Chapter 109#

The Holy Son of the Fallen Evil God#

Gods are omniscient.

Although the Evil God had long resided beneath the abyss and actively blocked all external sources of information, as long as he wished, it was very simple to learn the truth of matters from the laws of the universe.

“So that’s how it is…” The deity opened his eyes, a playful curl touching his lips.

He was very curious about how Lin Xiaodong would handle this situation.

Meanwhile, in front of Raphael’s church, after questioning a circle of commoners, Lin Xiaodong had also roughly pieced together the sequence of events of this case in his mind.

The first person to notice something wrong was a personal maid highly trusted by the Countess.

She had gotten up during the night and never returned. The next morning, she was found dead in the corridor outside the Count’s bedroom, unable to rest in peace, with multiple stab wounds on her body.

But weirdly, she looked as if she had committed suicide, her face filled with expressions of both fear and anger.

This incident caused panic throughout the manor, but the Count gave a death order, forbidding everyone from spreading the word, threatening to break the legs of anyone who sought out the source. Although Count Lyle had only moved to the West District three years ago, the commoners had lived in this manor for generations. Once driven out, they would become low-class slaves without status, bought and sold at will. Therefore, the matter was quickly suppressed.

“Multiple stab wounds, yet it’s a suicide?” Lin Xiaodong shook his head. “Impossible. The pain alone would have caused her to faint.”

But it seemed these commoners sincerely believed that the maid had been “possessed” by a demon, so he skipped this part for now and continued to think about other details.

Then there were the strange noises Michael had mentioned that often appeared in the manor. Even the neighbors heard them, so the people in the manor naturally knew as well. However, Count Lyle had always claimed to be a cockfighting enthusiast, saying he would watch a match to cheer himself up when he couldn’t sleep at night.

The only strange thing was that no one had ever seen any fighting cocks in the mansion.

“Since it’s cockfighting, someone must be responsible for the purchasing,” Lin Xiaodong asked with a frown. “It’s impossible for a great noble like Count Lyle to personally go to the market to select chicken breeds. Do you know who this person is?”

The commoners looked at each other and shook their heads one after another.

“Then who was in charge of managing the manor’s finances?” Lin Xiaodong asked again.

“It was the Countess,” the little girl he had questioned earlier answered boldly. “And the Countess’s maid.”

Lin Xiaodong clicked his tongue.

The key witnesses were all dead; this was going to be troublesome.

According to the little girl, late last night she felt thirsty and went to fetch water from the well in the manor, but what she hauled up was a bucket of fishy-smelling blood-water. She was so scared she dropped the bucket on the spot and scrambled to the Count’s mansion. She originally wanted to report to the Count, but saw a raging fire burning. The doors of the mansion were tightly closed, and she heard bursts of piercing sounds, like someone inside desperately scratching at the door with their fingernails.

The girl wanted to help, but without a key, she couldn’t open the door from the outside at all. Seeing that the doors and windows were also tightly shut, she picked up a stone and smashed the glass. As a result, a flaming demon jumped out, grabbed her by the throat, and pinned her to the ground. But soon, a burst of mad laughter came from inside the mansion. The demon seemed frightened, its movements paused, and it quickly let go of her, stumbling away.

As she spoke, she even showed Lin Xiaodong the burn marks on her neck where the fire had scorched her.

“Truly, may the God of Light protect us,” the girl pressed her palms together, saying piously. “Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have survived.”

Lin Xiaodong comforted her with a few words and turned to the black-haired man who had been listening intently beside him: “Commander Ike, what do you think?”

“Homicide,” Ike spat out two words.

“I think so too,” Lin Xiaodong said with a smile.

Although there were still some points that couldn’t be explained—for example, the blood-water in the well, and why such a big fire at the mansion hadn’t been noticed by the commoners living in the manor even in the middle of the night—according to the girl, the fire had engulfed the entire mansion, yet she was the only commoner present.

Therefore, someone must be lying.

Lin Xiaodong looked up, his calm gaze sweeping over the sallow-faced, thin commoners in front of him. Those he looked at, regardless of gender, instinctively lowered their heads to avoid his gaze.

In Ike’s view, this was normal. The lives of commoners were inherently humble; if they didn’t learn to avoid risks and protect themselves, they certainly wouldn’t live to adulthood.

But Lin Xiaodong saw a trace of something wrong in the cowering expressions of these people. He didn’t pressure them, but simply said to Ike: “I want to go to the Count’s mansion and see the scene for myself.”

“What!?” Commander Ike cried out in surprise, instinctively shaking his head in refusal. “No! So many people died in the manor. Even if it was homicide before, it must be contaminated by blood and filth now. There might even be evil spirits and ghosts wandering the scorched earth. You are the noble Holy Son, how can you go to such a place?”

“Then you follow me, Commander,” the golden-haired youth smiled. “As for filth and evil spirits…”

He winked playfully: “Don’t worry, I have God’s protection; all evil stays away.”

Ike looked at the golden-haired youth, and two patches of blush silently appeared on his sun-tanned wheat-colored cheeks.

Meanwhile, the Evil God on his throne in the abyss clenched the bone armrests of his seat the moment he saw the youth’s expression.

What an unruly believer, the deity thought expressionlessly.

He took a deep breath and summoned a ball of black viscous liquid that seemed alive, churning and surging in the darkness. After whispering a few instructions, he waved his hand and threw it down to the human world.

Lin Xiaodong didn’t know yet that a certain jealous god was about to start causing trouble for him. Under his persistence, Ike helplessly agreed to the request for an on-site investigation.

However, the man still insisted on two points: First, it had to be when the sun was strongest, between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM; if it passed 2:00 PM, they had to leave. Second, Lin Xiaodong must stay close to him throughout the entire process.

“No problem!” Lin Xiaodong agreed immediately.

He was still thinking that he hadn’t expected the crossbow hidden under his pillow would come in handy so soon.

As for Bishop Raphael’s side, Lin Xiaodong just sent a divine servant to give a simple greeting. Sure enough, the other party didn’t raise any objections, only symbolically coming over to say a few words about being careful and thanking the Holy Son for his hard work. However, the church had a strict hierarchy; even if he objected, a mere Bishop couldn’t have any influence on the Holy Son.

Lin Xiaodong originally planned to set off the next day, but unexpectedly, after only one day of peace, his stomach started acting up again that night.

“Urgh—”

He hugged a wooden bucket and vomited until the world spun. Even switching to “fallen mode” didn’t help at all. Lin Xiaodong felt like he was about to vomit out his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. He looked down and glared fiercely at his stomach, wishing he could give it a punch on the spot.

“Whose temper did you inherit anyway?” he asked weakly.

The Evil God’s will inside his body seemed to understand the youth’s question and gradually quieted down, no longer resisting violently.

Lin Xiaodong leaned against the headboard, stroking his belly, wondering if it had grown a bit larger than before. Although he knew it had only been a day and such speed was unlikely… this was God’s child, who could say for sure?

And besides his stomach, he even felt some discomfort in his chest, a faint swelling sensation, but he suspected it was just his imagination. Lin Xiaodong thought crazily, surely he wasn’t going to have to… experience all of these… these processes?

Seeing the golden-haired youth biting his lower lip, clutching his stomach and curling up in the quilt with a complex look in his eyes, the Evil God had to clench his fists and press them against his lips to prevent himself from using his divine blood again out of over-excitement—last night, because he had tossed and turned too much, he had to feed Lin Xiaodong several mouthfuls of divine blood halfway through to make him recover.

In other words, although the so-called “Holy Spirit” was fake, his bloodline was indeed flowing in Lin Xiaodong’s body now.

His believer, his half.

His unique… little lamb.

Due to the previous night’s ordeal, when they got up the next day, Ike looked at Lin Xiaodong’s complexion and decisively canceled the day’s travel plans.

“It’s not too late to go after you’ve recovered,” seeing the golden-haired youth’s gloomy look, the black-haired tough guy scratched his head and awkwardly comforted him. “But… Your Highness, may I ask why you’re in such a hurry to go to Lyle Manor?”

“Why?” Lin Xiaodong found his question strange. “To investigate the case, of course. You also said it’s very likely homicide. What if the killer isn’t dead yet and is still lurking in the capital to continue committing crimes?”

“But, generally, no one cares about such things,” Ike said hesitantly. “Although Count Lyle was a great noble, ever since he took the initiative to move to the West District three years ago, those nobles in the capital have disdained to associate with him. I thought you would be the same as them.”

Probably moved by the events in front of the church yesterday, the usually cautious Knight Commander, after agonizing all night, still plucked up his courage and whispered words he would normally never dare to say. Lin Xiaodong finally understood what he meant.

“Commander Ike,” Lin Xiaodong smiled slightly, “do you remember how that hymn dedicated to God is sung?”

Although he didn’t understand why the other party suddenly mentioned this topic, Ike still nodded and answered, “I remember.”

“Light on the earth, filth swept away. Holy Son heaven-sent, protecting all lives.” The golden-haired Holy Son sighed, his blue eyes gazing out the window in a daze. “And now… since God is hidden from the world, then I shall be the one to protect all living beings.”

He turned his head, looking at Commander Ike, whose expression was numb with shock from his rebellious words, and sincerely and openly reached out his hand to the man:

“Are you willing to help me, Commander Ike?”