Chapter 67: The Boy in the Woods
"The person behind her?"
Sadie looked back.
"Doesn't Gisele live here alone?"
"No."
William shook his head.
"This dense forest is full of evil aura everywhere; we even encountered monsters earlier."
"A normal person simply cannot survive here."
Sadie had suspected this at first too.
But later, while interacting with the old woman, the other party showed no abnormalities.
"Maybe those monsters have territorial instincts," Sadie guessed.
There were similar cases in some places in the West where monsters maintained relative peace among themselves.
"Remember the question I asked Gisele at the beginning?"
William said:
"I saw Gisele had trouble walking, so I asked how she solved her food source."
"But she said there are often injured small game nearby..."
William had observed that half a rabbit with [Night Vision].
But there was no evil aura on it.
"Whether it was the corrosive nature of the previous three monsters or the Hank family."
"Things related to the dense forest carry some kind of weirdness."
"Therefore, the rabbit meat in Gisele's house seems a bit out of place."
Sadie's eyes lit up after listening; only then did she realize this detail.
"After that, I asked if there were threats like wolves nearby, but Gisele said she hadn't encountered any."
William's tone was serious.
"At the start, this old woman said—she has lived here for many years."
"But there are no traces of monsters near the wooden house, and even that aura has completely disappeared."
"And to find her son, she must have gone deep into the dense forest."
"In that case, it's impossible not to encounter the monsters in the woods..."
But Gisele was able to live safely until now, which seemed even more abnormal.
"Maybe it's just as you guessed—the monsters living here possess territorial instincts."
William stared at Sadie seriously, causing her to swallow hard.
"And the monster behind Gisele is super strong, so other monsters dare not overstep."
"Did... did you think of all this in such a short time just now?"
Sadie looked at this priest in surprise.
Only now did she finally understand the meaning of William's actions.
Compared to him, Sadie realized her actions just now were too rash.
Daring to make a judgment of "no danger" just by relying on [Dark Vision].
All along, she had relied heavily on this ability and had never failed.
But this experience forced Sadie to think—
If one day [Dark Vision] couldn't be used.
Wouldn't she be unable to detect danger even if it was close at hand?
Sadie secretly warned herself.
After going back this time, she must start training to reduce her dependence on abilities.
At the same time, her impression of this priest deepened again.
Sadie thought the other party was just strong, but she didn't expect his mind to be so delicate.
She decided to learn from William seriously.
"Of course, I always had doubts about Gisele's human identity."
Seeing Sadie dazed, William took out an empty bottle again.
"But since she dared to drink my holy water and showed no abnormalities regarding it."
William spread his hands: "I can only believe she is human."
After reaching this conclusion, he bid farewell to Gisele.
At the same time, William also had a guess about the identity of the person behind her.
...
Not far away, a cry for help suddenly came from ahead.
"Help... Save me."
William stopped immediately, and Sadie took out her revolver again.
The two soon discovered the source of the sound.
Not far ahead, a "Multi-legged Human" was entrenched under a big tree.
And a little boy was hiding in the fork of the tree.
Seeing someone coming, the boy hurriedly shouted.
"Please help me, I'm so scared."
At this time, the "Multi-legged Human" also discovered William and Sadie, so it turned around and crawled toward the two.
Due to previous experience fighting enemies, Sadie didn't plan to waste melee weapons this time.
She took out a few incendiary rounds from her waist bag.
This modified bullet could make the target burn instantly upon impact.
Loading, cocking the hammer, pulling the trigger.
Sadie's movements were smooth and coherent.
With a few gunshots, the "Multi-legged Human" let out a painful roar.
Immediately after, the latter began to spontaneously combust all over, turning into charcoal in a moment.
Sadie put away the gun, feeling something was wrong in her heart.
A moment later she shook her head.
"Are you okay?" She looked at the boy and asked.
Sadie just wanted to check the other party's condition, but turned her head to find William motionless.
So she retracted the step she had taken.
"Are... are you bad people?"
Seeing the threat removed, the boy came down from the tree, but retreated a few steps with a fearful face.
"My... my home is in the nearby town of Ambrose; people from the town will come to find me soon."
The boy seemed to be warning the two with this.
Hearing that there was a town nearby, Sadie's eyes lit up.
There might be news about Sister Sasha there.
So she looked at the priest beside her.
"We also just accidentally strayed into this dense forest."
William spoke suddenly at this time.
While speaking, he circled the position where the boy stood.
"Is... is that so? So you are not bad people!"
The boy probed.
"Then I can take you out of this forest."
The boy breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
"That's great." William responded casually; he had almost finished circling.
"What... what are you doing?"
The boy's eyes followed William.
"We have to leave quickly, or more monsters will appear after dark."
Aside, Sadie also looked puzzled.
At this time, William came to the boy again.
He looked down from above, staring at the latter indifferently.
"What... what are you doing?" The boy was a little creeped out by the stare.
"Take a guess?" William smiled slightly.
Immediately after, under Sadie's shocked gaze.
This priest kicked the boy in the chest, stomping the latter firmly against the tree trunk.
"Pfft... cough cough!"
Pain appeared on the boy's face.
"What... what are you... do... ing?" He spoke with difficulty.
"Hey, what are you doing!" Sadie shouted at this time.
She didn't expect William to attack a child at all.
But William turned a deaf ear, adding some force to his foot.
The boy's chest caved in visibly to the naked eye.
"Cough... wah."
He spat out a pool of blood and looked at Sadie pleadingly.
Such a cruel and inhumane scene made it impossible for Sadie to sit idly by.
"Hey, stop it!"
She was about to step forward immediately.
But the priest's next sentence stopped her in her tracks.
"You have too many flaws."
William looked at the boy in front of him.
"Knowing there are monsters in this dense forest, you still dare to come in alone."
"I... was just... preparing a gift... for Mom's birthday." The boy spoke weakly.
At this time, his mouth was full of blood.
"You can really act."
William chuckled.
"At your age, you can actually remain calm after being rescued."
"And you could even think of warning us not to have bad thoughts by saying 'family is looking for you'."
"Clearly acting very guarded, but choosing to trust us just because of my casual remark."
"Don't you think this transition is too fast?"
William stared into the boy's eyes.
"That... that's because..." The latter tried to explain.
"Also!"
But William didn't give the other party a chance to speak.
"Before meeting you, we had already encountered those monsters on the ground. Their tree-climbing speed is extraordinary."
(If he was really a helpless boy, he would have been caught long before they arrived.)
Hearing this, Sadie realized where the inconsistency was.
"The third flaw!"
William punched the tree trunk above the boy's head.
Crack, a clear fist print was left on the trunk.
"Being stepped on by me with this strength, yet you can still defend yourself multiple times. Do you think this looks like a 'boy'?"
Sadie was dumbfounded; she didn't expect this priest to have such great strength.
The boy fell silent upon hearing this, and his face became gloomy.
"Fourth flaw! Although you hid it well, there is still the disgusting smell of evil spirits remaining on you."
As soon as he saw the boy, William used [Night Vision].
The evil aura on the other party couldn't be hidden at all.
Actually, there was a fifth flaw.
Ambrose. William was very familiar with this town.
It had an exhibition hall famous for human wax figures.
That is the town in House of Wax.
Could there be any good people coming out of that place?
Seeing that he couldn't hide it, the boy's face returned to calm.
Then, he spoke in an adult male voice: "Didn't expect a smart person to come. It seems you want to choose a more painful way... uh."
Seeing the other party's true face, William raised an eyebrow.
Immediately after, he interrupted the other party again: "Now I'm asking the questions, Mr. Seymour."
Hearing this name, obvious surprise appeared in the boy's eyes.
"Now you have two choices. Either answer the information I want to know seriously."
William extended two fingers as he spoke.
"Or, after purifying you, I'll go back to find Gisele and send you mother and son to meet in hell."
As soon as this remark came out, Seymour could no longer maintain his composure.
He stared at William through gritted teeth.
"You dare!"
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