"No… "
"don't want!"
The two exclamations were almost indistinguishable? They sounded one after the other. At this moment, the old couple standing not far behind the girl blocked the girl with agility beyond their age, and their voices were hoarse with anxiety.
The dagger in the priest's hand stopped in mid-air.
The old couple began to plead in a low voice: "...Father Jin, can you give our daughter a little more time? Even let her live for a few more days? That's fine."
Speaking of this, the voices of both of them were choked up.
Under the priest's hesitant gaze, the two of them had already bent down deeply. They looked at the priest and at the surrounding crowd, their red and swollen eyes were full of expectation and prayer: "Please everyone! Please!" Please everyone... let my daughter go... Even if it's just an extra day, we are willing!"
Considering the young girl's age, this should be a young couple, but this cannot be seen from their old faces, haggard looks, and graying hair. Even if they are the grandparents of this girl, they don't seem to violate harmony at all.
There was silence in the square. Looking at the pleading old couple, everyone "reduced their expressions" and could not help showing a little pity in their eyes. After the pity passed, they became numb again, like gray statues one after another.
The priest let out a long sigh.
"...Why bother?" His eyes swept over the desperate and sad old couple, and then at the girl standing there motionless like a puppet, her eyes glazed over, as if she was at the disposal of others, and her body continued to spread. I don’t know if they are speaking to the surrounding residents, or muttering to themselves, “… Blasphemers, who are sent by God, life is better than death, even if it is delayed for a few more days, it will not be too much.” Just a few days of torture?"
"Enough! You only want her to live for a few more days, but have you ever thought that she is willing to be tortured?" Among the crowd, a pale woman suddenly stood up and shouted hysterically, " No, she doesn't want to! It's just your own selfishness!"
"... You should have handed her over as early as the beginning of the distortion. Do you think that she is really living comfortably after hiding her at home for a few days?"
"... let her go! Let her go!!"
In the crowd, Yu She, as a competent NPC tool man, is doing his best to act as a narrator and introduce to Yuan Buwei: "The girl in the square is called Rose, and those are her parents, a tailor in the town. The owner of the shop... Sometimes there are blasphemers in the town, and the family members don't want them to be exposed and executed, so they will secretly hide them. But even so, it's just a few days later to die. There is no way to undo the curse on the blasphemer."
As for the slightly crazy woman who suddenly stood up, Yu She smiled wryly, with a complicated expression: "That's Mrs. Li, she used to be a very good piano teacher, and then her only son became a blasphemer, she couldn't bear it , secretly hiding people at home..."
Speaking of this, Yu She paused.
"It is said that she watched her son's curse attack, and suffered from pain day by day, and finally begged her to kill herself with her own hands... Since then, she has..." Yu She raised his finger to his temple, indicating The other party seemed to have a mental problem, and said softly, "... her son? He used to be my best friend."
At this moment, the other people on the square were all silent, as if they could not understand each other's mood.
The old couple who had been begging desperately before had stood up and stepped back to the side without blocking them.
All the people bowed their heads under the leadership of the priest, and they seemed to have begun to silently bless the girl in the center of the square in their hearts. The surrounding atmosphere became solemn and peaceful again.
When the prayers of the crowd were at their most focused, the girl stood there blankly, motionless, just quietly watching the priest put the dagger into her heart.
Dark black blood flowed from the girl's heart.
The moment the dagger pierced, a faint white light spread from her heart to her whole body at an extremely slow speed, but the distorted "black worms" on the girl's body seemed to be restrained, and the spreading speed gradually slowed down. Slowly, even began to shrink back little by little.
The whole process was very slow, but it was foreseeable that when the blood was drained from the girl's heart, those spreading "black bugs" would almost all shrink back to her face.
This process, according to Yu She's explanation, is to get rid of the curse at the cost of life, so that the other party can finally be buried in the form of a human instead of becoming a deformed monster.
The moment she dies completely, her appearance will return to normal. This can be regarded as the last relief of life.
In addition, it is said that if they fail to get rid of the curse before death and are buried in the form of deformed monsters, their dead bodies will undergo terrifying changes one day, bringing despair and ominousness to the entire Yongning Town. In that case, the only option is to burn the body of the deformed monster into ashes and sprinkle it on the wilderness far away from Yongning Town.
The surrounding prayers became louder and louder, from silently chanting in the heart at first, to? Finally, it became a neat chanting.
It was out of sight, but faintly saw one after another faint white light rising from each person, converging towards the girl in the center of the square, the white light blessed the dagger, suppressing the twisted black worm.
This brilliance can only be seen by Yuan Buwei.
"Is this the power of faith?" He faintly realized.
I think this kind of ceremony has been carried out in Yongning Town for a long time. Perhaps these residents thought that the ceremony could be successful because the blasphemer paid the price of his life and was forgiven by the gods, so he got rid of the curse at the end of his life. To die as a human being.
In Yuan Buwei's view, this is not the case.
The key may well lie in the prayers that everyone? doesn't pay attention to. Perhaps the residents just out of sympathy, pity, or sympathy, gave blessings to every blasphemer before they died. They thought it was just a formality, like reciting the dead man's scriptures, but in fact, their blessings were likely ? Really have the power to suppress the curse!
It's just that this power seems too weak, so it's not a guess. The power of faith born from blessings can only play a real role with the help of the vitality that passed away when the girl died. use?.
Immediately, his pupils were filled with eagerness to try.
Well, if you want to verify this conjecture, don't you have the best tool man in front of you
"Wait a minute, I have a solution."
Everyone hadn't had time to react, so why not? He walked out of the crowd, and his figure seemed to appear in front of the girl in an instant, with one hand on the dagger.
At the same time, the invisible force brushed slightly, the blood in the girl's heart instantly solidified, and the wound stopped bleeding.
"What are you doing?" The ceremony, which had not been interrupted by anyone for so many years, came to an abrupt end. The residents who were silently praying and blessing the girl raised their heads angrily.
Appearing in their line of sight was a strange young man they had never seen before. He had black hair and black eyes, and his expression was cold and undisciplined.
Although inexplicably feeling a little awed by this young man, what the other party did? What he did really angered everyone, so everyone just overcame the discomfort in their hearts for a while, and then looked at him angrily.
The crowd moved closer to him, and it looked like a beating.
Yuan Buwei looked at everyone quietly as if he didn't notice anything.
"—I said? I have a way to save her."
The crowd was quiet for a moment, and then there was an uproar.
How long has Yongning Town existed, and how long have they worked hard to lift the curse? Now this ceremony has been explored for generations, and it is the best way. Even if it can't save the lives of the blasphemers, at least it can let them retain the last thought of human beings.
And they have been groping for so long? There is no way? Suddenly someone stood up and said that there is a solution. Would they believe it so easily
For a moment, everyone looked at Yuan Buwei with doubts in their eyes, as if they were looking at a sensationalist.
At this time, everyone seems to realize that this person is very unfamiliar, and they don't know each other. They can't help but ask questions: Wait, where did you come from? ?
Yu She also didn't understand why Yuan Buwei did this suddenly, so he hurriedly stepped forward, winked at Yuan Buwei, and said embarrassingly: "Sorry, please don't mind, this is my invited guest, Mr. Yuan He is powerful, and he saved my life today. He came from afar and doesn’t know the situation in Yongning Town…”
"No, this curse is not unique to Yongning Town. Where I am, there were also people who were deformed by the curse..." Yuan Buwei interrupted him, with a firm tone, "So I said? I have a way to save her."
It is not because I can guarantee that every word I say is the truth, and there is absolutely no falsehood.
——It is true that there are ordinary people in the table world who are distorted by the monster guild's experiment; and now he does get inspiration from the ceremony and think of a way to suppress the distortion.
Although there is no causal relationship between the two, it is automatically understood in the ears of everyone: there was a similar distortion in this stranger's hometown, but he was saved by him. That's why he confidently stated that he has a way to save people.
From his tone, everyone can feel that what he said is the truth.
Subtle changes took place in the faces of everyone, with a bit of surprise, a bit of hope, a bit of hesitation.
If it is said that a resident of Yongning Town said such a thing, they would not believe it, because they know each other well. But what about foreigners? Will there really be a way
"...Let this gentleman try it." The old woman who was almost crying and dumb suddenly said, her red and swollen eyes looked at Yuan Buwei, as if grabbing the last straw, "Please, sir, save me!" Save my daughter! Be sure to save my daughter!"
"Can."
Yuan Buwei was calm from the beginning to the end, and he didn't care whether others doubted or believed it. After all, his original starting point was not to save people, nor to gain the gratitude of others. That was meaningless to him.
He originally wanted to find a tool person to verify his guess. Now this girl who was in danger of death was obviously a perfect fit, because he might be her last hope.
If the other party disagrees, he will give up decisively and find a suitable new target. What she wanted to save was her own life. She herself was indifferent, and she didn't seize every opportunity with a strong desire to survive.
But now, the other side is willing to cooperate, of course it is the best.
He chuckled: "Give me a day."