The Legend of the Demon Hunter

【IV】

The philosophy and purpose of the "Red Lotus" attracted many people who came here because of its reputation. The speed at which the organization grew was far beyond imagination. In just two years, the Red Lotus grew from the initial two people to thousands of people, including dozens of demon hunters. In order to accommodate the members of the Red Lotus, they built many houses, which were gathered into villages, towns and cities.

In the Buluolan Snowfield, thousands of hungry and cold poor people were saved by "Red Lotus". As the founder of Red Lotus, Jin Ling'er's title of Saint spread throughout the snowfield. With the passage of time, the beliefs and ideas of "Red Lotus" continued to spread and consolidate, and the image of Saint Jin Ling'er was gradually deified. Red Lotus evolved from an organization into a religion.

But disaster approached unnoticed, and a long and cold winter night arrived.

This winter night lasted for two full years. The heavy snow and cold wind swallowed everything. The city built by the Red Lotus was covered with thick snow, and people watched themselves being buried alive by the ice and snow.

On cold winter nights, the frozen corpses never decayed, and the entire Red Lotus Sect became a hell on earth.

Jin Ling'er was extremely busy in this snowstorm and often worked for several days without rest to take care of the people affected by the disaster. However, in the face of nature, human power is ultimately fragile and powerless. The number of deaths reported every day was like a sharp knife, making Jin Ling'er's already wounded heart even more broken.

But she still persisted with the stubbornness that came from her bones until a piece of news came: Cang Xu, who was already in his twilight years, had also reached the end of his life.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! How are you?" Jin Ling'er hugged Cang Xu and felt that he was as thin as a feather.

"Children, grandpa has lived a long life and is saying goodbye to you forever." Cang Xu's words were weak.

"No! Grandpa, Ling'er will definitely find a way to save you. There must be a way to save you!"

"Child, the red lotus has withered. Our efforts have ultimately been in vain."

Jin Ling'er's eyes dimmed, and she cried out in despair: "Why, why is it like this? Is this fate? I have been pursuing you for so many years, and fate has taken away everything from me. Is it going to take you away too, Grandpa?"

The vitality in Cang Xu's body was rapidly draining away. He gasped for breath and said in his dying moments, "Child, I have heard that thousands of miles to the south, there is a continent without ice and snow and cold, and it is full of hope. Ordinary people in the Blolan Snowfield cannot cross such a long distance, but you are a demon hunter, you can give it a try."

"Grandpa, do you mean that you want me to go to the south?" Jin Ling'er asked.

"Well, go ahead, head south, find a way to save the snowfield, and then bring the fire of hope back to the Blolan Snowfield." After saying this, Cang Xu closed his eyes and passed away.

……

"The story ends here." Xiaoya said, pointing to the pattern on the wall of the Pope's Temple.

Xiao Zhu and Bai Hao were silent for a long time, as if they were still immersed in the story just now, until Bai Hao broke the silence: "It seems that the original intention of the establishment of the Red Lotus Sect was to save the poor people on the Buluolan Snowfield, and the Saint Jin Ling'er was a pure and kind woman. But why is the Red Lotus Sect called a cult in Nuowan City?"

"Xiao Ya, are there no other records on the wall?" Xiao Zhu asked, pointing at the pattern.

"No more." Xiaoya replied. She suddenly noticed a line of small words at the end of the pattern. The font and size of this string of words were different from the previous ones. They should not have been carved at the same time.

"In the fourth year of the Red Lotus Cult, Jin Ling'er took the Red Lotus Cult's last hope and headed south to seek a way to survive..."

After hearing what Xiaoya read, Xiao Zhu asked in confusion: "What happened after Jin Ling'er went to the south?"

"I'm also curious about this. But at least we can infer that Jin Ling'er succeeded, which is why we have the Red Lotus Sect and Huanling Kingdom today." Bai Hao thought for a moment and answered.

"Brother Bai, how do you feel about the Red Lotus Sect after you came to Huanling Country?" Xiao Zhu suddenly asked.

"What's wrong?" Bai Hao looked at Xiao Zhu in confusion.

"I have been in Huanling Country for more than a month and have had some contact with the Red Lotus Cult. This religion gives me the feeling that it is both good and evil. The Red Lotus Cult members have not done anything harmful to the world, but they are definitely not as pure and kind as recorded in the books."

"You're right. I feel the same way. After all, Jin Ling'er founded the Red Lotus Cult more than a thousand years ago. We have no idea how many things have happened over the years. Perhaps the current Red Lotus Cult has already completely deviated from its original intention." Bai Hao said.

"Brother Bai, let's continue looking forward." Xiao Zhu pointed ahead.

The three of them went deep into the innermost of the Pope's Temple, and a statue of the saint appeared in front of them. This was the most exquisite and luxurious statue of the saint Xiao Zhu had ever seen, and her expression was lifelike, as if she would come alive in the next second.

To everyone's surprise, behind Saint Jin Ling'er, there were three much smaller statues standing. The Pope's Temple actually worshipped four statues at the same time! This had never happened in any other branch of the Red Lotus Sect.

The three statues are an old man with white hair and beard, a tall and dignified young man, and the last one is a young woman.

As for the first two statues, Xiao Zhu and Bai Hao, who already knew the origin of the Red Lotus Sect, could easily guess that the old man with white hair and beard should be Cang Xu, the old man who took in Jin Ling'er and guided her to become a demon hunter, and the other tall man was Ziye, who pursued Jin Ling'er and founded the Red Lotus Sect with her.

However, this last woman was not mentioned in the story, and Xiao Zhu and Bai Hao had never seen her.

Xiao Zhu carefully observed the statue of a woman. There was no doubt that this was a woman with extremely beautiful appearance, but her beauty was different from Jin Ling'er's. Jin Ling'er's face revealed a kind of feminine heroic spirit, while she was thoroughly gentle. There was a faint smile on her face, like the warm winter sun shining into people's hearts.

"Hey! What is this?" Xiaoya suddenly noticed a white civet cat squatting at the woman's feet.

Xiao Zhu's attention was attracted by Xiaoya. He looked at the civet cat and frowned slightly. The civet cat gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.

Xiao Zhu flipped through the memories in his mind, and he suddenly remembered the adventure he and Xia Shi had in the cave in Tianjian Forest five years ago.

"Yun Ke..." Xiao Zhu remembered the name of the demon beast Yun Lu. It was the first time he saw a demon beast transformed into a human. Although it was only a remnant soul, it still gave him, who was already a high-level demon hunter at that time, a strong sense of oppression. This sense of oppression even exceeded the three beast kings he encountered in the defense of Novan College.

He suddenly remembered what Yun Ke had said to Xia Shi.

"My child, you are very beautiful, just as beautiful as her. Although you two do not look alike, the gentle temperament you exude is so similar that it seems to be able to melt everything in the world."

"Although they both have the bloodline of Shenyue, there is a huge gap between her and him in strength..."

Memory and reality were linked together, and Xiao Zhu had a strong feeling that the statue of the raccoon cat in front of him was Yun Ke's real body. Then who was this woman? Could she be the extraordinary woman with the blood of Shenyue a thousand years ago?

Unfortunately, Yun Ke has already disappeared, both physically and spiritually, and all this is destined to become an unsolved mystery.

"Do you know her?" Bai Hao noticed Xiao Zhu's abnormality and mistakenly thought that Xiao Zhu knew the statue of the woman.

Xiao Zhu shook his head: "I don't know him."