CH 117

Chapter 117: The Dream of the Holy Nun (VII)

Qi Leren thought that with his luck value falling below the alphabet, there could be no such thing as a simple task. After all, the novice-difficulty Castle Cry has soared by two levels, and not only had the copy been polluted by demon energy, but there had also been the laptop with the Nightmare Game from the real world.

It was in this mentality of non-expectation that Qi Leren started his first compulsory task.

But he got a surprise, the kind without fright.

Qi Leren, who spent the night in the forest cabin, found that this was really a copy where he could just lie down. At night, the howling of wolves, the crying of ghosts, and cries for help came one after another outside the cabin, and strange laughter, crying, and knocking on the door continued outside the bedroom door. Frightened, Qi Leren stood still with his dagger in his hand and just waited until dawn when the task finished.

The most ironic thing was that the name of this compulsory task was “Night Tour in the Forest”. Qi Leren had waited with this spirit of “don’t die” in a copy where he could have spent the night lying on the wooden bed. As a result, no monster came in. During that period, he scratched his claws and wanted to go out and have a look, but he was short of interest when he remembered that Chen Baiqi had said compulsory tasks hardly gave any rewards.

In a few days, he would go to the Courthouse to get rid of the seed at the back of his neck, and then he would go to the Holy City to start his mission. If he was seriously injured here, Dr. Lu couldn’t cure it, which would affect his combat effectiveness. However, Qi Leren knew clearly how dangerous the Holy City in the fog was…

After the task, Qi Leren returned to his house. Dr. Lu had finished earlier than he did and had fallen asleep on the sofa. After being woken up by Qi Leren, he told him cheerfully about his compulsory task, which was simpler than his! He and a group of NPCs went to try a test session, and the team followed him and never ran around. The people resolutely refused to fight, and the task was finished in an hour, which was earlier than Qi Leren’s return.

“I know what novice difficulty is now,” Qi Leren said with half-moved emotion. “Make sure you’re ready to leave for the Holy City in ten days. Go back and prepare soon.”

After setting the time and team members, there weren’t many things left. Qi Leren prepared what to bring and sorted out his skill cards and articles.

There were three belt slots.

There were four skill cards: [S/L Data], [Rain-Day Clothing], [Primary Fighting Skills], and [Demon Etiquette]. Originally he had a skill card borrowed from the Court, but he returned it after the undercover mission.

There were four items: [Dagger Full of Human Blood] (which needed to be inserted into a card slot), [Delightful Rations], [Countercurrent Sand], and [Easter Egg].

There were also holy runes (which had expired) bought from Chen Baiqi before the castle was frightened, and the miniature bombs he’d just bought, with the rest before, were a total of five. Because of the undercover mission, the Court had given him some succubus demon crystals, seven of which were left, meaning he could transform seven times. He also still had some of the holy water from Ning Zhou. In addition, there were necessary items for the mission, such as daggers, flashlights, first aid kits, and compressed food.

Qi Leren sadly found that there was too little time left for him to practice, as he had only entered the game a month ago yet he was already about to start the main task. If the task’s follow up was good, then he could improve step by step, but if the task went straight to epic difficulty, he could stop eating.*

*{E/N: aka he would have no reason to, since he’d be dead}

He would have to wait until after the task to continue training. This kind of training wasn’t quick. It would take Ning Zhou at least three months to make significant progress in his regimen. There wasn’t enough time now.

Sighing that there was never enough time, Qi Leren went to prepare food, and wanted to ask Ning Zhou what he wanted to eat. However, he couldn’t find anyone else from the basement to the second floor. He was the only one in the empty house.

For the next few days, Ning Zhou always left early and arrived late, only appearing when he needed to teach him and then disappearing again. Qi Leren could hardly feel the existence of another person in the house, and asked him what he was busy with recently. Ning Zhou said that the Holy See had some things to deal with. Therefore, this situation of living under the same roof but hardly seeing each other continued.

Before, the Court had informed him that it was necessary to set aside a week or so, so Qi Leren rested for a few days after finishing the compulsory task, left a note for Ning Zhou, and went to the Court alone. Miao Li took him into the Courthouse’s underground level and told him as she walked, “It will involve some secrets of the Courthouse to help you get rid of the seed of slaughter parasite. It takes about seven days to get rid of the seed of slaughter, so we’ll use special methods to make you forget your memories of this week. You’d better write a letter to yourself in case you don’t know what happened when you wake up.”

Although Qi Leren was a little curious about what the secret was, he also knew that the Court couldn’t tell him. What he was more worried about was whether wiping his memory would accidentally harm his other memories, or whether the Court would take the opportunity to get some secrets from his mind that he doesn’t want to be known.

“You can not wipe my memory? I promise I won’t tell,” Qi Leren asked.

“I’m afraid not. This involves very important things… To be honest, even I don’t know.” Miao Li pushed her glasses and saw his concern. “If you’re worried about your privacy, you can rest assured that the method to eliminate memories doesn’t involve hypnotism. It’s a drug that causes memory loss, just take it according to the dose.”

Qi Leren was a little relieved. He felt that there was no need for the Court to deceive him, nor would he be killed to cover up the Slaughter Secret Society’s existence - for Ning Zhou’s sake, he wouldn’t be given such a cruel hand.

Under Miao Li’s guidance, Qi Leren changed into patient’s clothes and lied on the operating table. A Trial agent gave him an injection, and then he lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, it was a week later. It took seven days and four hours of survival time, and he was sore and unconscious. It took Qi Leren a good half-day to remember where he was; his memory was blank. After reading the letter he’d written a week ago, he slowly remembered it.

The seed of slaughter at the back of his neck was gone, and the cold and bloody energy was pulled away from him. He felt like a tree freed from a parasitic plant that could spread its leaves comfortably.

The pendant that had been lent to him by the Trial before, that measured the concentration of demon energy, was also returned easily.

After walking out of the Courthouse, the setting sun shone on Qi Leren, and he felt warmth.

Finally, finally, you can stop worrying.

Although the seed could greatly improve his ability, he’d always felt that it is very dangerous to take this shortcut, like walking on a cliff  where every step could cause him to fall at any moment.

He prefered to rely on his own strength and go on step by step.

With a relaxed and happy pace, Qi Leren left the Courthouse.

“Aren’t you going with him?” Si Ling reluctantly tried to push. “You come to me every day to punch in and supervise for fear that we’ll do something to him. It’s been a week. Now that you know he’s fine, you should roll.”

With his arms crossed, he stood by the window and watched Ning Zhou watch Qi Leren leave the Court, acting as if he hadn’t heard his words.

“I can’t stand you…” Si Ling complained, looking at him as he picked up the file on the desk.

&&&

Three days later, in the early morning, Dr. Lu and Su He came to Qi Leren’s house, and Ning Zhou was already there. Qi Leren solemnly asked them again: “It’s not too late to change your minds, you haven’t officially taken the task.”

“Isn’t it too late to say this?” Dr. Lu squinted at him. “Don’t worry, give us the task item. If you wait, you’ll have to trigger the task a second time.”

The brooch that triggered the task was taken out by Qi Leren, handed to Dr. Lu and handed to Su He.

Su He held the brooch in front of his eyes and looked at it carefully. He praised: “This brooch is very delicate, and there’s a strong faith attached to it. It should be the personal belonging of a female priest.”

“Ah… Well, I think so.” Qi Leren didn’t say that it was Ning Zhou’s mother’s relic.

“With it, you can walk into the Holy City through the fog. It seems that the owner of this item had a very close relationship with the Holy City…” Su He said. His line of sight paused for a second on Ning Zhou, and Ning Zhou, who was looking out of the window, felt his line of sight and immediately turned his head. The two men met each other’s eyes and looked away from each other.

Qi Leren was inexplicably nervous. He always felt that Su He was very clever, and he may have guessed Ning Zhou’s special origin…

“It’s almost time, let’s go,” Su He said.

“Oh, okay, let’s go.” Qi Leren quickly got up, and the four people left the house and headed for the border of the Village of Dusk.

The Vatican’s aircraft stopped there, carrying them to the Holy City.