Chapter 141: Section 142: God, I Have Sinned


    Dense vegetation nearly obscured the entire sky, the air was both wet and hot.


    Because it had rained continuously in the previous days, many places still retained dew, and Hei Juan’s group, moving through the underbrush and vines, quickly became drenched.


    “We’re approaching the outermost edge of the area we cleared of beasts, everyone be careful!” Hei Juan said, frowning.


    “Yes!” the more than ten people behind him responded in unison.


    A moment later.


    Hei Juan led everyone to stand in the midst of a chaotic battlefield.


    ...


    The battlefield had been cleaned up.


    But there were still many telltale signs, such as scales from the Scale-Horned Black Panthers.


    “There has been a great battle here!”


    “Just recently, it could have been yesterday.”


    “It must have been a group of Scale-Horned Black Panthers, and they were the ones defeated!?”


    “No, it’s not just a simple defeat. These Scale-Horned Black Panthers were easily slaughtered without any power to resist. And the opponent might have been just one Magic Beast!”


    “Hiss… Could it be a Golden Magical Beast?”


    Everyone was shocked, and then they felt fear.


    What kind of monster was it that could easily slaughter such a large group of Scale-Horned Black Panthers?


    Hei Juan’s face was grim as he stood his ground and looked around: “This information is very important. You two, take this information back to the camp first. The rest follow me to continue exploring our surroundings. We must find new clues about this mysterious Magic Beast.”


    They quickly made a discovery.


    The clues led straight to the depths of the rainforest away from the valley.


    Biting his teeth, Hei Juan led the remaining team members to set off.


    Two patrol members rushed back to the valley with all their might, panting heavily as they returned with the crucial information.


    Learning this information, the higher-ups’ expressions became even graver.


    Cang Xu pondered, “To actually clean up the battlefield, this mysterious Magic Beast’s intelligence cannot be underestimated.”


    Zong Ge had a deep look in his eyes, “It’s just a Magic Beast, how exactly did it clean up the battlefield? Does it have companions, or is it itself a member of the Blue Dog Fox Wolf Commander’s Demon Beast Army? How likely is that?”


    Reminded by Zong Ge, the faces of those present darkened again.


    That “mysterious” Blue Dog Fox Wolf had followed them all the way to the rainforest, successively subjugated beast groups, but the massive Demon Beast Army had never appeared.


    Zi Di looked worriedly at Zhenjin, “Lord, you still patrolled last night. Please don’t do this anymore, okay? A massive Demon Beast Army is likely lurking around us, and that Blue Dog Fox Wolf must have learned its lesson, this time it may have subdued a completely new type of terrifying Magic Beast. Lord, although you have the power of the spirit, in the dead of night, you are ultimately alone.”


    Zhenjin’s face became heavy.


    The one who had cleaned up the battlefield, of course, was him!


    Last night he had a series of nightmares, couldn’t sleep anymore, and went on patrol again.


    He rushed to the battlefield, where the bodies of Scale-Horned Black Panthers lay in heaps.


    Zhenjin then absorbed them all, transforming them into demon energy, stored in the Demon Core.


    “It’s best to make these bodies disappear.”


    “If Hei Juan were to clean up the battlefield tomorrow and take them back. Someone as astute as Cang Xu might deduce from the bodies that they were killed by an electric shock or paralyzed before I finished them off.”


    This was unfavorable to Zhenjin.


    Of course, the fewer the loopholes, the better.


    After yesterday’s scare, Zhenjin became very cautious, afraid of overlooking something and revealing a flaw.


    Even if these flaws were small, accumulated together, they could lead to speculation.


    Although Zhenjin’s ability to release electricity was not known to others now. But what about the future?


    If some situation forced Zhenjin to use his electric shock ability in public, then not dealing with the bodies of the Scale-Horned Black Panthers today would leave a loophole.


    “Lord Zi Di makes a very good point. Master, your personal safety is crucial to the overall situation. It is because of you that we have come together again, built ships, and worked side by side to escape. Without you leading us, we would be like scattered sand. Your identity is precious, and you should not personally risk danger anymore.” Lan Zao said in persuasion too.


    Cang Xu and the others nodded in agreement.


    Even Zong Ge spoke up, “Holy Temple Knight, we can all understand your feelings and acknowledge your bravery, and never shirking the responsibility of a leader. But because of this, we need to be even more careful. If you are attacked in the wild by the Demon Beast Army or that mysterious Magic Beast during the night, it would be a huge blow to us. In a war between two armies, the Commander can’t just run around recklessly.”


    Zhenjin was expressionless.


    If it had been before Hei Juan’s investigation, Zi Di’s concern, Lan Zao’s admiration, Zong Ge’s agreement, and so on might have made him feel good, further stimulating his sense of honor and responsibility.


    But now, a warmth that rose in his heart quickly turned cold.


    He inevitably thought: If they knew my secret, what would their attitude be?


    The young knight’s heart was full of complex emotions that were hard to express and dared not express.


    In the end, he nodded, “I will consider your opinions. Thank you all for your concern!”


    That night, Zhenjin patrolled again.


    He transformed into a Scale-Horned Black Panther, a form of life in which he was currently only at Black Iron Level, which he had only mastered recently.


    The novelty brought by the new form of life was gone.


    He then transformed into a Monkey-tailed Brown Bear, bat monkey, gun scorpion, green lizard, and so on. Compared to his previous excitement and determined mindset, his heart now felt like it was under a heavy stone.


    He practiced releasing electricity again, even though this way of muscle movement was discovered by him through extreme difficulty, relying on a spark of enlightenment and luck. He should have felt a great sense of accomplishment, especially after he demonstrated the power of his electricity ability in actual combat yesterday.


    But his face remained calm.


    Even in his heart, there crept a faint irritation and aversion.


    Before, no matter how difficult or strenuous, as long as Zhenjin thought about his responsibilities, about his fiancée, about Cang Xu, Mu Ban, and others, he found it sweet.


    But now, thinking of them didn’t bring warmth to Zhenjin’s heart, only a cold feeling,


    A distance had begun to form.


    A wariness had developed.


    Their secrets remained hidden, these people treated Zhenjin just as before, but Zhenjin had changed.


    “Holy Emperor, my Lord, Your Holy Light shines through me, revealing that I am a helpless sinner. And You are the great victor and savior. By Your love and grace, I confess I am a sin-child and am willing to repent all. I earnestly beg Your forgiveness for all my sins, support me, cleanse me with Your Holy Light, and let me continue to walk the path of a Knight as You have directed!”


    After completing his training, Zhenjin knelt on the ground, facing the direction of the Holy Bright Continent, and bowed his head in prayer.


    This was a gesture he had not shown before.


    But like all prayers before, Zhenjin still received no response.


    In the silent rainforest at night, the roars of beasts and the calls of birds occasionally enveloped the vibrancy of life.


    Sunrise and sunset.


    The rain would stop and then start again.


    Although not as continuous as the previous weeks of torrential rain, the drizzle was frequent.


    The decision to turn the small valley into a dry dock proved more and more prescient.


    The open space in the small valley gradually filled with ship planks. There were both straight and curved planks, as the shipwright displayed his skilled craftsmanship once again and taught a group the Sand Burying Method, which involved burying wood in wet sand to extract its juices and make it more pliable.


    People toiled diligently, coordinated by Cang Xu, synchronizing the work of each crew without any hindrance to each other’s progress.


    Zi Di led a group, struggling to maintain the supply of potions. sea??h thё N??elFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A large kiln was completed, despite the humid environment causing some obstacles in building it.


    With the smooth operation of the large kiln, people began to have a stable and plentiful supply of wrought iron.


    Zi Di was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.


    The work of clearing the beast herds continued. A radius of fifty thousand meters was the limit of the people’s control, with groups of animals occasionally breaking in.


    Though the rainforest was expansive, no beast escaped under Zhenjin’s ultrasound detection.


    The night patrol grew more adept with their crossbows, and with the kiln, they had an abundance of iron arrowheads, which increased their combat capability.


    Common wild animals and weaker magic beasts were killed in volleys by the team, while the stronger magic beasts fell at the hands of Zhenjin and Zong Ge.


    Each time they brought back the bodies of magic beasts, Zhenjin received the praise and admiration of others.


    Yet these words of praise were no longer as comforting as before; they felt like pebbles thrown into Zhenjin’s heart lake. The surface rippled with joy, but as the stones sank to the soft bottom, they brought an underlying pressure to Zhenjin.


    Despite the encouragement from Zi Di, Zong Ge, and others, Zhenjin maintained his nightly patrols.


    It seemed that since he grasped the demon core in his heart, his nightly private training had never stopped.


    Following Hei Juan’s reconnaissance incident, Zhenjin’s training intensified even more.


    He found that only by torturing himself to exhaustion every night could he sleep in those few hours before dawn.


    He slept deeply, devoid of nightmares. Or if he dreamed, upon waking he could not remember them.


    Each night after training, he prayed to the Holy Emperor.


    The Hei Juan reconnaissance incident led Zhenjin to introspection, contemplating his own experiences.


    He began to examine himself—had he been seduced by the demon core within him?


    During the defense of the camp, he repeatedly invoked the name of the Holy Emperor to deceive the people. Even if his intentions were good, and despite the dire consequences had he not acted so, he had indeed used the name of a deity to deceive.


    This was a sin of swindling the world in the name of God!


    “Why did I not realize before that I had committed such a grave sin?”


    “Am I lost in the pursuit of power?”


    “No, my actions were forced. For everyone’s sake, to save as many comrades as possible, I did what I had to do. I am not wrong!”


    “Perhaps… I truly am wrong.”


    “I confess to You, my Lord, my God.”


    “I know that God cannot be mocked, yet I was blinded in mind. I should not have dishonored You, great Holy Emperor.”


    “I pray for the Lord to forgive all my trespasses and grant me the power to walk the path of righteousness. Let my actions, thoughts, and words find favor with You.”


    Zhenjin reflected and prayed incessantly.


    God had never responded, yet he still prayed.


    He wondered: Could this be a trial bestowed by God solely to me?


    Deep into the night, when Zhenjin, exhausted from his strenuous training, returned to the valley,


    Fat Tongue had already been waiting for a long time outside his rocky dwelling.


    “Lord Zhenjin,” Fat Tongue greeted him respectfully.


    “What’s the matter?” Zhenjin asked, somewhat puzzled.


    “I’ve, I’ve hesitated for a long time, and though I know this isn’t quite appropriate, I couldn’t, couldn’t hold back any longer,” Fat Tongue spoke with restraint.


    Zhenjin’s curiosity grew: “Go ahead and speak, no need to feel burdened, we’re all on the same side.”


    The young knight smiled softly, his smile and the words “on the same side” helping Fat Tongue to relax.