Don't disturb the sorcerer's scientific research

Chapter 179 Jia Xiu Discovers the Cult's Secret
Another adventurer has fallen victim to Priestess Samantha's cruelty.

Unlike the other adventurers who were captured by Priestess Samantha that morning.

This poor soldier did not choose to defend his innocence, nor did he put up any resistance; he slid to his knees at lightning speed.

Because other people who resisted also met a bad end, ending up in solitary confinement and imprisonment.

Therefore, he chose to admit guilt, apologize, and beg for leniency, directly taking the blame for committing indecent acts in public in front of an inviolable priest.

Unfortunately, his wishful thinking was dashed when the real-life Priestess Samantha slapped him hard across the face.

When you're being targeted, there's really only one outcome.

The soldier who knelt down to admit his mistake received no forgiveness and was dragged toward the solitary confinement cell.

As the soldier was being dragged away, he realized that in this situation, it was pointless to be weak and beg for mercy. The oppressed would not gain the sympathy and understanding of the oppressors by showing weakness, but would only suffer more severe oppression.

Despite being held down by two men, the soldier began to struggle and shouted loudly.

"No, I didn't do anything. I was just scratching an itch. Are we not allowed to scratch our itch while eating here?"

He argued.

In reality, he was just scratching an itch.

Unfortunately, his attempt to defend himself came too late, and he had already dug a huge hole for himself.

"You admitted you did it yourself, so who would believe you if you changed your story and said it was just scratching an itch? Stop making excuses and go to the solitary confinement room to reflect on your actions!"

Jassi, playing Priestess Samantha, spoke with the triumphant air of a victorious fighting rooster.

After this incident in the cafeteria, the other men dared not continue eating.

Some left, some fled.

Who knows if he will become the next target, a victim on Priest Samantha's path to ascension?

However, far beyond their expectations, from this moment on, there is no safe zone in the town of Chachdis.

Other priests in the denomination, regardless of their abilities in other areas, are quite good at imitating others.

In just one morning, they had basically learned Jia Xiu's methods and rhetoric, and began to imitate and practice them.

Soon, the town of Chachdis became a vast, dark forest for the men.

It must not be discovered by other priests, for discovery would be a disaster.

They can always find all sorts of reasons.

Outside, there are barriers and vampires; inside, there are cultists carrying out horrific purges.

For adventurers, it has become difficult to distinguish which is more dangerous.

One is a threat to one's life and safety, and the other is an indescribable terror to one's mind and spirit.

Furthermore, it is uncertain whether the latter is merely psychological torture or a combination of psychological and physical abuse.

They were locked in solitary confinement, with no word on when they would be released, and even if they were released, what would happen to them afterward.

Even if this matter is over, something even more terrifying is waiting.

Upon realizing this, the remaining male adventurers decided it was better to run away.

They escaped into the forest, a vast valley where even vampires might not be able to find them. And even if they did, they could fight to the death.

The important task of dealing with vampires should be left to the ladies who were once teammates, since only they have the "blessing" to receive the blessing of the Mother Goddess.

Several of the women who were originally adventurers have begun to genuinely support the sect.

It was led by the first wanderer who received the blessing.

They received real benefits, and the heavenly kingdom described in the scriptures was truly tempting.

As a result, a few individuals began to help the priests report their former teammates.

This is another major blow to the remaining adventurers.

Watching vampire clones bar their teeth in the forest might be a better way to survive than staying here and suffering mental torment.

But they realized it too late, or rather, the priests acted too quickly.

Before they could even organize an escape plan, the priests had already captured them all. By nightfall, there were hardly any men left in the castle who could still move around.

The offerings for the promotion were not enough for the priests to share.

If it weren't for the ironclad law written in the scriptures—a crucial element of the beautiful vision of the future Kingdom of Heaven—they would have been eager to condemn one another.

The high priest was very satisfied with this "grand occasion" because it not only provided ample offerings, eliminating the need for her to manipulate the scales to eliminate some people as sacrifices, but more importantly, it truly aligned with her understanding of female power—it should be this way.

The highest level of spreading a cult is to become a believer yourself.

If you can't even fool yourself, how can you fool others?

Priestess Samantha greatly admired the upstart priest who had sparked this phenomenon.

No wonder she was one of the promotion candidates she had her eye on from the beginning; she's ruthless, smart, and very creative.

As the day passed, Priestess Samantha rose several places in the High Priest's ranking, successfully turning the tables and becoming the number one among all the candidates.

If the Cult of the Moon Mother wants to grow and expand, it needs "talented individuals" like Priestess Samantha.

The high priest became more and more satisfied with what he thought about it.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom of Jia Xiu, the culprit who caused this nightmarish day.

Jashu, Mia, Ram, and Bubu are holding their daily debriefing meeting.

Among the few remaining men who were still able to move were the illusions of "Jash" controlled by Ram and Bubu.

It's normal that Ram didn't suffer any "sacrifice"; no priest could find any fault with him, and Ram could cleverly avoid making up excuses.

He was hailed as the most exemplary man who adhered to the doctrine, and there was even a trend of him being promoted as a typical believer.

If they really can't find a problem to make a fuss about, then they should treat Ram as one of their own, as a way to give the last few people who haven't been locked up yet some hope.

See, as long as you do well enough, you can still gain the church's approval.

It serves as bait for fishing.

However, since the priests had no intention of letting the others go, this was an "unattainable bait," a lure.

The illusion of Jia Xiu, controlled by Bu Bu, was still there, which was somewhat unexpected for Jia Xiu.

He had originally planned for Bubu to be locked in the solitary confinement room, with Bubu responsible for breaking down the door and rescuing all the adventurers during the final operation.

As a result, he wasn't locked up.

Because the illusion of Jasshu it manipulates looks so stupid.

How do you convict someone who looks completely out of their mind?

Will they spy on you, or will they harass you...?

This stumped the many priests who were eyeing Jasmine's illusions.

He may seem intellectually deficient and full of flaws, but in reality, there are no flaws at all!

Compared to the inimitable Ram, the existence of Jashu's illusion even inspired the remaining adventurers.

They all began to feign madness in an attempt to evade the priests' pursuit.

However, this approach probably won't last long. Once the priests realize they can be even more shameless and have no bottom line, framing "idiots" won't be a problem.

It's estimated that Jia Xiuhuanxiang will be locked up in solitary confinement again in a few days.

Let's take advantage of these two days when we can still be active.

"Tomorrow's plan is for Mia to continue finding fault with the remaining people and play the role of the cult's vanguard. Ram can do whatever she wants. If she has free time, she can wander around and share any interesting things she finds."

After summarizing the first day of the "pretend to be a cultist" activity, Jia Xiu assigned tasks for the second day.

Overall, things went more smoothly than expected, effectively driving the sect to madness and gaining the high priest's trust.

"As for tonight, while we're all still here, we need to explore the underground of the castle," Jia Xiu said earnestly, outlining tonight's key mission.

The Moon Mother Goddess Cult has a very healthy lifestyle, with bedtime at 10 p.m. and waking up promptly at 6 a.m.

Jia Xiu could easily be a night owl, while the other three could hold out a bit, giving them a few hours in the evening to sneak around exploring the castle.

Especially the basement.

"I've already found out."

After setting an example for the other priests in the morning, Jassi did not continue his reporting work in the afternoon, but instead began investigating sectarian history and defense information.

Each generation of high priests here has a good habit of recording events during their tenure.

Just like writing a diary.

You can tell at first glance that he is not a serious person.

These diary-like records are stored as important historical materials of the sect and are open to access.

Jia Xiu spent the afternoon intently studying these things.

"The castle's solitary confinement room and sanctuary are both underground; the sanctuary is directly beneath the main hall."

"A sanctuary? Isn't a sanctuary where we pray?"

Mia refers to the place where the statue of the Mother Goddess stands.

"No, the sanctuary is not open to the public on ordinary days. Only each high priest has the authority to enter the sanctuary. According to the records, the church's sacred objects are stored there."

"A sacred artifact, isn't that..."

"Yes, it sounds like some kind of artifact, right? Like I said, this sect is using the power of artifacts to do evil."

What Jia Xiu has discovered now is all proving his conjecture.

"So tonight we'll see if we can open the sanctuary door and check the condition of the confinement cells so we can rescue those unfortunate adventurers later."

"The sanctuary must be heavily fortified, right? Can the few of us sneak in unnoticed?"

Mia asked worriedly.

Even without a true god-level backer, this sect still possesses considerable strength, and its blessed, super-living followers should not be underestimated.

With Bubu involved, they can definitely win, but it will probably cause quite a commotion.

When the topic of protection came up, Jia Xiu's expression was relaxed. "On the contrary, the sanctuary doesn't have much protection. Because of the sanctuary's crucial position in the sect, no one except the high priest is allowed to approach it. Only on religious festivals every few years will priests be led to get close for a visit. Otherwise, it's completely off-limits. The protection personnel are only at the underground entrance, which we can hide around."

This mysterious feeling reinforced the speculation that the artifacts kept in the sanctuary were divine artifacts used only by the high priest.

The Cult of the Moon Mother is essentially a system where whoever possesses the divine artifact becomes the High Priest.

What each priest passes on is only the right to use the divine artifact.

According to records, the position is passed on to a new high priest only when the previous high priest dies.

A divine artifact cannot serve two masters.

"Shall we leave now?"

"Waiting for bedtime..."

So, after ten o'clock, the entire castle fell silent.

Only a few guards were on patrol, and they were not very strict in their defense.

This sect has been accustomed to dominating the town, and its defense work is quite perfunctory. There is no record of it being attacked or robbed in its history.

It's hard to avoid being perfunctory in defense.

As for the vampire clones that used to come every night, they weren't in the script, so they certainly won't be coming tonight.

Jia Xiu and his group successfully bypassed the guards at the entrance to the underground level and made their way down using Bubu's invisibility spell.

"Ram feels this place is terrifying."

The underground level was pitch black, and a chilling sobbing sound could be heard in the air.

"Could this place be haunted by ghosts?"

Ram said, arms crossed.

“You’ve activated darkvision, you can see for yourself,” Jassi said from the side. “That’s an adventurer who’s been locked up crying.”

Jia Xiu explained helplessly.

The dungeon of the castle is in pretty good condition, unlike the above-ground levels which have collapsed so badly.

The adventurers were divided into groups of four and kept in cells with beds to sleep in.

The treatment was even better than I expected.

Could it be that in the eyes of the church, this is considered "end-of-life care" for the sacrifices, so they don't have to suffer any more?

After passing through the confinement room, we arrived at the main hall directly below, walked through a dark corridor, and came to a large door.

The entrance to the sanctuary.

This gate has a distinctly cult-like feel, with images carved on its heavy surface.

It looks like a scene of the Mother Goddess descending.

The depiction of the Mother Goddess closely resembles the image of the saint.

Where did they get this image from?
Jia Xiu was a little confused.

Could she be the first High Priestess? If so, she must be an extraordinary person, capable of developing boxing philosophy in such an environment.

However, it is also possible that the original idea was good, but was ruined by the subsequent successors.

A certain prophetic sect has something to say about this.

Jia Xiu carefully examined the details of the door.

Is this place really a sanctuary?

He couldn't help but mutter.

Even if it's a cult, a place called a "sanctuary" should at least look somewhat sacred.

Upon inspection, it was surprisingly discovered that the door didn't even have any magic on it; it was just an ordinary, thick door.

The pile of chains and locks on the door weren't just for decoration; they were actually used to lock the door.

The magical level of the Moon Mother Cult is a bit too low.

If there's no magic to lock the door, then judging from all the locks on the door, it doesn't look like a sanctuary at all.

It was as if they were terrified something might come out from inside.

"Ram, it's your turn, go!"

Jia Xiu said in a low voice.

The fastest way to open a door is definitely to use the knocking spell to unlock it directly. Doors without any magic are no different from unlocked doors when it comes to the knocking spell.

However, the drawback of the knocking technique is that it makes a loud knocking sound when unlocking.

To avoid alerting the guards outside, Jashu chose to have Ram demonstrate his traditional craftsmanship.

Two wires were used to unlock the lock.

According to Ram, he learned to pick locks because he liked to lock his valuables and often forgot where he put his keys.

With a series of agile movements that seemed disproportionate to his enormous size, Ram opened more than a dozen locks within five minutes, removed the chains, and pushed open the gate.

A little dust settled on the heavy door.

Inside the door, in a dark space, an altar faintly flickered with a scarlet light...

(End of this chapter)