Goddess Kaleidoscope

Although they kept saying they wanted to join the religion, they looked frivolous and irresponsible. Looking at these guys who were clearly there to cause trouble, Luo Ye, a seasoned veteran of the underworld, knew he'd run into a bunch of scoundrels!

Under normal circumstances, most people in this world would not dare to provoke the temple, for fear of divine punishment.

But as the old saying goes, there are always exceptions. There is a special kind of scoundrel who specifically targets temples that are generally revered by ordinary people.

These people dared not provoke the major churches that could afford to support their knights, but instead targeted smaller, weaker sects in remote areas. They would usually come in groups of three to five, seeking to join the church, carrying some weapons and saying they wanted to serve as guards for the temple.

Some naive, unsuspecting priests actually accepted their services, and these scoundrels brazenly loitered at the temple entrance, harassing worshippers under the guise of "inspection." By the time the priests discovered that these scoundrels weren't genuinely converts but were deliberately trying to harm people, it took considerable effort to get rid of them, and they might even have to spend money to avoid further trouble.

These kinds of thugs and ruffians are generally referred to as "mangy dogs".

These scoundrels know the quirks and habits of many small sects inside and out, understanding their difficult living conditions. Therefore, they are far more afraid of causing trouble than the larger sects. While gods certainly exist, they won't descend to earth just because a few thugs cause a disturbance, so they are fearless!

The group of thugs continued to harass Luoye relentlessly. Because of their disturbance at the gate, many villagers who originally wanted to come to the temple to pray were afraid to approach.

Luo Ye knew that if he actually started a fight at the door, it would have a bad influence on the temple, so he kept his temper in check. He figured that if the village's self-defense force came, someone would take care of these scoundrels for him.

However, before the vigilantes arrived, Romian, who had originally gone out to school with Lude, returned alone.

When the mangy dogs saw a rather pretty nun who appeared to be a demi-human, they immediately cast malicious glances at her.

End of this chapter

Poor little Romian, she had only come back to help Lud retrieve the teaching materials that he had left in the temple, and she never expected to run into something like this at her own doorstep.

As soon as she saw her, a few hooligans surrounded her. Although they didn't lay a hand on her, they deliberately blocked her way and pressed their bodies, which hadn't been washed in years, against her, using their strong odor to intimidate her.

"Oh! Where did this little sister come from? And she's a nun!"

"What...what are you going to do?"

Romian was already afraid of contact with people due to psychological trauma. After being a nun at the temple for a month or so, she had finally started to improve under the careful care of Rudd and the others. However, when these thugs approached her with ill intentions, the little girl's face changed drastically, and her memories were suddenly brought back to mind.

The shrewish dogs, unaware of the girl's true nature, became even more smug upon seeing her pale face and trembling. Seeing this, Luo Ye's eyes flashed with murderous intent.

She didn't want to get involved, lest she dirty her own place, but these shameless scoundrels dared to scare "everyone's good sister" Luo Mi'an, which made Luo Ye feel she couldn't tolerate it.

But before he could grab the double-edged battle axe that he had been hiding behind the door, a lithe figure had already rushed forward ahead of him.

One of the mangy dogs heard a strong gust of wind coming from behind and instinctively turned around. Before it could even see the other person's face clearly, it was kicked in the face by a long, slender, jade-like leg that swept across it. It flew backward with a crisp sound of its nose breaking.

Sister Shanes, you…

"He struck first, I saw it all!"

With a flick of her finger at the unfortunate fellow who had been kicked at least three zhang away, Shanis looked righteous and awe-inspiring, as if she were simply acting in "self-defense."

The other thugs were completely dumbfounded. They hadn't even seen what had just happened. In the blink of an eye, their leader had been sent flying and was now lying on the ground like a dead dog.

Before they could scatter as usual, they saw that incredibly beautiful nun rushing towards them with a radiant smile...

In just two or three minutes, the eight mangy dogs were reduced to eight half-dead mangy dogs. Luo Ye witnessed the whole process, and the bizarre sight of Shanis laughing and beating people left her speechless for a moment.

"So, can someone explain to me what's going on here?"

When Lud returned after learning that something had happened at the temple, he only saw eight bruised and battered guys squatting in a row at the foot of the temple wall. He asked Luoye and learned that they were troublemakers who had been beaten up by Shanis for harassing Romian.

However, because these guys were so smelly and filthy, Shanis regretted it as soon as she finished hitting them and is currently taking a shower in the bathroom.

Looking at these troublemakers, Lude couldn't help but feel puzzled. Where did they get the courage to come to the temple and cause trouble?

Seemingly noticing Lud's confusion, Fallen Leaf explained to him what a "mangy dog" was.

Lude then realized that it was a professional scammer.

Are there many of these kinds of goods?

"They're generally not found in big cities, but mainly in remote small places."

So, you mean you bully the weak and fear the strong?

"more or less."

The few scoundrels had received a beating that would have made them question their existence, and they were now noticeably more obedient. Luo Ye planned to hand them over to the self-defense group when they arrived. The village only had one way to deal with troublemakers like these: forced labor.

However, Lude didn't think the appearance of these guys was just a coincidence. As a seasoned and experienced policeman, he had seen his fair share of tricks.

"Where did you all come from?"

"You...you're asking me?"

"Otherwise what? Am I supposed to ask the bedbug in the corner?"

"We come from Unos."

"Unos? Then why is he here again?"

"Isn't this the incident last year in Unos where they stormed the execution ground? The mayor was humiliated in the street, so he took it out on us thieves and thugs, hanging a lot of people. We brothers couldn't make a living anymore, so as soon as spring came, we banded together and ran away."

The thugs gave a wry explanation, which sounded plausible.

It's true that a lot of criminals have recently flocked to the town, engaging in all sorts of deceit, fraud, theft, and other vices. It's not surprising that a few fools would run into trouble.

After all, to these newcomers, the little-known Medicine God Cult did indeed exude an aura of harmless weakness.

After asking a few questions, Lude nodded, seemingly believing the other party's explanation. The thugs squatting on the ground all looked at him pitifully, their faces full of fawning and flattery.

"Your Excellency, please be magnanimous and let us brothers go as if we were nothing. We will never dare to do it again."

"Ha! You won't dare to do it again? Do you think we, the people's police, will believe your nonsense?"

Looking at these scoundrels, Lu De sneered. He didn't believe these scumbags would tell the truth honestly. If he let them go, they would go and harm others in the blink of an eye.

Although the thugs didn't know what "people's police" meant, they at least understood what Lud meant, so one of them pretended to be calm and threatened him.

"Old man, let me tell you, don't push us too far! We brothers are also influential figures, and we'll scare you to death if we tell you!"

"Then tell me, let's see if I can be scared to death."

"We, we are members of the Kabbalah Brotherhood!"

"What, what fraternity?"

Upon hearing the strange name the other party gave, Lu De looked puzzled, while Luo Ye, standing to the side, widened his eyes, rushed in front of the other party, reached out and grabbed the other party's crown, demanding an explanation.

"Who do you think you are?"

"Kabbalah Brotherhood!"

The other person's head cracked as the falling leaves pinched him. Although he was grimacing in pain, he did not change his story and insisted that he was a member of the Kabbalah Brotherhood and that his elder brother was "The Wrathbird" Santos.

Seeing the sudden reaction from the fallen leaves, Rude realized that the Kabbalah Brotherhood might be related to the God of Thieves.

Because Hume had previously mentioned that after her misfortune, she and Luoye had walked the mortal realm together for many years. In order to collect faith and lift the God of War's curse of having his hands chopped off, she had personally taken to the field and secretly established some hidden churches and underground organizations that worshipped the God of Thieves, some of which still exist today. So she quickly pulled Luoye aside and asked.

"Hey! What's going on? Could this brotherhood have some kind of connection with your boss?"

End of this chapter

Looking at these shameless scoundrels, Luo Ye's expression became somewhat subtle. She told Lud that the Kabbalah Brotherhood was indeed an underground organization personally established by Hume, similar in nature to the mafia.

This gang has been established for nearly sixty years and is considered one of Hume's more successful "creations". The gang has about two or three thousand members and has branches in many parts of the Kingdom of Durand.

The gang's first leader was Blackcard, known as "The Crocodile," who was a male incarnation of Hume.

The second-generation leader is Nagasha, the daughter of Hecard.

However, the gang's henchmen were unaware that both the first-generation Blackcard and the second-generation Nagasha were actually Hume in disguise, in order to keep the organization under their control.

However, to be fair, Hume's organizational and management skills were actually quite average. The Kabbalah Brotherhood seemed to be quite powerful, with members spread across many towns, but its internal management system was actually quite loose.

Hume herself admitted that she was not good at this kind of management and that she was basically a typical "laissez-faire" manager who lacked the ability to control her subordinates.

Ludd was discussing with Fallen Leaves how to deal with the mangy dogs when Hume finally returned. As soon as he entered, he saw a row of people squatting against the wall and pointed at them, asking Ludd a question.

Who are these guys?

"..." x2

Although the few people arrested were theoretically underlings of Hume's underlings, Ludwig did not choose to protect them. Instead, he resolutely handed them over to the belated members of the self-defense group to be taken back for labor reform.

During this time, Lud noticed a very sad scene: these few scoundrels had not produced even the slightest bit of faith from beginning to end.

Lud believed that the appearance of this group of people must be related to the Cult of War or Narad.

Hume, who had just returned from outside, confirmed this as well. She had been closely monitoring Irwin and his group for the past few days. Although she didn't keep a 24-hour watch on them, she was constantly keeping an eye on their every move.

A week ago, the other party sent a subordinate away from Pine Village, seemingly to call some helpers. Later, as more and more outsiders poured into Pine Village, some suspicious people slowly came into Hume's view.

However, Hume did not expect that one of the helpers the other party called would be her own underling, a situation that left her speechless.

The mastermind behind everything points to Narad. Lud knows exactly what Narad is thinking: he wants to force Lud to make a statement and obediently submit to the Cult of War in order to seek their protection. However, Narad is unaware of Lud's true strength, which is why these petty tricks seem so low-level.

In the following days, several more groups of troublemakers came. Although their methods differed, their purpose was the same: to cause trouble for Lud's Medicine God Cult and disrupt the cult's normal activities.

During this time, Narad twice stepped in as a good Samaritan, bringing his disciples to help Rudd out of trouble, acting like a benevolent and timely rain. If Hume hadn't been secretly watching and making sure Rudd knew that Narad was behind all the trouble, he might have actually been grateful to him!

"Master, are these people taking us for fools?"

"No! They just don't know that we know everything."

For several days in a row, Lud and Narad were putting on an acting showdown, and to be honest, Lud himself found it quite amusing.

One of them stalled while the other pressed, and the time Lude gained was all for laying the groundwork for another plan.

Thanks to the restoration of smooth regional transportation after the start of spring, and the continued attention from multiple adventurer guilds, the speed of information transmission between the border and the interior has seen a remarkable leap forward.

As a result, more and more adventurers began to gather in Pine Village.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of these people, the clues that Lud had deliberately left for them were gradually uncovered, and the adventurers, by analyzing this intelligence, moved step by step closer to a "truth" that had been intentionally constructed.

On this day, another team of elite adventurers successfully returned to Pine Village from the depths of the Virtual Realm Forest, bringing back some major news. About two hundred kilometers northeast of the forest, they discovered an ancient city occupied by lizardmen, who seemed to be brewing some kind of big plan.

This news immediately caused a huge uproar in Pine Village. After all, the lizardmen did not have a good reputation among humans. This race was notorious as "cult fanatics," and the border people deeply resented their frequent attacks on villages and the capture of human children for sacrifice.

So, Narad, believing the time was right, stepped forward and called on the adventurers in the village to unite and assist him in a campaign to subdue the lizardman tribe that was entrenched in the ancient city.

With a renowned priest of the Cult of War leading the way, and with a promise of generous rewards for those who responded, the village quickly rallied, forming a large group of over two hundred people. Besides adventurers from afar, many local youths, unable to contain their enthusiasm, also joined the group.

At this point, Narad, who was acting as the leader, extended an invitation to Lud, hoping that the Medicine God Cult would not lag behind and would also contribute to their righteous cause.