"It's terrible to be cursed!"

Benjamin said with difficulty: "But is there really no way to save it?" This person is a capable subordinate I have cultivated, and I really can't bear to let him live the rest of his life so crazy. ”

"Well, I'm sorry, I just said, 'Live or die,' which is obviously not accurate."

Wren pointed to the man's lower body in the cell, "I remember reading in a book that how long does it take for that place to be congested and rot?" I don't remember, anyway, judging by my crude medical common sense, this guy can't last long in such a tall state - it's better to give him a good time now, so that he can die with dignity and the corpse makeup artist can save a lot of effort. ”

"Don't, don't be kidding, although he is crazy, he is still alive after all!"

Thomas waved his hands, "Save him, Lord Wren, you're a witcher, save him with magic or holy arts!" ”

"I can't do it."

"Can't do it?"

"Curses, though they fall under the category of dark magic, are more vicious and difficult to deal with than ordinary black magic."

Wren patiently explained: "Some curses have a lethal effect, such as 'curse you to die violently' or 'curse you to be run to death by your father's carriage', if the recipient can find a clever white-robed mage or saint in time, then he can purify the curse before it takes effect, while other curses want the recipient to live rather than die, such as 'curse you to become a maggot', or 'curse you to be unlucky for the rest of your life', or like him-"

Speaking of this, Wren looked at the man in the cell again, "I don't know the specific content, but judging from the current situation, he may be cursed to 'live like a beast full of lust for the rest of his life', who knows what perverted thoughts are in the minds of those evil people - in short, your colleague should have died a long time ago, the dark and resentful magical power has seeped into every drop of his blood, and ordinary people can't resist it, but the curse doesn't allow him to die, so he has lived until now- Of course, I could help him get rid of the negative effects in his body, but at the same time, his life would not be saved. ”

"Understood, just let him live like this, even if that word is broken, it doesn't matter, as long as he is treated in time, I believe he will not die of blood loss - it's just that he won't be able to stand up and pee in the future, of course, with his state, I'm afraid he won't care about this."

Benjamin was distressed for a long time before he said, "Can you let his family take it, Mr. Wren?" Although he was cursed with some vicious curse that 'continues to estrus like a wild beast', it doesn't seem to be too dangerous to others, in fact, I think he may still have a trace of human sanity, otherwise he would not have been able to run back from Quanshi Village so far away. ”

"Oh, I don't think it has anything to do with sanity, after all, even a beast doesn't forget its way back to its nest."

Wren smiled and turned to walk outside the prison, "Whatever you do, what I need to do now is to rush to Quanshi Village as soon as possible, maybe there is an evil dark wizard waiting for me to kill." ”

His departing back was dashing and fearless, and Benjamin and Thomas watched Wren leave the prison before they each withdrew their gazes.

"Worthy of a witcher, 'an evil dark wizard waiting for me to kill', who can say this so calmly except the witcher!"

"That's right, my lord, because of them, we worldly people sleep well at night!"

When the two were sighing, they saw Wren turn back again, he trotted all the way to the two of them, and said with some embarrassment: "Well, I suddenly remembered that I don't know the way to Quanshi Village, if there is a map, please give me a copy." ”

“……”

After getting the map, Wren turned away in style again, and this little episode certainly did not affect his glorious image in the eyes of others.

Since the witchers will inevitably encounter unexpected situations in the course of their missions, even if they do not return to the camp on time, as long as the report they hand in afterwards can clearly state the legitimate cause, then they will usually not be held accountable, of course, provided that the legitimate cause can withstand strict verification.

Wren set off from the northern outskirts of Greenwood City and traveled north, arriving at Lilvik Mountain, where the village of Quanshi Village is located, on the afternoon of the third day. The rudimentary map was marked with no other markings here, and with the help of Eagle Eye (a spell that greatly increases the caster's vision), Wren could barely see the outline of a small mountain village, and then walked for another hour on a rugged mountain road before finally standing at the entrance to Quanshi Village.

The mountain road below was cut off by a shoddy broken gatehouse, Wren didn't walk in the first place, as a law controller, he could sense that the village in front of him was very wrong, and the unspeakable depression made him want to turn around and leave.

"Dinos, although I am not a Holy Being, but I am acting in your name, give me some protection."

Wren sighed, then chanted a spell, cast a primary protection spell on himself that would ward off the negative effects, and then resolutely walked into the gatehouse. The winding path led him through the village, as if he had entered a world forgotten by time, with only crumbling wooden houses and mossy stone walls, but not half a human figure.

In the center of the village was a humble church, and Wren walked over and pushed open the closed double doors, and a cold wind mixed with the stale smell came to his face, and then he found that everything was covered in dust, and there were even a lot of cobwebs in the corners, which looked like they had been abandoned for a long time.

Even the clergy were killed.

Wren silently grasped the hilt of his knife and exited, and then walked to the other side of the village, where he would carefully enter and inspect every house he passed, but the situation in each house was the same as the church before, empty and uninhabited. It is worth noting that he did not find any suspicious traces other than that, and every villager's house was very neat, with tables, chairs, benches, and fragile bottles and cans honestly staying where they should be.

There was no black magic - no, no magic could have caused so many people to disappear silently on such a large scale, maybe the villagers had already abandoned the village, right? After rummaging through several empty cellars, Wren was adamant that the people must have left in an orderly manner, and at the same time they took the necessary food and bedding with them. Despite this, he still did not dare to let his guard down, and no matter what he did, he always had a hand on his black knife, because the oppressive feeling he had when he entered the village still lingered above his head at this moment.

At this time, a cry in the distance attracted Wren's attention, he had planned to use a secondary invisibility technique to take a look at it, but after thinking about it, he had been swaggering around the village for so long, and if the evil man was still here, I was afraid that he would not be able to escape his surveillance if he did anything.

After following the direction from which the sound came from, Wren saw a two-storey workshop built on the hill, and the surface of the gate was written in inferior red lacquer with the words 'Karl fruit brew, the most fragrant and mellow'. Closer to it, in addition to the cry just now becoming clearer, you can hear the sound of small conversations, insults, and reassurances coming from inside.

Wren knew where the villagers were hiding.

He walked a few steps briskly, pushed open the door of the brewery, as if at the same time pressed the mute button, and hundreds of pairs of eyes in the lobby stared at the uninvited guest who suddenly appeared, the owner of the eyes was a man and a woman, an old man and a child, they looked at Wren silently, and after a while, an idler lying in the corner and picking his nose broke the silence:

"Damn it, another idiot who splits rations. I said, Pastor Brandon, when will the old man Tinos come to our rescue? ”

"My lord has already seen everything, and he will surely send a messenger of light—"

A white-robed man with a thin yellow face and thin face hurriedly ran down from the second floor as he spoke, but unfortunately he was interrupted by someone else before he could finish his words: "Fuck you Lightbringer, you've been talking about this for more than three months, but during this time, there has only been one waste who bought rock badgers and three national guards who are just as waste as him!" Go to hell, Brandon! ”

"My lord, forgive these who speak without words."

Brandon smiled wryly and walked through the crowd to Wren, first looked him up and down, and then said politely: "Hello, strange sir, I am Pastor Brandon of the local church, what do you call me?" ”

"I'm Wren, and I'm a witcher."

As soon as these words came out, the villagers' eyes suddenly widened (in fact, their eyes had been wide since Wren appeared, only now they were wider).

"The Witcher! Is it those battle elites of the Temple of Light?! ”

"Saved, Dinos has really appeared!"

"Why didn't Rhodes of God come? Don't they all say that he is the strongest? This guy named Wren doesn't look very reliable! ”

“……”

While Wren was eager to give the guy who uttered the last sentence a shot of freezing to cool his head, he also knew that these hillbillies weren't quite able to figure out what was worth Rod Palmer's action and what wasn't.

"Ahem, please be quiet! Let me start with a few words with this gentleman! ”

Brandon was more cautious than the agitated villagers, "Well, Mr. Wren, I'm more than willing to believe that you're a witcher, but I haven't seen a crossbow—"

"I can't use Holy Energy, so the crossbow isn't of much use to me."

Wren impatiently took out his badge and handed it over, and Brandon finally breathed a sigh of relief after checking it repeatedly. Although he still had doubts about the identity of the person in front of him, the divine aura on it could not be faked, it was a genuine demon hunting badge.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wren, but it's possible that I've been in this closed village for too long, so I didn't know that non-saints could now join the Demon Hunter Squad."

Brandon returned the badge to Wren, his hands trembling slightly, "Either way, having this badge means that you must have great strength, my lord finally heard my prayers, and he brought you to us!" ”

Hearing this, the surrounding villagers erupted in amazing cheers.

"Let's get down to business, Pastor Brandon."

Wren frowned and asked, "Why are you all hiding here?" Where is the Dark Wizard or Witch now? ”

"Dark wizard?"

Brandon shook his head, "I'm afraid you're mistaken, there's no such thing here." ”

"Didn't you? What the hell are you here—"

"This is not the place to talk, come with me, my lord, let's go to the second floor, where it will be quieter."

"Okay."

Wren relentlessly and went up with Brandon to the second floor of the workshop, where there was a lot of brewing equipment that he couldn't name, and the place was a little smaller than the first floor.

"You may be seated, Lord Wren."

Brandon carried an empty wine barrel for Wren, and then dragged one for himself, "So, since the temple has sent witchers, my distress letter must have been successfully delivered, right?" ”

"A letter for help? No, no one has ever seen it, and I wasn't here on a mission. ”

"And how did you find it?"

"I thought you knew very well that I was sent by Dinos."

Wren said with a squint.

"Oh, of course your coming is the will of my lord, there is no doubt about that, but you and I both know that it is impossible for the Most High God to really appear to someone and say to him, 'Go and save a few of them for me'—yes, he will only enlighten us by some hints."

"Well, here's how it started......"

Wren briefly recounted his experience after returning to Greenshade, and Brandon was silent for a while.

"That Mr. Guard, he's a man worthy of respect. I advised him to stay, just like his two companions, but he refused. 'Now that you have seen that Ali, you should know that everything that happened in Quanshi Village is real, and no one can leave, never,' I said at the time, but the gentleman said, 'Someone must go back and tell them what is going on, or more will come to their deaths.'" I couldn't resist him, so I had to write a distress letter for him to take with him, and now it seems that I may have lost it - 'Don't worry, even if I become crazy, I'll get the word out here', he said before leaving, and he did, through self-sacrifice. ”

"Do you mean that the guard and the badger buyer, they were cursed on the way home?"

"A curse, yes, a curse, of course, but it's not just for one person. Cursed is this village, this land, and from the day it comes, anyone who tries to leave it will become a madman dominated by twisted desires, and their kind will be like rotten wood in their eyes, and they will be addicted to filthy animals - perhaps after becoming that kind of madman, their minds will no longer be considered human, and they will no longer be interested in humans. ”

Brandon's expression was unusually sad, and he took several deep breaths before he could continue speaking, "What's especially terrible is that this curse doesn't just work for men!" Oh, I'll never forget what happened to the stubborn Granny Lawrence, who didn't heed my warnings—of course she wasn't to blame, she just wanted to go up the hill to pick herbs for her sick grandson—anyway, when Granny Lawrence was discovered, she was doing something horrible in her own sheepfold—can you imagine, Lord Wren, she's in her sixties—"

Brandon's words were interrupted by an uncontrollable choking in his throat, mixed with a little retching, Wren patted him lightly on the shoulder, and said honestly, "I'm sorry, I can't imagine, I can't imagine, and I advise you to stop reminiscing about that scene, and let's make the whole thing clear." ”

"I'm sorry, I lost my temper."

Brandon relented for a long time before continuing: "Yes, as I said earlier, this land is cursed, and we are like ants in a fire ring to survive, and the end of trying to escape is to die in the fire. Quanshi Village is remote and backward, but it is also peaceful and peaceful, and no evil person will fight here, and the suffering of this time is all because of that woman, the wretched soul, the embodiment of resentment, and the vengeful ghost who has returned from hell. ”

"Sorry, I didn't understand if your last sentence was a refinement, or—"

"Oh no, literally, there is a female ghost named 'Catherine' roaming the village, and she is the source of the curse, or rather, the curse itself - Catherine corrupted the village at the cost of her own soul."

Brandon shrunk his neck, this action obviously didn't bring him much warmth, and Wren could see that his teeth were still trembling slightly, "You're a witcher, my lord, even if you can't use holy energy, you can definitely manipulate magic, so you must be able to feel that suffocating resentment and depression, right?" ”

Wren didn't speak, just silently lifted the protective spell he had cast before entering the village, and the next second it was as if the whole person had jumped into an ice cellar, an invisible cold wind came from all sides, and sad whispers sounded in his ears, but when he listened carefully, he found that it was just an illusion of trance.

"Yes, I feel it, it's a desperate feeling."

"Who's to say it isn't? I even wish I wasn't a Holy One anymore,"

Brandon looked enviously at the first floor, where the villagers gathered in groups of three or five, "That's right, it would be nice if it was ordinary people, although they will also be affected by negative effects, but at least they don't feel as much as you and me." ”

"You're the Holy One?"

Wren was amazed, any Holy Able is a precious asset of the Holy See, even in the same position, their treatment is far superior to that of ordinary people (it is said that the voice of equal pay for equal work has been shouted within the Holy See for many years, but Wren finds this idea ridiculous to be unrealistic), how can such a broken village be worthy of a Holy Able to be stationed and preach?

"I used to be the senior pastor of Chengyang Church in Dongyang City, but I was transferred out of my position a few years ago because of a mistake in my work. I don't know if you've been to Dongyang City, although it's not as prosperous as Green Shade City, it's also a top-ranked big city in the east. ”

Brandon saw Wren's doubts, and explained with a wry smile: "Frankly speaking, I took the initiative to come here, I think that only by serving my lord in the most difficult place can I atone for my sins as soon as possible, after all, the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold it endures." ”

"Well, since you're a Holy Being, how can you not even deal with a female ghost?"

Wren asked suspiciously.

"This—I've been lucky enough to have my lord's favor, but apparently not as much as anyone else."

Brandon said embarrassedly, "Even the most rudimentary holy arts are too difficult for me, all I can do is- just-"

He was a little embarrassed, so Wren picked up the words: "All you can do is make your body glow?" ”

"Ah, you're so straightforward, and I guess that's what I'm lacking."

Brandon looked even more embarrassed.

"Oh, there's nothing to be shy about, I can't blame you, really."

Wren waved his hand nonchalantly, "The power of God is like the ocean, and believers are like bottles floating in the sea, but these bottles are big and small, so some can fill a lot of seawater, some can only be filled with a little bit, and more bottles can't even open the lid, like a bottle like mine." ”

"That's a wonderful analogy, Lord Wren."

"Anyway, I can't do much more than comfort the villagers, but I haven't even been able to do that lately—as you have seen when you first enter the door, the people have gradually lost trust in our lord, and the foundation of my faith that I have worked so hard to build is about to be destroyed." Of course, they can't be blamed for this, after all, we have been trapped for almost four months, and the longer it goes, the worse it gets. ”

Brandon sighed, and continued, "As you can see, Quanshi Village is not a place where grain is produced, the main source of income here is to make fruit wine and hunt, and the grain is mainly purchased and replaced. Although the villagers are all industrious and thrifty simple people, the food they have accumulated can only last for about half a month at most, and this is the result of my extreme calculation - to be honest, from the moment the curse came, I have prepared for the worst, and at the same time set a rule for myself to eat every three days, although I am not very decent as a holy being, but my physique is still much stronger than ordinary people, and I can save an extra bite of food, maybe I can make a child live one more day. ”

These words made Wren awe-inspired, and it was no wonder that Brandon, as a Holy Being, looked like a sickly ghost with a yellow face and thin muscles.

"You're just as respectable as the guard, Pastor Brandon."

Wren said sincerely, "Even if you can't do more, I believe that without you, the villagers would have collapsed long ago." ”

"I don't think I deserve such praise, my lord."

Brandon smiled wryly, "What if I'm here?" I could only keep reassuring them and waiting patiently for help, and I could only keep dissuading them from running out of the village because of hunger or impulse, and nothing else could be done. In fact, leaving the village will turn you into a monster, but staying will also suffer the negative effects of Catherine, and many of the weaker villagers have already died - I often think that I killed them, and if I could have been stronger, things would not have gotten to this point. ”

"Don't overthink it, man."

Wren glanced out the window, the sun was about to set, "Tell me about the origin of that female ghost, if you want to listen to ghost stories, there is no better time than now." ”