Chapter 302

“Welcome! Welcome, you two!”

The priests guarding outside the core area of the gathering hall smiled brighter than trumpet flowers in full bloom when they saw the glossy badges on Leon and his companion’s chests, identifying the exclusive golden cat paw emblem of a “big client.”

They eagerly opened the doors for the duo, clearing the path to the core area. The female priest bowed slightly and cheerfully asked Leon, “The spirit that travels under the shade of rice stalks, the one hidden in the shadow of the bright moon that sings, or the sentinel that treads through the night…which one would you like to pay your respects to?”

Rice spirit? Singer? Sentinel?

Leon was momentarily stunned by the female priest’s question, completely clueless about what she meant, so he didn’t immediately ask but instead gave her a gentle smile. Following the principle of not revealing anything unless necessary, Tom Senior seized the moment and replied with a grin, “We are all creatures raised by eating rice, brothers and sisters nurtured by sunlight and fields; naturally, there is only one choice… Would you kindly guide us?”

“You’re too kind. As fellow siblings marked with black scales and white spots, it’s my duty.”

After completing the “secret signal” with Tom, the female priest with snake-scale-like patterns on her neck didn’t ask further but turned around and entered the gate, leading Leon and his companion into a sticky and chilly damp corridor.

“She was asking which of the three Holy Spirits we worship…”

With a hand placed on Leon’s shoulder, the laid-back youth silently explained: “The three Holy Spirits of the Scale Gold Religion were once messengers of the agricultural deity before being taken in and transformed by the True God of the Scale Gold Religion.

Back then, the Snake Spirit was born from farmers’ wishes for snakes to hunt pests and birds in the fields, protecting the rice crops while not harming humans, thus becoming the ‘spirit of the rice.’ The ‘singer in the shadow of the bright moon’ refers to frogs that croak at the reflection of the moon in water, symbolizing the wish to eliminate mosquito larvae and ensure a bountiful harvest of rice. As for the ‘sentinel who treads through the night,’ it naturally refers to cats that guard granaries at night, embodying the protection of food from theft, fitting their behavior of catching rats in granaries.”

I see…

After roughly understanding the previous “coded language,” Leon curiously asked, “Based on this origin, the three Holy Spirits of the Scale Gold Religion should be benevolent spirits filled with good expectations. But the frog I encountered earlier seemed to have none of that, rather resembling an evil spirit. Did something happen?”

“Indeed, quite a bit has happened.”

Tom nodded and said, “Ever since the Kingdom of Crocodile began selling steam-powered farm machinery, many people who were originally tied to farms and land for grain production lost their identities as farmers, causing the power of the agricultural deity to weaken significantly.

Moreover, rice symbolizes wealth in a sense; the snake that protects rice cultivation also equals protecting wealth, the toad fostering harvest equals nurturing wealth, and the cat guarding the granary equals defending wealth.

Therefore, these three apostles of the agricultural deity had great compatibility with the ‘wealth’ power of the True God of the Scale Gold Religion, so he took advantage of the agricultural deity’s weakness, converting them into his own Holy Spirits.

As for why these ‘benevolent spirits’ born from beautiful wishes turned into such malevolent and extreme forms… perhaps because wealth drives people mad?”

[Through the narration of Level 2 Cleaner Tom Linus from the Clearing Bureau Virgo Branch, you’ve obtained substantial intelligence regarding the “Money-Exchanging Golden Toad,” “Life-Exchanging Black Snake,” and “Fortune-Exchanging Flower Cat.” The anomalous badge “Materialist Soul (Bright Red)” has been activated.

Due to comprehending the effectiveness rules of the “Money-Exchanging Golden Toad,” “Life-Exchanging Black Snake,” and “Fortune-Exchanging Flower Cat,” your resistance against these abnormal items has greatly increased, allowing you to block deeper levels of influence.]

…

“We’ve arrived, you two.”

As the mechanical system prompt ended, the dim corridor had also reached its end.

Unfortunately, you’ve come at an inconvenient time; the Snake Spirit is currently absent, detained by certain matters. However, according to the divine message left behind by the master, within half a day at most, he will finish his current tasks and return to the secret shrine to receive everyone’s reverence.”

Half a day?

Upon hearing the words of the female priest, Leon couldn’t help but slightly turn his head, making direct contact with the similarly looking-over lazy youth.

If I haven’t misunderstood, those “certain matters” probably refer to the trapped Emma Senior, and the half-day deadline likely represents the time remaining until her indestructible body runs out—”bought up” entirely. Moreover, this is a conservative estimate; the actual time might be even shorter!

We must hurry! Either find Emma Senior within half a day or create enough commotion within half a day to force that snake to return voluntarily!

Having reached an agreement through eye contact, Leon politely bid farewell to the female priest responsible for guiding them, then both bent down one after another, slipping through the narrow door at the end of the corridor.

“Ssssss?!!!”

Looking at his own bright red slender body, and the towering golden plants around him that resembled trees, Leon couldn’t help but widen his eyes… or rather, the vertical pupils filled with cold intent.

“Sss~”

A hissing sound akin to a snake flicking its tongue rang out, and a flower-patterned snake with a white base and red-blue spots slithered over, curling its tail and lightly placing it on the little red snake’s body. The familiar voice of the laid-back youth echoed in Leon’s mind.

‘Don’t panic; we haven’t really turned into snakes. This is just a spiritual manifestation for convenience during the visit.

After all, Holy Spirits aren’t yet True Gods; they can’t connect with so many chaotic spirits at once. Therefore, the effect of the secret shrine aligns the spirits of believers temporarily with theirs. Once we leave, we’ll return to normal.

Also, don’t respond verbally. The spirits of all those entering the secret shrine are temporarily linked together, and you don’t know how to conceal your spiritual fluctuations yet. Speaking directly would be equivalent to shouting your thoughts to everyone here, exposing yourself.’

Is that you, Tom Senior? Looking at the flower-patterned snake with a white base and red-blue spots, whose color scheme resembles dice, Leon calmed down and nodded, indicating he roughly understood the situation. He then struggled to control his tail, forming an imperfect “?.”

‘Are you asking what we should do next?’

Nod.

‘Next, we need to go where there are more snakes and find the bishop of the Snake Spirit lineage. Only those who have received blessings, the divinely chosen ones, can actively contact the Holy Spirits within the secret shrine.’

Peering out from the shade formed by the wheat ears and observing the situation in the rice field, the laid-back youth-turned-flower-patterned snake said:

“Help me look too. The bishops of the Snake Spirit lineage have received blessings, so their tails should have a patch of fine scales with a black background and white patterns. If we find that reverse-growing black-and-white scale, we’ll have found… uh…”

Looking at the tail with a reverse-growing black-and-white fine scale that the little red snake extended towards him, the flower-patterned snake couldn’t help but tilt his head slightly, utterly stunned as he flicked his tongue.

Not… which side are you on, damn it? (End of Chapter)