Seeing the three’s relationship warm up, Lu Chenxing didn’t disturb them, just watched with a smile from the side.
A moment later, Wang Hu took out a yellowed parchment from his storage ring and handed it to Lu Chenxing.
“We are already remnants now, especially Lu Hai, he is greatly weakened and needs to rest. We plan to return to the city soon. Before we leave, please accept this secret realm map as our gratitude.”
Yun Qiaoqiao also nodded in agreement, as for Lu Hai, he no longer had a say in this matter.
“Since that’s the case, I’ll accept it.” Lu Chenxing didn’t decline, smiling as he took it. He was indeed very curious about what was inside this hidden secret realm!
A hidden secret realm is a space hidden within a secret realm, usually a cultivation cave or treasure storage place of capable individuals before the original world was destroyed.
There’s no certainty what’s inside, but it’s definite that if one can enter a hidden secret realm, they will surely gain a significant harvest.
Seeing Lu Chenxing accept the information about the hidden secret realm, all three breathed a sigh of relief. With Lu Chenxing’s methods, it was clear to them that this Boss Lu, who claimed to be a Card Shop owner, was no ordinary person, so they were inevitably a little nervous in front of him.
They couldn’t repay the life-saving grace, and this parchment containing information about the hidden secret realm was the best thing they could offer. If Lu Chenxing hadn’t accepted it, they truly wouldn’t have known what to do.
And for Wang Hu and the others themselves, after this incident, this parchment was like a thorn stuck between the three of them, so it was good to give it away.
Seeing Lu Chenxing put the item away, Yun Qiaoqiao hesitated for a moment, then turned to Wang Hu and said, “Big Brother, I might have to leave for a while.”
“What’s wrong?” Wang Hu frowned, looking at Yun Qiaoqiao, a bad premonition in his heart.
“Nothing, Big Brother, it’s just that I feel too weak.” Yun Qiaoqiao shook her head slightly, “As a believer, I need to go pray before the divine face of my faith to seek stronger power, but I’ve never been to the Church. If I were a little stronger, perhaps what happened today…”
“Yun Qiaoqiao!” Wang Hu loudly interrupted Yun Qiaoqiao, his brows furrowing even deeper, “You’ve said more than once that you don’t like the Holy Light Church. Why do you want to go now? You should know that once you go, you won’t be able to come back!”
“I know.” Yun Qiaoqiao lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly, “But I’m even more afraid of Big Brother and Third Brother dying in front of me while I can do nothing! I can only watch, watch you bleed… but do nothing…”
Towards the end, her voice was already choked up, and a few glistening tears fell onto her hand, and also into the hearts of Wang Hu and Lu Hai.
These small tears fell, yet they stirred up huge waves in their hearts!
This was the first time they had seen Yun Qiaoqiao cry. In their hearts, Yun Qiaoqiao had always been strong and composed, even just now, they hadn’t expected her to shed tears.
The two were at a loss for words for a moment, not knowing what to say.
It was Lu Chenxing who spoke at this moment, asking, “May I ask, Yun Qiaoqiao, why do you dislike the Holy Light Church so much?”
Hearing this, Yun Qiaoqiao wiped the tears from her face and said in a muffled voice, “Yes, I’ve never told anyone about this. Actually, I hate the Holy Light Church because my parents died at their hands!”
“My mom and dad were good parents, very kind to me, and a loving couple. Originally, our family, though not rich, could live a happy and stable life.”
“But one day, a few people from the Holy Light Church passed by, seemingly to preach, and asked the village chief to notify everyone in the village to gather in the square. Our family didn’t believe in any of that, so we didn’t go.”
“The next day, I went to school as usual, and my parents sent me to school as usual, but when I returned, the entire village was silent, too quiet.”
“When I got home, my parents were already dead in the house, with no external injuries, their expressions peaceful as if they were sleeping. I went to the neighbor’s house to ask for help, but the neighbor was also dead in their house.”
“I went door to door, but found that there were no living people left in the entire village, and the remaining people had all disappeared, as if they had vanished.”
“I, along with a few classmates who walked home from school with me, reported it to the police. The town’s security department came to investigate, and we were taken to the town for Placement.”
“Just like that, after about two or three days, the security department told us that they had found the missing villagers, and they said those villagers had become believers of the Church.”
“At the same time, he also told us that this matter should end here and should not be investigated further, otherwise we children would also not escape death. After that, this matter was never mentioned again.”
“That was thirteen years ago. At that time, I was only ten years old, and then I went to an orphanage until now.”
“Actually, the older I get, the more I understand the words of that town’s security department chief. He was just a town chief, with a strength of only three or four tiers. Facing the Holy Light Church, which was rising in prominence at the time, it was already good that he could save the lives of us children.”
No one spoke at the scene, only listening quietly, with only the occasional crackling from the bonfire and the dancing flames that followed, the orange-red light illuminating everyone’s faces, flickering between bright and dim.
After a pause, Yun Qiaoqiao continued, “Occasionally, that security department chief would still come to see us and tell us that people should look forward and forget these things.”
“But how could I forget!” Yun Qiaoqiao’s fair, slender hands clenched into fists, squeezing so tightly that it almost drew blood!
“I will never forget the hypocritical smiles on the faces of those Holy Light Church people! To gain more believers, they even forcibly brainwash people. All those who don’t believe their Holy Light doctrine and refuse brainwashing must die!”
“If there truly is a demon in this world that can grant wishes, then I am willing to pay any price just to make the Holy Light Church disappear from this world!”
At this point, Yun Qiaoqiao seemed to lose all strength, her tightly clenched hands suddenly relaxed. “It’s a pity there’s no such good thing. I once thought about joining the Church of the Myriad Gods, but that night, the person from the Church of the Myriad Gods I contacted was killed by the security department.”
“From then on, I knew that their Church of the Myriad Gods were also just tricksters, too busy taking care of themselves, and completely incapable of overthrowing the Church.”
Finally, she said with a bitter smile, “But I hate the Church so much, yet I awakened a talent related to knights. In our world, it’s almost impossible to find the inheritance of knights. The only known one is the Saint Temple Knight of the Holy Light Church.”
“When I was in school, my teacher suggested I go to the Holy Light Church, but I refused because I genuinely felt disgusted from the bottom of my heart. Later, she helped me find a damaged Saint Temple Knight statue. Because of my talent, even though I only glanced at it, even though it was damaged, I still successfully resonated with it.”
Yun Qiaoqiao looked at her hands, her eyes filled with uncontainable disgust, “My teacher told me that in this world, without power, you have nothing. Of course, I know that, but I truly can’t convince myself to believe in it, so my strength is very weak, just an ordinary early third-tier, sometimes even unable to defeat people of the same tier.”