absurd deduction game.

The sky darkened faster than usual in the evening, and the leaden clouds seemed to press down directly on the rooftops of Yolikev.

Yu Xing returned to Wind Chime Avenue and headed towards the bakery called "Grandma Pearl's Sweet Oven".

The town of Yolikev was shrouded in an unusual silence, but apart from the patrolling guards, a few pedestrians hurried along the streets.

Most of them were dressed in cheap clothes made of stewards or servants. After two days of heavy rain that kept them from going out, and after nearly two days of searching and clearing, many of them were running out of food.

Under the protection of the Mother Goddess of Harvest, the people of Yolikov have lacked everything except food shortages—the poor in the slums don't have enough to eat, not because they can't afford it, but because they are poor and can't afford it.

The church certainly arranged food aid during the disaster, but for many people, one or two days of aid is not enough. The wealthy have to provide food for all their servants and pursue a refined and dignified lifestyle, so how can temporary relief food be sufficient?

The people in the slums were initially happy to receive relief food from the church, but fear soon followed.

These days can't go on.

Otherwise, if the factory goes bankrupt and shuts down, they will lose their jobs that barely keep them from starving. What will they do in the future?
If the husbands and wives no longer give them their dirty clothes to wash, how will they make a living?
So even though they knew the streets were still dangerous, some people couldn't hold on any longer and insisted on going out to find out what was going on and understand the current situation.

The church tacitly accepted their actions, either because it understood them or because it didn't have time to interfere.

After all, the church leadership knows what is most important now: as long as the final ritual of Tantric Buddhism is not stopped, life will stagnate on the same day, whether rich or poor.

But how can I tell the townspeople about something like this?
Once it's revealed, all that will happen is panic, and it will give esoteric sects an opportunity to exploit the situation.

The church had already tried organizing the evacuation of townspeople.

The effect was not good.

First, the news about the final ceremony came too late, and the best time to evacuate had already been lost. Second, they could not reveal the possibility that the ancient god's kingdom might descend and directly destroy the world, so some people did not realize the seriousness of the situation and were unwilling to leave their homes.

Another group of people are unable to leave. They have no savings, are bedridden due to illness, or are disabled and unable to move. Their families also refuse to abandon them.

Of the remaining people, those who were willing to leave had already left when the strange events first broke out. Even if they left now with their families, they probably wouldn't have found a safe place before the final ritual was completed.

If you fail to stop it, it won't matter where you go.

Even if we succeed in stopping it, the town won't be any worse off than it is now.

After much consideration, the Church of the Mother Goddess could only express its appeal to the townspeople to leave and seek refuge, but it did not have the energy to enforce it.

The church is currently short-staffed.

In any case, they have arranged for guards to patrol, which can at least prevent any further danger to ordinary people. Once night falls, they will strictly prohibit anyone from going out.

Yu Xing brushed past several panicked townspeople. They recognized him as an investigator and almost all of them wanted to talk to him, but before they could get close, the nearby guards reminded them not to interfere with the investigators' work.

Those people had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

Actually, Yu Xing didn't need to work. He just heard Zeng Lai and Carlos say they were hungry, so he wanted to try his luck at the bakery to see if he could buy dinner.

All the restaurants are closed, and if they can't buy bread, they'll go hungry tonight.

Just as he was about to reach the bakery, a suppressed murmur came from the street corner ahead. Several pale-faced townspeople gathered together, exchanging trembling messages about the news they had just heard, news that was enough to break anyone's mental defenses.

"...Have you heard? The people who came back from the west said so..."

"The church...the church's ranks...are finished!"

"Deacon Herbert and the others were covered in blood... Many people haven't returned..."

"And that calm female investigator who went with the team... she... she also sacrificed herself..."

"It's terrible... They say they encountered an indescribable monster, and many people perished along with it..."

"Only His Excellency the Archbishop and a few of the strongest deacons returned alive..."

"By Mother Goddess...is this the end of the world?"

"However... I heard that the esoteric sects are also suffering heavy losses, with important things being destroyed by the church..."

A few words, like cold awls, pierce into everyone's heart.

Operation Zhenxi failed.

The entire army was almost wiped out.

The capable female investigator also "sacrificed" herself.

Rumors spread among the surviving townspeople of Yolikov, accompanied by growing panic and despair.

Yu Xing didn't pause for a moment, after all, this news was no longer new.

Shortly after the incident in the west of the town, someone with ulterior motives brought the news back, and later, the archbishop and Deacon Herbert and others were seen returning.

It's exactly as rumored.

Then, the news exploded.

It was only because most of the townspeople were confined to their homes that the news spread slowly. More than an hour had passed, and some people were still staring blankly at the news, letting out a trembling "Ah?"
As for Yu Xing, he obviously knew more; he was right next to Carlos when Qu Xianqing and Carlos were communicating using the paper dolls.

At least Carlos didn't hide this plan from him, because they already knew that the trip to Zhenxi was a premeditated ambush, and that Qu Xianqing would definitely be killed by the fake archbishop if he went to check the situation. So, after a brief discussion, they finalized a plan.

—We need to make the esoteric sects think the ambush was successful and lower their guard, but we can't really just stand by and watch the Church of Mother Goddess lose so many people.

Let's pull off a clever escape.

The magic trick of making a person disappear is one of the most famous and classic magic tricks among magicians, and Carlos was also skilled at it.

Qu Xianqing confirmed the list of personnel to participate in the operation the night before, and Zeng Lai, who had been working for the church, found the corresponding personnel's files and secretly handed them over to Carlos. The great magician then urgently made one substitute paper figure after another based on the contents of these files.

Frankly, even Carlos thought this was an overstatement.

But he enjoys challenges.

A magician is one who can accomplish the impossible, isn't that what makes them magicians? These paper figures are connected to the butlers and guards. Once they are fatally attacked, the paper figures' ability to take their place is triggered, allowing them to bear the fatal attack in place of the main body and switch positions with the main body at that moment. In other words, when a guard is about to die, the little paper figure in the cave is already disguised as that guard.

The paper figures scattered on the ground like corpses still retained their original appearance; this magical illusion would last for a certain period of time—controlled by Carlos.

Those who escaped the calamity were relocated to the positions where the little paper figures had originally been.

Suburban cemetery.

It was quite desolate and rarely visited. Even the cultists hadn't had time to go there after the old tomb keeper's monster died.

Before the trip to Zhenxi began, Zeng Lai took all the paper figures and went to the gravedigger's hut in the cemetery to wait for the wounded to arrive.

Just then, in order to heal the wounds in his soul, Ren Yi had collected many healing offerings for Zeng Lai, which could come in handy at this moment.

So Zeng Lai was quite busy that afternoon.

After explaining the current situation to the resurrected deacons and guards and asking them not to return to town for the time being, and to hide in the cemetery for a while, Zeng Lai was so hungry that he barked like a dog as soon as he returned to the office.

Yu Xing then went out to buy bread.

He stood in front of the bakery and sensed that someone was inside.

The brass bell on the lintel rang, its sound exceptionally clear, even somewhat jarring, in the deathly stillness of the evening.

The shop was still clean and tidy, and the display windows were sparkling clean. However, the number of breads and pastries displayed in the glass counter was significantly less, making it look empty. The once rich and fragrant wheat aroma had also faded a bit, as if even the yeast had lost its vitality in fear.

Grandma Pearl was still standing behind the counter, her silver hair neatly combed and her apron still clean, but her face, which was originally as rosy as an apple, was now covered with a layer of worry that was hard to dispel.

When she saw Yu Xing come in, she tried to force a kind smile, but the smile seemed a little forced, and her crescent-shaped eyes were filled with fatigue and unease.

“It’s you. Good evening, Mr. Investigator.” Her voice was still gentle, but with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor. “What would you like? That’s all we have for today…”

She pointed to the few remaining breads in the counter, mainly the most basic rye bread and a few small round loaves; the once tempting and exquisite pastries were nowhere to be seen.

Yu Xing's gaze swept over the empty counter, and she smiled at the kind old woman: "Alright, I'll take all of these. My friend really likes them."

Grandma Pearl paused for a moment, then quickly nodded, "Okay, okay."

She slowly wrapped the last five small round bread rolls in parchment paper, and this time, she didn't give away the little golden bow cookie as an extra gift.

Her hand trembled slightly as she handed the paper package to Yu Xing.

"May...may Mother Goddess protect me..." She instinctively tried to draw a symbol on her chest, but as she raised her finger, she let it fall limply, ultimately letting out a barely audible sigh as she looked fearfully at the gloomy street outside the shop.

Yu Xing took the much lighter paper package and paid for it.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, a suppressed commotion came from the other end of the street, and quickly became clear and jarring.

“…Dead! All dead! Hahaha! They said they were going to destroy evil! In the end, they went to their deaths!” A hoarse, manic male voice shrieked in the twilight.

Yu Xing and Granny Pearl both looked out of the shop at the same time.

A middle-aged man, dressed impeccably but now stained and disheveled, with bloodshot eyes, rushed into the middle of the street, gesturing wildly.

His face was streaked with tears and snot, mixed with mud, and his expression was contorted; he was clearly mentally broken.

"Did you see that?! Ha! How many people from the church came back?! The archbishop? Ha! Only the archbishop and a few deacons came back alive! Everyone else died in the woods to the west! Even that very capable female investigator is dead!" He waved his arms, pointing in the direction of the church, his voice filled with hysterical accusations, "They couldn't protect us at all! They just sent us to our deaths!"

He whirled around and roared at the closed doors and windows on both sides of the street and the occasional glimpse of terrified faces peeking out:

"They say it's to protect Yorikef! Bullshit! They're after their own power! They're afraid! Afraid of other orthodox churches coming in! Afraid of the goddess of silk, the goddess of the hearth and craftsmen, and... and someone else! Afraid they'll come in and take away their power! So they've locked us in this cage! Using our lives to fill the hole they've created!"

Normally, his remarks would have drawn rebuttals.

There are indeed traces of other orthodox faiths in the town, and there are related courses in the university. The Church of Harvest Mother Goddess has not prohibited people from practicing their faith privately—they have simply firmly rejected the demands of other orthodox churches to establish churches and share governance rights in the area.

Many townspeople are not entirely unable to understand the political considerations behind this.

But today, no one argues against it anymore.

Behind the windows and through the cracks in the doors along the street, the faces that had once held numbness and a sliver of hope were now deathly pale and filled with even deeper despair.

The news that the Zhenxi team had been almost completely wiped out was like the last straw, crushing the fading hope in many people's hearts.

They watched in silence as the madman went berserk in the street, his eyes vacant, as if they saw their own impending fate reflected in him.

Grandma Pearl was in the shop, her hands tightly gripping her apron, her lips trembling, but she couldn't utter a single word; only tears silently streamed down the wrinkles on her cheeks.

Soon, two church guards, dressed in armor and looking equally somber and exhausted, rushed over.

They tried to subdue the madman.

"Get out of here! You executioner's dogs!" the man struggled violently, roaring and kicking. "The Mother Goddess has abandoned us! You will all die! Everyone will die!"

The guards didn't say much, but silently and forcefully subdued him and dragged him away from the street. The man's shouts and cries gradually faded into the twilight.

The streets returned to silence, but this silence was even more suffocating than the previous clamor.

Grandma Pearl seemed to have all her strength drained away. She slumped against the counter and began to sob softly, "I... I have to sell some bread... but I have no more raw materials."

She looked up at Yu Xing.

"Investigator, do you think... there's still hope for us, for this town?"

"Why not?" Yu Xing smiled.

Grandma Pearl murmured, "I dreamt about some things... I feel like they were all real..."

"Our world will be destroyed tomorrow, won't it?" (End of Chapter)