"I sensed the whisper!"
The Priest shouted at Xia De.
"I sensed it too."
And it was stronger this time; the source of the element's trace was still the corpse, not the dagger, and this phenomenon already explained some things.
"Priest, we can't harm it anymore, it will only make it stronger."
"Of course, I understand. Is there a way to temporarily control it? Just for a few seconds!"
"Of course, Priest, lead it under the tree!"
Xia De responded, so the Priest attracted the corpse and started running forward.
"Great Sin Chains!"
With a rattling sound, dark chains extended from Xia De's sleeve. As Priest Augustus turned his head with a look of surprise and doubt, the chains climbed up the tree trunk, wrapped twice around the thickest branch, and then fell, forming a circle on the ground and tying a knot.
The corpse, wielding the dagger, followed the Priest to the tree. The Priest's foot stepped into the circle of chains on the ground, and nothing happened. But when the corpse stepped into the trap formed by the chains, with a sudden pull from Xia De, the corpse was directly hung upside down.
"Watch me."
The Priest immediately turned and went up to it, pushing aside the dagger that the upside-down corpse continued to swing, then reached out and pressed his hand to the corpse's brow:
"Hmph!"
The old man let out a low cry, and as the Destiny Ring behind him spun rapidly, amidst the gushing steam mist, pure white sacred light shone in all directions. The light in that moment even made Xia De feel as if he had touched the purest power in this world.
But what was very strange was that when this power was used, the Ling Rune behind Priest Augustus did not glow with spiritual light.
Those holy white lights gradually gathered at the Priest's fingertips. Xia De, narrowing his eyes, even saw several faint white feather-like shadows swaying and falling behind the Priest during this process.
These were not real things; they were strange phenomena that only Outsider with sensitive souls could see.
The white light gathered at the Priest's fingertips was finally pressed onto the corpse's brow. There were no abnormal phenomena like the corpse exploding; it trembled twice, then became completely still.
The panting Priest stepped back. If Xia De hadn't supported him, he might have sat directly on the ground.
Xia De felt that the Priest's back was soaked with sweat.
"After all, I'm not a young man anymore."
The old man panted, shivering in the night wind, and it took him a while to release Xia De's arm and stand straight.
The corpse was still hanging upside down under the tree by Xia De, and the black dagger had fallen from its hand and was stuck in the ground.
"Meow~"
The cat on his shoulder was curious about this scene but very consciously did not leave Xia De's shoulder.
"What do we do now? Should we send this corpse directly to the church?"
Xia De asked.
"No, it's too far from the church. If this thing loses control and escapes in the City, we would all be sinners."
The Priest said.
"But what exactly is this? Why does the corpse have whisper element? Is it a relic controlling the corpse?"
"No, no, I believe the relic is right in front of us. Detective, I have read some terrible 资料 and know what crazy Ring術士 will do. I sincerely hope my guess is wrong, but we still need to question the soul."
Xia De nodded, looking up and down at the corpse:
"This corpse shouldn't be the deceased husband of that farm woman, the original owner of the tomb, Musil Nem, right?"
He said suspiciously. Although judging people by their appearance is wrong, this corpse, with its clothes burned off, did not look like an ordinary farmer who had lived here for many years. His skin was not rough, and his palms did not have the marks of years of heavy labor; instead, there were calluses from years of clerical work holding a pen.
Not to mention, although the corpse's appearance was not as handsome as Xia De's current look, it did not look like a middle-aged man who would contentedly stay in a small village outside the City.
"This should be the scholar who helped the farm woman arrange the funeral. He buried himself in the ground, which is why the soul of Mr. Musil Nem, who was not buried, complained to his wife in a dream."
The Priest also agreed with Xia De's view:
"I guess this is a very ancient ritual, a way to gain power by resurrecting after death. Evil, very evil, and there are ritual contents that I don't understand."
Hearing Priest Augustus say this, Xia De went to inspect the coffin and indeed found traces of a ritual base and ancient characters on the inside of the coffin.
Judging from the headache he got from just looking at them, those characters were extremely ancient, but for Xia De, deciphering them was not difficult. Only individual runes could be identified, but Xia De could not explain what purpose the ritual was supposed to achieve.
"Do you want to commune with his soul? I happen to have the ability to commune, and the completeness of this corpse also meets the requirements."
Xia De was eager to try.
"No, no, I'll do it. Your Miracle can only communicate with soul fragments; I can summon a complete soul. Detective, put it down first, let it lie flat on the grass."
The Priest said, the 【Soul】 Ling Rune on his Destiny Ring behind him flickering faintly with spiritual light.
Once Xia De had placed the corpse steadily, the Priest took a wooden tube from his pocket and sprinkled the black powder inside along the edge of the corpse. He made Xia De step back with the cat and repeatedly instructed him that the cat must never jump over the corpse's head. Then, he placed the still bright hurricane lamp in front of the corpse's head and began to chant a spell.
Translating those ancient words into delarion common language, the general meaning was "Soul, return."
In the cemetery, where there had only been a faint night wind, a violent, eerie wind suddenly blew. The strong wind howled, and the sound even resembled ghosts wailing.
Mia stood on Xia De's shoulder, her body pressed against Xia De's cheek, while Xia De carefully observed the Priest's ritual.
Priest Augustus suddenly widened his eyes, bent down, and then slapped the corpse's face:
"Return!"
The old man's furious roar made Xia De want to laugh.
But it was very effective, because Xia De indeed saw a pale green phantom being slapped out of the corpse by the Priest... He was very interested in this Psychic Miracle.
The soul's appearance was exactly the same as the corpse lying on the ground. After it appeared, it was stunned for a moment, as if it hadn't reacted to the current situation, and then it recognized where the cemetery was in the night.
Looking around again, he saw his own corpse on the ground, and he saw Xia De and Priest Augustus.
"You guys... are tired of living?"
His expression suddenly turned ferocious, giving Xia De and Priest Augustus no chance to talk to him.
Behind the soul, the PentaCircle Ring術士's Destiny Ring emerged. But Xia De and the Priest were not alarmed at all. Ring術士 are not purely soul professions; the unity of body and soul is required to wield this power of mysticism. That's why Xia De's physical face would gradually approach the appearance of his soul.
Even a PentaCircle Ring術士, when abandoning their body and appearing as a pure soul, would inevitably have their power diminished. If the opponent were a high-ring, Xia De and the Priest would have turned and run, but with only PentaCircle, they could still handle it.
The Destiny Ring behind the soul also appeared as a phantom, likely due to the operator's state. Several indistinct Ling Rune flickered with a pale green light, and as the cold wind blew, abnormal sounds came from beneath the surrounding earth.
"Damn it, this guy is going to blasphemy and revive the undead!"
Priest Augustus cursed in a tone very unbefitting a clergyman, then lifted his robe and stomped his right foot hard on the ground. The Destiny Ring also appeared behind the Priest. As someone proficient in the power of 【Soul】 and 【Corpse】, he was doing his best to prevent the undead from reviving.
And Xia De, of course, was not idle. His right hand swung an arc of Moonlight at the Ring術士's soul. While the opponent dodged by taking advantage of being a spirit body, Xia De took a step and appeared behind the opponent.
But this sneak attack was unsuccessful. The soul actually disappeared the moment Xia De thrust out the sword in his hand; this was a special way for a spirit body to move.
The soul appeared directly above the corpse.
"You guys are really fools!"
He laughed and was about to 鑽 into his own body, then saw Xia De rushing over with the cat.
"You can't touch the soul, oh!"
Xia De threw Mia over, and the orange cat flew over the corpse's face. Even though the soul hadn't entered the corpse yet, the corpse actually opened its eyes on its own.
It was transforming from a corpse sealed by Priest Augustus into an undead creature.
"Do you think this means I have no way?"
The Destiny Ring behind the soul flickered with spiritual light again, pacifying the corpse that was trying to get up. Seeing that Priest Augustus was still trying his best to prevent the corpses in the entire cemetery from rioting, Xia De casually grabbed the chain on his sleeve and threw it forward.
"Hmm?"
His original intention was to force the opponent away from above the corpse and then use the chains to restrain him. But he didn't expect that the soul turned and raised its hand to block, and the dark runic chains, composed of "Gluttony" and "greed," actually pierced through the spirit body's arm, and then easily pierced through the entire soul from the front.
"What is this?"
The soul looked at Xia De in surprise, and Xia De was equally surprised; he thought this chain had no offensive power.
The chains not only pierced the soul, but dense black marks actually spread along the soul's wound, extending across the entire spirit body.
This soul, summoned by Priest Augustus, didn't even have time to curse Xia De before its entire being rapidly changed color as if stained by ink.
The Destiny Ring behind it deteriorated like rusting metal, and dense Ling Rune representing "Gluttony" and "greed" wriggled like chaotic insects on the dark spirit body and the rusted Destiny Ring.
The soul raised its hand, pointing at Xia De, as if to curse him. But as soon as its hand was raised, the soul seemed to swell uncontrollably. The humanoid spirit body wriggled and deformed, the wisdom in its eyes gradually fading.
"He's losing control!"
The Priest shouted. The surprised Xia De came to his senses, knowing that he couldn't let this continue.
Holding the sword with both hands, Xia De took a step forward to face the opponent, stomping his foot and raising the Moonlight Greatsword high:
"Praise the Moonlight!"
He shouted, and as his hand moved and the sword fell, following the arc of the silver moon, the distorted spirit body was split open, then turned into black Ashes and slowly dissipated in front of Xia De.
The chains clattered onto the corpse, and the Ashes formed from the soul carried a foul smell, gradually disappearing with the night wind. It was the first time Xia De had seen a soul turn to dust in this way; this was the most terrifying scene so far tonight.
