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Chapter 23: You Are My Faith (IV)

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When the man who had been invaded by devil qi returned to normal, everyone present was very amazed. The clergy ordered someone to bring him a bowl of holy water and had him drink it. This kind of holy water could detect whether or not there was devil qi within a person’s body, and if there was only a bit, then it could be directly dispelled. If there was too much devil qi, then the person would be in acute pain.

However, holy water doesn’t have much effect on King level apostles.

The man drank the holy water with a refreshed expression on his face. The clergies all looked at each other, and although they were suspicious in their hearts, they still declared that the devil qi in the man’s body was dispelled.

The man’s family cried joyously, and gave many thanks to the clergies.

Clergies: Actually, they are very perplexed too….

Shang Ke’s body was stiff as he held back the urge to shudder. Absorbing the devil qi was like eating dark cooking, with a tart feeling that was enough of an “aftertaste” for several days.

Kaiser stared at Shang Ke pensively. Was he seeing things? The devil qi on that man’s body seemed to be flowing toward Shang Ke?

“Daddy?” Pupu was confused as she sensed Shang Ke’s abnormal state and tugged on his hair a bit.

“It’s fine.” These two words were pretty much squeezed out between the gaps of Shang Ke’s teeth.

“Let’s go, there’s nothing to see now.” Youri ran over, one hand on Kaiser and Shang Ke each as he pushed them out.

Shang Ke staggered from his shove and almost fell. Kaiser quickly helped him, a trace of confusion flashing through his eyes.

Vadula couldn’t help but quietly mock him, “For a man, his body is way too lousy.”

Although she spoke quietly, they all heard it since they were in close proximity.

Shang Ke stayed silent, his hood hiding his face so they were unable to see his expression. Kaiser and Youri also did not say much and left the light palace hall.

Shang Ke walked very slowly. The other three were already far ahead, but he was still lagging behind, swaying lightly. It was not that he didn’t want to walk fast, but the devil qi he just absorbed had caused the originally peaceful devil qi in his body to once again start swelling, “upsetting” his willpower and body from time to time and causing him to feel sore and pained.

Shang Ke couldn’t help but once again thank the System for making him go through so much torment in his first world, allowing him to forge such a resistance against pain.

This was truly a fact that made people unable to stop the flow of tears in their hearts.

At this moment, Shang Ke noticed a couple of low ranking apostles that were wandering around them continuously. If it were ordinary people, Shang Ke would not be able to sense them, but the aura of the low ranking apostles were conspicuous, like will-o-wisps in the dark.

He was already unhappy, and yet there were people coming to bother him.

The pressure of a King level apostle suddenly sprang out from Shang Ke’s body majestically, brutally cold and threatening. To sum it up, it meant one thing: Scram!

Those low level apostles all shook, their expressions terrified as they looked around, but were unable to find the “Big Boss’s” trace. However, they were quite clear that this are was already marked by the Big Boss and did not dare to linger, so they turned around and quickly disappeared within the crowd.

Kasier’s footsteps paused. It was strange, he had obviously felt some people following them, but why had they all vanished in the blink of an eye?

The group had lost the mood to walk around, so they returned to the inn after buying everything they needed.

Teacher Gwyn smoothly received the reward money and split it among his students. Shang Ke really did get a portion, and although it was only thirty gold coins, it was enough for him to live for a while.

The next day, they set out for the imperial capital.

The situation from the day at the light palace left suspicion in Kaiser’s heart. Therefore, for the duration of the trip, Kaiser was especially mindful of Shang Ke’s every movement.

Very quickly, he began to notice some oddities. Shang Ke’s body could not be considered weak, but his physical strength was very low and he would often reveal a weary appearance after walking for a while. This kind of physical strength was not even equal to normal people, but he did not appear to be ill or injured. His body was also well proportioned and defined, so he had obviously trained before. Kaiser just didn’t know why, but his reactions and movements always appeared to be slightly delayed.

Leaving aside those anomalies, Shang Ke was really easy to get along with. He was gentle and clever, merely dismissing Vadula’s occasionally mocking remarks with a smile.

After he secretly observed Shang Ke for a while, Kaiser was about to give up. That was, until today, when they incidentally met another person who had been invaded by the devil qi, and the questions in his heart were finally answered.

Shang Ke knelt by that person, placing his hand on him. Afterward, Kaiser could see strands of devil qi slowly flowing into his body.

A trace of shock flashed through Kaiser’s eyes, but his face showed nothing. After all of the devil qi was sucked away, the man returned to normal. It was the same as what had happened in the light palace hall.

Kaiser had never known that there was another way to cure a person invaded by devil qi besides the power of faith. And that the price of the other method was to sacrifice oneself.

After Shang Ke finished absorbing the devil qi, his originally jet-black eyes turned an even deeper black and his complexion paled, but his lips were an exceptionally captivating red, giving him a devilish sense of beauty.

He seemed to have noticed Kaiser’s gaze, and he pulled down his hood a little more, covering over half of his face and revealing only his captivating lips.

Kaiser’s pupils contracted. He finally knew why Shang Ke became so weak that day. It was because the other man was bearing the devil qi’s pain for others.

Kaiser thought it was crazy. As everyone knew, being invaded by devil qi not only brought pain, but it was also a torment and test of one’s willpower and faith. If you were even the slightest bit careless, then you would be swallowed by the darkness and become a slave to the Devil’s Tree. No one was willing to draw devil qi into their own body, because everyone had their own weak points and dark side. No one was able to guarantee that they would be able to stand the pain and not be swayed in the least.

However, Shang Ke had done so, and had likely been doing it for a while.

Kaiser couldn’t sense the devil qi on his body, which could only mean one thing. The devil qi he had absorbed had already settled and reached the King level.

Perhaps he was a devil apostle? Kaiser’s expression changed slightly, but he immediately denied the thought. If he was truly a devil apostle, then why would he secretly help other people dispel devil qi? Furthermore, after every time he saved someone, he would always be weak for a period. This clearly showed that his willpower and the devil qi were in intense conflict.

The reason why Shang Ke’s physical strength was so poor was not because his body was bad, but rather, it was because of the large amount of devil qi confined in his body. It was actually the opposite, and he had an overwhelmingly strong willpower and firm faith that the ordinary person could not imagine.

Kaiser looked down at Pupu and once more confirmed his guess. Pupu had lived with Shang Ke, and not only had she not been polluted by any devil qi, but it was quite the opposite, her power of faith was incredibly pure.

Any devil apostle would not keep a faithful believer by their side that could possibly injure them. Even a close family member would be no exception. Devil apostles, especially King level apostles, had already thoroughly abandoned their conscience and emotions since they day they fell from grace.

“Daddy,” Pupu said as she looked at the weak Shang Ke. Ignorant of how to express her worry, she could only tightly tug his sleeve.

“I’m fine.” Shang Ke rubbed her head and smiled as he replied, “Here, feed daddy a small fruit.”

Pupu quickly took out a pearl sized wild fruit from her pocket, standing on her tiptoes and stretching out her arm in a great effort to put it in Shang Ke’s mouth.

Shang Ke slightly bent down and ate it, praising, “Really sweet.”

Pupu immediately broke out in a happy smile.

Kaiser’s gaze also turned gentle at the scene. Soon after, he glimpsed Shang Ke’s slightly trembling finger and the sweat the flowed down to his jaw. His brows pursed and he quietly walked behind him, supporting his waist and quietly telling him, “Sit down and take a rest.”

“Resting again?” Vadula resentfully said, “Because of him, we have already been delayed quite a bit.”

“Vadula, Shang Ke’s body isn’t good. Taking better care of him is normal,” Youri answered.

“Taking care? Even I, a woman, am not as delicate as him.” Vadula glared at Shang Ke with a look of despise.

Duro and Fred also had some things to say about Shang Ke. Although his body was pretty good, his constitution was truly too bad. He really did not resemble a man.

The grim beauty Amy did not say much, and merely looked profoundly at Shang Ke.

“Let’s hurry. Don’t delay the progress because of me,” Shang Ke said as he lead Pupu along and smiled at everyone.

The remaining two days, the group once again met people who were invaded by devil qi. There were varying degrees of seriousness, all of them were cured by Shang Ke without exception.

For every person he cured, he became weaker.

Every time Kaiser thought he was going to collapse, he persevered on with continuous miracles. Despite his trembling, he stayed strong. He took each step unsteadily, and followed behind everyone unwaveringly.

Kaiser had never admired anyone before in his life, but Shang Ke’s tenacity really moved him.

“Ah, we’re finally back!” Vadula looked at the imperial capital, King City, that was right before their eyes, and cheered.

The others also revealed relieved smiles.

Teacher Gwyn told them, “You guys have to come back with me to the school to sign in, and then you will have a three day break.”

“Yeah!”

A couple of people walked in high spirits toward Light Ode College, to meet some of their fellow classmates after returning.

Shang Ke also followed them to the college. The original’s memory of this college was very deep, with both “his” most beautiful and ugliest experiences both from this place.

“Shang Ke, you and Pupu can wait for me here in the garden for a minute. I’ll go sign in and be right back,” Kaiser told him before entering the school.

Shang Ke sat on a bench in the garden and taught Pupu how to weave rope as they waited for Kaiser.

Right at this moment, a burst of of clamor came from not too far away.

“Quick, it’s Lord Tylor!” A schoolgirl used a passionate voice to shout, “Ahhhhhh, he’s still so handsome!”

When Shang Ke heard the name “Tylor,” he raised his head and looked towards where the crowd’s gazes were gathered. His eyes landed on a tall man who was walking with large strides toward the school. He had a head full of blond hair that was like the sun, and eyes as red as if they were blood moons. He wore a set of sturdy clothing and his physique was well-built, giving him an impression of strength. His slender legs tread in black boots and the wind blowed as he walked, causing his clothes to also swirl with his movement.

This was a man who could become the focus of attention anywhere.

Tylor stared fixedly on Shang Ke as he passed by, and when a strong burst of wind blew by, his hood was raised, exposing his black hair.

Shang Ke noticed that on the palm of his right hand there was, shockingly, a mole.

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