32: Chapter 32 Mayor, look, this is a god.

The forest north of Kas Town.

The last sliver of twilight was about to be swallowed by the horizon, making the already lightless forest appear even dimmer.

"Boom—" A violent explosion, accompanied by scattering flames, provided a brief moment of brightness.

"Huff... huff..." Zhang Mu lowered his right hand, which had been holding his staff high, and leaned back against a tree trunk to catch his breath. On the weed-covered ground lay the corpses of more than a dozen wolves.

Some had charred flesh, some had transparent holes in their foreheads, and others were severed at the waist, with the front and back halves of their bodies lying apart.

They were slightly different in appearance from the wolves on Blue Star.

First was their size. Perhaps influenced by magic, the smallest was about three meters long, and when standing normally, their height was almost level with Zhang Mu, who was one point eight meters tall.

Their fur was silver-white. According to the knowledge from Avril's lessons, silver-white represented lightning; this was a pack of Thunder Wolfs.

Fortunately, no leader had appeared; they were all ordinary Thunder Wolfs with relatively strong physiques but unable to use magic.

Otherwise, Zhang Mu would likely have had to rely on the light shield of Potter's badge to escape the forest.

Why would magic beasts leave their usual activity areas?

He recalled the events from three hours ago.

In the afternoon, he had been preparing to return to the town immediately to find the mayor, but as soon as he had taken a few steps, he was attacked by a pack of about a dozen Thunder Wolfs.

Fortunately, the forest trees were lush and thick, which greatly hindered the wolves' pursuit capability.

Zhang Mu weaved left and right through the forest, and whenever a wolf fell behind due to the speed difference, he would immediately turn back to unleash a magic attack.

He fought this guerrilla war for three hours, and just now, he had finally blasted the last Thunder Wolf to death with a Fireball Spell.

After resting for a while and feeling his stamina recover significantly, he scanned his surroundings.

He was lucky; he hadn't lost his way, and during the guerrilla warfare, he had intentionally run toward the outskirts of the forest, so he was quite close to the edge now.

"Huh?" Just as Zhang Mu was preparing to set off for Kas Town, he suddenly heard the sound of splashing water to his right.

Curious, he walked over and found a clear spring.

The water source was a small, trickling stream from a stone wall about five meters high beside the clear spring.

He had been sweating from three hours of fighting, so Zhang Mu walked over, first tossing a Fireball Spell in, but found no movement.

He happily squatted by the spring, clamping his staff horizontally between his thigh and stomach, and scooped up handfuls of cold spring water to splash on his face.

After doing this several times, he felt the heat in his body fade significantly.

"Crystals?"

Noticing a glittering reflection underwater, he scooped it up to take a look; it was the "Kas Town specialty" that the grocery store owner had given him as a freebie when he sold the quartz watch.

"So the crystals he gave me were picked up here."

Looking closely, there were many at the bottom of the water; Zhang Mu scooped up seven or eight with just one reach.

This would make it convenient to sell crystal gems to Song Lan later. Oh right, Potter said he was leaving for the Royal Capital in a few days; it would be a long trip to come back.

Thinking of this, he frantically grabbed at the bottom of the water, not stopping until he had about a hundred of them.

He put them all into his inventory and got up to leave.

The rest of the journey was very peaceful. Zhang Mu's Mental Energy occasionally sensed wild beasts, but not wanting to waste time, he chose to bypass them directly.

Plus, he was running, so when he crossed the gate of Kas Town, a bright moon had just risen in the clear sky, and the lamp posts on both sides of the road lit up with a dim yellow glow.

Standing in place to catch his breath, Zhang Mu asked a townsperson passing by where the mayor's house was.

After receiving the answer "located on the busiest street in the center of the town," he ran over with large strides.

The town was not big, the road was not far, and he arrived at the entrance after running for ten minutes.

It was a villa with a courtyard.

He looked left and right, but didn't see any guards.

Pondering for a moment, Zhang Mu ran to the foot of the wall. Relying on his physique, which far exceeded what it used to be, he jumped up lightly, grabbed the top of the wall with both hands, and pulled himself up until he could see into the courtyard.

He didn't see anyone in the small courtyard either.

"Bang—"

A sound of a heavy object hitting the ground suddenly came from the three-story wooden villa, followed immediately by shouting and the sounds of fighting.

Out of curiosity, Zhang Mu jumped into the courtyard. His Mental Energy sensed the commotion coming from the second floor, so he entered the living room directly through the half-open door.

The wooden stairs leading upstairs were directly opposite the door; he crept over and reached the second floor.

"How dare you violate the church's regulations and use force in the town!"

A somewhat rough voice came from the room on the right. Zhang Mu landed silently by the door, which was not closed tightly.

Through the crack in the door, he could see it was a study. The desk was overturned on the floor, broken wooden chair parts were scattered messily, and two groups of people were confronting each other from about three meters apart.

On the left were three men wearing clean white robes, aged twenty-five or twenty-six, holding long swords that looked like they were forged from ordinary iron.

On the right was a burly man with a full beard standing in front, also holding a long sword, which was entirely bright silver and had faint traces of magic fluctuation.

He was protecting the woman behind him and roaring at the three people standing in a triangular formation opposite him:

"As a Believer, you are defying the divine!"

"Sorry, Mr. Mayor, everything we do is exactly the divine oracle. This divine will is greater than everything in the world, even the church rules."

Through the crack in the door, Zhang Mu's right eye clearly saw the mayor's expression, which had been filled with anger, turn into a daze almost instantly after hearing these words.

"No... no, impossible!"

"I believe in the divine!"

"Mr. Mayor." The Believer standing in the front looked pained. "I am sad about this; perhaps your faith lacks piety."

As he spoke, he raised his sword to stab. The mayor did not resist, only muttering dazed, "Impossible."

Zhang Mu, seeing that the tip of the sword was about to pierce the mayor's chest, had his expression change drastically.

Rone's mastermind was the only clue; if I let you kill him, how am I supposed to find the person?

He raised his hand to form an Ice Cone and sent it flying out, accurately striking the sword blade. The long sword deviated from its path, missing its mark and brushing past the mayor's right shoulder.

"Who is it!" The leading Believer shouted and retreated to his companions' side.

Pushing open the door, Zhang Mu swaggered into the middle of the two sides: "You guys can fight later; I have something to ask the mayor."

To ensure the Believers didn't act foolishly, he slightly raised his staff, and a bright fireball appeared in front of him, the threatening intent self-evident.

"How dare you use magic in the town! A heretic defying the divine! You should be burned to ashes by the divine's wrath!"

Zhang Mu, who was preparing to ask the mayor, froze and unconsciously turned around: "Then what are the long swords in your hands for?"

"We are acting in accordance with the divine oracle!"

Blinking, a mischievous thought rose in Zhang Mu's heart. He straightened his face and said solemnly: "I am also acting in accordance with the divine oracle."

The leading Believer's eyes were filled with suspicion: "Which Bishop received the divine oracle?"

Wow, they actually believe it?

He had thought they were acting under the guise of the divine to do shady things, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

"Wait, let's talk later."

Zhang Mu waved his staff lightly, and the fireball floated in front of the three Believers, its scorching high temperature intimidating them. He then turned to look at the mayor: "Mr. Mayor, I have some doubts and hope to get your help."

Without waiting for the mayor to reply, he briefly recounted what happened in the forest.

Startled by Zhang Mu's sudden appearance, and combined with his conversation with the Believers, the mayor was jolted awake.

It was just that his mind had accepted too many sudden changes in a short time, and he was still a bit dazed, but even so, after listening to Zhang Mu's account, he immediately understood:

"Charlie?!"

"That idiot Rone, he and Charlie are in cahoots!"

The mayor had arranged for Rone to notify the out-of-town guest to escape Kas Town to avoid being secretly harmed by Charlie, but the out-of-town guest in front of him clearly hadn't received the notice. There was no doubt that Rone had disobeyed his order and colluded with Charlie to try and ambush the out-of-town guest; otherwise, the source of the scroll couldn't be explained.

The mayor angrily explained the cause and effect to Zhang Mu.

He didn't care about the dead Rone and asked: "Who is Charlie?"

"heretic! The Bishop is a divine attendant who can listen to the divine oracle; how dare you address the Bishop by name!"

The conversation with the mayor was interrupted at a critical point, and Zhang Mu frowned impatiently: "You guys are very pious, right?"

He raised his staff, and the fireball shrank and vanished, replaced by three Ice Cones that materialized and flew straight at the three people, pressing against their left eyes, very close, with the tips almost touching their eyeballs.

"Come on, repeat after me—Charlie is an idiot, the divine is a fool."

The three remained silent. Zhang Mu said in a teasing tone: "If you don't repeat it, the Ice Cones are going to move, okay?"

He wasn't joking; the Ice Cones pressing against their eyeballs moved forward a tiny bit.

"Charlie is an idiot, the divine is a fool!" The three Believers felt the faint stinging pain in their eyes and repeated it in terrified unison.

Zhang Mu was amused, turned around, and said to the mayor with a smile: "Mr. Mayor, look, this is the divine."