Night swallowed the City of Generosity, and the sea breeze blew past the spires of the Church of the Fool.
In Lin Huai's room, the halo of the gas lamp was solitary.
He couldn't get any proper rest at all.
The events of the day, like a chaotic play, replayed in his mind: the Sinful Angel, the Saint, the Crying Coast, and Kaelan's completely irrational claims.
Everything was tangled together, pointing toward a truth he couldn't fathom.
Lin Huai stood up, opened the door, moved silently through the corridor, stopped in front of Danitz's door, and knocked gently.
The door opened quickly, and Danitz looked both exhausted and wary.
Seeing it was Lin Huai, his wariness immediately turned into a complex mix of awe and fear, and the "Shit" at the tip of his tongue was forced back down.
"Is something the matter?" Danitz's voice was a bit dry.
Lin Huai walked into the room, and Danitz closed the door behind him.
"I find it strange," Lin Huai said bluntly, looking directly at him. "You seem to be quite afraid of me, but that's not important."
He paused, his tone becoming serious. "Do you know of the Hall of Pilgrimage? I feel that Demoness Kaelan is somewhat untrustworthy."
Danitz's expression was extremely complicated, and he looked at Lin Huai with a very strange gaze. He opened his mouth, but swallowed his words, leaving only a long sigh.
"The Hall of Pilgrimage is a very small Beyonder organization, that's true." Danitz lowered his voice. "However, it really is a pure charitable organization, just as that Demoness said."
"Saint Itmer... He is a true saint. The Church of the Evernight has records of Him—an Angel who has honestly aided the weak for a hundred years. I've heard that although He is an Angel, His humanity is something even other gods envy. What He does is what a true Saint looks like; many so-called gods aren't even as good as Him."
Lin Huai nodded after listening, as if pondering something. The air grew quiet again.
"Get some rest." Lin Huai didn't ask further and turned toward the door.
"Hey!" Danitz suddenly called out to him.
Lin Huai stopped and looked back at him.
"That... are you really sure you can deal with and stop this ritual?" There was a hint of fear in Danitz's voice.
Lin Huai smiled. "There are always some things that need someone to do them, aren't there?" With that, he stepped out and gently closed the door.
Leaving Danitz's room, Lin Huai didn't return to his own. Instead, he went to the other end of the corridor and arrived at the door of Thor and Loki's room.
He knocked on the door.
Thor opened the door, and his face immediately became respectful upon seeing Lin Huai. Loki sat in the shadows of the room's corner, preoccupied with wiping a dagger as if there wasn't an extra person in the room.
"So, how have you been feeling these past two days?" Lin Huai walked in and asked casually.
Loki gave a barely audible sneer, not even lifting his head.
Thor, however, looked a bit excited. He scratched his head and said honestly, "Great Wise One, I still find it hard to believe we've actually come to a new World. It's wonderful! Many people here are like you, possessing strange abilities in my perception, but their state is far worse than yours—very unstable."
Lin Huai smiled, walked to the window, and looked at the night view of Bayam.
"Don't worry about it. Perhaps you'll soon meet someone who uses the power of lightning just like you."
After saying that, he briefly recounted what he had just heard from Danitz regarding Saint Itmer.
"Hmph." Loki in the corner finally reacted. He put away his dagger and stood up, his green eyes full of disdain. "An Angel who pities the weak? Just another hypocritical lie. I would never believe in such a foolish existence."
Thor's reaction was the complete opposite; his deep blue eyes were filled with admiration.
"A truly noble Saint!" He clenched his fist and sighed with heartfelt emotion.
Lin Huai looked at the two brothers with completely different personalities and said no more.
"Alright, you two should also rest early." He turned to leave. "Tomorrow, we'll go back to that village where the Statue was discovered. There might still be some clues left there."
The next morning.
Lin Huai and the others arrived at the dilapidated fishing village.
The air was thick with the smell of fish and the dampness of rotting wood, and the stone path beneath their feet was incredibly slippery.
In front of the village chief's wooden hut, which barely provided shelter from the wind and rain, Danitz took out the Holy Emblem engraved with the pupil-less eye and twisted lines.
The old village chief, who was originally full of wariness and exclusion, saw the Holy Emblem and his cloudy eyes immediately brightened. The wrinkles on his face bunched together as he bowed instantly.
"My Lord... are you a Lord from the Church of the Fool?"
Things immediately began to proceed smoothly.
Soon, they were led by the village chief to the home of the Fisherman who claimed to have dug up an antique.
He was a thin, middle-aged man whose skin was dark and rough from the sea breeze. At the moment, he was pale as a ghost, his hands constantly wiping sweat onto his ragged clothes, his eyes darting around, not daring to meet anyone's gaze.
"My Lord... I... I really don't know anything..." His voice trembled, barely able to form a complete sentence.
"Don't be afraid, we're just here to understand the situation," Lin Huai's voice was gentle.
The Fisherman shuddered like a startled rabbit and began to speak stutteringly.
"That thing... it was dug up from the cellar at home. It was dark then, and I couldn't see what it was clearly." He pointed to a patch of overturned earth in the corner of the room. "Later... later that night I went out for a drink. I had too much and couldn't keep my mouth shut, bragging about coming into a windfall... As a result, that very night... it, it was stolen!"
Loki, who had been leaning against the doorframe in the corner, curled his lip, showing unmasked contempt.
Lin Huai didn't seem to notice, only exchanging a glance with Loki before turning back to stare intently at the nearly collapsing Fisherman for a long while.
His gaze made the Fisherman tremble even more violently.
Lin Huai stood up, walked to the patch of overturned earth, looked at it very seriously, and then returned Loki's gaze.
"Thank you for the information." He smiled and patted the Fisherman's shoulder, then turned and led Thor and the others straight out of the wooden hut.
"That's it?!" Danitz followed behind, his face full of disbelief. "Shit! We're just leaving? We got up so early, and it's just over like this?"
The group had only walked a few dozen meters, moving out of the sight of the village chief and the Fisherman.
"He's lying," Loki's voice rang out impatiently. "That Statue wasn't dug up in his home at all! The traces of the earth being overturned are too fresh. It might Fool my foolish brother, but you want to Fool me?"
Lin Huai nodded.
"Loki, you truly are an expert at lying."
Loki's chin tilted up slightly; he clearly appreciated the compliment.
"Follow him for a bit," Lin Huai continued. "See what he does and who he meets. I feel the breakthrough lies with him."
"A simple matter." Loki let out a light chuckle, and with a few shifts in posture, he silently merged into the shadows of the alley and vanished.
"And what about us?" Thor asked somewhat eagerly, looking in the direction where Loki had disappeared.
"While Loki is tailing him," Lin Huai's gaze swept across the oppressive fishing village, "we'll investigate this village. Let's see if we can find the altar."
After saying that, he took the lead and walked toward the depths of the village.
The two groups thus went their separate ways.