Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
In any time, any world, any place, there will never be a lack of heroes saving beauties.
Xi Wei had also been through that age. He could tell what the young priest was thinking just by looking at him. Miss Shanna was likely a girl the young priest had admired for a long time. Unfortunately, appearances could be deceiving, and the girl who made his heart flutter might just see him as a disposable rat that could be sacrificed and used at any time.
“You like her?” Xi Wei asked with an evil smile, direct and to the point.
“No, how could that be?” The young priest blushed bright red at Xi Wei’s question. He denied it outright, but then he suddenly realized that saying so would mean rejecting his goddess.
So, he quickly added:
“What I mean is, I didn’t step forward because I like Miss Shanna. It’s just that Miss Shanna is, as I said, a very kind person. Besides, who wouldn’t like a pure and kind girl like Miss Shanna?”
“Is that so? Is that what you all think?” Xi Wei surveyed the surroundings, his smile gradually fading.
He straightened the girl’s body so she was facing him.
Perhaps due to guilt or fear,
the girl named Shanna consistently refused to meet Xi Wei’s gaze.
Those deep blue eyes were like weapons chilled by a night of north wind, capable of piercing one through at a single glance.
The surrounding believers and priests clearly recognized Shanna. Some exchanged glances, while others showed expressions of eagerness to try. However, they lacked the young priest’s boldness. Upon catching a glimpse of the Frost King’s cold, sharp gaze, they shrunk their necks and squatted back down on the ground.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You must have made a mistake!”
The old priest, having cleaned himself up, changed into a new ceremonial robe, and reappeared at the entrance of the shrine, refreshed. Facing the priests and believers who had witnessed his predicament, he remained unfazed, as if the one who had been spraying earlier wasn’t him.
“Shanna is definitely not a follower of the God of Deception as you say. You must have mistaken her!” the old priest stated with certainty. However, as he approached Xi Wei, he clutched his stomach again. A surging sense of needing to defecate rushed to his head, and his brain began to send him warnings of impending diarrhea, while his intestines rumbled with a “gurgling” sound.
“What is going on? I thought I had completely resolved it in the toilet earlier…”
Clutching his stomach, the priest knelt on the ground again.
His stomach pained as if being cut, and he felt he couldn’t hold it any longer.
Just then, Xi Wei suddenly picked up the girl and walked about twenty meters away. The priest felt the surging urge to defecate recede like a tide.
He slowly got up from the ground, touching his belly one moment, his backside the next, feeling utterly bewildered, like a penitent monk.
“Your Majesty, I don’t know if there’s something wrong with my stomach recently… but that’s not important. What I wanted to say is, you might really be mistaken. Shanna is a good child!” The priest walked towards the Frost King again, his anxious expression instantly turning to one of pain. He clutched his backside, crying out:
“Oh no, it’s here again! It’s here again!”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Xi Wei carried the girl further away.
“There’s nothing wrong with your stomach at all. The reason you’re like this is entirely due to deception, and the one who cast the Deception Spell is this so-called good child in my hand.”
“How is that possible?” Although he still couldn’t believe it verbally, the priest wasn’t foolish.
Experiencing diarrhea one moment and normalcy the next, he felt something was wrong.
To verify Xi Wei’s words, he took two steps towards Shanna. As he got closer, the feeling of needing to defecate indeed returned. This time, he immediately retreated two steps, and the sensation completely disappeared.
“What… What is going on? Shanna, are you really a follower of the God of Deception? But you already passed the baptismal rite of the Goddess of Abundance…”
“The baptismal rite can also be deceptive,” Xi Wei shrugged. “Deceiving your eyes.”
He brought the girl to the front of everyone, deliberately keeping his distance from the old priest, and explained to the surrounding believers and priests:
“The Deception Spell has many limitations when it takes effect. The situation with the priest, for instance, has a range limitation. When the deceived person moves away from the deceiver, the deceived condition on them will lessen until it completely disappears. If you still don’t believe me…” He paused, then grabbed the girl by her collar and yanked downwards forcefully.
With a “ripping” sound.
The girl’s robe was torn open, revealing her fair and delicate back.
She cried out in surprise and struggled in terror, but under the control of Xi Wei’s iron-like arms, she was still unable to move.
Everyone present saw the tattoo on her back.
It was a coin with an open eye carved on it.
This was, in fact, the totem of the God of Deception.
“Shanna, I never expected you to be a follower of the God of Deception!” The young priest was heartbroken. His strength seemed to be instantly drained, and he collapsed onto the ground, powerless.
“How could this be? You had such a bright future…”
The young priest mumbled to himself.
Looking at the pure and lovely girl, his worldview shattered.
“You are all just a bunch of hypocrites.”
The girl, who had kept her head lowered, suddenly looked up, a tragic smile appearing on her lips.
“I wanted to seek the divine grace of the Goddess, but Bishop Onions told me that I had to go into his room with him alone to complete a baptismal rite.”
“What… What are you saying?!” From within the crowd, a bald man in a red ceremonial robe exclaimed in shock and anger. He squeezed through the crowd, pointed at the girl being held by Xi Wei, and cursed: “You damned follower of the God of Deception! You’ve been caught by His Majesty the Frost King, and you’re still here spewing venom? Do you think anyone will believe what you say?”
The girl ignored Bishop Onions and continued on her own:
“I was scared at the time, but I chose to believe in the Goddess’s divine grace. Those who can become believers of the Goddess must also be kind-hearted people. But I was terribly mistaken. When I entered the room, Bishop Onions stripped me and raped me.”
Deep sadness welled up in the girl’s eyes.
Yet, her tone was cold and calm, as if she were recounting an event completely unrelated to her, as if she were merely an observer during the entire ordeal.
“Bishop Onions told me that if I spoke of this, he would have me burned at the stake. He would accuse me of being a witch…”
The girl let out a laugh.
“He said he was a bishop of the shrine, and everyone would believe him.”
“Shut your mouth!!” Bishop Onions lunged out of the crowd.
He drew a gleaming dagger from his waist, his sinister gaze like a vicious wolf emerging from the darkness.
“Bitch! Still spouting nonsense, I’ll kill you!”
He roared, and the dagger lunged towards the girl’s neck.
