Chapter 619 The Rabbi and the Ragdoll
Chapter 619 The Rabbi and the Ragdoll
Several figures wearing dark coats or hooded robes were walking through the depths of the dense forest.
Faint black smoke enveloped their surroundings, dark symbiotic chains extended out from their bodies, and hideous and horrifying spectral demons accompanied them – Richard and his “compatriots” had been operating in this dreamland for some time, and according to what the telltale bird sensed, they had been far away from the dreamland for some time. Richard and his “compatriots” had been moving through the dream world for some time, and according to the dead bird’s senses, they were close to the Wall of Silence.
But the group suddenly stopped.
The atmosphere in the forest had changed subtly – from a certain moment, a thin layer of fog had emerged from nowhere, flowing in wisps in the clearing between the trees, and along with the appearance of the fog, the entire dense forest was becoming more …… “Quiet.”
Dumeng frowned with a grave expression, he still remembered that when he first entered the Dream of the Nameless One, all kinds of sounds could still be heard in this forest – the sound of unknown birds lifting their wings and flying, and the sound of unknown beasts roaring from afar, although it was never possible to see the figure of those “birds and beasts”, but it was not possible to see the “birds and beasts”. Although the figures of those “birds and beasts” could never be seen, the various sounds representing vitality were always there.
Now, however, all those sounds had disappeared, and the only sounds left in the forest were the occasional sounds of the wind, as well as the slight sounds of the leaves shaking and rubbing together – instead, it made the place more and more silent.
Any change in the Dream of the Nameless One must be treated with caution.
“There’s something wrong with these fogs,” whispered another Annihilationist, a cloud of what looked like a sooty jellyfish floating in the air beside him, and the tentacles that extended out from underneath the jellyfish were wiggling in a small range in mid-air with some uneasy nervousness, “My demon senses panic and nervousness …… is an emotion released by this ‘forest’ itself.”
“The Dream of the Nameless One has mood changes, it is equivalent to a huge mind in itself,” Dumont said in a deep voice, “The sudden change in its mood could be that someone has touched the core area of this mind …… Could someone have found the ‘Wall of Silence’?”
“Could it be one of ours?” The Annihilationist who was symbiotic with the sooty jellyfish asked.
“Not sure yet, we can’t reach any of our compatriots here that the other coven sent in to operate,” Dumont said, followed by a slight frown at a figure at the end of the group – a figure that had been scratching at his body since a few moments ago, and “Richard, what are you doing?”
Richard suddenly woke up with a start and realized that he had been scratching the skin around his neck and waist, and he raised his hand in some confusion to see that many tiny white fibers had somehow appeared in the crevices of his fingernails, looking like ……
“Cotton.” He said softly.
“Cotton? What cotton?” Dumont frowned, “You don’t seem to be in the right state.”
“No, I’m fine,” Richard immediately looked up and patted his clothes again that were messed up from his scratching motion, “I just feel a little itchy, and all this fog is making me uncomfortable.”
Dumont nodded, not suspecting anything, but turned his gaze to the others, “We should have entered the area of influence of the Wall of Silence, according to those ‘preachers’, this is Silentis’s ‘Mind Gaze Zone ‘, if you see or hear anything that hasn’t previously been seen in the forest, be sure to tell the others.”
Listening to the voice coming from beside his ears, Richard felt a little annoyed in his mind.
Dumont has begun to lead the team as a “leader”, this kind of self-righteous and arrogant attitude has always been very disliked …… The team really needs a person who gives orders, but originally this role should be his own right! ……
“It’s infuriating ……” a soft voice said in Richard’s head, “Rabbi feels it’s unfair, Rabbi feels bad for you… …”
“It’s unfair,” Richard’s mouth opened and closed slightly, whispering in a voice only he could hear, “but it’s the Saints’ arrangement …… And Dumont does have the ability… …”
“Isn’t the most important reason why there are so many other people in the way here watching?” The voice in his head whispered, with a tone of thoughtful concern and trustworthiness, “It wouldn’t be any trouble at all if no one was watching ……”
Richard frowned and shook his head slowly, seeming to instinctively feel that something wasn’t quite right, he was still hesitant, “But …… what should I do ……”
“Patience, be patient, sweet rag doll, the rabbi is just telling you about the possibilities, but now is not the time …… There will be an opportunity, when someone is left alone ……”
Richard covered his forehead and hesitated, “But I can’t …… They’re all my countrymen ……”
“Yes, they’re all your compatriots, sweet rag dolls, you can’t hurt them, and the rabbi doesn’t want to see you hurting each other – so you’ll have to help them to do so.”
“Help them? Help them how?”
“Haven’t you noticed? Your countrymen …… have empty bellies, not even cotton, how poor they are. No cotton, no warmth, no cotton, no soul, no cotton, nothing …… You already have cotton, sweet rag doll, give them some cotton too, the rabbi can lend you the cotton, as long as …… you remember to return the ……”
The tiny, cute voice in his head faded away.
Richard blinked, suddenly feeling a little puzzled, he felt as if he had just heard someone talking to him, and even remembered that he had engaged in a conversation with the other party, but it was only a trance, and the voice disappeared, as if …… it was all just an illusion.
He raised his head and looked at Dumont in front of him, as well as the other compatriots around him.
How pitiful.
They didn’t even have cotton. “…… We’ll set up the imprint point here,” Dumont didn’t seem to notice Richard’s line of sight, he had already begun assigning the next tasks as planned, “This is already a place where we can influence Silentis’s underlying mind, it’s a suitable area for placement now.”
The surrounding congregants nodded, and then each of them fished out the props for the ritual from their bodies – a kind of strange knife that was pitch-black in color and had a curved blade.
Richard froze, and reached into his pocket as well, feeling for his own bone blade pocketknife.
It was a small carving knife only the size of the palm of his hand, made of blackened bone and covered with odd and intricate patterns that gave off an ominous aura.
Richard remembered that the raw material of this knife was the bones left behind by the Profound Demons who failed in the summoning rituals – not all summoning and symbiosis rituals were successful, the failures would become the sustenance on the altar, those Annihilationists with poor talent would use their blood to clean the altar, and those demons who died because the rituals went out of control would have a few left over bone fragments that can be used to make props.
This should have been the “common knowledge” that every annihilationist who has been promoted to the rank of cleric knows, but for some reason, Richard feels a wonderful …… sense of novelty when he recalls this knowledge at this moment.
He shook his head, casting this strange feeling aside, and looked towards Dumont: “We need to set as many ‘imprints’ as possible before the end of this dream, and it might be more efficient to act separately.”
“…… Spreading out means danger,” Dumont considered the suggestion carefully and shook his head, “Don’t forget the failures you’ve suffered before – Compatriots who act alone are virtually defenseless against ‘his’ followers.”
While Dumont really did seem to be only serious in his reminder, and there was no mocking contempt in his words, Richard felt that he saw a hint of sarcasm in the bottom of the other man’s eyes, and instantly felt irritation rise like a poisonous fire in his heart.
He felt that he had been greatly humiliated.
But in the next second, that annoyance like poisonous fire was abruptly extinguished, and replaced by cold reasoning, Richard was surprised that he could be so calm-
He looked at Dumont, his expression was extraordinarily sincere and calm, his words exuded the power of persuasion: ”Of course we can’t act alone, I mean a group of two to three people, to be able to ensure that we can take care of each other and complete the mission as soon as possible – and to be honest, even if we really encounter those ‘followers’ and fall into a disadvantage, we will be able to quickly evacuate the dream realm, according to my last observation, those ‘followers’ don’t seem to be able to come and go in the dream realm as freely as we do… …”
The sincere expression on Richard’s face and the cool composure in his tone came into play.
Dumont once again thought hard.
A fellow member of the Church who had experience in many dream quests – even though he hadn’t been in the best of shape since his last quest – was now clearly thoughtful and trustworthy in his advice, and every one of his reasons stood up.
Continuing to ignore or dismiss the other man’s advice in this situation tends to appear as if one is deliberately targeting the experienced one – a mean and narrow-minded image does not serve one well in leading the party.
Dumont feels that he should take the advice – as a new, invisible leader, taking advice is part of consolidating authority.
Anyway, if something did go wrong when the time came, the blame would be Richard’s.
“Good, then we’ll work in groups of two and set up imprint points along the fog border,” Dumont nodded and quickly made the arrangement, then immediately looked at Richard, “Richard, you and I will work in a group.”
“Of course.” Richard smiled, seemingly very satisfied with this arrangement.
Dumont was also satisfied.
“Let’s get started then.”
The Annihilationists immediately took action.
In groups of two, they carried the ceremonial daggers used to leave the “mark”, and split into multiple directions towards the forest paths that were flowing with a thin mist, and soon disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.
Richard also approached Dumont with his ceremonial dagger – but he was cautious, knowing that he would have to wait a little longer, until the other groups were far enough away, and until Dumont had focused his attention on the “job” of setting the mark.
Then, he could “help” the other group.
“Let’s get started, sweet rag doll.” The voice in his head said.
“Here we go, Dumont.” Richard said.
(End of chapter)