The Story Never Ends

"Did you find any clues about the missing children?"

"No, we didn\'t. However, we got some leads on the disciple of the Thunderbolt Sect who came here for this mission a month ago."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yes, Senior. Someone witnessed him entering the Crocus Church and nobody saw him coming out thereafter."

"Ok! Then we have to report this matter to the Thunderbolt Sect and not delay any longer."

The three people looked solemn thinking about this incident as everyone in the city was feeling uneasy. The atmosphere in the city looked dull as if covered by a dark fog. The children didn\'t even dare to come out from their houses in fear of getting caught.

"You don\'t need to report this to the sect. I\'m here for the mission." A calm voice came from the door.

They looked over and saw a person wearing a mask entering inside with a strange beast on his shoulders. Among the three of them, the one in the middle was a middle-aged man while the other two were young men. From this one would be able to guess that this middle-aged man should be the so-called Senior.

The middle-aged man felt that this person\'s cultivation was unfathomable. So, he bowed and asked, "Sir, you are?"

Seeing their Senior bowing, the other two also did the same.

Davion didn\'t answer but rather took out the token that he had received when taking this mission. The moment they saw this, they immediately knew who he was. Yet, the first one to react was the middle-aged man.

"You two, bring the chair over here. He might be tired from the trip."

They hurriedly brought the chair that was one the side to the middle and said, "Sir, please."

Davion nodded and sat on the chair while crossing his legs. He was about to ask something when the middle-aged man who knows from where suddenly brought out a cup of tea.

"You are quite good." Davion was impressed with this hospitality and didn\'t decline the tea. He sipped it and felt cool energy flowing inside his body. He found that this energy was trying to replenish his fatigue.

"Good tea," he complimented.

"Thank you, Sir. My cousin sent these tea leaves from the Inner Region of the Southern Mainland. So, this is quite rare here." The middle-aged replied but he was feeling some pain in his chest as it was very expensive. However, if he could get into his good side because of it then it would be worth it. Since everyone joining the Beggars sect had poor talent and cultivation, the only way to get promoted was by having a better relationship and connections. Thus, he was trying his best to bootlick him.

"Oh!" Davion exclaimed and asked, "So, what\'s your name?"

"Sir, it\'s Atticus." The middle-aged man replied while being happy inside as he knew that he had managed to catch the attention of Davion.

"Humm." Davion nodded while drinking the tea. Ryland was looking at this tea with disdain as it didn\'t smell good like the demon beasts that he had eaten. Then he looked at Atticus and pointed his claw towards his mouths indicating why there was nothing for him.

Atticus understood and immediately ordered his two disciples, "Bring the most expensive dishes from the nearby restaurant."

"Yes, Senior." The two of them left in a jiffy.

Davion wanted to stop them but when he remembered that it had been a long time since he last tasted a good dish, he let them go.

"I will remember you, Atticus. If you meet with any troubles in the future, you can come and find me in the sect," he said while passing him a spirit ring containing a certain amount of spirit stones as how could he allow him to pay for everything he ate.

"Thank you, Sir." Atticus bowed and kept the ring.

"Now, tell me more about the mission. Are the children disappearing even these days?" Davion looked serious.

"Yes, but it is not so grave like the previous month where lots of children went missing. Now only a few children disappear each week," Atticus answered.

"Oh! Why is it so? Did they get scared when they found that they had managed to catch the attention of the Thunderbolt Sect?" Davion asked.

"I think so too. Maybe they became worried after finding an inner court disciple coming from the sect to investigate it," Atticus said.

"Speaking about that disciple, I heard from you guys earlier that he went missing after entering a church. What is so special about it?" Davion was quite interested as he couldn\'t fathom how a church might be related to this incident.

"I also don\'t know much about it but according to the witness, he indeed went there." Atticus was also confused.

Davion got a little disappointed because it looked like it would take some time for him to complete the mission as there were not many clues. As for failing the mission, he had never thought about it. This was because he could simply use his Mind-Eye to scan the whole city in search of those culprits. Even though it might take a long time, this was the only way he could think of.

Seeing that Davion got disappointed, Atticus said, "Although there are not many clues, we can start investigating from this church. I find the Pope very suspicious."

"Why do you think so?" Davion\'s eyes lit up.

"When my subordinates told me that the disciple went missing after entering the Church, my mind finally worked. Two years ago, the previous Pope of this church suddenly died due to old age. But how could someone in the Golden Core Stage die this early as they can live at least 300 years? Not only that, after his death a new one was immediately appointed."

He paused for a while and continued, "The moment he was appointed, he changed the previous statue in the hall with the new one. Even though both the statues looked like an angel with wings, the new one looked very evil. However, I don\'t know why the people didn\'t criticize him but rather supported him."

"Indeed, it\'s very strange. Did he even change his teachings? Or is it the same?" Davion asked.

Atticus thought for a while and replied, "No, it\'s still the same."

"Oh! Didn\'t you guys try to interrogate the Pope after all this?" Davion didn\'t understand this as the Beggars\' Sect were responsible for maintaining the peace in the city.

"No, how could we dare to do it? The Pope has many followers and support from all the people living in this city. So, we could only let this slide by." Atticus sighed.

"Now after learning that even a disciple of the middle-grade sect went missing after trying to investigate it, we would never dare to do it." Atticus felt terrified thinking about this.

"Since the Pope was responsible for the disciple then do you think that he would also be the one behind the missing children?" Davion asked.

"Oh! I hadn\'t thought about it. Now you said it, I am sure the Pope might be the one behind all of this." Atticus exclaimed.

Then he said, "I don\'t why but the Pope seems to be very fond of children. I would always see him putting his hands over their cheeks and even sometimes kissing their hands. When people asked this, he would say that he was showing his love towards them as children were considered to be the incarnation of God. Previously I also thought the same, but it seems like we have been fooled."

Just thinking about what might have happened to these innocent children, anger and frustration could be seen all over his face.

Seeing this Davion could only console him, "Don\'t think too much about it. Since I am already here, I will visit the church today and take care of this matter."

"Indeed, there is no use of thinking about this now. But I don\'t think that you should go over there today," Atticus said.

"Why?" Davion asked as he wanted to finish this mission in a short period of time and leave for the sect to take another mission.

"I don\'t think you will be able to find him today. He can only be seen once a week and the day is tomorrow. Tomorrow all the people will gather in the cathedral hall and listen to his teachings. So, you can take this opportunity and enter the church as one of them. Once you have entered, you can slowly infiltrate and find the Pope inside. Who knows you might even discover some secrets?" Atticus explained.

"Wow, you are really smart." Davion looked at him with surprise. If Atticus hadn\'t explained this then he would have surely gone there and raged the whole church to the ground.

Atticus scratched his head while looking a little embarrassed. While they were talking, his two subordinates finally came with some people behind them. These people set up a large table and put all the dishes on it. After serving, they bowed and left.

"Smells good." Davion smiled and was about to eat when Ryland on his side opened both of his mouths and sucked half of the dish in one go.

"Damn, Ryland, you are too greedy."