"Those damn corpse collectors! ”

Mayor Jamal Rodriguez is a middle-aged man in his forties, with the usual grace and grace of the imperial aristocracy, but when he mentions the dead outside, he can't suppress his emotions and curses loudly.

However, he quickly restrained his emotions, and with the demeanor of an imperial nobleman, he took the hand of the mage Motri and kissed it gently, and said, "Ah, forgive me for my misdemeanor, beautiful lady Motri. I hope you understand my anger. ”

"Yes, I understand very well. Even in the Arcane Academy, harassment and protests from those who have fallen away are inevitable. Their sorrow as clergy is that they can only prostrate themselves in the shadow of the gods and watch the world forever, and their narrow vision is the reason for their rigidity and stubbornness. The female mage half-bent in response to the mayor's kiss on her hand, her demeanor and bearing have never fallen half a point when dealing with these nobles, compared to when she usually stays with Feng Yin Qiu Mu Qinyi and others, she looks like an ordinary girl.

The town's consul hall is an unusually tall and wide hall, and it is unknown whether the main purpose of the construction at that time was practical or simply to deter ordinary civilians. Now separated by planks and brick walls, it looks like they were remodeled, and now Mayor Jamal meets with the mage and Wind Whisper in the largest of them.

"Yes, yes, your wisdom is as incredible as your beauty, Lady Motri, and I wish I could have dinner with you and admire your enchanting beauty while discussing the arcane with you. Actually, I was also going to study at the Royal Arcane Academy, but there were some sudden changes in my family that didn't make it. So I've always admired and envied the arcane geniuses who were able to go to Oroyosta to study. A lady like you, who combines wisdom, beauty, and nobility, is simply a goddess who concentrates all my dreams, and I beg once again to have dinner with you......"

The town chief's conversation could only be heard by Feng Yinqiu, who frowned on the side. He was not a newcomer to the European continent, and he also knew that these European folk customs were far more unrestrained and direct than those in the land of Shenzhou, but hearing this town elder who was nearly half a hundred years old say such enthusiastic and passionate words, and seeing with his own eyes the expression on his wrinkled face that almost wanted to kneel down and lick the female mage's feet, he still couldn't help but get goosebumps. You must know that he is standing next to him, and there are two people on the other side who seem to be deputies watching, if it is left in Shenzhou, this is not to say that it is a daytime prostitution in front of everyone, and it is completely unseemly.

"Thank you very much for your appreciation, the fame of the Rodriguez family I have also heard in the academy. I am more than happy to behave a gentleman of such grace and warmth as you, but I still have important business ahead of me. Fortunately, the female mage had not forgotten her duty, and politely declined this warm invitation, pointing at Feng Yinqiu and saying. “... This is Mr. Feng, the chief of staff of the envoys of the Western 'Qian' Empire, and a very powerful Western mist. He did a great job on the West Coast and saved me from a gang of despicable mercenaries. Because of my agreement with the West Coast Mage Council, I followed them as a guide and sought refuge from them along the way. ”

"Well, I've heard about this Westerner envoy corps, and it's a great group of people. Mayor Jamal coughed and picked up what a mayor should be. This passage connecting the West Coast and the Central Plains is actually very beneficial to their Rodriguez family, and the messenger of the Guardian Hand and the Mage Council has also come to communicate before, and he also knows enough about the situation to know that these Westerners are not the alien races that can be despised at will before. "Actually, I had already prepared the welcome ceremony, but all of a sudden I was ...... by this group of returnees."

Feng Yinqiu asked impatiently, "Then the most important thing is, do you have any evil undead arcane here?"

"Nope. In response to this Westerner's emotional questioning, Mayor Jamal stared at him with a proud expression. "There's no such thing as an evil undead arcane, arcane is just arcane. Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, you may have a good track record in your system, but you should also be humble in the face of arcane and not blindly follow the nonsense of the clergy. ”

Knowing that he couldn't ask the result, Feng Yinqiu turned her helpless gaze to the female mage, who covered her mouth and smiled slightly, and said to Mayor Jamal, "So, what is going on? What attracts those nasty corpse collectors to make trouble here?"

After a moment of silence, Mayor Jamal replied helplessly: "It's just a small accident." He hesitated, then looked at Feng Yinqiu, then at the female mage Motri, and said, "In this way, Ms. Motri, you can come down and have a look." ”

The center of the ruling hall is the entrance to the tunnel, because the underground space here is not used to hide, everything in the imperial era is overflowing with contempt for everything outside the arcane, the basement is only used to facilitate the storage and placement of arcane materials, and the three-dimensional arcane circle set up in the underground can dynamically adjust the special humidity and temperature in it, so that all kinds of materials and materials in it can get the best storage conditions.

The two clerks opened the tunnel, and Mayor Jamal and the two clerks led the mage and Feng Yinqiu down, and the lights on both sides of the road were slowly lit up with hedrons. After going down dozens of meters, there is a huge space stacked with meat, vegetables, and grains. It's also fortunate to have escaped the ravages of alien alliances and natural disasters, and the Empire era circle is still working perfectly, but now it can only be used to store these produce.

But there's clearly something more hidden in the depths. After Mayor Jamal instructed the two clerks to remove a few baskets of potatoes, he lifted a few wooden planks to reveal an arcane circle underneath, and he half-crouched down and began to unlock them in a specific way.

“... Even among all the clergy, the Lost is a very special being. First of all, this faith is one of the oldest sects, and it is almost impossible to determine when or where they originated, even the archmages of the Imperial Age, who specialized in the study of theological origins..."

Mayor Jamal seemed to take some time to unlock, and on this occasion, the mage Motri began to explain to Feng Yinqiu the belief in the deceased: "They have existed for more than written history, and they have always occupied a very important place in human society, even in the heyday of the Imperial Age, their influence among the common people was very large, and they played an important role in several conflicts between the church and the empire..."

"What do such important sects believe in?, is it the god of death?" asked Feng Yinqiu. These corpse collectors, like the deceased, seem to have the only faith in this.

"No, we haven't found out where the god death is. Occasionally, there are sects related to death worship, but without exception, they are all tricks of high-level devils and demons in the lower realms. The mage's answer was completely unexpected. "The deceased do not worship a specific deity, but rather the process of death itself, and they focus on walking calmly and serenely to the end of life. Their main role in the folk is to collect corpses, funerals, and to appease and eliminate the torture of injuries and pain before death. So in a way, they are the most respected sect among the common people, because no matter what, everyone will eventually face death. ”

“... I see? Feng Yinqiu was also stunned, and nodded after thinking about it. No matter what kind of sect or belief, the most important point is to explain the meaning of 'death'. The same is true of the two gates of Buddhism and Taoism above Shenzhou, although from the very deep teachings, Buddhism is nirvana, and Taoism is not happy to live and not mourn death, all of which are beyond the realm of life and death, but for ordinary people, it is too far away and even incredible, so there are various sayings of hell reincarnation to explain to ordinary people. The true spirit of the land of Europe is manifested, and the gods are all traceable, and there is no need to be far-fetched and cranky, and it is reasonable that this attitude towards life and death has directly evolved into such a sect.

“... Some archmages dismiss this as just an ignorant and primitive ritual that has been passed down from time immemorial, but this does not explain the fact that the priests of the deceased were able to use divine arts. Since there is divine magic, it means that their belief is indeed connected to a certain world root in a higher dimension, but they have never found the god 'death'. Later, an archmage used the ten rings to detect the arcane arts, and a series of theoretical deductions, only to discover the fate of the beliefs of these deceased......" The female mage's words gradually leaned towards the arcane realm, and she also sold Guanzi, looking at Feng Yinqiu and raising her eyebrows a little provocatively. "You can't guess what the god is. ”

"The God of Life. Feng Yinqiu replied with a faint smile.

"You ......" The female mage's eyes widened suddenly, and her face was full of surprise. “... You... How do you know? Even in the arcane realm, this is a very unpopular and high-level knowledge point..."

"Death is not the opposite of life, but an integral part of it. This is just a relatively common sense knowledge point in some inheritances of our culture. ”

This made the female mage very unconvinced, and she snorted and muttered, "Okay, maybe there is something in common between low-level primitive cultures." But in fact, strictly speaking, there is no specific god such as the god of life, but the source of their magic is the same as that of the elves and druids, and it comes from the realm of life... A high-dimensional being that the elves call the streams of life......"

"Then it's reasonable for them to be so disgusted by the undead arcane......" Feng Yinqiu nodded.

"Where is there any necromantic arcane? You are now a person who has studied arcane more systematically, how can you be the same as those ignorant civilians and clergy, the necromantic arcane is called the undead arcane. The mage grumbled dissatisfiedly. "Well, while many Arcanists themselves refer to this faction's arcane as 'Necromancy', you should know that the essence of this arcane faction is still the application of life. 'Life' is the true name of this arcane faction. ”

"For example, the common low-level application of this 'life' system of arcane, whether it is the transformation of zombies or demons, is actually another way to use the life force, and further use the life force in those limbs that have been corrupted. The more advanced ones, such as the limb modification of the Arcane Warrior, are the further development of the vitality potential, which can make people have more powerful power, even if it is a disgusting sac arcane, it is also a power that is presented after a further understanding of the nature of life force. As for the ultimate extreme, the legendary lichification, vampireization, it is simply an elevation of the essence of life, and the change of life form allows life to continue forever, which is evidence that the arcane is comparable to the gods. It's just that those who have died say that these are the most evil acts of distortion and desecration of death, or of life......"

Feng Yinqiu thought about it and said, "I think this is the fundamental difference between those who have fallen and you arcanists, they feel life in life, so they feel that life is dignified and meaningful, and death is just an inevitable destination. Arcanists, on the other hand, only treat life as an object to be controlled. ”

"Stripped of the positive words you used for the corpse collectors, you're right. The female mage's eyes were glaring, and her momentum was a little aggressive, she was like this when talking about the theory of the arcane, and she didn't know where the elegant aristocratic temperament she had when she faced Mayor Jamal before. They are just slaves of life, and we can take life to a higher level. ”

"That's a self-righteous illusion. Feng Yinqiu said lightly. "Even life itself has not been fully comprehended, let alone a higher level. Those arcane arts are nothing more than instrumentalized manifestations of desires. The so-called evolution of life that you just mentioned is simply not wanting to die. You say they're slaves to life, haven't you discovered that the Arcanists are slaves who don't want to die?"

"What do you mean?" the female mage's eyes widened and widened, like two blue-green gems full of emotion. "Do you agree with those who have died? Life is the same as death, and why don't you die now?"

"I just understand. The wind was unmoved, still light and light, and the expression on his face looked distracted under the reflection of the surrounding lighting gems, as if he was recalling something far away, and as if he was talking to himself. "Whether death is the end of life or not, it is the greatest and best symbol that gives meaning to life, nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be sad about, and nothing to escape. ”

The female mage didn't reply this time, just looked at his silhouette and expression in the faint light, and her eyes rolled thoughtfully.

At this time, Mayor Jamal also completed the tedious opening procedure, and the closed floor slid away silently, and the lights below also lit up.

The two of them walked down the lowest and obviously the most important storage room with Mayor Jamal, and immediately saw the cause of the dispute, the not-so-evil arcane in the towntown's mouth.

In the middle of the lowest storeroom was a transparent container two meters square, and it was difficult to tell what it was with Wind Yinqiu's arcane knowledge, but the contents were clearly visible from the light of the surrounding illuminating crystals. It was a wriggling human limb, with hands and feet, and one or two half-rotten heads, the severed remains of which were moving slowly around as if they were still alive, some of the fingers and toes twitching.

Of course, simple limbs can't act on their own, and Feng Yinqiu can also feel it, there is no resentment and yin qi on those limbs, just simple dead flesh. If you look closely, you can see that the severed limbs are covered with many fine hairs, and it is the wriggling and twitching of those hairs together that drives those limbs as if they are moving on their own.

"Necrophilia, it's amazing, the Rodriguez family can actually cultivate such a thing, this is a very rare and valuable raw material in the life arcane..."The female mage recognized these things at a glance, lying on the transparent container and looking carefully at the wriggling human limbs inside, her eyes lit up, as if those were really beautiful and pleasing to the eye.

"Unfortunately, I have to admit that these are not cultivated by us. Our family doesn't have the ability to cultivate such a high-level undead system...... Ah, yes, life-based arcane material. Mayor Jamal had a face full of regret for not being able to get the praise of the female mage in front of him. "This is the place where a high-ranking mage was deposited here by a guest of our place half a year ago. I don't think he has the ability to cultivate it, and he should have obtained it from some other source, or from the relics of the empire. ”

"Deposit, so he didn't come to pick it up after the scheduled time, so you secretly dug up the cemetery and used the corpse to continue cultivating?"

"Yes... We can't watch these things die because of lack of nutrition, but we were careless and some people found traces of digging up the cemetery. And when the container was opened, it seemed that some of the spores of the corpse melter had escaped and were noticed by the deceased. You know, they're always very sensitive to things like that, they can't necessarily tell what they are, but they bite into it when they find it. ”

"I see. The female mage turned to Feng Yinqiu and explained. "This kind of necromer is a very rare and precious arcane material, which can only feed on human limbs in certain environments, but it is not harmful in itself. ”

Feng Yinqiu nodded: "Since Mr. Mayor didn't use any dangerous undead arcane, then give these things to the returned people outside, and all problems can be solved." ”

"How is that possible?" Mayor Jamal refused without thinking, his head held high and his chest erected to show the pride of the nobles of the Empire. "Why should I give in to those ignorant corpse collectors? It is impossible for me to compromise with those ignorant fools! I just borrowed some corpses that they discarded, and if they put them in the grave and slowly rot, they would feel that their lives were dignified when they were eaten by those snakes, insects, rats and ants? ”

"Give it to the deceased and destroy it all. "The female mage Motri duly used a two-ring arcane whispering technique to point the point. "Do you know how much Ogin is worth so many corpse melting fungi? This thing is very difficult to cultivate now, and these conservative estimates are more than two or three hundred thousand. ”

"Do you want us to compensate him?" Feng Yinqiu frowned and replied in secret language. Although it is not a problem that can be solved with money, it is really a problem for a while with such an amount of money.

"It's not just money. And the dignity of being an imperial nobleman. The female mage shrugged slightly. "It's so easy to give in, and those civilians will be more and more excessive in the future. ”

"And these things are just deposited with us by someone else. Such a valuable object fully expresses the trust that the guests have in the Rodriguez family. Is it just because of the instigation of a group of corpse collectors and mobs that the reputation of the Rodriguez family should be disgraced?" said the mayor, and the town grew angrier. "In the Imperial Age, the lords would have used them as a culture medium! They weren't grateful for their magnanimity now! Now they're still blocking the door of the Consulate Hall! Do they dare to rush in?"

The mayor's angry voice didn't reach the cellar or be heard by the people gathered outside, but they really had no intention of rushing in. The natural disasters in the decades after the war, the mutated monsters in the wild from time to time, and the threat of the orcs in the southern grasslands made neither the nobles nor the commoners dare to make the differences really out of control, and the people outside also knew that this was a protracted war between their own patience and the face of the noble lord.

By this time it was time to eat, and some of the people had gone home, some of them had taken out their dry food and ate it on the spot, and some of them had simply set up a fire in the square outside, cooking cereal porridge and rhizomes, and baking bread.

Of course, the aristocratic lords also had to eat, and they couldn't do it themselves, so a restaurant in the town contracted their meals, and at this time a pot of creamy mushroom soup, a basket of freshly baked bread, a few strips of bacon and some fruits and vegetables were also brought in by a wooden cart, and a few guys were carrying it inside. Although everyone is still in a stalemate with each other, and the proprietress was still shouting and cursing these mages who blasphemed the dead in the crowd just now, business still belongs to business.

The aroma of the creamy soup made the food in their mouths more and more difficult to swallow as several civilians around them munched on black bread, and one of them couldn't help but roar: "Those damn arcanists, who are going to spit a few mouthfuls of saliva into it after desecrating the corpses of our relatives and drinking such a delicious soup!"

"What?" these words made the guy who was holding the thick soup angry, put down the soup pot in his hand and twisted the proposer, and shouted at him: "How can you come up with such a dirty thing? It's disgusting!"

"No, I'm just ......." The civilian, who was nibbling on black bread, was frightened, this guy was a middle-aged strong man who looked very bad, with a few terrible scars on his face, but his arms were thicker than his thighs, and this one almost lifted him into the air.

"It's just what? It's just that you can't vent the anger in your heart, but you don't dare and can't really do anything to those noble lords, so you can only do justice in this way by letting them taste the taste of your saliva, is that right? Very good, I understand you. But spitting on it is disgusting, and I give you permission to stuff some boogers into those breads. Go ahead. ”

Seeing that the almost stupid man did not react, the guy ignored him, picked up the soup pot again and walked towards the ruling hall. When he passed by the black-robed returnees at the door, he turned to him again and asked, "These respectable returnees have really worked hard, do you want some soup?" I boiled it myself for three hours, and it was absolutely delicious. ”

Several of the deceased shook their heads expressionlessly, and it was the old priest who nodded to the fellow: "Thank you for your kindness, we are concentrating on the peace of life, the meaning of food for us is only to survive, and all sensory enjoyment has nothing to do with us." ”

The man made a look of pity, followed the people in front of him into the hall with the soup, and closed the door again.

"Don't provoke those corpse collectors, a group of guys who are not even afraid of death or even enjoy it, it will be very troublesome to deal with. As soon as the door was closed, a thin man in front of this guy with a basket of fruit spoke. The other two shopkeepers in front of them took bread and bacon and went out into the divided rooms, as if they didn't even know they were there.

"Would you like a bowl? I promise it's delicious. As if he hadn't heard, the stout man continued to peddle his masterpiece.

"Nope. His companion firmly refused with a very strange expression.

"It's a pity, you poor creatures don't know what you're missing. The strong man pouted, shook his head and sighed, picked up the soup pot in his hand, tilted his head and drank it himself.

In a full minute, a large pot of thick creamy mushroom soup was poured into the strong man's stomach, and he threw it away, and the soup pot in his hand fell to the ground, but strangely did not make a sound.

"Then let's get to work. The strong man wiped his mouth and asked his companion. "How do you get started? Or do you want to clear the field with a Yang Flame Explosion first?"