"I promise I won't hurt you once I'm out. While I can't offer any proof or guarantees, letting me out is the only chance we have right now. Otherwise, everyone here will die."
The Nether Cleansing Angel spoke with urgency. The cicadas were draining his power, and once his internal energy dropped to a certain level, he wouldn't be able to drive them away even if he could get out of the statue.
"These things are targeting the Creation Church. Do you think they'll let you go? And once they grow stronger, it won't just be us angels who die..."
On his way here, Yan Xiu had reviewed some files and knew that these cicadas weren't just targeting the church. The most severe casualties in every church were always among the ordinary believers.
However, allowing the Nether Cleansing Angel out now would put him in danger, especially since he had a past grievance with the angel.
Seeing that the only angel capable of fighting was sustaining more and more injuries, and his other colleagues were barely holding on, Yan Xiu suddenly pointed a finger at the Nether Cleansing Angel and recited a spell at his statue.
The stone skin on the Nether Cleansing Angel's body shattered. The colossal angel with three faces and six arms suddenly reached out, grabbed three angels feeding on divine power from his body, and crushed them violently.
While the Nether Cleansing Angel was unleashing his might, Yan Xiu quietly slipped into a small bush by the roadside.
He had unsealed the Nether Cleansing Angel not because he believed the angel's lies, but because he didn't want his personal vendetta to endanger others. He wouldn't do something as foolish as entrusting his life to an enemy.
Even with the Nether Cleansing Angel's strength, it would likely take considerable time to eliminate these cicadas, more than enough time for him to escape.
As soon as Yan Xiu hid in the roadside woods, the Nether Cleansing Angel frowned. He directly repelled the few cicadas around him, rushed into the small bush, and cleared it out, but Yan Xiu was no longer there.
"He ran away that quickly... I was actually going to thank him."
Seeing Yan Xiu disappear, the Nether Cleansing Angel snorted and continued to deal with the cicadas. It was Yan Xiu's luck this time; next time, he wouldn't be able to escape.
Inside the containment facility, Yan Xiu retracted the chains that had formed a circle around him. After entering the woods, he had immediately entered the facility through the chains.
He planned to stay nearby for the entire day before venturing out again, by which time the Nether Cleansing Angel should have left.
Encountering the Nether Cleansing Angel this time had only strengthened Yan Xiu's desire to fake his own death and escape the Church of Radiance.
Yan Xiu knew that despite the various irregularities within the Church of Radiance, there were more good people than bad overall.
It played a significant role in maintaining the stability of the Federation; otherwise, the Hunter Association wouldn't tolerate the Church of Radiance openly proselytizing within the Federation.
However, the darkness Yan Xiu had witnessed was enough to make him instinctively want to stay far away from this organization.
...
Near the battleground where the Nether Cleansing Angel and others were fighting, a black sedan was parked quietly.
Wen Wen sat on the roof of the car, watching the battle between the Nether Cleansing Angel and the blue cicadas from afar.
He had arrived nearby around the same time as Yan Xiu and the others. He had originally planned to intervene when Yan Xiu and his group were overwhelmed, perhaps capturing a live blue cicada in the process. However, he hadn't expected Yan Xiu to awaken the Nether Cleansing Angel.
The true form of the Nether Cleansing Angel was a True Order-level angel, more than twice as powerful as when he had borrowed Yan Xiu's body to fight.
Seeing the dwindling numbers of blue cicadas, Wen Wen shook his head and got back into the car. He said to San Zai'er:
"We're not going to Liaozhou City for now. We'll head straight to Xihong City. Let the Church of Radiance deal with these cicadas. I have a feeling the things in Xihong City aren't simple either."
Judging by the Nether Cleansing Angel's intended path, he was likely heading to Liaozhou City, so Wen Wen decided to avoid the area.
After all, Wen Wen was likely among the people the Nether Cleansing Angel hated the most, perhaps even more so than Yan Xiu.
Wen Wen had once used the Blade of Corruption to cut between the Nether Cleansing Angel's legs...
"The Nether Cleansing Angel, plus the Archbishop, that's two True Order powerhouses from the Church of Radiance here. And that's only the ones I know of..."
"What exactly are those blue cicadas?"
"And Yan Xiu was transferred here too and discovered by the Nether Cleansing Angel. His situation must be very difficult right now. I'll use my Philosopher persona later to ask him about his plans. If I can help, I will."
On the road, Wen Wen reported all his findings to the Hunter Association.
Based on Wen Wen's estimations, the Hunter Association likely didn't know the true nature of the blue cicadas or their connection to the Church of Radiance. A couple of True Order powerhouses should be dispatched to investigate in a couple of days.
A few hours later, San Zai'er finally drove the car into the border of Xihong City. As soon as they entered, Tao Qingqing's brows furrowed; the feeling here was very strange.
It was as if something disgusting was lurking somewhere within the city, something that was staring at everyone entering the city with malevolent eyes.
Without relying on his powerful monster physique, Wen Wen's perception in some aspects was even weaker than Tao Qingqing's.
However, he had discovered the abnormality before Tao Qingqing and said to San Zai'er, "Stop the car, something is wrong here."
Wen Wen got out of the car and walked into a field of crops, staring silently at a scarecrow in the center of the field.
Several jet-black crows perched on the scarecrow. These crows showed no fear upon seeing Wen Wen, and even pecked at the scarecrow from time to time.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that the crows' eyes were red, and there was a fissure resembling an eye on their foreheads.
A few farmers, who were weeding the field with hoes, saw Wen Wen walking through the new seedlings to the center of the field. They walked over to Wen Wen, intending to persuade him to leave.
But as they approached, they realized that the scarecrow Wen Wen was looking at was not made of straw at all!
It was clearly a person!
Sparse strands of straw were stuck to this person's skin, their blood had congealed, emitting a stench of decay.
The few farmers were so startled they sat down on the ground. They had never witnessed such a scene in their lives.
Wen Wen said coldly, "I've seen these crows in the Hunter Association's files. They are called Three-Eyed Blood Ravens, and they only appear where negative energy is excessively dense..."
"Were these Three-Eyed Blood Ravens the ones who killed this person?" Tao Qingqing asked, confused.
Wen Wen shook his head and said, "Although Three-Eyed Blood Ravens are stronger than normal crows and can see unclean things, just a few of them wouldn't be able to kill someone. But their appearance signifies..."
"A great calamity is coming!"
Wen Wen looked in the direction of Xihong City, as if he saw an unbreakably dense dark cloud.