Goddess Kaleidoscope

When he first arrived in the village, Badi, disguised as a refugee, took a liking to this girl at first sight. Among a group of ugly and deformed village girls, she was as beautiful as a goddess descended from heaven, and she instantly captivated Badi.

After that, he always wanted to find an opportunity to get closer to this lovely girl, but unfortunately, the annoying and nagging priest by her side was always getting in his way, and the two rarely had a chance to talk.

Unexpectedly, a golden opportunity has presented itself. The girl he admires is right in front of him, and that annoying priest is not around. If he doesn't seize this opportunity, when will he?

So Buddy walked straight toward Aina and called out to her.

"Aina... Sister!"

"Ok?"

Aina, carrying a vegetable basket, turned around in confusion and saw that it was the boy from the blacksmith shop who had called out to her. Buddy, however, strode up to him but then suddenly fell silent. His usually eloquent tongue seemed to have caught in its throat; he stammered and couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

"Um, I...you...want..."

After struggling to organize his thoughts, Buddy realized he had gotten a little too excited and slapped himself hard, finally managing to calm down.

However, just as he took a deep breath, preparing to confess his true feelings to the girl he liked, that hateful voice that made him want to vomit chicken soup as soon as he heard it rang out behind him again at an inopportune time.

"Buddy, so you've been here all along!"

End of this chapter

Buddy turned around blankly and saw the old priest Rudd standing behind him. He wasn't alone; the village chief and his sons were also with him. Except for Rudd, who was still smiling, the others all had unfriendly expressions and were holding weapons that could be used to stab people.

"My Lord, what can I do for you?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to ask you some questions."

"What's the problem?"

"What are those fancy strips of cloth you hid in the woodpile in the blacksmith's backyard for? Are you planning to make some kind of decoration?"

As soon as the old priest finished speaking, Buddy's expression changed drastically. He knew he had been exposed. In this situation, arguing was useless, because the person who accused him was not an ordinary villager, but the priest Rud, whose prestige and status in the village were almost equal to that of the village chief. Even if he were stubborn, he had no chance of winning against him.

In that instant, only one thought remained in Buddy's mind: escape!

"Aina, come with me... Ah!"

Buddy, who was about to run away, instinctively wanted to grab Aina and leave with him. Even then, the young man firmly believed that the girl liked him and would be willing to run away with him.

However, when he turned around, he was greeted by a brick flying straight at him. Buddy felt a buzzing sound in his mind, and then the whole world spun rapidly in his eyes, turning into a vortex that swallowed his consciousness.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Buddy's unconscious mind was suddenly awakened by a cold sensation. He found himself in an unfamiliar room, and he was roughly tied to a pillar, unable to move at all.

At that moment, a voice with a distinctly mocking tone rang in his ear.

"Young man, you're awake! The surgery was a great success!"

"W-What kind of surgery?"

Seeing that Buddy had just regained consciousness and was not very clear-headed, Lude stopped teasing him verbally and instead gestured to the villagers nearby to give him some cool mountain spring water to wake him up.

Another bucket of cold water was poured over him, and Buddy finally came to his full senses, quickly realizing his current predicament. His identity as a traitor had been exposed, and the one who had seen through him was most likely that despicable old priest!

"Let me go! Let me go now!"

"Kid, if you still don't understand the situation, I can have someone help you clear your head. We have plenty of cold water."

"..."

After two buckets of cold water were poured over him, Buddy indeed stopped making a fuss. He looked up at the smiling Lud and the village chief's son beside him. Buddy remembered that his name was Ron, the biggest farmer in the village, nicknamed "Big Guy" by the villagers. He had a commanding presence just by standing there.

Buddy tried hard to remain calm, but his shifty eyes betrayed his inner turmoil.

"You...you've arrested the wrong person. I'm not a spy."

"Oh! I haven't even opened my mouth yet, how did you know I wanted to ask if you were a spy? Kid! You're still too green!"

"you……"

Unexpectedly, he had given himself away with his very first sentence, and Buddy's face turned bright red.

Lud had to admit that the seventeen-year-old boy had actually acted quite well before he was exposed, but he clearly hadn't received any counter-interrogation training, and once caught off guard, he lost his composure. Lud's next step was to quickly break down his psychological defenses and get him to reveal everything he knew.

Instead of resorting to simple and brutal torture, he had a more effective method.

“Child, I’d like to play a game with you. But before we begin, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lude. Although I am now a priest, thirty years ago, in the Eastern country where I fought, people were more accustomed to calling me Bloodhand Soulbreaker.”

In an extremely nonchalant tone, Lud gave an opening speech, the content of which was entirely fabricated, but it sounded quite impressive. As for the nickname "Bloody Hand Soulbreaker," which sounded incredibly childish, it was actually Lud's go-to ID in many shooting games.

"When I was your age, I had already spent many years fighting on battlefields filled with blood and gore (in games). I've long since lost count of how many people I've killed. After all, no one would be so bored as to count how many slices of bread they've eaten in their entire life, right?"

As Lude spoke, a warm smile appeared on his face, just like always, but to Buddy, this smile was completely different from the one he usually wore.

"Later, I grew tired of the endless killing. Taking other people's lives was a tedious and meaningless thing. A knife can never sever hatred. So I had an epiphany. I chose to lay down my knife and become a devout practitioner who worships the goddess. But if one day I need to protect the innocent again, I don't mind getting my hands dirty again after all the effort I've put into washing them. Do you understand what I mean?"

Buddy nodded; he was a smart kid and naturally understood what Rudd was trying to convey. Ron, on the other hand, was still in shock. He completely believed Rudd's nonsense and had already begun to imagine the priest's youthful prowess in his ability to sever souls with his bloody hands.

"Next, I'll tell you how to play our game. I learned it from someone back in the day, specifically to deal with those tough guys who think they're fearless. The process isn't exactly simple, but it's not complicated either. It involves using a small knife like this to slice off pieces of flesh from your body, one slice at a time. You can't cut vital organs and kill the person outright, and each slice can't be too big. Meanwhile, while you're slicing, the victim has to receive spells that restore their life and keep them conscious, so they can truly feel and see their own flesh slowly leaving them. Buddy, can you imagine that?"

Lude glanced at Buddy with a smile. The young man was now deathly pale, his legs trembling like leaves, clearly terrified. Ron, standing beside him, also looked tense, subconsciously swallowing.

At this moment, Lud stood up and came to Buddy, leaned close to his ear, and whispered something in an extremely soft tone that sent chills down Buddy's spine.

"Child, this game, under normal circumstances, could last for several days, depending on how resilient the participants are. We might not last several days, but at least tonight should be no problem. So think carefully before you answer me... Are you ready to play this game with me?"

End of this chapter

Buddy was devastated! In less than fifteen minutes, without using any tools, Lud had scared the young man into crying uncontrollably and even wetting his pants with just his deceptive words!

Buddy didn't know that there was no such thing as the Blood Hand Soul Severing Technique that had killed countless people, and that Lude's knife skills were not comparable to the butcher's dissection of an ox. Even if he did know them, he wouldn't dare to actually use them on a living person.

But that's how the world is; the price of taking action yourself might be high, but becoming a "master of empty talk" is incredibly easy. Lu De had watched quite a few classic films and TV shows in his past life, and with his acting skills honed over years of undercover work, imitating "Colonel Yamamoto Ichiki" on the spot was naturally a piece of cake!

Under Lude's questioning, Buddy revealed the bandit group's plans in detail, even admitting that he was the son of the bandit leader, Zak. He only begged Lude to spare his life and not to use that terrible "meat-cutting game" on him.

Having obtained the information he needed, Lude immediately led Ron away from the cellar where Buddy was being held. Judging from what Ron had just revealed, the village was about to be in big trouble!

"Ron, go and tell your father right away that they've found something during the interrogation, and we must gather the villagers immediately to prepare...Ron!"

Seeing that he hadn't responded after calling him for a while, Lude reached out and patted the big, somewhat absent-minded guy. The light slap nearly sent Ron sprawling to the ground.

"M-Sir, did you call me?"

"What's wrong with you? Go and call your father. Tell him I need to see him."

"Yes, yes, I'll go right away, Lord Bloodhand."

"Go on... what the hell did you call me just now?!"

Soon, Ron summoned his father, and the village chief, Rom, had just led his men to subdue the newcomers. After all, none of them could guarantee that Buddy wasn't the only spy who had infiltrated the village.

Rom was somewhat surprised by how quickly Lud had completed the interrogation, and seeing his son's clearly terrified state, it was obvious that unusual methods had been used. Fortunately, Lud was on the side of the village, and his keen eyesight was crucial in discovering the bandit traitor ahead of time.

Rom remembered that morning when Lud suddenly came to him mysteriously and said that he had noticed something was wrong with the blacksmith's apprentice, Buddy. The young man often ran away alone to the woods to the south behind the backs of the other villagers.

Rom was initially puzzled, but he didn't think Lud would be so bored as to frame a young boy. So, thinking it was better to be safe than sorry, he called his two sons and went to the blacksmith's shop with Lud. As a result, they actually found a bunch of colorful strips of cloth in the woodpile.

Others might not know what this was, but the knowledgeable old Rom knew it was a marking technique commonly used by many thieves. Buddy was secretly preparing these things behind everyone's back, clearly not for any righteous purpose.

So the group immediately took action, first taking control of the blacksmith Bank family, and then quickly finding Buddy, who was trying to confess his feelings to Aina.

When the young man realized his identity had been exposed, he tried to pull Aina away with him, but Lude just gave him a look, and she picked up a brick from the ground without hesitation and easily knocked Buddy down.

According to the information provided by Buddy, the situation was worse than they had anticipated. A band of over two hundred bandits had come looking for them, led by the kingdom's infamous killer, "Handsome Zack," who was expected to attack their doorstep the following night.

On the other hand, in Songshu Village, although there are more than 400 villagers, only about 100 of them are capable of taking up arms to fight. They are no match for those desperate criminals in a one-on-one fight, and they are outnumbered in a group fight. It can be said that they are at a comprehensive and overwhelming disadvantage.

Upon learning just how difficult the situation was, the villagers who had been called to the meeting fell silent. They looked at each other, unable to come up with any ideas.

"Village chief, why don't we hurry up and run before the bandits arrive!"

"Run? Where to run?"

"Let's run towards the town, after all, there are guards there..."

“The town is to the south, and the bandits come from the south too. If our whole village, hundreds of people, flee together with their families, do you think the bandits won’t notice us? Besides, it’s easy for people to run away, but what about the grain that the village just harvested? How much can we take with us? Without grain, are we supposed to go to town to beg for food and become beggars?”

"Then...then shall we defend the village to the death?"

The villagers' faces darkened again at the mention of holding their ground. These country bumpkins were usually brave and fierce, and they were indeed good at fighting with neighboring villages, but when faced with vicious mountain bandits, they turned into sheep.

Old Rom knew that Pine Village was difficult to defend. The village was situated on a flat plain, and although it was backed by two intersecting rivers, it was still far from easy to defend. The outer fence was barely enough to keep out wild animals. Old Rom had considered reinforcing the fence once the village's situation improved this year, but before they could even begin, bandits had already attacked.

With nowhere to escape and no way to defend themselves, the villagers were caught in a dilemma and didn't know what to do. Even the village chief Rom, who always prided himself on his extensive knowledge, was at a loss. So he subconsciously looked at the priest Rud, who had been silently scribbling on a piece of parchment.

"Lord Lud, do you have any good ideas?"

"Me? I support defense, but not the village. Instead, we should move the people and food to the temple and hold out there for reinforcements."

"Guard the temple?"

Upon hearing Lud's idea, the villagers present immediately began to discuss it amongst themselves. Old Rom, however, thought about it and realized it was actually a damn good idea!

Unlike villages with no natural defenses, the temple sits on a half-slope, with its main entrance facing a steep slope at nearly a 45-degree angle, and its back facing a vertical cliff nearly 20 meters high, with a rushing river below. It is indeed a very dangerous place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

There was still a full day before the bandits officially attacked. If the whole village mobilized, they could move all the village's food and valuables to the temple before noon tomorrow, and then concentrate the able-bodied men to defend the front of the temple. They might be able to hold out for a long time.

Old Ron was not one to hesitate, and immediately decided to follow Lud's plan. They first sent five villagers who knew the way and could run to the town to fetch reinforcements, while the rest were all called out by Ron banging on a gong.

The old man took out his treasured sword, which he had kept for many years, and held a mobilization meeting in the village threshing ground, informing everyone that the bandits were about to attack. Meanwhile, Lu De led a group of villagers to study the terrain, preparing a "big surprise" for the bandits arriving the following night!

End of this chapter

Inside an empty barn in the village, the blacksmith Bank and his family, along with others who had recently joined Pine Village, were being held as suspects after the bandit spy Buddy was captured.

When Bank heard about Buddy's hidden identity, he was just as surprised as the others, instinctively thinking that there might be some mistake. But the villagers didn't give him any chance to explain. If Priest Rudd hadn't arrived in time to stop the villagers from taking advantage of the chaos, Bank would have been beaten to death.

Then, Bank, his face bruised and swollen, along with the others, was gathered and held in this empty barn. All the adults had their hands tied behind their backs, and even the children were tied to posts with ropes like goats. Several villagers walked around them carrying machetes and wooden sticks, as if afraid they would try to escape.

"We're not bandits! Please, brother, go tell the village chief we're really not!"

"Shut the hell up, all of you! Who believes your nonsense!"

The villager guarding them glared at the people who wanted to plead for mercy, then deliberately slammed the pillar hard with his wooden stick, silencing them in fear. Several children even started to sob.