Chapter 52#

Temple of the Burning Lamp 23#

The sunlight was intense, but no one in the field felt hot; instead, everyone had their own thoughts.

Molly’s choice was something Yu Feichen hadn’t expected. Furthermore, neither he nor Bai Song could speak for her. Once they said that they, not Molly, had discovered the secret door, Molly would face the temple’s punishment for lying.

If they didn’t speak, Molly would fall into an extremely dangerous situation.

Moreover, there was an extremely crucial matter. The old man in the cloak didn’t fully follow Ludwig’s suggestion for the voting. Ludwig had said that the monks and nuns would vote after everyone had finished their nominations, but now Molly had just finished speaking, and the voting had begun.

Was it possible that after each person finished speaking, a vote was held, and the final votes were accumulated?

This only meant one thing: it was becoming increasingly difficult to turn the situation around, and Molly was in even greater danger.

He voiced his question to the old man in the cloak. The old man nodded and said: “For the sake of fairness.”

What was fair about this unreasonable system? Wasn’t it just like voting by a show of hands, luring everyone to form groups and exclude those who were different?

He and Ludwig, beside him, met eyes, seeing that Ludwig was also frowning slightly.

But the system was set in stone, and the monks and nuns were already slowly lighting the candles.

There were about four hundred monks and nuns in the field. Blood-red candles were lit, and clusters of flames flickered under the sunlight. Fortunately, the total number wasn’t many; only thirty-five believed Molly was the Wise Man.

At this moment, another monk stepped out from the shadows with a candle, walked very close to the old man in the cloak, and made a few gestures.

The old man raised his face, which was covered with a black iron mask, and said slowly: “The evidence has been verified. There is indeed a secret door in the Knight Commander’s room. Miss Nun, I admire your attention to detail.”

As soon as he finished speaking, several more candles lit up in the field. Fifty-six, sixty-nine, seventy-three… finally stopping at one hundred and three.

Molly’s face was pale, and she bit her lip hard.

“Next.”

The pointer of the gray sundial not far away moved. Following a clockwise order starting from Molly, it was Bai Song’s turn to speak.

The reaction of this kid was exactly as Yu Feichen had expected.

“I am the true Wise Man,” Bai Song said decisively. “The day before yesterday, I infiltrated the sacrificial ceremony held here and stole an immortal object while you were all focused on the sacrifice, attempting to obtain its power. To be able to blend into the ceremony seamlessly, take a precious item, and evade your search throughout the temple is enough to prove my wisdom is far higher than Miss Molly’s. The tray of the immortal object is hidden under the bed in my room; that is the evidence. If you still have doubts, you can ask me any questions about what happened at that ceremony, and I can answer them all.”

“Respected guest, the temple invited you here, yet you caused such destruction. Is this a lack of noble etiquette?” the old man’s tone was sinister. “However, this does prove you are by no means a foolish person.”

“Everyone, please light the candles.”

There were more candles this time than for Molly, a total of one hundred and fifty-six. After the monk reported to the old man that the tray indeed existed, the number of candles increased to two hundred and thirty-four, more than half.

“Next.”

This time it was Qiu Na.

She fell silent for a while. She hadn’t seen such a situation where two people were seeking death on their own; she almost wanted to go with the flow and be noble once.

But that was impossible. She wasn’t a saint and couldn’t do something that harmed herself and benefited others.

After thinking for a while, she spoke: “I believe Her Majesty the Empress is the true Wise Man.”

The Empress’s expression was cold.

Qiu Na continued: “The day before yesterday, the Empress gave us a detailed map of the temple. To be able to grasp the entire layout of the temple in just one day is far beyond ordinary people. Yesterday, I stayed in the guest room, and by mid-afternoon, Her Majesty the Empress had already led her subordinates to find the sacrificial materials, showing her extraordinary wisdom. Just now, it was already dark outside, but Her Majesty was still able to arrive safely from the darkness, which is enough to prove she is the wisest among us. The map on Her Majesty, the Eye of the Goddess of Fate, and what everyone just witnessed can all serve as evidence.”

“Sounds very reasonable.” The old man nodded.

“She’s lying,” the Empress said. “She was also one of the people who sabotaged the ceremony the day before yesterday, and she’s pointing out others randomly to hide her own wisdom. There is a knife wound on her left chest even now; one can tell at a glance.”

Qiu Na was not panicked at all. She pulled open her collar and showed the unhealed wound on her chest to everyone: “My husband, Lord Jude, carries a dagger with him. On the night we first arrived at the temple, he got into a fight with me because I blew out a candle and stabbed me in a fit of rage, but it wasn’t fatal. What does that have to do with Your Majesty’s wisdom?”

She smiled: “I’d rather ask Her Majesty the Empress: what does this wound have to do with yesterday’s sacrifice? What do you mean by that?”

Anyway, no one else would point out the source of her wound; she might as well push the blame onto the dead. These words were sharp and airtight. The Empress gave a cold laugh and only said: “So that’s how it is. My apologies, Madam.”

While they were arguing, the candles had already been lit. Quite a few, finally stopping at two hundred and eighty-one, even higher than Bai Song, who was currently the leader in votes.

“Next.”

Next was the Empress’s turn. She recovered her emotions quickly. Her previously slightly nervous expression when she entered the field had now completely relaxed into a confident smile.

“Respected Empress Elisa, based on your previous speech, it seems you believe Madam Qiu Na is the true Wise Man.”

“No,” the Empress replied curtly.

Qiu Na smiled. As expected, she knew she wouldn’t die.

“Then, who is it?”

“I believe Miss Molly is the Wise Man.” The Empress said: “Miss Molly is extremely intelligent and excels at drawing. That map was drawn entirely by her, which can be verified by her handwriting.”

Molly lowered her head slightly. The Empress was right. She was an art student. The day before yesterday, to be useful to the team, she took the initiative to mention her specialty and was responsible for the drawing part.

“She never even spoke to the Knight Commander, yet she was able to make him help her, which also proves her intelligence.”

“Furthermore, yesterday, after the Pope’s group left, the few of us discussed the plan and reached a stalemate. It was Miss Molly who slipped out of the room and told me the clue she had deduced about the ‘Eye of the Goddess of Fate.’ It was precisely following Miss Molly’s guidance that we successfully obtained the materials. I’m finished. Miss Molly, do you think what I said was correct?”

Molly looked at the Empress in disbelief. The drawing was true, but the clue about the Goddess of Fate was entirely the Empress’s nonsense! The Empress… she wanted her to die.

But wasn’t death exactly what she wanted? Otherwise, why would she be the first to point herself out?

Her face was pale, she lowered her head, and whispered a low “yes” in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s.

This time, she got two hundred and thirteen votes, which, plus the original one hundred and three, made three hundred and twenty-three, the highest in the field.

The Empress elegantly adjusted her cuffs.

She wouldn’t provoke the Pope and the Knight Commander; if those two joined forces to checkmate her, it would be hard to end.

Pick on the weak; anyway, as long as it wasn’t her, it was fine to push someone else to die. She believed the others also understood this logic.

Next was the Scholar.

The Scholar had been highly stressed since the beginning. His gaze swept across everyone present, and after a glance with the Empress, he finally said his carefully thought-out words: “I also believe Miss Molly is the Wise Man.”

Probably fearing that saying more would lead to more mistakes, he didn’t give any new reasons, but said he was convinced by the Empress’s clear and unquestionable reasoning and agreed with all her thoughts.

A new round of voting began. With the Scholar’s statement, the two hundred or so people who had supported Molly before still voted for her this time, plus many more votes, exceeding three hundred. After accumulation, her total was now six hundred and forty-two.

Molly lowered her head deeply.

Next, it was Yu Feichen’s turn. And after him was Ludwig.

Everyone else had finished their nominations. In other words, unless someone with more than six hundred and forty-two votes was produced, Molly would be sacrificed.

Furthermore, he and Ludwig had to vote for the same person, and also ensure that person’s votes were high enough, preferably higher than three hundred each time.

“Knight Commander, please nominate the Wise Man in your heart.”

Yu Feichen looked up and looked directly at the old man in the cloak: “My view is different from theirs.”