flat even after eating so much food earlier, was now swollen.

Ah.

Nightingale said, “Xia Xifeng, you are a good person. You shouldn’t stop me. You don’t know what sins the people of this city have committed.”

The BOSS was trying to speech-check Xia Xifeng. Xia Xifeng casually speech-checked back: “I don’t know what sins they’ve committed, but I do know the God behind you won’t right your wrongs. If the native Gods didn’t heed your prayers, what makes you so sure an Outer God will be your salvation?”

Xia Xifeng looked up at Nightingale. “If it was a case of unbearable suffering, choosing mutual destruction without caring for the consequences, then believing in any God is fine—it’s a double-edged wound anyway. But… are you truly someone persecuted to the point of having no way out?”

Xia Xifeng’s tone was very calm.

He was simply stating facts.

According to the lore compiled by players, the “puppets” the Outer Gods manipulated during their infiltration could sometimes be well-intentioned individuals corrupted into becoming perpetrators, like Perila. But the Outer Gods never truly reached out to the real underclass.

Players had initially been very confused.

If the Outer Gods aimed to destroy the rules, why not incite the lower classes to revolt and overthrow the upper classes? That was also a form of breaking the rules, wasn’t it?

It was only after seeing more story content that players understood the reason.

The Outer Gods only wanted destruction, not construction.

And for destruction, it was far easier to directly corrupt those who already held power.

For a commoner at the bottom rung to overthrow a nation—how troublesome that would be! But for a king to become corrupted, smash the church, hold blood sacrifices, and use the souls of unarmed civilians to twist the rules and fulfill his desires—that was far too easy.

Thus, the people the Outer Gods sought to corrupt were God’s Favored like Perila, lords and kings, high-and-mighty nobles and bishops.

Commoners? They took too long to cultivate.

And commoners possessing unwavering will and ambition, who still thought of changing the world despite living in the mud, had spirits so resolute that even Gods found them difficult to beguile.

Since Nightingale wasn’t a sacrificial victim, but the one orchestrating all this, Xia Xifeng could pronounce her “guilty.”

Her status and position couldn’t possibly be that of someone persecuted to the point of having no choice but mutual destruction.

The BOSS didn’t get to continue chatting with Xia Xifeng.

While Nightingale was focused solely on talking to Xia Xifeng, had she asked for Qin Lang’s opinion?

Just two trash mobs. Qin Lang dispatched them with a few swift sword strokes and rapidly closed in on Nightingale.

Qin Lang’s sword left his hand, shooting towards Nightingale’s abdomen.

Nightingale hurriedly shielded her stomach. Qin Lang’s form flickered, teleporting several meters. His hand grasped the sword’s hilt, and the blade thrust forward, slicing open Nightingale’s belly.

Nightingale screamed, her fingernails elongating drastically.

The clergy began dancing again.

“So annoying.” Xia Xifeng threw a few more explosives, interrupting the ritual once more.

Nightingale was locked in combat with Qin Lang, with no attention to spare for Xia Xifeng. She commanded the other mobs to attack Xia Xifeng, forcing Qin Lang to turn back and defend him.

Jim finally overcame the pity in his heart and cleaved apart the two children clinging to him.

His eyes bloodshot, he stood in front of Xia Xifeng, roaring curses, “Using children to fight! And you still claim to be righteous?! Others may be guilty, but you are a sinner too!”

A blade-like whirlwind aura erupted from Jim. He slammed into the middle-aged man and the old woman, who had resurrected after Qin Lang killed them.

The two were thrown into a shredder, their bodies shattered into several pieces.

Jim leaned on his axe, half-kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath.

That move had consumed too much of his strength.

“Catch!” Xia Xifeng smashed vials of HP and Mana potions onto Jim’s icon.

The moment Jim stood protectively before Xia Xifeng, not only had his name turned green, but a party invite request for Jim had also popped up in the System.

Just like when Leo and Perila had taken Qin Lang and Xia Xifeng to farm monsters, Jim could join the party. Once in the party, Xia Xifeng could remotely administer potions to Jim just like he did for Qin Lang.

Strength immediately returned to Jim’s body.

He turned back and gave Xia Xifeng a brilliant grin, flashing a thumbs-up. “Good Cleric!”

Xia Xifeng returned the thumbs-up.

Others couldn’t see him smashing potion vials directly from the System panel. Dressed in chainmail heavy armor and wielding a Spiked Club staff, he was, of course, a genuine Cleric.

Now that Jim had entered Xia Xifeng’s party panel, Xia Xifeng could check Jim’s simplified information through the System.

【Jim: A spirit imprisoned within the dream. At least within the dream, he is still lucid.】

Xia Xifeng slammed his Spiked Club staff heavily onto the ground, his mood terribly foul.

He glared sideways at the clergy, who had started their dance again. “Incredibly annoying! When will this end?!”

Xia Xifeng charged towards the clergy, relying on the fact that they only danced and wouldn’t attack. He ruthlessly smashed them to the ground with his Spiked Club staff.

Even without the knockback skill, relying on his own strength and the staff’s durability, Xia Xifeng could still knock the clergy flat.

No red health bar meant they weren’t mobs, meaning no resistances. So what if the damage was low? I’m not dealing damage anyway!

Xia Xifeng alternated between his Spiked Club staff and throwing explosives, repeatedly knocking the clergy down.

After knocking them all down again, he swapped to the large hammer that could be used with his Life Skills.

The large hammer could smash objects. Weren’t unmarked corpses considered objects?

Behold my Invincible Explosive Hammer!

Xia Xifeng targeted the spikes in the clergy’s chests, hammering at them.

The spikes flew off. The clergy, who had seemed whole, split into pieces. The lifelike corpses rapidly withered.

Xia Xifeng’s eyes lit up.

Nightingale shrieked, trying to bypass Qin Lang.

Qin Lang, with his perpetually drooping eyelids, lifted them slightly and donned the Taunting Cloak. “Come back.”

The blade grazed Nightingale’s cheek. Uncontrollably, she turned her head back towards Qin Lang.

Xia Xifeng also donned his presence-concealing cloak. Although his position was already compromised, wearing the cloak was just psychological comfort.

“Lang! I’m coming to help!” Dwarf Jim regained his strength and hefted his great axe, joining Qin Lang in battle.

A savage grin plastered on his face, Xia Xifeng charged towards the unresisting clergy.

Come on! Construction Worker Xia Xifeng is here to knock out some nails!

Take this!

Dwarf Jim took a moment to glance at Xia Xifeng. “Why do I feel the Cleric is more violent than we are?”

Qin Lang didn’t reply, only messaging Xia Xifeng through the System to not get carried away and to stay safe.

Nightingale didn’t have high attack power but possessed many minor skills that could interrupt combat rhythm with crowd control—a textbook Blood Moon subordinate trash mob boss.

Qin Lang boredly whittled down most of Nightingale’s HP. Meanwhile, Xia Xifeng had finished knocking out every spike from the clergy’s chests.

Nightingale entered a berserk state. Her attack power and speed skyrocketed.

Qin Lang perked up a little. Excellent. In her frenzy, the BOSS would use more direct attack skills and fewer crowd control moves.

Xia Xifeng replenished some potions and looked up at the severely damaged god statue.

He raised the large hammer in his hands.

Nightingale, who had just been stabbed through the neck by Qin Lang, scoring a critical hit, was now writhing her flesh to heal the wound. She screamed furiously at Xia Xifeng, “No! Do not desecrate the divine!”

Xia Xifeng looked back at Nightingale and nodded.

Okay, got it. This statue can be smashed.

Xia Xifeng took a deep breath and steadied his stance.

“Big Hammer! Eighty!”

The explosive hammer emitted an earthy yellow glow and smashed heavily into the statue’s base.

With a thunderous crash, the statue cracked.

“No!!!” Nightingale wailed. Ignoring the attacks hitting her, she stretched her hands towards the statue.

This time, even Qin Lang’s Taunting Cloak and Dwarf Jim’s taunt skills were useless.

Xia Xifeng knew the BOSS was floating towards him, but he didn’t hide. Instead, he swung his hammer faster, shattering the statue even further.

Crash, crash, crash. Xia Xifeng smashed the statue into stone blocks, then smashed the blocks into gravel. Then he turned and swapped weapons.

“Begone!”

Xia Xifeng swung the Spiked Club staff like a baseball bat, hitting the BOSS flying straight towards him.

Qin Lang hurriedly took a small jump to the side.

The BOSS flew off in a straight line.

Qin Lang switched to his bow and chased after with a few arrows, continuing the entanglement with the BOSS.

Xia Xifeng turned back around and flipped a middle finger at the shattered, irreparable statue.

“Blood Moon, stop hiding! Get the hell out here!”

Xia Xifeng called out the Outer God’s proxy name in this world. Bloody moonlight enveloped the entire dream world.

Qin Lang’s hand trembled slightly.

Was this how the process for triggering the final BOSS in the game went? He felt it probably wasn’t.