In the dim candlelight, Pastor Arleigh was expressionless, only Bert's voice echoed:

"Maybe it's because of the extraordinary nature of the unexplained part of your granddaughter's death, and the fact that the townspeople miss their children, and the resentment of children and the elderly who die of the epidemic.

"Over the course of a year, the scarecrow in the field began to absorb extraordinary properties and grievances, and then gradually mutated, finally forming a seal that could control people's hearts and create illusions.

"You take advantage of the residents' thoughts of the dead and advocate a few people, represented by the Sapir police, to disguise the scarecrow doll as the oracle of death, saying that it can resurrect the dead.

Then ask Sapir to use the straw on the scarecrow doll to induce the inhabitants to swallow it, and gradually become its puppet.

"Because of the plague and evil magical rituals, the souls of the dead gradually turned into ghosts in the fields.

"But the ghosts wandering in the fields don't have a body to live in, so you let Sapir stun the passers-by with drugs and force them to swallow straw, and they all become scarecrows.

In this way, the ghosts of the dead have a sojourning body, because the scarecrow doll itself is limited by its own strength, and can only use its maximum power at night.

"Therefore, it is only when the sun sets and the feminine power is at its peak that those scarecrows can be inhabited by ghosts, and then go to their families before their deaths and enjoy their time.

"Because after swallowing the straw on the scarecrow doll, the residents' bodies have undergone abnormal changes, and they have become empty human skins with straw inside, so they are actually no different from these scarecrows.

And those who have been turned scarecrows by travelers have been forced to fall into a deep sleep for a few days to a year.

"And you, of course, can see your granddaughter again, even if you know in your heart that those are illusions created by scarecrow dolls, and they are not really resurrected. ”

Oh my God, hearing Bert's words, Chris was so stunned that he didn't know what to complain about.

This kind of family affection is too terrible, doesn't he know that the consequence of doing so is that his granddaughter will become a ghost who can only wander, and then one day she will be completely annihilated, or even become a resentful soul.

When Pastor Ali heard this, he finally smiled and said:

"It is truly the most powerful armed team in the Church, and each of them has magical abilities. Okay, I'll admit you're right, but I don't regret doing it. ”

James shook his head, looked at the old man in disappointment, and said:

"As the pastor of the church, not only do you covet your desires and use forbidden magic to refine seals, but you also make those passing travelers scarecrows who never return home, which is already a devilish act. ”

At this moment, Ali's expression suddenly became a little crazy, and he shouted:

"Hehe, I've preached the teachings of the Lord all my life, but where is He when I really need Him?"

In the end, red blood flowed from his old cheeks, eyes and nostrils.

Chris and Bert watched the scene in front of them with some horror, only to see Pastor Arleigh's expression become more and more frantic and painful, and finally he fell to his knees gasping for breath.

Only James, with a look of calm and a hint of compassion, said:

"This is the punishment for you to take refuge in the devil and blaspheme the gods, you deserve it, and there is nothing I can do. ”

With that, they took Chris and Bert out of here, and the two couldn't help but look back, only to see that Pastor Ali, who was kneeling on the ground, with a crazy face, had gradually melted, and finally turned into a puddle of red liquid.

Seeing this sudden and strange scene, Chris's voice trembled a little, looked at James who was walking in the front, and whispered:

"Boss, was that?"

"That's divine punishment. James said softly, "If someone does something wrong and harms someone's life, the gods may not pay attention." But once someone blasphemes the gods, believe that they will punish them with divine punishment. ”

Oh my God, Chris's heart was in turmoil, he didn't expect these gods to punish those who were disrespectful to them, he shivered a little, thinking about whether he usually had anything disrespectful to the gods.

As if to see Chris and Bert's shock and some fear, James touched his head and said with a smile:

"Haha, look at your cowardice, but you don't have to worry.

"Let's put it this way, we believe in the gods of machine and wisdom, and if you are disrespectful to other gods, for the sake of the gods of machine and wisdom, there will be no divine punishment, because the gods we believe in are protecting us.

"Only gods who blaspheme their beliefs will be punished by God, and perhaps these gods hate the betrayal of their followers. ”

Chris sighed, thankfully, fortunately, he didn't seem to have complained about the god of machines and intelligence.

And he kept praising in his heart, "God, you are great and kind, forgiving and merciful to us!"

After returning to the hotel, because Jeffrey and Elton were not there, Wayne and Bonnie were in the same room, Cowper and Samson were in the same room, and Chris and the others were in the same room.

Or by Captain James vigil.

Before it was too late, James summoned Wayne and Bonnie to Chris's room to discuss the ins and outs of the case.

In this way, the root cause of everything is because of Ali's unwillingness and resentment, which caused today's situation. Wayne clasped her hands and said angrily.

The same can be said. James groaned, "As for the root cause, it must be the sudden plague." ”

"Boss, do you suspect that there is someone else behind this? is the 'Witch of Disaster' that Sister Wayne mentioned this morning?" asked Chris.

They discussed four issues this morning, and three have been resolved so far.

There is also the question, how can the cause of this epidemic only occur in the small town of Solari, and not in the nearby towns?

At that time, Wayne mentioned Sequence 6 of the "witch" pathway, the "witch of disaster" who likes to spread diseases and create disasters.

James nodded, looked at Wayne and Chris, and said with a smile:

"So, I need you to do a divination. Believe this scarecrow can give us some news. ”

As he spoke, James placed the metal box containing the scarecrow doll on the table.

Seeing the captain's encouraging eyes, Wayne had no choice but to take the metal box, then took a deep breath, took out a stack of tarot cards from his backpack, and randomly drew one from it.

In the expectant eyes of everyone, Wayne happily spread out the cards, and the result was just a star card that didn't mean much.

"Alas, it still failed. Wayne shrugged and looked at Chris, "It's up to you." ”

Immediately, Chris took the metal box handed by Wayne, and then took out the "greedy money" from his pocket.

"How did you manage to make it fly on its own tonight and find the hidden scarecrow doll. Bonnie asked curiously, looking at her pocket watch.

"This ......," Chris snorted and laughed, "I also had a whim, but I didn't expect it to be done." ”

However, Chris was very panicked, after all, he didn't do it, and it seemed that he had the opportunity to ask another self what was going on.

After pulling out a gold pound, Chris looked at James with a somewhat miserable look in his eyes.

"Don't worry, the cost of divination using this magical item in the mission is all counted in the public expense. James saw Chris's thoughts at a glance and tapped him on the shoulder with a smile.

Only then did Chris comfortably feed the gold coins to the "greedy money", and kept thinking about the purpose of divination.

It seems that the scarecrow doll has been sealed, so this time only a few seconds later, Chris fell asleep.

It's a golden field.

......

The next morning, he saw the unconscious residents and travelers wake up one after another, but the first thing he woke up was:

Vomit!

Non-stop vomiting!

I saw them bend over in pain, and then each pulled a golden straw out of his throat.

This is exactly the straw they had voluntarily or forced to swallow before, turning the inhabitants into human beings who were scarecrows on the inside, and scarecrows on the outside.

The straw seemed to have lost its mystical power, and once it was spit out, it turned into powder and disappeared into thin air.

It seems like they're having a long dream, waking up and doing their own thing.

And the travelers packed their bags again and began to hurry.

The reason they forgot all of this was Cooper's extraordinary abilities.

He turned out to be sequence 8 of the "mathematician" pathway: "The Dream Weaver".

He revised the memories of the townspeople during the year, and then placed some vague memories in the brains of the travelers.

In this way, although they felt that their memories were a little strangely discontinuous, they did not have any suspicions.

James's Extraordinary Squad and two other "Punishers" exited the town and met their wagon and two coachmen.

Luckily, the two coachmen had prepared the necessary bread and water when they went out.

Everyone got into the carriage tiredly, especially Elton, who chose a good place to fall asleep as soon as he entered, he is not a sleepless "grave keeper".

......

On the third floor of the "Golden Tulip", there is a luxuriously renovated office.

Wardhouse's brown leather boots were hunched on his desk, and his handsome chin was unkempt with a shredded beard.

Looking at James and Chris in front of him, Wardhouse put down the document in his hand and said with a sneer:

"Welcome home, this mission looks like it's been accomplished. ”

James was a little silent, not having the honest smile he used to have, but looking at Wardhouse with some seriousness, and said:

"Headquarters, the cause of the disappearance of the people in the town has been found out, it was caused by a scarecrow seal, and the two members of the 'Punishment' team have also returned safely. ”