You're my wife, don't doubt it!

"I am not arrogant; what difference is there between me, whether strong or weak?"

"Not stingy, but loving illusions and vanities;

"I am not jealous; I am but an ant in a fleeting dream."

"Without laziness, one cannot find relief from suffering."

"Do not be greedy, for all human emotions are sins."

"Don't be seduced by beauty, for youth is fleeting..."

What she said seemed to make some sense... Xiao Yao nodded to himself.

No, we can't fall for it!

"Satan, get behind me!" Yu Bo shouted, interrupting Salome's speech.

“How about we throw this head into the sea and see what happens?” Xiao Yao said. “No, let’s throw both the head and the body away.”

“We can give it a try!” Yu Luying said.

“I suddenly thought of something…” Shen Jie struggled to grab Xiao Yao’s forearm, and Xiao Yao hurriedly leaned in.

“Brother Bo,” Xiao Yao said, “Shen Jie said she met Master Shi Hui at the Dragon King Temple nearby a couple of days ago. Why don’t we send someone to the Dragon King Temple to take a look? Maybe he can break down Salome’s defenses.”

“Should we ask heretics to do what we can’t do?” Lucia objected angrily.

“Churchill, as your family says,” Xiao Yao advised, “is willing to sail with the devil to achieve his goals, but remember to disembark afterwards.”

"What do you mean by 'my family'?"

"Don't talk nonsense. How is Master Shihui a devil?"

"No, I'm not trying to persuade you—"

Yu Bo said, "I know that Shi Hui came to Dongqi to inspect the temple site, because we just talked on the phone the other day. I think he went back to Shanghai a couple of days ago—otherwise, the old man would have definitely come over to help a long time ago."

"I see..." Shen Jie said with some disappointment.

“Then let’s go move it and throw it into the sea.” Lucia straightened up: “I’ve had enough of her shameless lies.”

As she spoke, the bespectacled girl staggered toward Salome.

"She's really brave," Xiao Yao thought.

They are also very proactive.

“Hello… ribbonfish… has arrived… waiting…” A noisy voice came from the communicator.

Yu Bo was holding the Holy Body with both hands and couldn't answer the call. Old Master Yu Texuan took the communicator and said, "I can't hear you. Say it again quickly."

“Received…APFSDS…” A series of jumbled and noisy sounds came from the communicator.

“This is the shore, please speak, please speak, I can’t hear what you’re saying,” Yu Texuan said.

The communicator fell silent.

The entire surrounding area was completely silent.

Where did that kid Daiyu go? He was just here a moment ago, and no one has noticed him after all this time, Xiao Yao thought.

We've reached the point where we need to use a communicator...

Xiao Yao had a bad feeling and turned to look out to sea.

“I can feel it—time is running out. If we can’t move it, let’s retreat first, the farther we run, the better…” Yu Texuan said.

At that moment, a strange sound came from mid-air.

The sound was shrill and piercing, enough to make one's liver and gallbladder tremble, followed by a rumbling sound coming from the distant sea.

"It's shelling! That bastard! Lucia! Run! Run! Run!" Xiao Yao shouted desperately.

Lucia was stunned and hadn't reacted yet—before anyone else could react, several shells had already hit Salome, producing a huge sound of metal colliding, and the sandstorm caused by the air pressure temporarily blotted out the sky.

"Firing complete, prepare to move. Forward observation post, please report the results of the operation." The communicator finally returned to normal operation.

"Who the hell gave you permission to fire?! Someone go check on Xiao Qiu right now!" Yu Bo shouted.

Lucia has fallen—it seems the ribbonfish hit her quite accurately, missing her, but she was still affected by the small shockwave.

After the dust settled, Salome continued to channel shadow energy, appearing completely unharmed.

Xiao Yao and Yu Luying have difficulty walking, Shen Jie is unable to move, Yu Texuan is lame, Yu Baolu is holding an umbrella while supporting the old man, and Yu Bo is carrying the sacred body... It seems that I can only go by myself, Yu Bo thought.

Yu Bo stepped out from under the umbrella and walked towards Lu Ziya.

Lucia actually sat up on her own.

She slowly got up and continued walking unsteadily toward Salome.

Salome didn't even bother to react until Lucia walked up to her, stretched out his hands, passed through the Wall of Sighs, and choked her headless throat.

A gasp and cheers erupted from the crowd.

The head on the ground began to change into different faces, and each face was struggling and screaming in pain.

Lucia's body was trembling, and sweat streamed down her forehead, falling in large drops onto the beach and eventually disappearing.

"I can't... I have no strength left..." Lucia's hand fell limp, and she said in a tearful voice, "It's too hard."

“A person with a pure heart can overcome Salome’s barrier,” Yu Bo shouted. “Go Lucia, you can do it!”

“But defeating her still requires sufficient strength,” Xiao Yao said.

The boy, Shen Jie, and Yu Luying exchanged glances and nodded to each other.

Yu Luying was the first to raise her hand, her palm facing Lu Jiya, and a faint light, almost invisible to the naked eye, connected to Lu Jiya's body.

Shen Jie couldn't raise her hand, but she simply raised one finger and pointed at Lu Jiya.

Yu Bo saw a semi-transparent outline beginning to appear behind Lucia.

“The Eucharist.” He stood before the girl, raising the large loaf of bread in his hand.

“Amen,” Lucia said.

The girl opened her mouth, and the priest stuffed the bread into her mouth.

Xiao Yao raised both hands, palms facing Lu Ziya, and two beams of light shone on the girl.

"Remember what I just told you! You can do it, you fierce woman!" Xiao Yao shouted to her with his last bit of strength.

Lucia seemed to have regained some of her spirits. Behind her appeared a little girl who looked only 11 or 2 years old, wearing a long headscarf, kneeling with her hands clasped together, and praying with her eyes closed.

“It’s Saint Lucia!” Yu Bo exclaimed, then knelt down.

Yu Baolu knelt down while closing the umbrella with one hand, saying, "Oh, Dad, please let it go."

"She looks adorable, not at all like a fierce old woman," Xiao Yao said with a smile, though he was exhausted.

“You are not allowed to disrespect Saint Lucia.” Yu Luying hit him.

After praying for a long time, the little girl finally took a further step. She clasped a bunch of palm branches together in front of her chest, and when she opened them again, the palm branches had transformed into a blazing green dagger. Then, it rose into the air and pierced straight into Salome's headless neck.

Accompanied by countless overlapping, chilling screams of men and women, intense white light enveloped Salome's entire body.

Then, with a deafening roar, the world fell into a horrifying silence. The light vanished, the shadows vanished, and even the sensations of the body vanished.

In this pure emptiness, the sky suddenly brightened.

Zhao Xiaomei collapsed, and the bustling sounds of people and waves on the beach rose again, and the pain of impending death vanished instantly.

Xiao Yao stared at his hands in a daze, feeling a sense of unreality.

Yu Luying let go of him and jumped up with Shen Jie, cheering and eagerly hugging Lu Jiya. The three girls then linked arms with each other and jumped around.

Yan Xiao quickly joined them, becoming an eight-legged hopper.

Xiao Yao smiled with satisfaction and stood up.

"Is it her?" Yu Bo crouched down and checked Zhao Xiaomei's breath: "She's still alive."

Everyone who knew Zhao Xiaomei except Yu Luying was greatly surprised when they saw her face.

“Zhao Xiaomei…” The smile vanished from the boy’s face.

Yu Bo crouched down, intending to search Zhao Xiaomei's body, but was stopped by Lu Jiaya: "Father, why don't I do it?"

Yu Bo thought about it and agreed.

They found the lost Holy Light in Zhao Xiaomei's schoolbag; the Holy Light inside was intact.

Many people breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that the Eucharist was unharmed.

“Grandpa Yu,” Lucia looked up, “what does your Saint Cloth look like? I couldn’t find it on her.”

"How could we not find it?" Yu Texuan's eyes widened. "Well, it looks similar to the ordinary Carmelite Brown Cloth, except..."

"Could it be hidden in my underwear?" Shen Jie asked, pulling her wet pantyhose down to her knees while lifting one foot.

"Shen Jie, what are you doing?!" Xiao Yao shouted, "In broad daylight..."

“Possibly.” Yu Baolu frowned and said, “There are many people coming and going here, and it’s a noisy place. Let’s move her first.”

*I just realized that August 29th (today) is the anniversary of John the Baptist's Passion, and it's quite a coincidence that I'm writing about this (Salome) storyline, reaching the ending and final chapter of this arc. How fortunate! Let me sing this to express my feelings.*