CHAPTER 1038: CHAPTER 8: THOSE WHO DO NOT SERVE THE LIGHT

Sunset alley, the reflection of the setting sun.

The Holy Judges stood at the mouth of the alley, their hemp robes fluttering in the wind, and the afterglow cast long shadows on the ground.

"Returning home?"

Song Ci’s expression was gloomy as he exhaled deeply with pent-up anger, "Are you kidding me? I am from the East Continent!"

After the Divine War in Da Du, he had been walking with the title of "Angel Envoy Gu Changzhi."

But Song Ci knew himself.

This token did not come from the battle... but from the light!

The Divine Throne in Light City was Mr. Gu Changzhi’s teacher. Because of this, he did not reject the power of the token... As his body and the token merged, his power grew stronger, and the Light Aura emitted by the apostle’s badge became stronger.

During this time, he often had bizarre dreams.

In the dreams, he would see a towering mountain at the end of the sunset and a red lake reflecting the glowing light.

The whole world was at peace.

It was a "beautiful dream" that could calm all restlessness within!

But the only thing that made Song Ci uncomfortable...was the faint voice in this dream. That voice sounded very gentle and mellow but always intentionally guided him towards the red lake in the dream.

There seemed to be a book tower at the bottom of the red lake.

Although he didn’t know who in their right mind would build a book tower at the lake’s bottom...

But what Song Ci hated most was reading.

The tranquility at the beginning of the dream gradually changed. Later, the peaceful dream Song Ci saw became clearer. He was sure that the apostle’s badge was always guiding him to enter the lake’s bottom book tower to read and browse...

Several times jolting awake, Song Ci felt cold sweat on his back, greatly annoyed.

What the hell does this dream mean?

Does the Light God’s Seat think I’m uncultured?

"Lord Apostle."

The leader of the Holy Judges spoke softly, "The place of birth does not matter; there are thousands of places of birth in the world, but there is only one final resting place. You need to understand where your endpoint is."

After listening, Song Ci was utterly confused.

He scratched his head, and seeing these guys bore no hostility towards him, he asked patiently in frustration, "Speak plainly!"

"Your true hometown is not the East Continent..."

The Holy Judge stretched out a slender finger, pointing at the apostle’s badge hidden in the inner lining of Song Ci’s jacket, clasping his hands in reverence, "But... Light City."

"???"

"We’ve come to take you back. Once you return to Light City, you can meet the Divine Throne as you wish...and have the chance to peruse the ’Forbidden Book Tower’."

The Holy Judge spoke again.

"Stop!"

Song Ci interrupted directly, his patience almost exhausted, frowning, "I am not interested in the Light God’s Seat...and even less interested in reading!"

"Lord Apostle...please watch your words. Lord Divine is with the light, overlooking the creatures of the Five Continents; he sees everything that happens here." The Holy Judge reminded again: "You do not yet seem to appreciate the mystery of ’light,’ but do not worry, once we are back in Light City..."

"Bang!"

A crack exploded on the wall!

The sound startled the Holy Judge.

He stared blankly at the mottled old wall of the old city... Song Ci casually patted it, creating a web-like crack.

"I said, can’t you guys understand human language?"

Song Ci cocked his head at the hemp-robed believers, puzzled, "Didn’t I say I’m not interested in this light or god or book stuff... Is this what you came for?"

He yanked off the badge and tossed it away.

The leading Holy Judge’s pupils constricted as he raised both hands, hurriedly catching this Divine Gift Token to prevent it from touching the ground.

"This is a blessing of Divine Favour! How could you toss it so carelessly!"

His angry shout was forcibly interrupted.

Because, at the next moment, a fist struck his face.

"Boom——"

The explosive airflow filled the alley, and the other Holy Judges widened their eyes at this scene. It was the first time they saw a monster that could create sonic booms with physical actions.

One punch!

Just one punch!

The face of the Holy Judge was punched to sink in, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. The next moment, he was embedded in the wall, and dust exploded in the alley. Song Ci instantly threw countless punches, and the afterglow of the setting sun submerged in the alley, with dim starlight falling on the broken wall, unable to illuminate the wildly swirling dim dust.

The battle occurred within a second.

And ended within a second.

"Plop..."

Song Ci walked straight in the direction of leaving, deliberately grinding his foot against the face of a hidden Holy Judge, causing the latter to groan.

This Holy Judge squad was completely knocked to the ground, with some embedded into the wall.

"Sorry, my way of doing things is quite straightforward. I prefer action over riddles."

Song Ci paused, looking at the scattered Holy Judges, and seriously said, "I’ve pieced together that your mission was to take me to the West Continent to read books, right? Sorry, there’s room for negotiation on other matters, but this is absolutely impossible."

The dust in the alley churned, gloomy and desolate.

He chuckled, "Alright, stop pretending. I didn’t go all out. You guys lying here, does it really hurt that much?"

These Holy Judges have a unique constitution.

Song Ci realized as he threw the punch.

They... are quite durable.

This particular trait is somewhat similar to the "Holy Judge," perhaps due to the Light Blessing? Their blood, metabolism, all are stronger than ordinary Transcendents, and their recovery ability is several times faster. It was because of seeing through this point that Song Ci fought a good fight.

"In the Sincere Heart Association, when in doubt, have a fight first."

"You all wanted to catch me, but couldn’t beat me, so you got knocked down... This isn’t the East Continent treating guests poorly, it’s just that your strength is too poor."

Song Ci didn’t feel much guilt in his heart.

After beating this group of Hemp Robed Believers, the hostility in his heart inexplicably calmed down a lot.

Indeed.

Believing in God cannot lead to liberation.

Beating God, probably can.

He glanced at the follower half embedded in the wall and seriously said, "That broken badge, I have returned it to you. If you came for the token, you can count it as a job completed."

A slight pause.

"Of course, I know what I did was not very fair." Song Ci said with a good conscience, "I have always remembered the favor of the token from before, but recently, I have to take responsibility for the safety of my lady. If you are willing to wait, I’ll definitely go to Light City with generous gifts to thank you when I have time. If you cannot wait, then take a message to say that next time you come to Da Du, the Transcendents of Light City will be my honored guests. As long as you don’t mention those mystical matters, I’ll treat everyone to beef noodles."

Saying this, he clapped his hands and revealed a satisfied smile.

Song Ci was satisfied and prepared to leave the alley.

Only after turning around, from the side of the smoke and dust, suddenly came a deep and loud shout.

"Song Ci Song Yingji—"

The smile on Song Ci’s face instantly vanished.

He turned back expressionlessly, the Holy Judge embedded in the stone wall, his hands flowing with blood, even though beaten with a bent back, he still stubbornly protected the badge.

The afterglow faded, Dark Light illuminated, the face of the Holy Judge hid in the night.

Stopping Song Ci, he smiled and praised, "You are indeed skilled in fighting..."

"Overpraise."

Song Ci stood at the mouth of the alley, suddenly feeling the world to be very absurd, the light spoken of by the followers of West Continent seemed like a sarcastic joke on themselves.

Clearly, the alley shrouded in the night fits better with their eerie and silent temperament.

The silhouettes had already stood up again.

It’s not unexpected by Song Ci; they didn’t suffer much injury.

There was blood, but it didn’t seem to be from Song Ci’s beating.

More like, they willingly squeezed it out from their skin.

"A token... isn’t something you can take whenever you want, and return whenever you please..."

The Holy Judge laughed lightly, "Holding a token, serving the light, this is cause and effect. No matter how well you fight, can you cut off cause and effect?"

Song Ci’s heart skipped a beat.

"Moreover, I have good news for you, the matter of ’returning home’ is not as complicated as you imagine."

He laughed.

The other several Holy Judges also laughed.

Their voices were in perfect harmony.

"All who serve the light must be devout, must chant, must worship, must sacrifice..."

This weak voice, layer upon layer, spread in the night.

Like a drop of water, falling on the lake surface, creating countless ripples.

Song Ci suddenly felt something was not right... Why did the followers give him a stronger sense of crisis after the night fell?

Yes, this was the most troubling thing—

He even felt a crisis!

Why did the strength of these people make him feel a crisis?

The invisible Spiritual Domain completed its condensation when the Holy Judges chanted the words of service.

A familiar dizziness descended within the Spirit Sea.

Song Ci’s pupils contracted, and he pressed the wall hard to barely stabilize his posture.

At this moment he felt like he had drunk Lion Awakening Wine!

His body quickly numbed, the spirit that was relatively clear before suddenly, in an instant, felt like being dragged by countless giant oxen and elephants, towards the muddled abyss—

Within a few short breaths, he vaguely saw the "tranquil" Sunset Mountain and the "crimson" Lake of the Forbidden Book.

This is... about to enter a dream?!

These Holy Judges came to him not really to take him to Light City...

They wanted to invite him into the dream!

Song Ci’s breathing became very heavy, and his eyelids also became very heavy.

Just as everything was about to end.

A very soft voice rang out in this dream.

"Sorry... it’s not very timely."

A voice suddenly appeared, interrupting the chanting ripples in the night.

Soon after, behind Song Ci, a young figure wearing a Judgement Officer’s coat slowly walked out from the night, with a wisp of fire burning between his brows, Light ripples spreading, Spiritual Domain already condensed.

Yet he just walked in.

Ignored the barrier between reality and illusion, and just stood between Song Ci and the Holy Judges.

"I have a question—"

Gu Shen smiled and asked, "What are the consequences for those who do not serve the light?"