A farming master in Stardew Valley

Chapter 888 Containment
If I remember correctly, the smell is very similar to when the Lost Mind appears around.

But it was precisely knowing this that made Lyon quite confused.

After all, this Summer Carnival was being held in conjunction with the Guardian Net Ceremony. While the core members of the Church were in the core area, the ceremony had already concluded. Why were they still there? Aren't they worried that those who had finished the ceremony but didn't want to leave, wanting to participate in the Summer Carnival, might stumble upon them and kill them?
"Are you targeting me?" Lyon thought of the seed of the protective net on his body.

"The teacher is here."

While Leon was thinking, Abigail reminded Leon, and then he saw Rasmodes and Linus coming in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Rasmodes asked directly as soon as they met.

He and Linus had just returned to Stardew Valley, and before they had time to change clothes, they heard Abigail's call through the communication totem left for Abigail, so they were teleported back to the square. If Leon didn't give a reasonable explanation, he felt that he could drag him to the dungeon and lock him up in a small dark room for a while.

"A crazy person appeared here." Lyon didn't waste any time and directly stated his discovery.

"Are you sure?" Rasmodesm was stunned when he heard that.

"Sure, I smelled their stench. It was very faint, but it was there." Leon nodded. "Just now, one of the children was in a very abnormal state, but when I saw him, he returned to normal."

"I smelled it too. Although it's very faint, there are indeed some residual corrupted power." Linus also testified on behalf of Leon at this moment, and his expression became a little more serious.

"The church rituals have all ended. They have no chance to invade the core area, nor can they attack other strains under the protection of the bishops. So they are targeting you as a special case?" Rasmodesm found the possibility of the appearance of these crazy people in a moment.

The guessed answer was almost the same as what Lyon had guessed before.

"The probability is very high. The sub-strains of the Guardian Network are the nodes that stabilize the barrier of the entire world, and none of them can be missing. So if there is a problem with one node, it is equivalent to leaving a weak point or a gap." Linus added.

"So now I'm going to contact the church personnel, Linus, you stay with Leon."

Rasmodesm agreed with this view and immediately made arrangements with Linus with a serious face.

"As for you two girls, follow me. I'll take you back to Stardew Valley first. Until this is over, stay in the Mage Tower and don't leave. Okay?"

After seeing Linus nod to indicate that he accepted the plan, Rasmodesmus began to distribute it to Abigail and Sophia.

"no problem."

Stopping Sophia from saying something, Abigail nodded in agreement.

Rasmodesm breathed a sigh of relief, then signaled Abigail to hold Sophia, then grabbed his sleeves with his hands, and then used the teleportation spell to take the two away.

"So, I'm the bait?"

Seeing that Rasmodesma had only taken Abigail and Sophia away but seemed to have forgotten about him, Leon instantly understood.

"Smart! After all, a Demented One who dares to show up in this place, and is plotting against the Guardian Network, must be no small player. If you're taken back and their plans fail, then wouldn't they just be able to watch the executors, who are hiding in the dark, get away?"

Linus smiled and patted Leon's shoulder: "And don't worry, I'm still with you." "But if they're fishing, they won't dare to do anything if you're nearby." Leon had no objection to this. This was not the first time he had dealt with the Madmen. He hadn't gotten back at them for treating him like a stud cow last time, and now that they were at his doorstep, he naturally didn't want to let them go.

What he was worried about was alerting the enemy. After all, Linus was guarding them, and God knew whether those crazy people were willing to take the risk.

"Safety first. At the very least, we can't start a fight here. It's Summer Carnival, after all, and there are too many civilians." Linus explained, "I'll take you to a secluded battlefield later to ensure that no innocent people are harmed."

Linus added, "And I think even if I'm with you, they'll still come looking for you. After all, six of the seven bishops are currently transporting the Guardian Net's seedlings, while one is concluding the ceremony and guarding the main body of the World Tree model's Guardian Net. This means the Church's high-end forces won't be able to intervene, and an old man like me probably doesn't have that much of a deterrent."

"How dare they make such a big scene?" Lyon complained.

"Don't underestimate their madness. If it weren't for the barrier, those traitors isolated in the Starfall Land would have already begun to gather all the monsters on the border and launch a general attack on humans." Linus sighed and confirmed to Leon.

"Are you scared?"

"No, I just want to ask, if the bishops of the church are unable to help, are there no other combat professionals? And there should be many strong people among those who come to participate in the ceremony this time, can't we call them to help?" Lyon asked back.

"Who said no? Do you think Lasmodeus hasn't come back yet because he needs to recover his magic power?" Linus looked around and teased Leon.

"That's no problem. Old man, please lead the way and find an open space."

Leon also felt that he had asked a stupid question, and immediately shrugged to indicate that he would follow the arrangements.

"Let's go to the Fireworks Square in the west. It's still early before the evening banquet performance, so there won't be many people." Linus said, and took Leon to the west.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Lyon always felt that the further west he went, the more gazes he was stared at from the dark. Until he arrived at the empty Fireworks Square where no one had set foot, these uncertain gazes began to become clear.

Before they knew it, Leon and Linus were surrounded by more than 20 tourists dressed in modern clothes, including men, women, young and old.

Everyone's pupils were pitch black, their expressions were cold, and their eyes were just like the child they had discovered before, looking high and mighty. They all raised their heads and looked down at Leon and Linus.

"A disguise or a controlled puppet?"

Leon pulled out the Galaxy Watermelon Knife, but did not take any further action. He just confirmed with Linus.

"Puppets." Linus looked at these innocent tourists who were being manipulated with a headache, and did not dare to act rashly.

Because he noticed that in addition to the strange expressions of these tourists, there was also a dark magical word carved on their throats. Even Linus, who knew little about magic, recognized the meaning of this word.

Because this is the most commonly used explosion rune by mages, and the effect is naturally the same as the literal meaning.

In other words, these people are all hostages.

(End of this chapter)