The Divine Hunter - Chapter 596

Chapter 596 Leaving

“What clue did your Excellency ask?”

The bald-headed man hunched his back slightly towards the witcher, and asked in a somewhat flattering manner,

“Unfortunately, these children are too shy. They are like a group of shriveled turtles. They shrank into their shells with a little trouble. I didn’t have time to ask.” Arkham put the ragdoll on his elbow, Looking at the bald man’s face, the morning light showed the thick soft fur on his face, but there was no expression of relief.

He wasn’t worried about the witcher’s private inquiries,

“Your Excellency Karl has ruled out the suspicion of Priest Xinni. The two monsters have no hair left, so is there no way to complete the purification before dark today?”

“Then it depends on how cooperative you are!”

“Just ask, I promise to tell you everything!”

Arkham thought about it,

“Just now I saw a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes, about fifteen years old. She reminded me of a friend, so I was a little curious about her background and how she came to the temple.”

“A poor little girl, An Gulan,” the big man answered honestly, although he wondered why he asked this digression, “a noblewoman quietly gave birth to her. It’s a pity that this mother’s vanity far outweighed her sense of responsibility, no I am willing to give my illegitimate daughter half the warmth, and take her to a distant relative in Lower Soden for foster care at the age of five or six…”

“No wonder this girl is so vigilant.”

Arkham felt the same way. Children who have left their parents are duckweeds without roots. Even if they are cared for by distant relatives, they can at most guarantee that they will not starve to death.

Compared to him, he was much luckier. He was absorbed by the Witcher Brotherhood, and turned from a runny kid into a powerful warrior with the power to protect himself and survive in troubled times.

Practice limited justice!

“Then the Nilfgaardian army invaded the north, and the battle of Sodden broke out. The area was affected by war. During the war, no one could tell what would happen tomorrow, so they fled to the north with Keville and Povis. ”

The bald man looked out of the courtyard fence. A bush of kale was blooming tenaciously under the cold morning breeze, and a rose-red wave was rippling in the white snow.

“The journey was a long way, and they suffered a lot from starvation. When passing through the Songlin District, the family felt that they would not be able to support An Gulan even if they entered the city. The little girl who was only twelve years old at the time was regarded as a burden and discarded. At the gate of the temple…”

The big man wiped the almost non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes with some femininity, “All her relatives abandoned her, and she chose to throw herself into the arms of my lord, thus ending the bumpy and displaced fate.”

He opened his arms towards the dormitory and said emotionally,

“Now that she has a stable life, I, Ms. Daisy, and Brother Dino are definitely much more responsible and reliable than her unqualified mother and unconscionable distant relatives!”

“So she was dumped twice?”

“Is it strange? All the children here have had similar experiences, losing their families in the war, being orphaned, or having families that went bankrupt and their parents couldn’t support them, living on the streets and in the wilderness. To tell you the truth, more than a third of them were Abandoned twice, even a boy was abandoned three times!”

“But the temple graciously and selflessly accommodated them.” The big man said decisively, “If the children never leave, and believe in the Lord firmly, this is their home for life. Me, Dino, and Priest Daisy are all Their family forever!”

Arkham felt a little conflicted, and his intuition told him that the big man’s statement came from the bottom of his heart, but Angulan didn’t like the Temple of Rabiouda so much before.

“I can see that you have little talent in taking care of children, raising them as timid as mice.”

“That’s not all our responsibility,” Bruzzi said slowly, rubbing his neck, “the children suffered too many crimes before entering the temple, and the harsh environment greatly hurt their young bodies and minds. This leads to such a cautious personality. It’s not an old saying, sometimes the shadow of childhood will hang over your life for a lifetime.”

The big man stopped talking, and looked not far away. Karl, the priestess, and Dino, who were carrying the burden of the corpse, walked out of the house side by side after the discussion. Karl shook his head regretfully at his companion. Obviously, there was nothing to gain from the long conversation. The latter But secretly winked at him.

Arkham got a lot of inspiration from Angulan, such as the puppet she mentioned at the end, and the tattoo of black Greba… but there are still many doubts.

He instead proposed to visit the temple.

The priestess readily agreed and accompanied the two to visit all the buildings: courtyards, kitchens, halls, bathrooms, latrines, prayer rooms. The process was lackluster. Even if the witcher’s senses were fully activated, they could not find a single paw print or spider web. .

everything is normal.

The dormitory for the last round of children.

Arkham took the opportunity to make another request, “I said something to Angulan before, and I didn’t have the opportunity to communicate with other children. They are afraid of life. Priest Daisy, please call them together.”

The woman gathered her hair and pleaded,

“No problem, but I hope that the two of you will be gentle and sympathetic. Fate has cast too many blames on them, and they shouldn’t be hurt any more!”

“Relax, we were once orphans and understand the pain,” Arkham and Carl said in unison.

…

In the snow-covered white courtyard, eighteen children lined up in a square array under the eaves.

Arkham saw the familiar Angulan at the end of the line, the girl craned her neck and looked at the horses in the shack without giving up, ignoring the two witchers.

The rest of the children were timid and cowardly, their shoulders shrunken, their malnourished bodies were as thin as bamboo poles, and their backs were slightly hunched under their colorful shabby cotton-padded jackets.

The scrutiny of the two strangers made them restless, with blinking eyes, pinching hands, tiptoes, grinding teeth, and all kinds of strange images.

The priestess stood among the children in a long robe, and several children surrounded her tightly, pulling her skirt and the corners of her clothes, and were very close to her, like children relying on their mothers.

“Children, for the safety of the temple, next, you must answer the questions of the two masters honestly! If anyone’s answer can help catch the murderer, add an extra potato to dinner!”

After these remarks, the pale and restless faces became brighter, and there was a little more expectation.

Arkham didn’t talk nonsense, he held up the puppet and looked around, “Has anyone seen it?”

A small head swayed like a dragonfly across the lake.

“Come on, man.”

Arkham pointed to the boy at the head of the team, with a few small freckles dotted between the bridge of his nose. He didn’t look very smart. He was thin and small like a chicken.

The moment    was called, he stayed in place as if struck by lightning.

“Du Lan, speak up like a man!” The bald man’s huge fan-like palm pushed him out of the crowd.

Cold sweat appeared on the boy’s forehead, scratching his ears and cheeks nervously, looking left and right, shaking his head,

“No, I haven’t seen it!”

There was a hint of weeping in his tone, and he looked at his companions beside him as if asking for help, but he caused a group of people to retreat and isolate him.

“Poor boy, don’t be afraid, we won’t cut your head, come over and say,” Arkham waved at him seemingly casually, waiting for him to dawdled closer, the positions of the three temple administrators when falling behind him.

Arkham stretched out his left hand like lightning to hold his left cuff, and his right hand grabbed his skinny little hand, and his hands reversed lightly and quickly.

Concealed and swiftly opened his sleeve, glanced at it, and closed it immediately—

Black Greba!

Dark cobweb tattoo!

The whole process was silent, even the boy himself didn’t notice, the others only saw Arkham stuffing a piece of jerky into the boy’s palm.

“Let’s eat, a gift for you. Are you feeling better now? Then tell me, what’s your name, how old are you this year, and how many years have you been in the temple?”

“Lampaya, twelve years old… um… I, I’ve been here for four years.”

“So during this period, was the temple attacked from the outside by anything? Think carefully.”

Arkham raised his voice, making sure everyone could hear it, he induced,

“Maybe you can’t name them? Let me give you a hint, lynx, snow leopard, tarantula, or something like that!”

Lampaya suddenly looked back at Priest Daisy, encouraged by her motherly kind smile, and said timidly,

“No, if…if I have seen those things, I will definitely have an impression, and I will never forget them for a lifetime!”

Arkham nodded, raised his chin, let him return to the crowd, and exchanged glances with Carl.

“Who has another answer?”

Two pairs of amber vertical pupils swept across the crowd – a tall and thin man with grey hair, a short man with a flat nose and buck teeth, a silly little girl with a marijuana braid… The children who were swept away were like being swept away. The little quail blown by the cold wind shook his head.

“Should you two trust us?” Dino said, wiping his lush beard, “No one has ever seen a cat, spider!”

“That unfortunate accident,” Bruzzi agreed, “is completely gone, leaving no trace, so let the past pass away. The most urgent thing is to find another way to cleanse the two bones on your back.”

“Maybe you are right.” Arkham pondered, “But there is another possibility!”

His voice paused, then became penetrating and touching,

“Children, is there something threatening you, persecuting you, and preventing you from telling the truth?!”

“See the sword behind us?”

“Hundreds of monsters standing in front of us were all slashed by the sword.” Arkham said with a strong voice, “Just say it, we are responsible for your safety!”

In an instant, needles fell in the courtyard, only the breeze was blowing and snowflakes fluttered.

The children held their breaths with pale faces, and lowered their heads one after another.

“What do you mean!” The bald man showed an absurd expression, he was deeply hurt by this question, the respect and flattery on his face disappeared, and a pair of copper bells burst out with anger, “We are the front and back of the saddle. You have fulfilled all your orders, and you are still questioning us? Doubting our sincere dedication to these children?!”

“You misunderstood, I didn’t accuse the three, I was referring to something lurking in the dark, understand?” Carl explained reluctantly.

“Why are you still reluctant to believe us?”

Deep sadness appeared on Daisy’s fair and pretty face, with tears in her eyes, and her shoulders trembled.

“Is it wrong for us to take in these orphans, work hard to feed them, and educate them?”

“Could it be that in the eyes of you witchers, everything is so sharp, either black or white? Either justice or evil!”

At this moment, the children around her seemed to be strongly stimulated.

The cowardice on   ’s face all disappeared, and there was tension and disgust and anger.

Some invisible force drove them to surround the two witchers step by step.

A dozen pairs of eyes glared at them, gnashing their teeth.

Including An Gulan, but there was a hint of pleading on her distorted face.

“Go, witcher!”

The young and sharp voices came one after another, passing through the quiet courtyard, the pine branches trembled, and the snow fell to the ground!

“Don’t slander our family!”

“You are not welcome in the temple!”

They roared and shouted!

“Leave!”

“Leave!”

Arkham and Karl were at the center of the torrent, and their faces turned pale for a while, and they had never struggled so much or hesitated since they became witchers.

As long as you swing your sword, this group of fragile flesh and blood will wither in an instant.

But they seemed to be facing an unstoppable tsunami, retreating step by step, almost retreating into the stables.

They both had a scene from a few years ago, when all the brothers and sisters of the Gawain House were in the outskirts of Novigrad, facing the team of Eternal Fire, the Beggar King, and the Butcher, standing in front of the witcher teacher.

How similar.

They were so relentless at the time, but are the two really the same?

Are we wrong to ask the truth?

The two children in the cellar died in vain?

Are the struggles and entanglements in An Gulan fake? Just give up?

No, he has other options.

“Sorry!” Carl took a few deep breaths, forced himself to remain calm, and looked at Arkham, who was pale.

“We’re leaving right now!”

“Let’s leave now!”

(end of this chapter)