**Chapter 8: Temple of Destiny (3)**
—
The captain of the bl**d Moon Team, Xi, stood silently in front of a castle with a history spanning thousands of years.
As the sun dipped low, the castle gates slowly creaked open, revealing a moat over ten meters wide.
Seeing the unfamiliar noble coat of arms above the gates, Xi couldn’t help but reflect on how times had changed. Oh, how the world spins!
“Captain, why don’t we just charge in and take back everything that’s rightfully yours?”
The bold, whip-wielding lady, Fan, chuckled lightly.
“Exactly! I’ve been itching to take down these squatters!” chimed in the girl, Ji.
Meanwhile, Yún, the young man with a Western sword at his side, didn’t say a word, but his thin lips were pressed together tight, just waiting for the captain’s command to dash into the castle and unleash chaos.
Xi shook his head. “After all these years, how many people remember us?
Thanks to Lord Lin saving us from the depths of oblivion, we finally have a chance to return to our homeland.
Therefore, we must prioritize completing the mission entrusted to us by our lord. We will return here, this isn’t over.”
The three teammates echoed, “Yes, Captain!”
Four figures vanished into the waning sunlight, as quietly as they had appeared.
…
In front of the Temple of Destiny stood perhaps the last hundred or so followers of the Goddess of Destiny, tightly huddled around the goddess’s statue, afraid that those fervent followers of the God of Light might strike again.
Led by the Bald Bishop, a group of black-clad cultists firmly kept Lin Nan and company at bay.
“The Temple of Light does not permit heretics to enter. Please leave. If you persist, I fear you’ll bring greater trouble upon yourselves,” the Bald Bishop said, utterly ungracious.
Trissa fumed, ready to whip out her harp and play a tune that would send them spiraling into a mad, dreamy state.
These guys were as solid as rocks – obnoxious and unyielding. They probably wouldn’t back down for anyone except the emperor himself!
Adeline shrunk behind Lin Nan. Shaking hands, she wasn’t exactly equipped to deal with these out-of-the-norm zealots – it would only end in humiliation.
Lin Nan, on the other hand, was as calm as a still lake nestled in the snowy mountains.
She remembered watching “One Piece” and couldn’t understand why Shanks didn’t immediately retaliate when provoked by those mountain bandits, even enduring their humiliation until they laid hands on Luffy before he finally acted.
Why, if Shanks was one of the mighty Emperors, didn’t he get mad when someone doused him in beer?
Now, she finally understood.
The stronger a person’s overall power, the higher their threshold for dealing with provocations.
In simple terms, the clown jumping around and talking big didn’t deserve to be their opponent.
With just a flicker of a pinky, those fools would vanish into thin air, and in a way, this was the rational response of the powerful wanting to avoid escalating conflicts.
So even though the Bald Bishop hurled verbal jabs at her, she didn’t even flinch, as if he was merely a cockroach she could squash with a move of her foot.
“May I ask who ordered you to completely seize the Temple of Destiny?” Lin Nan’s gaze was as calm as a bottomless lake.
The Bald Bishop, losing patience, shot back, “Of course, it’s our one and only God! Heretics like you can’t even sense the guidance of the God of Light!
I don’t have time to waste talking to heretics – get out now!”
“Ah, I see!”
Lin Nan responded with a resounding *slap* right in the Bald Bishop’s face.
Even though she barely exerted any strength, the Bald Bishop was sent flipping through the air, landing on the ground with a mouthful of bl**d.
Seeing their bishop disgraced, the black-clad cultists screamed and rushed forward.
They wore spiked knuckles that would shred a regular person’s flesh. A hit would skin them alive; a hit to a vital spot would surely lead to one severely injured or dead.
Trissa gasped and immediately prepared to unleash her harp, but Lin Nan held her back.
With just a gentle breath, Lin Nan froze the legs of the menacing cultists in a thick layer of ice, pinning them down.
They flailed their arms desperately, but the thin layer of frost held them firm.
The dazed Bald Bishop, just getting back to his feet, spit out bl**d and hoarsely yelled, “How dare you attack the Church of Light! You’ll all pay dearly on the stake!”
Perhaps hearing the ruckus at the temple entrance, the once-dispersed followers of the God of Light came rushing out from all directions.
The Bald Bishop found his voice. “Seize those heretics! Burn them at the stake!”
The grey-robed cultists charged at Lin Nan’s trio, nearly all with their bare fists, shouting wildly.
Samantha, the priestess guarding the statue of the Goddess of Destiny, noticed the rising conflict and caught snippets of their exchange.
Seeing the Church of Light about to overwhelm the so-called heretics again, she shouted, “Faithful followers of the Goddess of Destiny! These three ladies just extended a helping hand. Now, the Church of Light wants to overpower them again and show their fangs. As believers of the Goddess, we cannot allow those scoundrels to repeatedly challenge our limits!”
With Samantha’s rallying cry, the hundred-plus followers of the Goddess surged towards the temple.
A brawl between the two sides appeared inevitable.
But clearly, the Church of Light had the numerical advantage, at least tripling the others. If a fight broke out, it wouldn’t take long for the goddess’s followers to find themselves defeated.
In this crucial moment, Lin Nan abruptly turned around, her white dress gliding through the air like a graceful line.
An astonishing scene unfolded.
Suddenly, purple flower petals filled the air, cascading down as a gentle breeze blew by, and nearly everyone present caught a whiff of an enchanting fragrance.
Keep in mind, the empire’s cold winter had just ended, and the buds of early spring barely peeked out on the long-frozen ground.
Normally, it’d take at least another month or two for flowers to bloom en masse.
Yet at this moment, it was as if a gigantic flower basket was tipping over above, showering everyone with delightful violet petals.
In the midst of this flower rain, Lin Nan mimicked the same gesture as the statue of the Goddess of Destiny.
With her left hand holding a staff and her right catching a few petals, a soft voice resonated like thunder in everyone’s ears.
“By the decree of the Goddess of Destiny, we shall defend the Temple of Destiny!”
