Chapter 35: Returning Home

The Church openly arrested the Empire’s specially appointed guest professor of the Master Tower on campus. Imperial ministers, the Empire’s Marquis, high-ranking school officials, and even someone as eccentric and reclusive as Master Kocha—none dared to speak a word in front of the Judgment Priest. That display of power and fearsome aura, that supreme majesty of gathered Divine Authority, left an extremely deep impression on Lin Qi.

“If I could become a high-ranking member of the Church, then I’d have a lot of money, right?”

Lin Qi almost instinctively connected the Church’s authority with its wealth. He wasn’t mistaken; the armor worn by those Church Knights was all expensive triple-layer armor—the innermost layer was pure steel chainmail, the middle layer was flexible scale mail, and the outermost layer was sturdy, heavy plate armor. All three layers were inlaid with rare metals and gems forming numerous Runes arrays, effectively resisting both physical and magical attacks.

A single suit of that armor was probably worth over ten thousand Gold Coins. Compared to the Empire’s Dragoons, whose pure steel plate armor cost only a few dozen Gold Coins per set, these Church Knights were essentially walking golden men. No wonder they earned so much money selling Indulgence Scrolls; they were incredibly wealthy.

Even the blood-robed priest leading them wore five instantly-activatable magic rings on the fingers of his left hand. Each of those instant-cast magic rings was also worth more than ten thousand Gold Coins! That single hand of the blood-robed priest was almost comparable to Jiang Yong’s right hand.

What an incredibly expensive, incredibly valuable hand!

Even these Church enforcers, who traveled around arresting people, were this wealthy. What about the Church’s higher-ups, those Scepter Bishops, Holy Crown Bishops, and the highest-ranking figures? Could it be that they ate pearls and drank melted gold every day?

Even after Lin Qi boarded the passenger ship home, he was still absent-mindedly pondering this question.

If someone could rob the Church’s treasury, what an immense fortune that would be! If he could just pull off a heist of the Church’s treasury, maybe Lin Qi’s life goal could be achieved instantly. To live in a palace built of Gold Coins, and after death, sleep in a tomb built of Gold Coins.

“Goddamn, they’re so rich!” Lin Qi smacked his lips and wiped the drool threatening to drip from the corner of his mouth.

Lin Qi stood on the deck in a daze. Enzo, meanwhile, had already blended in with the ship’s sailors. He generously invited the sailors to share his mixture of betel nut and tobacco, and also happily accepted the hand-rolled cigarettes made from the sailors’ low-quality tobacco. Enzo diligently helped the sailors hoist the sails and tidy up the various items scattered on the deck.

As an excellent swordsman, Enzo had plenty of strength; these tasks were trivial for him.

After all, Enzo didn’t have as thick a skin as Lin Qi. He and Lin Qi were hitching a ride to Dun Er Ke, saving the fare. While Lin Qi could sit on the ship enjoying himself without a care, Enzo felt he should at least do something to help.

“What a spendthrift!” Lin Qi glared angrily at the busy Enzo. “All that hard work uses up too much energy, and you’ll end up eating a lot more later. Don’t you know we have to survive on Black Bread these next couple of days? Damn it, the last Copper Coin was spent on this Black Bread!”

He patted his money pouch, as clean as if it had been washed, and let out a soft sigh.

On the dock, Cripple was waving a white handkerchief towards the ship. His smile was so broad his eyes were narrowed into slits, seemingly overjoyed that Lin Qi, the troublemaker who always caused him headaches, was finally going home. As the passenger ship was about to depart, Cripple shouted loudly, “Lin Qi, my dear little Lin Qi, give my regards to your father. Tell him Cripple has some aged good wine prepared here. If he has time, he can come and taste it.”

Lin Qi grinned and waved vigorously back at Cripple.

Not far behind Cripple was the Cripple’s Tavern. On the terrace of the tavern’s top floor, Jiang Yong stood watching curiously in their direction. On Jiang Yong’s round tall hat, the black poisonous lizard glittered with specks of light.

Glancing at Jiang Yong out of the corner of his eye, Lin Qi took a deep breath. Damn it, a Celestial Knight—how was Lin Qi supposed to deal with that?

The passenger ship shuddered slightly. Driven by the current, the ship, with its reinforced bow plating, slowly began moving downstream.

The Sain River was the only non-freezing river in the northern part of the Continent. No one could explain why, but even in the bone-chilling cold of winter, the Sain River’s surface would at most develop a thin layer of ice the thickness of a finger, unlike other rivers that froze over with ice several feet thick. Ordinary ships, fitted with iron plating on the bow, could easily break through the thin ice and sail on the river.

Amidst the cracking sounds of ice breaking, the passenger ship sluggishly entered the main channel in the center of the river, gradually picking up speed as it raced downstream. From here, heading north along the Sain River, it would take at most two days to reach Dun Er Ke. That was Lin Qi’s home, the land where his ancestors had lived and prospered for countless years. According to the Lin Qi family’s own records, the Lin Qi family had resided in the Dun Er Ke region since the Primordial Era’s Destruction Calendar.

The Lin Qi family was famous in the Underworld of the Western Continent. The Black Tiger Family was like a ferocious beast ruling over the northern part of the Continent. All the shady businesses in the northern regions of the Western Continent were either directly controlled by the Black Tiger Family or had to share a portion of their profits with them. This family’s hidden influence was extremely vast. Even though it suffered heavy losses towards the end of the Hundred-Year Land-Island War, its power was still formidable.

Moreover, while the Hundred-Year Land-Island War thinned the Black Tiger Family’s bloodline, the war also allowed the family’s financial resources and influence to expand greatly. The current Black Tiger Family was at its weakest point in history, yet simultaneously at its strongest.

The journey was uneventful. Heavy snow blanketed everything on both banks of the Sain River, leaving a vast expanse of white with little scenery to enjoy.

Only when passing by a small town named Light did Enzo become a bit distracted—Light was Enzo’s hometown.

Lin Qi could only stroke his empty money pouch to comfort Enzo, saying that on the return trip they would have travel funds, and they could stop by Light to see his hometown. But for now, there was truly no other option. If they got off the ship midway now, they wouldn’t have the fare to board another passenger ship.

Drinking cold, plain water and gnawing on Black Bread, Lin Qi and Enzo endured for two days like pious Clergy. Finally, a lighthouse nearly a hundred meters tall appeared ahead. Dun Er Ke had arrived.

The crew shouted excitedly. The passenger ship slowly docked at the pier. Lin Qi and Enzo walked ashore via the gangplank and waved gratefully to the ship’s captain.

Taking a deep breath of the air heavy with the strong smell of the sea, Lin Qi muttered to himself, “Alright, I’m back! Damn it!”

He tugged at Enzo, who was still looking around at the scenery, and skillfully led him into the dense crowd on the dock.