When they saw Dorena here, several people were dumbfounded. This was completely unexpected. Nobody thought that in Lisa’s small house, there would be such an important person hiding.
Bai’er rushed up excitedly, grabbing Dorena’s collar and questioning, “What’s going on?! How did you bring us here?”
The fear accumulated over the past few days turned into anger, venting out at the sight of Dorena.
“Speak!!! How can we go back?! Dorena! Tell us!”
“Don’t shout,” Shen Lin pulled Bai’er away, saying, “He’s just an NPC. Felton, do a reconnaissance.”
Yan Xiu rolled the dice and succeeded.
Dorena was just mentally troubled, not subjected to any physical abuse. In front of him were plates with leftover pancakes, exactly the same as what Shen Lin and the others had for breakfast.
It turned out that, although Lisa kept him here, she did not mistreat him.
Dorena muttered, “It’s all my fault… It’s all my fault…”
Shen Lin stood in front of Dorena, overlooking the disheartened figure, and asked, “What did you do wrong?”
Dorena said dejectedly, “It’s all my fault. I was weak for a moment, I didn’t know it would turn out like this… I didn’t know it would turn out like this…”
He kept repeating these words, either admitting his fault or expressing his ignorance.
Shen Lin asked him, “Did you release Lisa?”
Trembling all over, he looked at Shen Lin and said sadly, “It was me. I didn’t understand. Sacrificing my own sister for a so-called ritual is such a cruel thing! I saved her. Isn’t that the right choice?”
Seemingly on the verge of madness, he continued, “I didn’t expect that the failure of the ritual would cost us so much. My family is in chaos! Father fell seriously ill, and soon after, mother succumbed to weakness. The Haino family is doomed—everyone blames me. They say the ritual after the age of ten must not fail, or everyone in the entire family will die, including me and you!”
Shen Lin looked at Dorena expressionlessly, “What happened to me?”
“In order to maintain the blood connection with the gods, one of the sacrifices to the gods is a successor from the family. That girl is the sacrifice nurtured by the Haino family, destined to be offered to the gods from birth, so she was raised in an external house, waiting for the day of the ritual. You were not originally part of it. After the failure of the ritual before the age of ten, either you or I would be offered as a sacrifice after the age of ten.”
Others looked at Shen Lin in shock.
Shen Lin, prepared for this, continued, “Perhaps seeing the state of my brother after the failure, descending into madness and forgetting everything from the past, she chose me as the sacrifice?”
“Yes, since then, you were taken away and handed over to the priest of the church, raised as an orphan until now, offered as a sacrifice to the gods.” Dorena said without reservation, “The first thing I did when I came to Moonset Village was to find her. I wanted to take her back, but she left me here, locked in the basement. She has already made contact with the gods. She is the slave of the gods and possesses extraordinary power.”
“What does she want to do?”
Dorena looked at Shen Lin in confusion, “I don’t know.”
“Why did she imprison you in the basement?”
“She didn’t want me to continue with the ritual.”
As one of the sacrifices, Shen Lin could empathize with Lisa’s situation. This bizarre ritual, requiring the sacrifice of lives, even the lives of blood relatives, should not continue.
But what she wanted to do seemed to go far beyond this.
After rescuing Dorena Haino, as they walked out of the door, Mrs. Anne had been watching them. Shen Lin paused for a moment and said to Mrs. Anne, “Sorry, Mrs. Anne, we have to take this person away.”
Mrs. Anne nodded gently and waved her hand, “Go ahead.”
Shen Lin bowed and led the way.
The bald parrot, which had been screaming and shouting, suddenly made a sound, chanting, “Eternal magical glory! Eternal magical glory!”
Everyone turned back to look at the bald parrot. After shouting these words sharply, it fell from its perch and flapped its wings once before becoming motionless.
Mrs. Anne slowly closed her eyes, the pocket watch in her hand slipping, making a soft click as it opened. Inside was an old photo of her and Lisa together.
“What are we going to do with Dorena?” KP asked them.
“Take him to Kane’s cabin first,” Shen Lin said.
Everyone agreed, taking him to Kane’s cabin for rest. To prevent Dorena from escaping, they bound him.
Dorena looked listless.
Freud asked, “How can we go back?”
Dorena looked up at him, “The trial has begun, and everyone is guilty. She is the messenger of the gods and will settle the sins of all of us and give punishment.”
“Are we, as sacrifices, also guilty?” Bai’er was angry, cursing, “We were living fine. Why did you lie to get on the ship and become some sacrificial lambs? It has nothing to do with us! Let us go back! End this game quickly!”
“You are already involved; no one can stay out of this.”
“What about the gun?” Bai’er asked, “Give me the gun. I want to kill him, the mastermind behind all this! Why should we be dragged into it?! Let us go back! End this game!”
Dorena straightened his chest, “Kill me if you want! Sooner or later, it will end.”
Shen Lin said, “Is Lisa trying to activate the sacrificial array? What is her goal?”
“Unknown,” Dorena shook her head, “I don’t know. The only way to end all of this is to kill her and then revive the Haino family’s ritual.”
Shen Lin: “Rationalism.”
KP secretly agreed.
At this moment, Shen Lin noticed that Dorena was filled with fear. Under the influence of this depressive mood, it was less likely for her to lie.
But this was only his perception.
“Now what?” Freud asked uncertainly, “Do we really have to kill Lisa?”
“Will killing her take us back?”
“Can we end this game?”
“But it’s not that simple, right?” Nana speculated.
Shen Lin said, “Yes, Lisa should be the final boss. It won’t be easy to kill her. If she also wants to initiate the ritual, she must need that red gem. Tonight, let’s go back to Moon Sinking Town and see if we can try to get the red gem from Benson. We can use it as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Lisa.”
“Maybe we can convince her not to act impulsively?”
“Perhaps,” Shen Lin glanced outside at the gloomy sky, as if a storm was brewing at sea.
After a brief rest in Kane’s cabin, they replenished their supplies in the warehouse. Each person carried a gun as their weapon, preparing for the final battle.
In the middle of the night, the red moon hung in the night sky.
Shen Lin and Bai’er successfully passed the stealth check.
“Felton is dependent on interpersonal relationships, moving with Olok.”
“Good, large humanoid pendant, tied around the waist.”
“Has combat power.”
Shen Lin: “…”
The group went to the church. At the entrance, KP said, “Let’s eavesdrop.”
Shen Lin rolled the dice and succeeded.
He heard voices inside the church. They tried to lower their voices due to the heated argument, but the intensity made the sound leak out.
“Are you insane?!” a deep male voice said, “Do you know how dangerous this ritual is? Last time, your experiment already claimed many lives in the town, and now you want to continue?!”
“This is the necessary price for success. You saw it, last time that outsider brought me closer to the divine. If I pray to the gods, they will surely grant my wishes! Look at those outsiders, haven’t they achieved their wishes too?”
“What if more lives are lost!” the sound of a cane hitting the ground echoed, “I am the mayor, I have the responsibility to protect the lives of the townspeople! I must stop you!”
“Mayor? Don’t forget where your mayor’s glory and status come from! You just drink tea at home, plant flowers, accompany your daughter, occasionally make a statement to tell the townspeople that you, as the mayor, are still alive! That’s all! Even if you don’t care about the great ritual, you should care about the town’s resources! Rodson, wake up!”
The two confronting inside were Father Benson and Mayor Rodson.
The church fell silent, followed by footsteps. Benson walked towards Rodson, softening his tone and expression, “Rodson, Moon Sinking Town needs a breakthrough. It has been confined here for over a thousand years, this tiny place is getting smaller, resources are dwindling, and the population is increasing. The supplies given to us by the outsiders are negligible, but why are we still restrained? It’s because we can’t go out! Don’t you think the townspeople should break free from this curse and explore the world? And we, who have the power to make them capable of going out, are still the messengers of the gods who can rule over them. Isn’t that good?”
“If it fails…”
“You only think of failure, you coward.”
“Aren’t you afraid of failure?”
“It’s just sacrificing someone insignificant.”
“What if the person sacrificed is you?”
Benson’s voice abruptly stopped, and Rodson repeated, “What if you are cursed back?”
Benson sneered, “I am chosen by the gods, unnecessary concerns. The gods will not kill their devout messenger.”
“This person is not far from death,” Bai’Er muttered under his breath, “It seems like a puppet in a play.”
Shen Lin nodded, “Indeed.”
Rodson fell into contemplation. In the end, he compromised, “Since you have made up your mind, I won’t stop you. Tomorrow is the day of sacrifice. Choose the sacrifice you think is suitable, after all, only you can extract the tears of divine mercy. Only you can preside over the sacrifice ritual of the 101st period.”
The “tears of divine mercy” he mentioned were the red gem they wanted. If only Benson could extract it, they would have to wait until tomorrow, the day of sacrifice.
Shen Lin asked Bai’er, “Can you pickpocket?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“65.”
Shen Lin said, “… Your education at the Noble Academy seems problematic. Thieves are pickpockets; locksmiths are lockpickers.”
Bai’er remained unfazed, “Personal preference, you know, not everyone attending the Noble Academy in typical settings is necessarily noble.”
Shen Lin was speechless.
He said, “Tomorrow, when Benson takes out the red crystal, we’ll find an opportunity to pickpocket it. This way, both Benson and Lisa will be at a disadvantage.”
