There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

She didn't call Fang Qingrou and Hao Meng because the Pope said it was best not to bring non-papal personnel to the preparations for the Sacred Tree Festival. As for Knight Myron, there was no way around it; as a guardian knight, he had to protect Lu Qing at all times.

........

Meanwhile, inside the cathedral in the capital, the Pope, who was striding along the corridor, suddenly stopped and turned to look at the shadows around the corner: "Come out, Lin, you're giving off too much of your aura."

“I deliberately leaked that,” the woman in the gray-black robe said as she emerged from the shadows, though her pale face didn’t seem very convincing.

"You're injured?" The Pope frowned subconsciously, then relaxed his brow slightly, and asked, "What happened?"

“I’ve been exposed.” Lin said with a bitter tone, “They knew there was a mole in the higher-ups, but they didn’t know who it was. But a few days ago, Number Five died, and I became the suspect.”

"It's alright, as long as you're alive." The Pope rubbed his forehead, then asked seriously, "Any intelligence?"

Lin was exposed in a hurry, and the Pope didn't expect her to have any important information. However, after he finished asking her questions, Lin's answer was far beyond his expectations.

"The Guiji Sect wants to pull off a big move on the day of the Sacred Tree Festival. They've been preparing for this plan for a very long time," Lin said to the Pope in a serious tone.

"Have you found out about that plan?" the Pope asked immediately after hearing Lin's words.

"No, all I know is that the second-in-command of the sect has been urging the third-in-command to collect something called Bloodstone for a long time, and recently, they have finally collected all the Bloodstones."

"Where did they get so many bloodstones?" the Pope couldn't help but ask. His mind worked quickly, and he immediately thought of the attack on the four towns of Fremures by the Church of the Dead.

He had carefully studied those magic arrays and knew their functions, so he was also aware of the large amount of bloodstones the Guiji Sect needed.

However, during this period, the Guiji Sect has been attacked by the major forces of the kingdom, and its range of activities has been greatly reduced. How could it possibly gather enough bloodstones that would require the population of four towns?

"........"

Upon hearing the Pope's question, Lin pursed her lips, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Those Guiji followers... they massacred their own people to collect the bloodstones they couldn't gather..."

"This..." The Pope's eyes widened, completely unexpected that Lin's answer would be like this.

"This is truly more surprising than when I heard you say the Guiji Sect was going to make a big move..."

------------

Chapter 516: Please Stop Us

"With the sacred tree above, they've gone completely mad," the Pope said, unusually losing his composure.

“They’ve always been madmen,” Lynn said after hearing the Pope’s words.

“No, I really didn’t expect them to turn against their own people.” The Pope shook his head, quickly regaining his composure. He thought carefully for a while, then frowned and said, “Now is not the time to be shocked by the actions of these madmen. We need to know what they want to do with so many bloodstones.”

"Perhaps it's some kind of ritual?" Lin shared her thoughts upon returning.

"What kind of ritual would require such a massive amount of bloodstone? Even if it is a ritual, a ritual that requires so much bloodstone must be quite large, and our people will notice it," the Pope said, shaking his head.

"Whatever it is, I must tell the King about this; we must be prepared," the Pope said.

"By the way, now that you've been exposed, you should rest well and wait until you've recovered from your injuries," the Pope said, looking at Lin as if remembering something.

"No need, my work might not be finished yet," Lin said, shaking her head.

"Hmm?" The Pope looked at Lin with a puzzled expression, wondering what she meant by those words.

Without answering the Pope's question, Lin gradually disappeared into the shadows, saying, "I will continue my investigation in secret, so don't worry about me."

"..."

After a moment of silence, the Pope looked at the empty corridor, opened his mouth, hesitated for a while, and then said, "Alright, be careful."

His voice echoed in the quiet corridor, but received no reply. Only a gentle breeze drifted past him, as if it had heard his words.

Lin, who had already left the church, recalled her experience after losing consciousness in the swamp...

......

"........"

In a room with almost no ventilation, the weak Lin opened her eyes and turned her head to see a man sitting at a table writing something.

She was very familiar with the man's appearance; after all, he was her "comrade" with whom she had "worked" for five years. However, she never imagined that she would actually be rescued by him one day.

"Cough cough!" She tried with some difficulty to support herself, but this aggravated her severely injured lungs, and she couldn't help but cough violently.

The sound of coughing attracted the attention of the man who was working. Number Three turned around and saw Lin rolling on the ground as she struggled.

"Your injuries are quite severe." Number Three stood up with a hint of helplessness and carried Lin back to the bed.

"Water." These were the first words Lin uttered after returning to bed.

"Here you go." Number Three picked up the water glass from the table and handed it to Lin.

"..." Without speaking, Lin stubbornly raised her right hand and gripped the water glass tightly with great effort. Seeing her like this, Number Three hesitated and loosened his grip.

"Plop..." The water glass slipped from Lin's hand. Just as it was about to fall to the ground, Sanhao reached out and caught the falling glass. Inevitably, some of the water in the glass spilled onto the ground.

"Let me do it." Number Three refilled the water glass and then held it to Lin's lips.

Lin pursed her lips, but in the end, she quietly drank the water in her glass. Seeing this, Number Three couldn't help but chuckle and said, "I didn't expect you to be so... quiet sometimes."

"I just didn't want to waste my energy." Lin raised an eyebrow, then asked, "So, why did you save me?"

Before Number Three could speak, Lin spoke first: "You're not trying to pretend to save me to gain my trust and get information out of me, are you? Let me tell you, that's impossible!"

"Hehe, I didn't expect you to be so good at making things up." Number Three was slightly taken aback when he heard Lin's words, then sat down to the side and said, "Don't worry, I don't intend to get anything out of you."

He took a letter from his pocket and handed it to Lin, saying, "Here, take a look."

“This is…” Lin recognized the letter that Number Two had given him at a glance. She hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took the letter, reading its contents.

"this......."

Her pupils widened involuntarily because the contents of the letter were so astonishing that she couldn't help but doubt its authenticity.

"You're not planning to fool me with this kind of fake information, are you?" Suppressing her shock, Lin looked at Number Three with a blank expression.

"I wish this were a lie." Number Three shrugged helplessly, then sat down in a chair and said, "I know you're a spy for the kingdom, that's why I showed you this letter."

"What good will doing this do you?" Lin asked Number Three, somewhat puzzled.

"Heh, you might not believe it, but I initially joined the Guiji Cult because I believed it could truly help all of humanity." Number Three gave a bitter smile and explained:

“Void energy is extremely dangerous. As long as a living being exists, it will be corrupted by the void. Initially, we were just a small group, a group of pitiful people corrupted by the void.”

"We tried to study the power of the Void in the hope of finding a way to cure the Void's corruption. In the process, our collective expanded and our thoughts changed."

"A thought has somehow crept into our lives..." Number Three's eyes gleamed with reminiscence as he said, "The power of the Void is immense. We are all children favored by the Void, so we are fortunate..."

“Indeed, the Void can bring us great power, and it was around that time that most people, including myself, shifted their focus to how to treat the effects of the Void.”

"We began to study the Void more deeply, stealing power from it. Some of our brethren went astray and began conducting human experiments, trying to find a way to access the Void without endangering their lives."

“I can’t stop them, and there are too many people in the sect that I know well, so I’m reluctant to leave. Or rather, I’m blinded by the power of the void.”

"So you've regained your conscience now?" Lin raised an eyebrow, her tone somewhat sarcastic.

Number Three, of course, heard the sarcasm in Lin's words. He replied, "I don't want to explain it this way, saying I was just blinded by power. In fact, I wasn't awakened by my conscience either."

"I just feel lost because the sect has changed so much that I can't adapt. I can't help but think back to its original form and feel a bit sentimental and regretful."

"But these are all secondary. What truly makes me change my mind is in your hands." Number Three pointed to the letter in Lin's hand.

"For the sake of our own interests, we're even willing to harm our own compatriots. We've completely lost sight of our original purpose, so no matter what..."

Please stop us.

------------

Chapter 517: The Indifferent Yorick

"Your Holiness, I've arrived. Is there anything I can help you with?" Lu Qing asked the Pope, who was talking with Yorick, as she entered the Honglisam Cathedral.

“Your Highness, you’ve arrived.” The Pope nodded to Yorick, then looked at Lu Qing and said, “There’s not much I need to help with in terms of the festival preparations, but I do have a few things I’d like to ask you for a favor.”

"What is it?" Lu Qing asked curiously after hearing the Pope's words.

“It is like this.” The Pope glanced at Yorick, who had already walked away, and after organizing his thoughts for a moment, said, “I hope that you and Sir Myron can help me investigate this matter.”

"Investigation?" Lu Qing asked, sounding somewhat puzzled.

“That’s right.” The Pope nodded and explained, “The spy I sent to the Guiji Sect has been exposed. It seems that the Guiji followers already knew about this, but they just didn’t know the identity of the mole.”

"Do you suspect that there are spies from the Guiji Sect inside the church?" Upon hearing the Pope's words, Lu Qing seemed to have thought of something and asked.

"That's certainly true," the Pope nodded.

"Are you serious?" Sir Myron looked at the Pope and lowered his voice, saying, "I used to do this, that's true, but I haven't practiced how to conduct undercover investigations in a long time."

"Besides, investigations aren't something that can be done overnight. We don't have that much time. This matter should be handled by people who are more suitable than us." After a pause, Knight Myron added.

“Of course I’ve considered all of that,” the Pope replied immediately, as if he had already anticipated Knight Myron’s response. “I have other reasons for asking you this.”

The Pope glanced at Yorick in the distance, then looked at Lu Qing and Knight Myron and said, "Not many people know that I have sent spies. I am already investigating some of them. However, there is one person for whom I cannot send anyone to investigate."

“You mean, Yorick?” Knight Myron asked, catching the Pope’s gaze.

"Hmm." The Pope nodded and said, "Yoric has been by my side for many years, and to be honest, I don't want to doubt him, but I have to investigate this matter thoroughly."

"But actually very few people know that Yorick is very strong, and ordinary shadow assassins cannot get close to him and investigate him."

"You don't really expect me to investigate, do you...?" Knight Myron said with a rather strange expression. "Although I am very strong, when it comes to stealth, I can only be considered a clumsy shadow apprentice."

"Of course, I don't mean for you to investigate like this. In fact, all you and Her Highness need to do is keep an eye on Yorick for me," the Pope explained, shaking his head.

“Although you can’t sneak up on him, you can act openly with him. With Myron around, I don’t need to worry even if we encounter danger.”

“We can’t follow him forever. Even if he really is an undercover agent, he won’t give himself away while we’re following him,” Lu Qing said after thinking for a moment.

“That’s certainly true.” The Pope sighed, then said, “I don’t expect to catch the mole in a short time. I just need to find a way to keep an eye on everyone and prevent the mole from sending messages.”

"How long do you mean by 'short time'?" Sir Myron inquired, then paused for a moment before adding, "What would happen if the information were leaked?"

"As long as we stall until the Sacred Tree Festival is over, that's fine. As for the consequences of leaking information, there are far too many." The Pope frowned, looking rather troubled, and said, "I found out about the undercover operation too late. We've been discussing so many things lately."

"A plan to eradicate cult members, a list of changes in church personnel, patrol routes for the Sacred Tree Festival, and a map showing the distribution of newly constructed city sewer systems..."

Something strange seems to have gotten mixed in... Lu Qing couldn't help but complain to herself.

"Wait, what does the map of the newly built sewer system have to do with you?" Knight Myron asked with a strange expression.

"Well, this is something I specifically discussed with His Majesty the King." The Pope looked somewhat embarrassed as he said, "As you know, the Honlissam Cathedral was built a long time ago, and the drainage system here has some problems."