Chapter 163 Out of the Question!

Human beings, for the most part, are followers.

As social animals, interaction with those around them was inevitable. The pressure of the crowd and the deep-seated desire for belonging often forced people to alter their views and deliberately conform.

Even well-read, highly educated professors and scholars were not immune.

Not to mention, the carving techniques and artistic expression of the [Sheep-Deer Figurine] were genuinely praiseworthy.

Driven by the frenzied obsession of Nym City's noble class—the very symbols of power and wealth—ordinary people who initially had no interest in the figurines would gradually change their minds after being repeatedly bombarded by public opinion.

As for the "smart people" who possessed enough critical thinking and firm convictions to resist the crowd, they naturally wouldn't voice their dissent in public just to show off how different they were. They usually just watched in silence.

Xia Nan had never met Jamie's mentor, so he didn't know which category the man fell into.

However, the figurine hadn't shown any obvious anomalies and had been circulating in the city for a long time. Even many high-level professionals had come into contact with it.

It made perfect sense that the mentor wouldn't trust the judgment of a "country bumpkin" adventurer who had just arrived in the big city from Rivervale Town.

To some extent, it was the intense reaction of Jeff and his family that was actually abnormal.

If not for his experience inside the Fey Wind shop and the eerie description on his Attribute Panel confirming there was indeed something bizarre about the [Sheep-Deer Figurine], Xia Nan might have thought he was making a mountain out of a molehill, recklessly squandering the trust Jeff and the others had in him.

Now, the wood carving had been sent back to Jamie's mentor, and the immediate crisis had been resolved.

Next, it was time to deal with the Moon Goddess Church.

The group in the main hall didn't have to wait long.

Not long after Jeff arrived, the sound of unhurried footsteps echoed from the inner sanctum.

Led by a nun, a middle-aged man dressed in priestly robes appeared before them.

His appearance was ordinary, and a gentle smile hung on his face. There was nothing remarkable about his features, save for the faint wrinkles visible at the corners of his eyes.

He looked just like any middle-aged man you might pass on the street.

But unlike the vast majority of humans in Cloudclimb Province, this human cleric possessed a head of strikingly bright silver hair.

It wasn't the dull, twilight shade of natural aging, nor was it the ugly, jarring color of cheap dye from a barber shop.

Instead, it was a deeply natural hue that caught the moonlight, subtly complementing his identity as a cleric of Selune, the Moon Goddess.

His pure white robes were trimmed in silver. The fabric was fine and soft, clearly expensive, though perhaps due to the late hour, he wore no other obvious adornments.

Around his neck hung a single necklace bearing a holy symbol:

It depicted a pair of human female eyes surrounded by seven silver stars in the darkness.

The necklace swayed slightly as he moved. Catching sight of the holy symbol in the night gave the unsettling illusion of being watched.

Xia Nan couldn't help but look away, not daring to stare any longer.

"Lord Isidore, it is these gentlemen," the nun said, coming to a halt as she introduced the cleric.

"I am aware of what happened," the silver-haired cleric said. Having already heard their report from the nun, his smile remained gentle, showing no displeasure at being disturbed in the middle of the night.

"Please rest assured. Under the moonlight, the Goddess's holy light shines upon Nym," he continued. "Nothing will happen."

His words were calm and resolute. Paired with his clerical identity, his attire, and the grandeur of the church around them, it made people unconsciously believe him.

It was obvious that as soon as he finished speaking, the last traces of anxiety faded from Jeff and the others.

To the people of this world, deities and their mortal agents naturally carried an undeniable authority when it came to supernatural forces. Their status was paramount.

After comforting Jeff and the others, the cleric turned to Xia Nan and smiled. "As for the situation this gentleman mentioned... I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I also came into close contact with a few of those figurines through certain channels a few days ago."

"I didn't notice any unnatural erosion of the mind like you described, nor did the Goddess give any warning," he said.

"Of course, I understand your concern. I highly encourage reporting anything that might involve 'cultists' or 'evil gods' to us or to the magistrates."

"But..."

A hint of hesitation appeared on the cleric's face. He noticeably lowered his voice, deliberately adopting a humbler posture. "I hear you are an adventurer."

"I mean no offense. In fact, many of my friends used to be in that line of work, or still are. But you must have realized it yourself."

"Spending long periods in high-pressure, dangerous environments, constantly fighting brutal monsters... it takes a massive toll on both body and mind."

"Before I came to Nym, I tended to many professionals whose minds had been thoroughly exhausted by their adventuring careers."

"They might have been reliable teammates on the field and fit parents at home, but at all other times..."

"Forgive my bluntness, but they couldn't be considered 'normal people' in the universal sense of the word."

The cleric stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "If you feel overly exhausted after an adventure, or if you think something might be wrong with your mental state..."

"For example, becoming overly obsessed with a certain object, or suddenly feeling that the attitudes of those around you have changed unnaturally..."

"Perhaps you might consider coming to the church for a few prayers. The Goddess will guide the lost."

"Thank you," Xia Nan said, giving a slight nod as he politely declined. "Praise the Silver Maiden."

He perfectly understood what the man meant.

The cleric simply suspected that Xia Nan had suffered a psychological break, leading him to misjudge the wood carving.

In that regard, Xia Nan felt completely normal.

Even coming from a peaceful modern society—where he'd never seen a gunfight or an armed brawl, and his only bare-fisted fights were two petty, embarrassing scuffles back in his school days—he felt fine.

Since transmigrating, he had adapted rather well.

Over the past hundred-plus days, while he wasn't exactly a seasoned veteran adventurer, he had at least obtained a Class Level and learned a great deal of relevant knowledge.

His performance in the Misty Forest had gradually matured from green and inexperienced to practiced and steady.

There was pressure, of course. But once he got fully accustomed to it, it really wasn't much worse than staying up all night working overtime under the threat of unemployment in his past life.

'Perhaps part of that resilience came from having lived a whole life already?'

As for his mental state...

Xia Nan felt his psychology was perfectly healthy.

The vague, ambiguous information on his Attribute Panel also confirmed that the [Sheep-Deer Figurine] genuinely had issues. It was no misjudgment.

But since the cleric in front of him had already said his piece, Xia Nan had no intention of arguing.

If nothing happened, great. If something did... he had already given his warning.

"Well, although it is highly likely a false alarm, we cannot rule out the existence of a deeply hidden evil," the cleric Isidore said, turning around and walking toward the altar in the center of the church's rear apse.

"Just to be safe, I invite you all to bathe in the Goddess's radiance. Under the illumination of the Holy Light, no evil can hide."

"I imagine this will put your minds at greater ease."

Hearing this, the already quiet hall fell into a profound silence.

Jeff and the others did not whisper among themselves; instead, they kept their mouths shut and piously bowed their heads.

The cleric came to a stop behind the altar. With his eyes slightly lowered, he crossed his hands and placed them gently over the holy symbol on his chest.

His lips moved, reciting a prayer.

Hum—

To the naked eye, the specks of silver light—which had been drifting as softly as a thin veil beneath the moonlight spilling from the dome—suddenly rippled.

Reflecting the moonlight, they flared with a bright, dazzling brilliance.

As if stirred by something invisible, they transformed into an ethereal stream of silver radiance that washed over the group.

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Xia Nan's mind.

He stared at the countless points of light in the air ahead, a subtle gray gleam flashing in the depths of his eyes.

—[Heart-Guided Vision]

In an instant, the entire world lost its original color, leaving only a canvas of the most essential black and white.

The cleric's swaying sleeves, the faintly flickering candle flames, even the silent parting of the nun's lips nearby...

Fine ripples of gravity collided and intertwined like ripples on the surface of water.

And where Xia Nan focused his attention—on those surging silver lights gathered by the divine spell—what clearly seemed to be ethereal, incorporeal matter on the surface was actually emitting faint ripples of its own in his vision.

Unlike other things, the waves the silver light stirred up in space-time seamlessly harmonized with each other. They displayed a bizarre rhythm, binding the countless specks of light together into a massive, indistinct...

"Hiss!"

The back of Xia Nan's head suddenly throbbed, followed by a surge of dizziness mixed with intense pain.

[Heart-Guided Vision] was forcefully interrupted.

Color rushed back in to fill the world.

At the same time, familiar translucent text appeared before his eyes.

"Proficiency +1"

"[Gravity Control] Level 1: (3/100)"

"..."

He was taken completely by surprise.

Before he had time to think, the mist-like silver light brushed across his cheeks in the very next second.

An inexplicably cool trickle seeped into his skin, enveloping his spirit, nourishing his already energetic body and slightly depleted mind.

In the blink of an eye, the mental energy he had drained by using [Heart-Guided Vision] was replenished, brimming full once more.

He took a deep breath.

Xia Nan stood rooted to the spot, looking forward.

There, upon the pristine white altar, the cleric in the silver-trimmed white robe stood quietly, silhouetted against the massive stained-glass window behind him.

His silver-white hair stirred without any wind, as if melting into the moonlight cascading over his shoulders.

...

...

The night deepened.

After seeing Xia Nan and his group out of the church, the cleric Isidore walked alone down the vast, empty corridors of the inner sanctum.

The quiet, chilly moonlight shone on his face, revealing not a trace of fatigue.

For someone whose Class Level was already approaching the Transcendent Tier, a simple divine purification spell was no more taxing than reciting the primary goddess's teachings.

Moreover, the domains of law controlled by Selune, the [Maiden of the Moon], ensured that clergy like him maintained boundless energy throughout the night.

To some extent, a bright moonlit night made Isidore feel more relaxed and exhilarated than a well-lit day.

"Knock, knock, knock."

He hadn't returned to his own room.

He had come to a guest room somewhere inside the church, gently rapping on the door.

"Come in," a calm male voice called from inside.

Twisting the handle, Isidore pushed the door open.

In his line of sight was a man of indeterminate age with an elegant, scholarly face, wearing an indigo ramie robe.

The man currently had his legs crossed, leaning back in an incredibly relaxed posture on a luxurious lounger lined with goose down—a piece of furniture that absolutely did not belong in this church.

A simple wooden staff leaned lightly against the wall beside him, while his hands held a hardcover book thicker than a brick.

On the cover, one could faintly make out a string of gilded letters stamped in Elvish with intricate, flourishing strokes:

Silver Leaves and Unicorn Manes: A Detailed Explanation of Wood Elf Classical Carving Techniques

"You're back?" Cornell didn't look up, leisurely turning a page in his book.

"Mhm." Nodding slightly, Isidore poured himself a cup of hot tea and sat down opposite the mage. "Just some citizens frightened by rumors."

"Rumors? About that missing Spore Druid?"

"How could it be? With that person chasing after him, he shouldn't be coming back," the cleric replied, shaking his head.

"They thought a wood carving was the creation of an evil god."

"Oh?" Cornell raised a brow and snapped his fingers.

The ring on his finger flashed with silver light.

A second later, a bipedal statue resembling both a sheep and a deer appeared in his hand.

He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized it carefully for a few seconds, but couldn't see anything unusual at all.

"It's a bit ugly, but an 'evil artifact'... I doubt it."

"Of course it isn't!" the cleric Isidore snatched the wood carving away and replied in a huff. "I don't believe any evil god could hide themselves so well right under the Goddess's nose."

"Why so stingy? We've been friends for years. Lending it to me to study for a couple of days won't cost you a thing," Cornell said, spreading his hands as he looked helplessly at the cleric who had snatched the carving back.

He was only saying it casually; he hadn't taken the matter seriously to begin with.

It was exactly as the cleric had said.

Although Nym's Moon Goddess Church was far inferior to Waterdeep's House of the Moon, it was still a major regional church that frequently received the Goddess's gaze.

This figurine had been popular in Nym for so many days now. If there were truly a problem, the Goddess would have long since sent down an oracle to deal with it. It was impossible for Her not to know.

And he hadn't detected any magical particle fluctuations on the statue himself. It couldn't even be called an enchanted item.

There was nothing to worry about.

It wasn't as if everything could be like that "Gravity Device" in the Goblin Lair, possessing the rare trait of operating autonomously without magical particles.

It was just an ordinary carving.

His luck had never been that good, anyway.

"Are the materials for the resurrection ritual ready? There are only a few days left until the Feast of the Moon," Isidore asked.

"Of course." Cornell gently patted the pouch at his waist with his iron-ringed finger. "Enough to revive twice."

"But seriously, name a price. My mentor might actually like this wood carving. Once we get back to Chromatic Ring City, I can get you whatever you want."

"Out of the question!"