Soul Trigger

Chapter 640 The Lonely Man
Ji Li left the bathroom; the Foster sisters outside had already fallen asleep.

Ji Li found a room to settle the two of them in, mentioned it to the mayor's female secretary, and then left the manor.

Speaking of Anya and her sister, it's a bit of a pity tonight, there were too many important things to do, otherwise he guessed that the three of them spending the night together would also be a way to spend the night.

Given Anya and Sally's terrible sisterly relationship, they probably won't have this opportunity again.

Of course, there was another reason why he accommodated Clementine:
Each time Clementine's death causes negative emotional fluctuations in her, it leads to stronger spiritual fluctuations, a fact she is not yet aware of.

Now, the fluctuations emanating from her have reached a certain threshold after what she just experienced, indicating that she is about to advance.

This trip, going along with her wishes, to the orphanage where she grew up, is also a way to see if this guy can improve his spiritual quality level.

After all, the nun's abilities are quite useful, and there will be many situations where she will be needed in future operations, so every little bit of strength she can gain is a good thing.

The church school was shrouded in the darkness of the town, with lights shining everywhere and the sound of evangelical scriptures being recited.

Because Clementine's movement distance is limited by the cross, the cross on Jili's body is equivalent to being limited by Jili's position.

The church school was located on the edge of the town, close to the central area, which was almost exactly the limit of the distance Ji Li could travel to Clementine on a daily basis.

Since her resurrection, she had only visited the area from afar once or twice, never venturing deeper into it. After the knight squad arrived in the town, such opportunities became even fewer.

This is one of the reasons why Clementine didn't hesitate to come here when Ji Li mentioned compensation.

Ji Li first took her to sit in the church area.

A sermon is currently being held inside. A priest stands on a platform, behind him is the iconic Passion statue of Evangelicals, and below are believers listening with their heads bowed.

The spiritual world does not have any substantial concept of "holy" and "evil spirit," so Clementine, this ghost nun, still thrives in such a religiously charged environment, moving about freely.

Finally, he stood directly on top of the crucifix and looked down at the believers below. In stark contrast to his dejected appearance when he was beside Ji Li, his face was full of "rebellion".

"It seems you haven't seen it this good before," Ji Li thought to himself.

After playing with it for a while, Clementine got bored and, to the astonishment of the worshippers below, pushed over the crucifix.

Of course, they couldn't see her; they could only see the statue of suffering suddenly collapse.

Amidst gasps and chaos, they dragged Ji Li away.

Outside the campus, the doorman, dressed in a priest's robe, was also disturbed by the commotion at the church and left, allowing Ji Li and Clementine to enter directly.

While he remotely sensed Clementine's spiritual state, keeping a watchful eye on whether she would suddenly advance in any way, he listened to the somewhat excited Clementine recount her past life here:
"That was the church area. Although there was only one church, there's a whole large area inside the larger evangelical school. Ha, a bunch of idiots praying there every day. I've wanted to do that for a long time!"

"You sound rather disdainful of your past beliefs?"

"Disdain? I've never cared about faith at all. This place is just a stopover for Father Kelton and me..."

When asked about Father Kelton, who had raised her from childhood to the present day and ultimately betrayed her by using her as a sacrificial offering, Clementine was momentarily speechless.

After a few breaths of silence, he said:

There is no God in this world.

"Aren't I one?"

"...You're a charlatan, a fraud. Evangelicals are pretty much the same thing, only on a larger scale and with a wider and more influential reach."

So-called faith is nothing more than a tool for control.

“I agree with that. If God wants to rule the world, gaining the faith of others is naturally the most convenient way.”

"It sounds like you really believe in God..."

"Of course."

Ji Li's resolute voice made Clementine stop floating and turn to look at him:

What strange thing are you talking about?

"I will become God, believe me."

"……baffling."

Clementine turned around, her gaze suddenly fixed on the edge of the balcony:
There was a lighter and half a cigarette pack lying there; the smoker had obviously been drawn away by the noise from the church and hadn't had time to take his things.

Clementine floated over, eagerly picked up the cigarette and the kerosene lighter with the cross relief, and lit them.

Ji Li looked at him with a mocking expression:
"You actually like to smoke?"

Clementine took a sip and immediately frowned:

"It has no taste..."

"Your body is made of spiritual matter. If you want to taste something again, you must at least become a Dead Apostle and change your life form as an evil being."

Clementine paused for a moment at the word "Dead Apostle," as if it were an impossible thing.

Without hesitation, he tossed aside his cigarette and walked deeper into the building.

“My brother and I used to sneak around smoking together. He taught me, but not here, but in our secret smoking corner.”

The Evangelical Church had very strict rules, with various explicit prohibitions and punishments regarding clothing and behavior, which was one of the reasons that led to Clementine's rebellious nature.

"His certificates of honor should still be on that wall over there..."

Her brother was the man who was sacrificed in the underground castle by Father Keldon, who attempted to use the Crimson Ritual.

Clementine's interest was rekindled, and she led Ji Li to a bulletin board, searching for something with her eyes.

But gradually her gaze began to freeze, then trembled, and she became somewhat flustered.

"What, I couldn't find your certificate?" Ji Li asked.

He sensed a slight fluctuation in Clementine's emotions, a subtle increase in her spiritual quality—

Her essence is evil, and her rise to power is contrary to the rules of human spirits.

So she must have felt negative emotions for a moment just now:

"It suddenly occurred to me that the deceased's honor should not remain here, but should be buried with the coffin..."

Clementine spoke as if to himself, clearly not finding any certificates of honor on the wall.

"You and he seem to be missing, and neither of you will have a coffin."

"It's probably in the storage room... Never mind that, I'll go check the student dorms. My former roommates would be devastated if they knew I was dead! I'll give them a good scare..."

There weren't many students at the church school, and besides, it was just a medium-sized town, so the student dormitories were upstairs from the classrooms.

Ji Li didn't have to wait long. He only felt that Clementine's spiritual energy fluctuations had increased again, and then he saw her silently fall out of the ceiling.

"What's wrong? Is your roommate having a great time?"

She raised her eyes and glanced at Ji Li:
"...No, it's nothing."

Clementine clearly didn't intend to say anything, and Ji Li didn't ask any further questions; her significant fluctuations in spiritual energy just now had already explained everything.

"Do you want to go back?"

"There are still places I haven't been to."

Ji Li followed Clementine as they wandered through the school in the darkness.

They went to Clementine's old classroom, the dining hall, her old haunts with Father Kelton, and the secret smoking corner where she used to sneak cigarettes with her godbrother.

It was a small corner with a window in a side building, and it was not only free of cigarette butts and showed no signs of being a frequent smoking spot, but it was also very clean.

There was no seat left for her in the classroom.

Her locker has been emptied, and her dormitory bed has been moved to another student.

The label that read "Clementine Caro" was torn off and stuck on the cafeteria table, already stained with unknown oil.

Her head is no longer in the wall of photos of students and followers.

As for his roommates, Ji Li didn't know, but he guessed they were having a good time without her. He only noticed cigarette smoke peeking out of the dormitory window. Clementine grew increasingly silent along the way.

For the school as a whole, it seemed that Clementine Caro's disappearance did not cause any changes.

Every time they went to a new place, Ji Li could feel the guy's spiritual energy fluctuations becoming more and more intense.

This means that every time she goes to a place, the negative emotions it evokes accumulate by that place.

It wasn't until Ji Li gently patted her shoulder that Clementine, who seemed lost in some kind of daze, suddenly came back to her senses:
"What?"

"Why don't we go back?"

Although Clementine's spiritual energy fluctuations are significantly increasing, judging from her completely different emotions compared to before she arrived, Ji Li can be considered to be taking care of his employee.

"No... there's still one place we haven't been to yet."

Clementine shook off Ji Li's hand and increased her floating speed—

She headed towards the welfare home.

As a major source of church students, the welfare home here accounts for half of the entire church school.

The students are not all from the local area; many of them were transferred here after receiving their faith from other welfare institutions.

Clementine used this same channel to get here.

She drifted into the changing room and wrapped herself in the conservative nun's robe inside, covering her current revealing and rebellious so-called nun's habit, which was a transformation from a cognitive disguise.

The girl carefully put on a neat white headband and a black hood, dressed herself up, and finally covered her face before entering the orphanage.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to see someone..."

Clementine carefully wore the cross:
"I think you should know what kind of person I used to be."

Ji Li shrugged:

"Disrespectful of faith, smoking, rebellious, fake nun, bad student, and maybe you even have a tattoo on your back, so of course you don't seem to be very popular?"

"No, the children here like me very much. I've tutored three children, taught them how to pass church exams, helped them get rid of bullies, and even applied for special child benefits for them..."

Seeing Clementine's half-hearted denial of her last statement, Ji Li narrowed his eyes:
In other words, he was right about everything before.

After all, she just picks up a cigarette from the windowsill and smokes it, and with that disguise of long boots and black stockings, she hardly looks like a proper nun.

"So, you're going to see them now?"

"That's right, they'll be very happy to see me back, but this time I won't have a chance to prepare gifts for them..."

Ji Lilong's ring flashed, and he grabbed a handful of candy from it:

"I caught it at the party just now."

Clementine was taken aback for a moment, then took it from Ji Li's hand:

"Thanks……"

"I won't go. You go and come back quickly."

Ji Li stopped at the entrance of the welfare home.

When Clementine returned, she had already changed out of the formal nun's habit that had taken her quite a while to put on, and reverted to her revealing outfit that showed off her thighs and shoulders. Her expression was somewhat stiff, but the candy in her hand was gone.
"Has the candy been sent out?" Ji Li asked.

“I gave them to the other children.”

Have you seen the person?

"I only saw one."

"Did you say goodbye?"

"No, he said he hated the smell of smoke on me and ran away crying."

Ji Li tilted his head:

"What about the other two?"

"Because no other senior students chose to become nuns at the orphanage, they were unable to receive effective religious education according to the regulations of the Evangelical Church, so they were sent to other religious orphanages with available nuns."

"You're so pitiful."

Clementine took two steps in a daze, then buried her face in Ji Li's arms and cried uselessly.

"Put me in the cross."

"Didn't you think that time there was too long and agonizing?"

"There's no difference between here and there."

Clementine looked up, and the faint light of the night made two tear tracks clearly visible:
“My godbrother is dead, Father Kelton is dead, the gravedigger told the church I had been transferred to another post to cover up the mess, and the children I personally taught never remembered me…”

Ji Li said helplessly:
"What about your roommate? What about your smoking buddies?"

If you're secretly smoking at a church school, there must be a few people with you who're doing it together.

Clementine lowered her head, resting her forehead against his chest, her voice trembling with a sob:

"...She was video chatting with her boyfriend whom she was secretly seeing in bed, and said, 'It's good that that bitch is gone.'"

Hopeless, your interpersonal relationships are hopeless.

Ji Li patted her shoulder to comfort her:
"Then let's go back?"

“Go back where? To the banquet? To your home?” Clementine wiped away her tears:

"I don't want to go anywhere now. I don't want to seek revenge on the Tower of Babel anymore, and I don't want to be your slave anymore. Throw that cross away."

"If you stay here, you'll eventually be discovered and eliminated by the Knights squad."

"Then let me be eliminated."

"It is also possible that they could be picked up and enslaved by others."

"What should I do then?!"

Clementine broke down in tears and roared:

“I have nothing left! My friends are gone, my family is gone, my adoptive father killed me to become a knight, and because I became a resting place, those knights also want to kill me. What do I have left? Do I still have you?”

But didn't you only keep me by your side to use and enslave my power? Now you want to show some kindness and save a lost girl? Wouldn't it be better to just let me die peacefully?
Aren't you just a pervert who uses his power to do whatever he wants, rolling around on female students' bellies every day with an arrogant attitude?! And what are you anyway...?

Clementine's voice was abruptly cut off, for the inverted cross had already appeared in Ji Li's hand. Under his gentle press, it erupted with black energy, as if it were about to collapse at any moment:
"You've misunderstood. I don't actually need you that much. But judging from your demeanor at school today, you seem to think you're quite important."

But the truth is, you're not that important, neither to your school, nor to the world, nor to me.

Black smoke billowed out, and Ji Li's fingers gradually tightened their grip:

"Whether you agree with my character and behavior patterns is not important to me at all."

However, if you really want to die and don't care about anything anymore, then I'll crush this inverted cross right now and grant you what you want most. What do you say?

As Ji Li suddenly tightened his grip, Clementine's pupils contracted.

Intense pain erupted from deep within her body; she sensed a true threat of death—

He means it.

The next moment, the violent black smoke erupting from the shattered inverted cross swept in all directions, and Clementine felt an indescribable pain erupt from the depths of her soul:
"don't want!!!!!"

She lunged forward to snatch the inverted cross that Ji Li had raised high, her spiritual energy surging wildly at the same time:
"No, no, no, no! I don't want to die... Waaah... I don't want to die! Give it back... Please give it back to me..."
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P.S.: I've stayed up all night again. I'll post the rest during the day. I still need to write and revise some more.

(End of this chapter)