Chapter 81 - Midnight Crying (Please Follow and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 81: Chapter 63 Midnight Crying (Please Follow and Vote for Monthly Tickets)"Ah? Who, who is it? Wait a moment, I’ll be right there!"

Around the corner of the corridor, a man shouted in panic, followed by rustling sounds.

Xu Shu couldn’t be bothered to expose this kind of thing; this time, he kindly stood still and waited for a while.

Moments later, a middle-aged man in a Patrol Soldier’s uniform whom Xu Shu had never seen before came out with a flushed face.

He warily looked at Xu Shu and Gu Pan, realized he didn’t recognize them, and then his demeanor suddenly grew stronger, his hand pressing on the gun pouch at his waist, he barked,

"Who are you? Don’t you know that the refuge enforces a curfew, forbidding aimless wandering after nightfall?"

Clearly, he mistook Xu Shu for a Wasteland Wanderer who had recently joined the refuge.

Just as a conflict was about to erupt, a woman walked out from behind him.

She was around her thirties, wearing a lace blouse and a tight skirt paired with flesh-colored stockings, oddly put together yet evidently new—clearly, she had received these supplies recently.

However, even with her meticulous dress, she couldn’t hide the weathering and coarseness that came from years of living in the Wasteland, blatantly revealing her age.

As the woman appeared, she first let out a gasp, then quickly grabbed the Patrol Soldier’s arm and said, "This is the Transcendent who visited yesterday; they already left this morning..."

After her explanation, the Patrol Soldier’s attitude changed immediately, he slid into a kneel swiftly,

"My lord! Please forgive me, I have been on patrol these past few days and have not seen you..."

Such a minor friction naturally didn’t bother Xu Shu.

After all, he was back to stay just one night, which still meant imposing on others.

"Please notify Principal Yang Chong on my behalf, just arrange two rooms for me," Xu Shu said.

At this, the woman hurriedly said, "My lord, tonight is the Harvest Festival. Principal Yang Chong will lead everyone to pray to the goddess during the Moon Mass—no one is allowed to interrupt, or they will be punished. How about I arrange a room for you instead?"

"Is that so?" Xu Shu raised an eyebrow.

Since the Great Catastrophe, humanity had entered the Post-Apocalypse Era.

Although it was the great human sages who had led them through the hardest times, the three major churches based on ’Sun, Moon, and Stars’ still gained quite a bit.

Even in the eyes of their followers, the churches might hold a higher position than the Supervision Bureau, albeit not outspokenly so.

Among these three major churches, the largest and relatively most modest was the Dawn Church, purely worshipping the sun and also the most recognized by the Supervision Bureau.

As for the other two, Moon Church and Starry Church, they both feminized their faith, possessing definite ’idolatry.’

Xu Shu wasn’t very familiar with these churches as he remembered that his family in this world didn’t follow any religion.

But she mentioned something about a goddess and a Moon Mass, so it seemed that the Moon Goddess Church was what the people in this refuge worshipped.

It was normal for Wasteland Wanderers to have a faith, after all, in their eyes, no matter how much a Patrol Soldier did, it didn’t compare to the vague notion of divinity.

Xu Shu didn’t mind much and simply nodded, saying, "That’s fine, having a place to stay is good enough."

The woman immediately breathed a sigh of relief, as if pardoned from a sentence, and said, "The room you stayed in last night is still available, why not stay there today? I’ll take you."

"That’s fine, lead the way."

Xu Shu nodded, not bothering with pleasantries or lowering his stance unnecessarily. That was the confidence of a Transcendent.

The woman took the lead, with Xu Shu and Gu Pan following behind.

As for food, he had brought his own canned goods and didn’t need any additional provisions from them.

It’s worth mentioning that along the way, in at least eighty percent of the rooms they passed, faint blush-inducing sounds could be heard from inside, as if people were honing their skills or reproducing.

Even someone as worldly as Xu Shu was a bit surprised at this moment.

It’s not that I don’t understand human emotions and desires; I’m certainly no ascetic saint myself.

But what’s the deal with you all choosing the same night to do this?

And you call it a prayer? A Moon Mass?

Is this really a proper Mass? You guys are clearly having a...

"Sir, please feel free to stay, but tonight, I urgently request that you refrain from wandering around. I hope you can understand~"

The woman, her face flushed, said a few words before hurriedly bidding farewell and leaving.

Thankfully, there weren’t many people around, and it was relatively quiet, although there was a pervasive feeling of vibration throughout the corridors.

"Dammit, what kind of crappy Moon Goddess is this? The Moon of No Face indeed!"

Xu Shu watched the woman leave, cursing both annoyed and amused.

At that moment, Gu Pan looked at him strangely and asked, "What, you didn’t know?"

Xu Shu was puzzled, "Huh? Know what?"

"About this church’s affairs... I thought you would have learned something these past few days through the Promotion Network..."

"What do you mean?"

Gu Pan lowered her voice, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then said, "Among the alliance’s three major churches, the Moon Church is the most controversial. Some of their members worship the Moon, while others believe the Moon’s authority belongs to... the Life Mother Goddess, so they sometimes also call themselves the Life Mother God Sect."

"Ah? Weren’t we just talking about Goddess?"

"The Moon Goddess is considered just the daughter of the Mother Goddess. The Life Mother Goddess, you must have heard of her, right? She’s quite famous." Gu Pan said with a mischievous glance.

"Ah? So this Moon Mass is actually..." Xu Shu opened his mouth and mimed a gesture.

Gu Pan nodded, "Exactly! It’s about reproduction! The doctrine of the Life Mother Goddess is all about birth and reproduction, all for the continuation of human life. They believe the middle and end of each month, when blessings are scattered by the Goddess’ daughter, are the most fertile times."

"Thanks for the enlightenment, it’s been quite shocking and eye-opening."

Xu Shu sincerely thought that compared to the people violently coupling in the corridor, a freak like himself was pure as a newborn baby.

At most, I mess around with glue; I’ve never even tried anything real. I am incredibly pure, and besides, I don’t talk much.

"Do you really not know?" Gu Pan eyed him suspiciously, thinking Xu Shu was pretending to be innocent.

Being such a lecherous person, dare you say you didn’t attempt to add female members of the Mother Goddess Church after logging into the Promotion Network? I don’t believe it!

After all, Gu Pan was a Granter, just not yet officially a Transcendent or having activated her own Promotion Drive.

Though she didn’t have a "personal computer," she still attended plenty of "public computer classes."

So she knew quite a bit about the Promotion Network.

She had seen it before on the world channel, those girls who follow the Mother Goddess route. Was that even posting? It was almost the same as an animal in heat.

Compared to them, even the path of nuns might seem slightly more normal.

"Alright, hope you won’t be tempted to slip into my bed tonight, I’m going to sleep." Xu Shu closed the door.

Gu Pan was utterly bewildered.

Tsk! Who wants to slip into your bed... wait, I’m a guy, why would you even think that? Could it be you are...

Gu Pan couldn’t help but shiver and quickly shut the door and got into his room.

The moon rose, quietly illuminating the earth, and the breeding activities inside the refuge were happening one after another, making it feel both awkward and eerie.

"Not quite normal churches leading to not quite normal refuges. I’d better check the forums a bit before sleeping early, tomorrow I have an opportunity simulation, confirming the route then heading home!"

This place is way too abnormal.

Even I, a pervert, think they’re perverse!

Xu Shu gathered the quilt on the bed to make it look like someone was sleeping under it.

Then, he once again crawled under the bed, found a comfortable position, pushed up his hips, and turned on the Promotion Network’s forum in front of him.

*Promotion Network

*Gu Pan (Tai Chu), First-tier Warrior

*Contribution: 13

*Talents: Architecture Mastery, Spit Silk

*Talents: Tough Skin, Great Strength, Resilience, Jingwei (Breakthrough Skill)

"Level 9, need at least three more levels to add friends... no, to try forming a group to raid, once I get back, selling this Life Extension Soul Revival Pill should definitely suffice."

Xu Shu slid his fingers across the screen, scrolled to the world channel 9999+ area, stretched his body, and started mindlessly scrolling.

Suddenly, something caught his eye.

Today’s world channel was bustling as usual.

And the hot keyword was still "Sea of Death New Ruins Exploration."

Other posts like "Mist Sea Pioneering Team lacking boatman," "Heavenly List top thirty-six suddenly updated with an anonymous? Who is this expert playing mysterious? Let me tell you in detail, replies 9" flashed by, but were not eye-catching, garnering little discussion.

But the three keywords of the Sea of Death still firmly held the heat.

Other posts that were about to rise up, like trade advertisements and recruitment information for sects, were all suppressed.

Xu Shu still vaguely remembered, previously the full-screen recruitment for exploring the Sea of Death. The large teams seemed to have already made it to so-called "second ring" or something.

But now, the content of the current posts was completely different.

It should be said, entirely opposite in direction.

*—Xie Xiaochan, Second Order Seven-Colored Taoist.

*—West Wind, Second-tier boatman.

*—smiling without showing teeth, Third-tier Strategist.

*—Qin Xiao, Third-tier Grandmaster.

*—Purple Flame, Third-tier Alchemist.

*—Anonymous, Second-tier Autist.

*comments 999+—Ali, Third-tier Fallen Apostle.

*—Anonymous, Third-tier Butcher.

Tsk, another one gone crazy? Is raiding an instance this dangerous?

Seems like even at third-tier, they still aren’t strong enough.

Life and death still not under their own control, raiding and so many can die.

Xu Shu stroked his chin.

Today’s content made him cautious about "leveling through raiding" too.

It seems, joining up with so-called nurturers and other professions isn’t foolproof.

He needs to improve his strength further!

With this cautious mindset, Xu Shu slowly fell asleep under the bed.

That night, the moon hung high.

Around just after midnight, faint intermittent shouts from outside the door awoke Xu Shu from his already light sleep.

"Damn it, what time is it, still making noise? Who the hell can stand this?"

Xu Shu somewhat irritably moved to the door, craning his ear to listen.

Soon, he could faintly hear a woman’s shouts coming from further down the hallway.

"Ah~no, no~"

"Mom, save me— mm—"