Forces of Temptation

Nanzhou stood in front of the church building whose main color was black, with a gloomy expression.

He has lived in a closed world where death can come at any time since he was a child.

The sixth sense developed in the barbaric world made him stop ten meters away from the church.

It was just because Jiang Fang was on the west bank behind him, so it was difficult for Nan Zhou to judge whether the ominous sixth sense came from his front or behind him.

...Perhaps, they really overlooked something important?

The cathedral, which was like a monster, silently hung a pointed shadow full of oppression over his head.

The sun moved back slightly, allowing the light of the cross to project onto Nan Zhou's body, splitting his pale and beautiful face in two.

Nan Zhou raised his head and looked at the attic window.

The only place where you can look across the West Bank.

Reverend Keith locked the only place from which he could see the castle, threw away the key, and built himself into the darkened study.

He almost entrusted them with all the work in the church, and by the way, lived himself as a lonely city isolated from the world.

When Keith was trapped, just entering the study, the invisible oppression that hit his face was like a huge rock, firmly pressing down on his chest.

Banhang's generalization is more straightforward.

"Good guy, is this a classroom or a coffin?"

People say that looking at the scenery while working can soothe the body and mind.

But Keith didn't even leave this little space for pleasure to himself.

He sealed off his body and mind firmly, forcing himself not to visit his sick friend, not even leaving him the leeway to look at the other party in the dark, paranoid and silent against the world.

What is the reason why he wants to fight alone, and even excludes his friends for this reason?

Nan Zhou thought, what Keith is fighting against with all his strength is not only the devil, but also his belief.

In Keith's head, there is probably a bridge too.

He can stand on the shore here, clinging to his distant and noble god, who will never be glanced at by a mortal, a believer.

His lover would die in the name of his friend, and every moment, every moment after that, would be splendid, glorious, and lonely.

And when he crosses that bridge, he will join the devil and fall into darkness forever.

In the end, Keith made a choice, so he was ashamed to face his god.

He summoned demons, had their spirits trample sacred territory, and possibly even performed sacrifices with former cultists.

The church thus became empty.

Perhaps the demons needed new offerings, so they came.

The Duke's Castle on the west bank is the only connection to the town.

But at that time, the West Bank was peaceful and there was no curse.

So when these foreign visitors entered the east bank via the west bank, they did not realize the spread of the cursed virus.

Keith simply taught them how to fill in the diary, how to pray, how to make holy water, and then sealed himself in that silent world again, waiting for an opportunity...

While Nan Zhou was blinded by the thin silver-plated layer on the cross, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

The logic advanced here is indeed impeccable.

However, Keith refused to engage in theological work and closed himself up. Is there only one reason for "faceless face to God"?

Is it just because of guilt...?

Nan Zhou's drooping eyelashes cast shadows of different lengths on his face.

While thinking, Nan Zhou heard footsteps behind him.

Because it was a familiar footstep, he didn't confirm it with his eyes immediately.

Then, the sound of pulling the bolt of the gun crisply ran over Nan Zhou's nerves, instantly mobilizing every muscle in his body.

"Raise your hand."

It was Ban Hang's voice.

... so nervous that even the vocal cords followed the tense voice,

Nan Zhou obediently raised his hand, turned around, and faced a black muzzle pointing at his forehead.

There was a bloody cut on Banhang's chin, and bones were pulled out from the flesh and blood.

A few inches lower, and his trachea would probably turn out like this.

Nan Zhou calmly asked, "Are you okay?"

Ban Hang's face was livid, but his hand holding the gun was extremely steady.

Because of the serious laceration on his chin, it was difficult for Ban Hang to open his mouth, so his tone of speech was obviously different from before.

He bit every word vividly: "Don't move. The distance between us is enough for me to kill you with a gun. Even if you use Brother Nan's body, I am sure to kill you when you are close to me." You... If you don't believe me, just try it."

Nan Zhou sighed: "Don't worry, I won't try. What happened?"

Among other things, Nan Zhou believed that he had the ability to hurt himself.

Although Ban Hang usually has a playful smile on his face, he is exceptionally talented in playing with guns. His accuracy and speed are beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Facing Nan Zhou with a good attitude, Ban Hang's wariness was extraordinarily strong: "Tell me, when did we meet?"

Nan Zhou asked back: "You said, when did we meet?!"

Ban Hang took a step back, his hot fingertips controlled the sinking of the trigger to a subtle critical point: "Now I'm asking you!"

Nan Zhou didn't intend to argue with him: "In "Eternal Day". You were the ones who found me first."

Ban Hang: "What do you like most, boss?"

Nanzhou: "Dessert."

Ban Hang: "What's your greatest weakness?"

Nanzhou: "Full moon."

Ban Hang's attitude softened when he asked the second question, and his face gradually turned for the better. After getting the answer to the last question, he fell down on the ground with exhaustion, put the gun by his side, and gulped gasp.

"Fortunately..." He murmured incoherently, "Fortunately, you are still here..."

Nan Zhou walked up to him and knelt down: "What happened?"

Ban Hang's originally slack eyes tightened suddenly, and he grabbed Nan Zhou's hand.

"I just settled the person from the west bank, and just returned to the room, Hai Ning...She suddenly attacked me, I almost, almost..."

He trembled all over: "It didn't work...it didn't work...that demon started to possess him indiscriminately again!"

"We failed..." He looked straight at Nanzhou, his voice was crying, "...What should Boss do? He went to the west alone—"

This question made Nanzhou's heart tingle subtly.

But his reaction was still accurate and flat: "Don't look down on your boss."

He asked again: "Where are Hai Ning people?"

...Speak to everyone.

Song Haining supported her head, covered in blood, and staggered out of the church.

Seeing Song Haining, Ban Hang was breathless, frantically touched the gun in his hand again, retreated a few steps, and aimed at Song Haining.

When she saw the two people in front of her clearly, she suddenly screamed: "Get away from him! Brother Nan! He's Keith! Stay away from him!!"

Nan Zhou was confused.

He stood between the two, digesting the amount of information that could be called an explosion in that instant.

...Keith?

Amidst the clouds of suspicion that enveloped his head, Nan Zhou thought about it, and raised his head again, looking at the shining silver cross that stood on the highest point of the entire east bank like a judgment.

With a movement of his eyes, he finally realized where the ominous sixth sense came from.

Not on the east coast, nor on the west coast.

Nor is it between the two men who are at war with each other.

The question is, why hasn't the shadow of the cross moved after so long?

Why is it still as long as his shadow... when he sent Jiang Fang out of the church?

……

Jiang Fang stepped over the body of the man who was still twitching on the mica floor, pulled out the bloody dagger from his body, and wiped it off with the curtain beside him.

The man died without resting his eyes. In five seconds, the short dagger cut twelve wounds of even depth on his body.

The deadliest place is the throat.

On the man's eye, there was also a slight burning wound.

After realizing the amount of information behind the words "give me back my body", Jiang Fang mixed the only holy water left on his body with water and conducted a simple test.

Experiments have proved that the madness in the castle on the west bank is really mixed with the curse of the devil on the east bank.

From this, Jiang Fang knew that they did not succeed in dispelling the demon.

The demon still exists in some form above the holy place on the east bank, and has been broken by the visitor, connecting the curses on the east and west banks.

However, Jiang Fang had no intention of turning back.

The matter has come to this point, and he can't turn back.

That long suspension bridge was enough to kill him.

Just as Nan Zhou was worried, the word came true, and Jiang Fang was alone, trapped to death in this madhouse-like east bank.

Instead of thinking about retreating, it is better to move forward.

Just make sure that the last one to fall is not yourself, isn't it?

The castle area is indeed large.

The owner of the castle has good taste. There is a special painting room and handicraft workshop on the first floor, and judging from the various utensils, Mr. Duke is quite fond of making metal ornaments.

In the main hall is a metal pterosaur about the size of a human, spreading its wings to fly.

The base below is engraved with the name of its creator.

Shelley, a name as romantic as a poet.

There are a lot of people walking around in the castle, and the rooms are not as mysterious as the church on the east coast. I wish I could lock every door.

It stands to reason that the investigations of the teammates on the east coast will not be completely locked up like them, making it difficult to advance.

Unfortunately, their role as servants, and their busy schedule in the service of an ailing Duke greatly dilutes the time they have to investigate available information.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but those on the east bank are ordinary players with more than enough executive power but not enough decisive power.

They will not have outstanding individual abilities like Ban Hang, nor will they be as emotional as him, but they really lack a backbone who can command and order.

Therefore, in the past few days, their progress was extremely slow, so that they missed the most valuable information.

For example, the duke's diary.

Jiang Fang smashed the only locked drawer in the upper left corner of the study desk with his bare hands, picked up the luxurious and gilded diary with his blood-stained hands, and went straight out without leaving himself any time to read it carefully. .

Jiang Fang's figure walked through the silent castle, and his face without a smile was reflected on the luminous floor.

Without any audience, he has no need to prettify himself.

While looking for his team members, while evading the lunatic who didn't know when and where, he opened the diary with his blood-stained fingertips.

The first sentence on the title page is, I am willing to fall in love with you for any period of time.But, but, not now.

When reading this sentence, Jiang Fang was walking up the steps.

When he stepped up a step with his right foot, he couldn't help but stop.

……"time"?

And when he looked down at the diary, a pale face protruded from the top of the spiral staircase, holding a knife in his palm, watching Jiang Fang quietly and from top to bottom.