23: Chapter 23 Cultists

"But..."

Nie Ning's gaze became incredibly sharp: "I heard that Transcendent are not infected by the blackwater disease, so how did you get sick?"

The other party was hiding it very well; even Nie Ning almost didn't notice.

But don't forget, he possessed a Strange Beast Body, which made his perception stronger than ordinary Transcendent, allowing him to detect the other party's subtle blood energy fluctuations.

If a knight could be infected, this town would have likely been wiped out by the City Lord's Mansion long ago, and Raimond would not have entered the town with him.

The old man was stunned upon hearing this. After reacting, his right hand turned into a claw, aiming straight for Nie Ning's face.

Seeing this, Nie Ning's expression remained calm. He grabbed the old man's arm with a backhand, then immediately threw him over his shoulder, slamming him onto the ground.

A mid-level Elementary Stage wanting to act violently in front of him? He simply didn't take him seriously!

The old man still tried to fight back, but Nie Ning's palm emitted rolling heat waves, the scorching temperature making the old man grimace in pain.

"Speak, where is the Nales Church?"

Nie Ning asked in a cold voice.

But the old man was sweating profusely from the pain, yet still refused to speak.

Nie Ning would not coddle the other party. He stepped on the old man's chest and forcibly tore the old man's arm off.

"Ah!"

A scream resounded through the sky.

Soon, a team of town guards heard the sound and came over.

Seeing the old man rolling on the ground with a severed arm, the guards drew their weapons and pointed them at Nie Ning.

"Sir, you must uphold justice for me, he..."

Just as the old man wanted to play the victim, Nie Ning punched him in the mouth, sending his teeth scattering all over the ground.

"To dare to injure someone in the street, you simply don't take us seriously!"

A guard with a livid face scolded Nie Ning.

Several guards saw that Nie Ning was not to be trifled with and pulled dark, long tubes from their bosoms, pointing them at Nie Ning.

For a moment, the atmosphere became tense.

Nie Ning curiously examined the firearms of this world for a moment.

They looked like a curved bamboo staff, with only the front end being straight, and a small protruding iron ring on top.

Although they didn't look like much, due to the various strange materials in this world, even the crudest firearms possessed immense power.

Even an Elementary Knight who took a shot, without wearing knight armor or using battle aura, would end up with a bloody hole in their body.

"We are the ones delivering the black water potion today. If you don't believe us, you can find Knight Laimeng and ask."

Seeing the townspeople gathering around, Leighton hurriedly stepped forward to clarify their identities.

Although he wasn't afraid of these people, attacking the guards was equivalent to provoking official personnel. If reported to the City Lord's Mansion, the Barton Family would have no good days ahead.

"I am grateful that you delivered the black water potion, but that is no reason for you to act violently here!"

The Guard Captain did not back down, staring fixedly at Nie Ning with a gloomy expression.

Now that Poyi Town had finally calmed down, he didn't want this incident to cause the townspeople to riot again.

"He is the one spreading the blackwater disease. You just need to call Knight Laimeng."

Upon hearing that it was the person spreading the blackwater disease, the Guard Captain immediately showed a cautious expression and then signaled to his subordinate beside him.

The subordinate understood, turned around, and jogged toward the other end of the street.

Seeing that the Guard Captain was not giving him a hard time, Nie Ning couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Turning his gaze to the injured old man at his feet, the wound on his shoulder had already begun to self-heal. Although a new arm hadn't grown back, it was enough for the guards to see the clues.

The Guard Captain's eyes flickered, then he turned to look at the surroundings and shouted loudly: "No one present is allowed to leave! Don't blame me for being impolite if you violate this!"

Now he just wanted to solve the blackwater disease quickly; after all, facing these foul-smelling black pus every day was a form of torment.

While waiting for Raimond to arrive, Nie Ning's gaze kept falling on the onlookers.

For some reason, those who were physically healthy seemed to have greater malice towards him, which didn't seem to make sense.

It didn't take long before Raimond arrived late, following the guard.

After explaining the cause and effect, Raimond naturally instructed the guards to take the person back first to see if they could interrogate any useful information.

When everything was arranged properly, Raimond smiled and patted Nie Ning's shoulder: "Many thanks, Brother Fox."

Cultists are difficult to catch, and now that they had found a ready-made cultist, it would inevitably save them a lot of trouble.

One can only hope that this cultist is not some kind of fanatic, otherwise, whether they can obtain information will just depend on luck.

"You told me before that these churches like to recruit believers, right?"

Nie Ning asked Raimond, inexplicably.

Raimond was stunned for a moment but still nodded: "I don't really understand the specific situation, but these churches are indeed keen on recruiting believers."

"It's just that they each have their own methods; most churches will properly use food to attract believers."

Hearing this, Nie Ning was thoughtful; he almost knew how to find those cultists.

"I think, Knight Laimeng, you might as well focus on those who are physically healthy."

"What does this mean?"

Knight Laimeng didn't quite understand Nie Ning's meaning.

Immediately, Nie Ning stated his guess.

Just now, Nie Ning had observed the onlookers and found that at least one-fifth of them were people who had not contracted the blackwater disease.

Good health might be due to everyone's different constitution, and strong antibodies could temporarily resist viral invasion.

But knowing it was an infectious disease and still crowding next to blackwater patients, this didn't quite make sense.

Combined with what Raimond had said about churches being keen on recruiting believers, and that the black water potion might come from a deity, how could a deity let their own believers die because of it?

Although this line of thinking might not be correct, and Nie Ning didn't know much about these churches, it was still better than giving up on these townspeople.

Perhaps there would be unexpected gains.

Raimond, after hearing Nie Ning's statement, fell into deep thought.

The overall logic was indeed sound; believing in a deity to be immune to disease and erosion was also one of the churches' specialty tricks.

It was just that they had been too busy before, and most people didn't know much about the churches, so they hadn't thought of this problem for a moment.

"Brother Fox is still the one with careful observation. I will go back and gather people to search and see if there is anything unusual about those healthy townspeople."

"If it is really as Brother Fox said, this credit will count you in."

Raimond patted Nie Ning's shoulder and said with a smile.

If he could cure the virus here, he would also receive corresponding merits from the City Lord's Mansion, which would make his future path much smoother.

"The credit doesn't matter, it's about eliminating harm for the people."

"If you find any cultists, count me in. In my life, I have always hated those who treat human life like grass!"

Nie Ning said, clenching his fist with righteous indignation.

Raimond couldn't help but feel a little moved; in this world, people like Nie Ning were rare.

"Brother Fox, consider my previous proposal; the City Lord's Mansion just needs talent like you."

Nie Ning didn't reply, but instead urged Raimond to hurry up and deal with the cultist problem first. As for joining the City Lord's Mansion, that was a matter for later.