Chapter 63
Shen Qi had stayed in the high tower for a month, examining documents dated back to three hundred years ago about the underwater dragon and the sacrifices. The king, assuming that Shen Qi was concerned about the future, allowed him access to all the related books from the royal library.
Shen Qi carefully studied and concluded that the so-called sacrifices were likely a stratagem of the sacred church to enhance its prestige. It had nothing to do with the dragon at all. After all, the dragon was, well, impotent.
So, the question arose — where did all those sacrificed young boys go?
The initial truth was unknown. Whether the girl who managed to escape spoke the truth or embellished facts, no one could confirm. Perhaps she did it for self-preservation, or maybe she was threatened into lying. However, the custom of sacrificing handsome boys began with her.
Shen Qi posed two hypotheses. One, the sacrificed boys were left adrift in the vast sea without oars. The fortunate ones ended up somewhere, guided by the waves while the unfortunate ones perished in the sea. Two, these boys didn't travel far and were recaptured. The captors were members of the sacred church, with their motives being obvious.
On this continent, same-sex love was not permitted, especially by the sacred church. Nevertheless, that didn't mean that the upper-class citizens could not take part in such actions clandestinely. Hence, there were underground places, and some nobles even adopted and raised boys under the guise of philanthropy.
Shen Qi came to know about these when the guards assumed he was asleep and chatted aimlessly at night. They didn't divulge clear details, but Shen Qi, having traversed many worlds, could immediately analyze a cause and effect from the clues.
Adding to this was the case of a 15-year-old William, who had a beautiful 8-year-old servant following him everywhere. Shen Qi found the look in the servant's eyes horribly disgusting deep down.
Comparatively, the practices of the sacred church seemed tame as they sacrificed boys over fifteen, not children.
Shen Qi deduced that among the Sacred Church in Saint Carlos, there were those who fancied the same sex. In combination with historical records, it's safe to assert that the Saint Carlos branch of the Sacred Church had tacitly become the default destination for such bishops in the church's core.
As for the missing handsome boys, they were undoubtedly captured on their way and hidden somewhere.
According to his guess, it should be on a small island not far from the coast. With the bishop's ability, it would be easy to use a magical artifact to mask an island.
Hence the present scene. Shen Qi took up his short sword and claimed six lives in two shifts. Perhaps these "pirates" did not expect them to resist. They sent about fifteen men his way, half of whom fell instantly.
The "pirates" were surprised and quickly took up their weapons to fight back. They were all trained warriors, with two of them notably stronger than Mori and York. Shen Qi was pitted against two men, with several other soldiers getting in the way. One careless move and he was injured on his arm, blood sprinkling onto the sea water. However, his retaliation was swift, and in the blink of an eye, he subdued both men.
Out of fifteen "pirates", only four survived. They were bound by Shen Qi, looking at him as if he were a demon.
"Speak, who sent you?" Shen Qi's face was splattered with blood, giving his smile a fierce edge that, along with his earlier brutality, sent shivers down the spines of the four men.
Seeing no response, Shen Qi's face hardened. He swiftly rotated his wrist, stabbing one of them in the thigh, "Speak or not?"
"Speak! Speak! I'll speak!" The redhead, whose thigh Shen Qi had stabbed, started sobbing out of fear.
Pulling out his short sword, Shen Qi casually looked at him and gestured with his chin, "Speak."
"It's... it's..." The man, clutching his wounded thigh, pallid and crying, disclosed every detail while the other three terrified men supplemented the information.
The truth was not much different from Shen Qi's assumption; two kilometers from here was a small island. Over the years, the sacrificed boys were all taken to this island for the bishop stationed in St. Carlos to enjoy. Initially hidden to avoid detection, the island gradually evolved into a bona fide den after three hundred years of development.
Apart from the boys sent in every decade, the bishop would also have beautiful boys brought for his amusement. When these boys grew up and no longer appealed to the bishop, they were trained in martial arts to serve as island slaves. As they aged, they were delegated with logistics.
Generation after generation, over three hundred years, shockingly, more than four hundred men were alive on the island — all of them men.
The kidnapped boys were almost all from civilian backgrounds, and their upbringing did not lend them the ability nor the courage to resist. Especially the sacrificed ones, who initially thought they were doomed, were pleased that they survived and became even more loyal to the church.
All who resisted were murdered and hung on trees as a warning to others. The survivors did not dare to revolt anymore as life on the island rendered them self-sufficient, without any worries of food and clothing. They rather preferred to stay on the island and declined to return.
What rendered Shen Qi speechless was that these men, like women, were prone to jealousy and quarrels. The four captured by him were quite strikingly handsome in their youth, particularly the two formidable ones. They were twins who were sacrificed together, gaining favor for some time after their arrival. Breaking the rule whereby loved ones could practice martial arts only after the love waned, they were personally taught martial arts by the bishop's knight. Yet after twenty years, they were set aside, their conversation with Shen Qi filled with bitterness.
Shen Qi rolled his eyes in exasperation.
Initially, he planned to rescue these people, but now it seemed unnecessary. Except for the new arrivals, the rest had become indoctrinated and hopelessly resigned. Given their adaptation to life on the island, they were unlikely to acclimate if released back into the world.
Unlike Shen Qi, who was rolling his eyes, Mori and York were profoundly shaken. To them, it was almost as if their worldviews had been overturned. After all, it was the sacred church, and the bishop - the church's thousand years of accumulated reputation, deeply ingrained into their souls, they dared not believe.
After the shock came the indignation, and the concern for Shen Qi.
"Your Highness, let's escape!"
"Yes, Your Highness, Mori and I will protect you. We'll risk our lives to get you to safety!"
Escape? He was here for the sacrifice and hasn't even seen the dragon yet — where would he escape to?
Shen Qi glanced at the vast sea, pondered for a moment, and said, "No need to hurry. Let's check out the island first."
The coast was full of celebrating crowds, and the bishop needed to preside over the upcoming festival. He would not appear in a short span of time. Shen Qi could take this opportunity to explore the island, maybe he'd find clues left by the dragon.
He instructed Mori and York to tie the three small boats to the back of the large one, turned the ship around, and headed towards the island.
However, even Shen Qi did not expect that his blood spilled into the sea when he was injured, mingled with the corpses and others' fresh blood, slowly sinking. In the depths, a pair of crimson eyes opened, and a massive claw neatly separated his blood from the rest, forming a droplet of blood that floated in the center of the paw.
Almost instantly, the red eyes erupted with flame-like light, and with a thunderous rumble, something broke through the soil.
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While Shen Qi traded his accumulated points for martial arts skills, even the strongest martial arts couldn't fight off four hundred enemies. Hence, he didn't dock the ship at the prepared port on the island. Instead, he had Mori drive the ship to a quiet spot on the island to disembark from there.
As per the confession of the man in red, the island was magicked by the bishop; those outside couldn't see the inside and vice versa - only white mist surrounded the circuit. The bishop’s magical tool would allow one access, and the only chance for the islanders to get out besides the bishop and his men was during the decennial sacrifice.
As for the magic tool, Shen Qi's eyes twitched violently when he saw one of the twins take out something from his chest.
He had seen a white jade scepter before, but a golden one was the first.
Well, the church sure knows how to play.
Suddenly, he was a little reluctant to hold this thing.
But considering the dragon, he gritted his teeth, tore off a piece of cloth, and accepted it, who knew if it had been used?
One of the twins seemed very displeased, looking irritated, "This is a sacred object, no one has used it, you are blaspheming the god!"
A "#" mark appeared on Shen Qi's forehead. Sacred object my ass. If the god of light truly saw his followers deceiving others with such a thing, he might contemplate killing these bishops.
He snorted coldly and said nothing more. He wouldn't quarrel with an idiot!
He instructed Mori and York to keep an eye on the four people. Holding the "key" that would make men silent and women cry, he activated his light skills. The white mist in front of him disappeared, and he landed on a rock.
It seemed that those people hadn't lied. This was indeed the back of the island — all cliffs and reefs. It would be impossible to access without martial arts skills.
Shen Qi turned around, and all he saw was a sea of white fog. They were only a few meters apart, yet he couldn't see the others. He couldn't help but feel curious about this hiding magic.
However, his focus right now wasn't on that. Once the sacrificial ceremony ended, the bishop would definitely come here. He had to find traces left by the dragon before the bishop arrived. According to records, the dragon had appeared nearby. Otherwise, this piece of sea wouldn't have been chosen for the sacrifice.
This patch of sea only held this one island. If he wanted to stay, to study, or wait, he would have to rely on the island.
Killing the bishop was not an option. If he killed one, the holy church would send a second, and even more people would come to investigate. He might be able to handle one person, but not everyone.
If he wished to stay and take control here, while silencing the bishop, he would have to resort to using poison.
Shen Qi looked at his beautiful nails, and he smiled. Sigh, having traveled through so many worlds, he had picked up many skills. A little poison was easy peasy.
As he was standing on the edge of the cliff, formulating a tight plan, there was a sudden deafening sound beneath his feet, followed by the sound of glass shattering. The white fog before his eyes disappeared. Looking down, he saw the ships docked below the cliff. Mori and York were looking up at him, faces filled with horror.
Then, the entire island began shaking, causing a wave of screams and commotion. The previously calm sea threw up towering waves a hundred meters high, which was truly terrifying.
This is...
Shen Qi's pupils contracted suddenly. He jumped down, caught Mori and York each with one hand, and took them back up to the cliff. He looked again at the towering wave.
The waves grew higher, and then from within, a huge red figure burst out of the water, roaring and spewing out terrifying flames towards the sky.
"A… A dragon… It's a dragon..." Mori and York sat down in shock, screams coming from the people below the cliff and on the island.
The red dragon roared, flapping its wings. The giant wave shrank instantly. It then turned its head and flew towards the island, causing screams and cries for escaping.
Only Shen Qi was staring at the massive dragon in the sky, his eyes full of admiration.
The dragon before his eyes was nothing like he had imagined or seen in books. It was huge; if it spread its wings fully, they would likely span half the island. The dragon was not ugly; its fiery red scales shone dazzlingly in the sunlight like rubies, leaving one dazzled.
The dragon's wings flapped, radiating an imposing vigor.
It was getting closer and closer. The people on the island were scrambling for boats to escape, while Mori and York had already collapsed from fear. Shen Qi stood straight on the cliff, his gaze locked onto it, not moving at all.
He had a premonition that it was coming for him.
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