272: Chapter 272 Bronze Statue

On the way to the ruined church stronghold.

Jiang Qingyao softly asked in Shen Xingchen's ear, "When did you learn a divine ability like Soul Searching?"

Shen Xingchen replied in an equally quiet voice, "I was lying to him. I was mainly afraid that he would have a spine of steel and refuse to talk even if it killed him."

"Ah?" Jiang Qingyao's beautiful eyes widened. "You're scheming, Shen!"

Shen Xingchen had once said he liked her from the moment they first met, but he only became slightly warmer toward her after the fire ganoderma incident. If that wasn't playing hard to get, what was it?

And when he lost a bet and made her call him "Brother Xingchen"—such an intimate form of address—she had fallen for his scheme too, and they had only known each other for a few days back then!

And that time he taught her martial arts, insisting that her practice clothes restricted her meridians and making her wear a skirt instead. In truth, he just loved looking at it!

She had been tricked step by step into becoming his girlfriend just like that!

Jiang Qingyao, oh Jiang Qingyao, you were simply too naive!

Thinking this, Jiang Qingyao's thoughts gradually drifted away.

Shen Xingchen asked curiously, "Yaoyao, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing, just thinking about things from the past." Jiang Qingyao did not dwell on the matter and instead asked, "Do you really think he will lead us to the stronghold?"

Shen Xingchen shook his head. "Of course not."

If a mere priest could betray the church so easily, the Crimson Church would never have developed to its current scale.

You must know that at their peak, they even had two experts in the Xiang Realm!

Aside from the official authorities, no other faction in Huaxia possessed such strength.

According to the records, the believers worshiped an entity named the "Lord of Scarlet," but on the surface, no one had ever seen that Lord of Scarlet, not even the church's archbishop.

Jiang Qingyao tilted her head. "Then why are we going over there?"

Shen Xingchen explained, "Just trying our luck. What if it really is a stronghold? Even if it isn't, we can still look for clues."

There was no help for it.

When Yu Juezhi gave him the mission, he didn't provide any useful clues, so he had to find everything himself.

...

All three of them were martial artists, and their speed while running on foot was still considerable.

They quickly arrived at the dilapidated church.

Shen Xingchen grabbed the priest by the collar. "Where is the stronghold?"

The priest's eyes were panicked. "Senior... I... This..."

He had tried to escape several times along the way, but this young man saw through it at a glance, and then he truly arrived at the church.

Of course he knew there was no such thing as a stronghold here; all of this was just to stall the young man.

"You still haven't made up an excuse?" Shen Xingchen first asked with a smile, then said, "Your brain really isn't working then. After all this time, you still haven't thought of a suitable reason."

The priest's expression flickered as he took a few steps back and leaned against the church's statue. "This really used to be a stronghold, it was just relocated."

"Oh?" Shen Xingchen pressed down on the priest's shoulder, steadily increasing his strength.

The already fractured scapula was aggravated once again, causing veins to bulge on the priest's face in pain. He hurriedly said, "I know another stronghold!"

"It's too late!"

Shen Xingchen threw a punch, striking the priest squarely in the chest.

His strength had already reached the seventh rank, and he was already famous for his combat power. How could the priest, who was only at the fifth rank, withstand such a punch? Half of his body was directly smashed to pieces.

In an instant, a stench of blood filled the church.

"Save me... I'll tell you everything..."

The priest was left with only half a body, yet he didn't die immediately, only twitching and wailing in agony.

Shen Xingchen chuckled, "I've noticed for a while that your gaze kept glancing toward the statue. What's behind it?"

Without waiting for the priest to answer, Shen Xingchen began to examine the statue closely.

This was a bronze statue, its surface covered in rust, though one could still make out its former glory.

The statue appeared to be an elderly man with a bizarre third eye in his pupils. He wore complicated robes and held an open book in his hands. His face looked half-benevolent and half-sinister.

Shen Xingchen always had a strange illusion that he seemed to have seen such an old man somewhere before, but when he tried to recall carefully, he couldn't remember.

"Forget it."

Shen Xingchen raised his hand and pushed the statue.

Sure enough, the statue was movable.

Shen Xingchen pushed hard once more, and a large hole began to be revealed at the base of the statue.

The inside of the hole was pitch black, with an opening on the side leading deeper down, seemingly connected to some hidden base.

"There really are clues after all."

Shen Xingchen casually tossed a few gravel stones into the hole first. Finding no traps, he intended to go down and take a look himself.

At that moment.

"Freeze!"

Several soldiers in military uniform suddenly swarmed into the doorway of the church.

The leader held a standard straight saber and spoke in a cold voice, "Who are you?"

Shen Xingchen was somewhat surprised. Did they run into people from the Law Enforcement Bureau?

He stopped what he was doing and walked over very casually. "Put down your sabers. Do you know that doing this violates the rules?"

The leader remained full of vigilance. "No matter who you are, appearing here is extremely suspicious. If you can't explain yourselves clearly, come with us to the bureau."

"Quite cautious." Shen Xingchen chuckled slightly. "Rest assured, I am merely acting under orders to investigate clues regarding the Crimson Church, which is why I tracked them here."

As he spoke, he also gestured toward the priest's corpse to make his stance clear.

The leader looked over with suspicion and then said, "I am Han Chen, captain of the second team of the Law Enforcement Bureau's Hefeng County branch in Beizhou City. Please state your origin and identity."

Just now, the other party seemed to have intentionally or unintentionally released a wisp of aura that was extremely terrifying, likely having reached the fifth rank. It was definitely not something people like them could resist.

Shen Xingchen explained, "I am a student from Shangjing University, and my name is Shen Xingchen. This is my student ID."

Even humans might not be able to resist the temptation of the "Time Authority." To be safe, Yu Juezhi arranged for his identity as the Young Marshal and his student identity to be two separate people.

At this time, it was still best to keep a low profile and make himself appear like an ordinary student doing a mission.

Han Chen took the student ID, and only then did his doubts dissipate. "Nowadays, Shangjing University actually issues such dangerous missions just to train its students?"