The scene was horrifying, much like the British dish "Stargazy Pie," with a dead fish staring at you with its eyes wide open. Though Pan Lili wasn't a fish, at that moment, it felt no different to me.
Your mother's High Priest has already been defeated by me, so why are you suddenly coming back from the dead to cause trouble!
I was startled, nearly dropping Pan Lili, my whole body covered in goosebumps.
Seeing me stop mid-stride, Mr. A walked up behind me, tapping my shoulder.
"Batu, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly stop? Are you too heartbroken to move because you miss me so much?"
Due to the angle, Mr. A couldn't see Pan Lili in my hands, staring at me like a dead fish, which is why he was so confused.
"You see this!"
Mr. A's words seemed to trigger my stiffened body. I sprang to life, quickly placing Pan Lili on the ground.
Strangely, even though Pan Lili's eyes were open, she didn't look alive. Instead, she resembled an exquisite doll, as if a switch had been flipped.
Her skin had mutated over time, gradually turning a transparent white. I could even clearly see her blood flowing beneath her skin, and occasionally, a small white worm would flash by, so fast that I felt like I was hallucinating.
"Mr. A, do you know what happened to the Saintess?"
Having defeated the High Priest and the Shepherd God, and about to leave this blood-soaked temple, I absolutely couldn't afford to fail at the last step. Therefore, no matter what Pan Lili had become, my first reaction was to get away from her quickly. Any anomaly now represented an unbearable risk.
I gently placed Pan Lili on the ground, letting her stare up at me, and took a few steps back, retreating until I was at a safe distance.
"Batu, you...!"
Suddenly, I heard Mr. A exclaim in surprise. I looked down and swore!
At some point, the hand I had used to touch Pan Lili now had the same blue lines as the High Priest, though lighter in color. That's why I hadn't noticed it earlier. If not for Mr. A's sharp eyesight, I might never have spotted it in the dim light.
From the High Priest's earlier words, these blue lines represented a part of the Shepherd God's power, and he had used this method to transfer the Shepherd God's power from Pan Lili.
Is this thing like Wi-Fi, connecting automatically?
Does it absorb the Shepherd God's power from anyone who touches Pan Lili?
A doubt suddenly arose in my mind, and my gaze involuntarily shifted to Mr. A beside me.
"Mr. A, I think this is peculiar. How about we conduct an experiment? You touch the Saintess on the ground."
Mr. A's expression turned disgusted, and he was about to refuse, but then he realized what I was planning. Without hesitation, he walked over to Pan Lili, gently touched her head with his left hand, and then quickly returned to my side.
Oddly, although Mr. A had also touched Pan Lili, no blue lines connected from her head to his body. Moreover, Pan Lili's gaze never once shifted to Mr. A, as if he were invisible.
"Batu, how do you feel?"
Since our experiment hadn't worked, Mr. A quickly asked me about my current sensation, as it was still uncertain whether this was good or bad. The High Priest, such an insidious and cruel person, had become clearly deranged and paranoid after absorbing the power. I didn't believe that the High Priest's transformation was unrelated to this Shepherd God's power.
I closed my eyes and quietly felt the power within my body, finding nothing.
This was baffling. I clearly saw blue lines connecting my body to Pan Lili's, but when I closed my eyes, I felt no different, apart from the dull ache of my wounds.
I tried to retreat towards the main entrance, wondering if Pan Lili's influence was indeed like Wi-Fi, with a limited range, and if the blue lines would automatically break as I moved away.
However, after I retreated ten meters, the blue lines, though clearly thinner, showed no sign of breaking. Instead, Pan Lili began to change!
"This is... your... destiny...!"