Chapter 12: Chapter 12 Leaving Without Disturbing
In the dimly-lit No. 4 underground chamber.
Flickering flames danced, with a lit white candle standing at each of the four corners of the central altar.
A potted plant that resembled a sunflower stood quietly on the altar, its head bowed and body bent as if wilting.
A wrinkled, aged hand held a small glass bottle, carefully pouring the blood within onto the plant.
A blood bead, glimmering with dull specks of light, fell and dripped onto the sunflower.
The blood bead was immediately absorbed by the leaves of the sunflower.
Within the next second, the sunflower seemed to regain a bit of vitality, slowly straightening its body, revealing its "true face".
In the middle of the sunflower was a baby's face, eyes tightly closed, as if in a sweet slumber.
"Wahhh!!!"
Suddenly, it opened its eyes, revealing pupils filled entirely with pitch blackness and malice, bursting into loud cries.
The eerie, owl-like raspy wails, accompanied by rings of black light, vibrated in all directions.
Whoosh!
All the torches and candles in the chamber were extinguished.
The priest was forced into a corner by an inexistent gale, even feeling his soul about to be blown from his body.
Fortunately, the wailing only lasted a few seconds before the bizarre sunflower drooped its head again, plunging into silence.
The priest wiped the sweat from his brow, still shaken, and said in a deep, hoarse voice,
"It seems it doesn't much like the scent of the moon… But it clearly belongs to this Sequence, so why is this happening?"
The old priest approached the altar once more, looking down at the powerful Mysterious Object with a profound gaze.
Suddenly, he noticed the potted plant extended a thin tendril, pointing in a certain direction outside the underground chamber.
It seemed something out there was drawing its attention.
"Hmm?"
Following the tendril's direction, the old priest turned to look, but could only see the iron door of the chamber.
Clang!
The prison's iron door was opened.
"Hurry up and seize the chance to escape; I've killed the nearby guards," Chen Lun said softly, standing before several sacrificial victims who huddled together like frightened quails.
But they acted as if they hadn't heard him and huddled together even more fearfully, shrinking into a corner.
"Please...please don't kill us."
Chen Lun paused, then looked down at his attire, a leather duster and cap, with a short sword at his waist.
Realizing that these poor souls mistook him for a church guard, he casually removed his disguise, returning to his usual humble cloth clothes.
"I'm not a bad guy, got it?"
Chen Lun shrugged helplessly.
Upon seeing this, the sacrificial victims finally believed Chen Lun's words, but they still didn't dare to step through the prison's great door.
Chen Lun sighed softly.
"I've given you the chance; if you don't want to die, then you better hurry and go," he said, dropping the statement and walking away.
"Thank...thank you! Please tell us your name, benefactor!"
Chen Lun turned back to see one of the girls bowing to thank him, her eyes filled with hope.
Unconcerned, he waved his hand and strode towards the upper levels.
"I, Chen Lun, never leave a name when doing good deeds. If you really want to know, just call me Red Scarf!"
"??"
Leaving the girl bewildered, Chen Lun had already arrived at the great gate leading to the upper level.
He unlocked the iron gate with a key, immediately drawing the attention of several guards in the area behind the door.
Before they could react, Chen Lun commanded a swarm of rats in Beast Speech to surge toward them.
He himself followed closely behind with his short sword, making sure they were finished.
Previously, he had given a large black rat a set of keys with instructions to deliver the keys to each imprisoned sacrificial victim.
As long as those people weren't too foolish to not know how to open a door, they should be able to take advantage of the chaos and escape.
With him drawing fire here, the mission to rescue the sacrifice was essentially accomplished.
Chen Lun wiped the neck of the last guardian, and in the eyes of the other party who died with their eyes wide open, he cleaned his blood-stained short sword on their body, before sheathing it.
Clang—
Crack!
[You have killed a Red Apple Church Guardian, gaining 10 Experience Points.]
Chen Lun stood still, glancing at the church guardians' bodies strewn haphazardly across the ground.
Without exception, they had been savagely bitten by the great black rats, their faces a bloody, unrecognizable mess, with a fatal slash across their throats.
Woof! Woof woof!!
A burst of ferocious canine beast roars followed.
Chen Lun turned his head and was met with the stench of blood and a gaping maw full of dense, sharp teeth that blocked his vision.
Crack!!
The gaping maw snapped shut, the sharp fangs clashing and grinding with a loud noise.
Chen Lun rolled away like a donkey dodging the attack.
But he still got a fine cut on his cheek that oozed beads of blood.
[You have been attacked, Health -1]
[You have been infected with bacteria, fallen into the state of [Minor Rotting Poison Syndrome], Life -1 per second, lasting 10 seconds.]
He frowned and sized up the assailant.
It was a strange, big dog with skin so ulcerated it revealed the muscles underneath.
On one side of its hideous head, there was an additional, deformed half-head.
Only one eye filled with madness and the desire to kill was visible, along with half a set of sharp teeth.
"Another one of those infernal creations researched by the Red Apple Church..."
Chen Lun recalled information about the monster as he watched the half-dog drooling from its open mouth.
This was a supernatural creature created by the Red Apple Church using diluted [Flesh Faction Mysterious Substance], not as powerful as a real Transcendent, but far stronger than the ordinary church followers.
If it were to kill those ordinary church guards, it would be all too easy, crunching them one by one like snacks.
"Do you think I'm afraid of you? Gou gou gou?"
Chen Lun stood up, short sword in hand, and slowly walked toward the rotting hound.
Woof! Woof woof woof!!
Woof woof!!
Soon, three or four more ulcerated figures burst from the darkness, their ferocious eyes all fixated on Chen Lun.
Chen Lun smirked with contempt, then started walking backward at double the speed.
Besides, he kept an eye on two large figures clad in heavy armor and wielding long spears, who were slowly approaching from behind the rotting hounds.
The dim armor bearing the Red Apple insignia clanked as they moved, indicative of its weight and sturdiness.
Swoosh!!
The heavy-armored guardians pointed their spears at Chen Lun, closing in slowly, clearly engaging in battle mode.
"Good fellows, so the elite monsters have come too!"
Chen Lun didn't intend to tangle with them here; he turned and ran.
As long as he got back to his own cell, he'd be able to escape through the pre-dug tunnel.
Both parties were in a chase, and even with Chen Lun's Agility Attribute at 13 Points, it wasn't easy to shake off the pursuit of the four rotting hounds.
Chen Lun sprinted through the cramped corridors, the wind whistling in his face.
But the sounds of pursuit and the beasts' breaths didn't fade; they grew even closer.
"This won't do, I must deal with the four dogs behind me,"
Chen Lun thought.
Judging by the relentless rotting hounds' form and speed, even if he managed to escape into the tunnel, they would catch up.
At that time, in the narrow space of the tunnel, his fighting ability would be impeded.
"Damn it! Die, all of you!"
Chen Lun, in the midst of rapid movement, made a split-second decision, turning abruptly and swinging his sword in a vertical slash.
Striking right at the rotting hound coming at him head-on!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone