The church's unexpected move somewhat surprised Lin Tuo, but it also saved him from entanglement.

All teams returned immediately, which greatly reduced their workload.

However, considering that it will take time for the other party to move, and being busy for several hours in a row, you are mentally and physically exhausted.

Lin Tuo simply put his clone back into his body for the time being, preparing to wait quietly for the people to gather together and have another one-pot meal.

Withdrawing his mental consciousness from the sand tray, he reluctantly found that it was night again. Fortunately, this time Huaxi finally knew that he was looking for food, which made Lin Tuo, a teacher, very happy.

There was nothing to say that night, and the next day came in the blink of an eye.

He went into the sand table to collect information and confirmed that the teams were indeed moving. The church knights even found carriages and horses, packed up the wizards, and tried to return as quickly as possible.

"But at this speed, I'm afraid I won't be able to finish it today." Lin Tuo made a silent estimate and didn't dare to speed up the time, but after thinking about it, he didn't sit idle.

"Since the church team is on their way, why not take the opportunity to search for more books."

After all, there were too few books collected from Oak Town. Yesterday, I also collected some books from another city and moved them to the desert island in the sand table. However, Lin Tuo was not satisfied.

Regardless of whether it's valuable or not, after all, let's search for it first.

Making up his mind, Lin Tuo frequently used his clones to travel to various parts of the kingdom throughout the next day, visiting churches one after another, and indeed plundered a lot of books.

And his actions also caused waves in the eyes of the church and the kingdom.

…

…

Terai Kingdom, Sacred Plains.

In the holy city of Hayeks, the past two days have been very restless.

Once the Pope's decree was issued, it spread quickly, and no one knew what it was intended to do.

It wasn't until news about the death of the Knights of the Order came back from various channels that people finally seemed to understand something.

In every corner of the Holy City, countless priests and priests were discussing and conversing.

Speculations about Lin Tuo's identity were also rampant for a time.

Some say he is a wizard from the Southern Continent.

Some people say that they are heretics hiding in the dark, servants of the devil.

But in short, for the vast majority of pastors, they do not think that it is an enemy that needs to be taken too seriously. Thousands of years of history have created an inherent impression in everyone's minds that the church is extremely powerful.

No one thought this was a threat. On the contrary, many people were secretly worried about the unknown strong man.

…

"Archbishop, the last team has arrived outside the city."

In the city, in a church built against a mountain, when Cardinal Cisse walked out of the cloister, he heard the report from his subordinates.

"Follow the previous arrangements," Cisse said.

After his subordinates retreated, the cardinal, who specialized in cultivating the path of pure light, slowly walked up to the high platform.

As the most powerful extraordinary force on this continent, no one has ever dared to invade the Holy City, so the city wall is also symbolic.

Very low.

Standing here, Archbishop Cisse could clearly see the entire plain, the billowing smoke and the knights joining the queue, and the wizards who were being dragged, confused, and imprisoned outside the city.

He gradually became a little lost in thought.

Yes, those returning teams were not allowed to enter the city. All the Templar Knights and theorists gathered together and stood ready, as if they were waiting for something.

Thousands of wizards were randomly placed between the city walls and the cult.

No one knows why the Pope issued such an order.

As one of the archbishops, although Cisse had some guesses, he could not confirm.

After all, his authority is limited to the interior of the Holy City. Although his status is nominally respected, compared with other archbishop colleagues who control the actual power of the diocese, he is still far behind, and he has never been able to enter the core of power.

However, although he also had doubts in his heart, Cisse was careful not to reveal it. For some reason, since a year ago, the originally majestic Pope has become more and more feared.

Every time he saw it, Cisse was filled with fear.

Not only the Pope himself, but also some other high-level officials in the Holy City also had a much gloomier temperament.

Even Xisai, who has practiced the art of pure light since he was a child, would often have sudden mood changes for no apparent reason, all of which made him wary.

It is not that he has not tried to explore it. For example, when the "Ordinary Order on the Inquisition" promulgated in the name of the oracle was issued, he publicly expressed his opposition at the church meeting.

However, until today, a year later, Cisse can still clearly remember the cold but meaningful looks from the Pope and his colleagues in the conference room at the same time after he expressed his objections.

As for the memory of the second half of the meeting, it was mysteriously lost. When Cisse regained consciousness, he was shocked to find that his signature had been added to the doctrinal document.

Since then, the scope of his power has been further reduced, and now he is only responsible for the internal administrative affairs of the Holy City.

"Crack..." While thinking, a light suddenly flashed in the dark sky, and then there was a crisp spring thunder.

Cisse suddenly withdrew his thoughts from his memories and frowned slightly.

Since early morning, wisps of dark clouds have been flying over the Holy Plain, stacking up and covering the sun, shrouding the entire plain and the Holy City, as if a rain is brewing.

From time to time, majestic thunder flashes, making people tremble from the bottom of their souls.

This feeling made Cisse very uncomfortable, and when he looked across the plain, thousands of wizards in ragged clothes who were penned up like animals, he felt even more uncomfortable.

…

"Crack!"

On the plain, when the loud spring thunder bloomed above his head, Gray, who was dragging two heavy shackles behind him, subconsciously paused and wanted to raise his head, but failed.

Not only because the iron rope in his hand was too heavy, but also because on his back lay a sleeping girl, about ten years old.

That's his daughter.

As a wizard who was "captured" earlier, Gray has followed the Knights Templar through dozens of towns in the past two months, dragging this shackles with him.

His originally strong body has become thin, and his former high-spirited look has been replaced by numbness. However, what really worries him is his ten-year-old daughter.

Even though he tried his best along the way, the already slim and light frame on his back inevitably became weightless.

Fortunately, they finally arrived at their destination.

Holy city...

Following the other "heretics" and being driven on the plains, Gray finally saw the gloomy city in his sight.

However, this city is completely devoid of holiness in the eyes of believers. Instead, it is full of gloom and solemnity.

"Can we finally be freed?" Thinking in his heart, Gray's chapped lips pulled out a self-deprecating expression. He was surprised to find that he was not afraid of death.

He turned around and found that most of the "companions" around him who were connected to each other through iron ropes had similar expressions.

For them, is death not a release?

After enduring so much torture, ordinary people would have died on the road long ago.

But as wizards, their vitality is far more tenacious than they appear. This was something that everyone envied in the past, but now, it only makes the pain last longer.

"Stop! Wait where you are."

However, what surprised Gray was that the knights in black cloaks behind him did not drive them into the city, but gathered everyone in an open space.

They seemed to be the last group, because many wizards had gathered there.

Sitting or lying on the cold ground, like a flock of sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

"Is this a trial procedure? That's right. Heretics probably won't be allowed to enter the so-called Holy City." Gray was briefly confused, but quickly stopped caring.

He quickly found a relatively flat area and carefully placed the daughter on his back on the ground. This action seemed to wake her up. The fragile little girl like a flower opened her eyes and timidly whispered:

"Have you rested yet..."

"Yes, you can rest now, Annie, go back to sleep." Gray forced a smile and sat on the ground.

"Dad." The girl named Annie seemed to have a premonition of something. She raised her head hard and looked around, and found that the surroundings were filled with people, much more than before.

At the same time, she also saw the densely packed Templars gathered on the plain in the distance, as well as the "Holy City" in the other direction, all of which made her more and more nervous.

"Do we... don't... need to continue on our way?" Anne, who is more mature than her peers, suddenly asked.

Gray was silent, not knowing how to answer for a moment. The next second, he felt his daughter leaning on his shoulder, saying with an unusually calm expression:

"This is good news, isn't it? We finally don't have to rush and can go see our mother."

Gray was silent again. Looking at his daughter's young face, the image of his deceased wife emerged in his heart. He seemed to choke briefly, but he quickly suppressed it and showed a sincere smile:

"Yes, that's good news."

After saying this, inexplicably, both father and daughter seemed to become light-hearted, even briefly forgetting the pain of the past and the impending death, and began to chat aimlessly.

This atmosphere quickly infected the people around it and spread quickly. When death came, of course some people cried in pain, but there were also many people who showed the opposite side.

In the past, when they rested on the road, they would seize every opportunity to try to sleep, rest, or meditate to restore their physical strength in order to alleviate the pain.

However, at this moment, those terrifying knights were gathered in the distance. No one was staring at them with cold water or whips, but the wizards had no idea of ​​resting.
To be continued...