Who hid My Corpse!

The door was gently closed, and the candle flame flickered in the breeze seeping in through the window crack, much like the heart of a little boy.

"Th-that…" the dirt-covered boy anxiously looked at the middle-aged man smiling before him, stutteringly asked, "Priest Wu Lu, can you really give me food?"

"Of course," replied Priest Wu Lu with a gentle smile, "The Rhein God loves His believers, and as His servant, how could I bear to see you starve or freeze?"

"Th-that…"

"Leave it to me." Wu Lu slowly approached the little boy, arms wide open as if to embrace him, "Leave it to me. Come here, take off your clothes, let me cleanse your filth for the great Rhein God, and make you a follower of my Lord, so from now on, you can stay by my Lord's side like me, and never have to starve or freeze again."

Priest Wu Lu's figure gradually enlarged in the boy's eyes, but did not become friendlier; instead, it struck fear into him, especially that smile.

The little boy instinctively wanted to retreat, but upon entering the room, he had no way out and could only watch Wu Lu stand in front of him, displaying a demonic smile.

Wu Lu was quite pleased with the boy's reaction.

Although in a daze, he could see his former self, also standing in the boy's position, watching the approaching priest.

That memory had tormented him for many years, but it was to end today.

For now, the roles had been reversed, and he was the master.

"You want food, to keep your family alive, right?" Wu Lu said with a smile, "The Lord said, to receive something, you must give something first… You don't want your family to starve to death, do you?"

These words instantly breached the boy's last line of defense, and he closed his eyes.

Wu Lu also reached out his hand, inching closer to the boy.

Then,

"Bang bang bang."

A series of noises akin to someone knocking on a table abruptly rang out, causing Wu Lu to halt his movements and his smile to tighten.

He immediately turned his head, looking for the source of the sound.

Soon, Wu Lu's gaze fell on the wardrobe; he was certain the knocking had come from inside.

"Who?" Wu Lu demanded harshly, "Who's there?!"

No one answered; the sound seemed to have been an illusion.

The atmosphere in the room instantly turned eerie, and even the little boy didn't dare to breathe loudly because he, too, had heard the sound.

Wu Lu tightly furrowed his brow, reaching for the magic wand on the table.

Though he didn't know who was audacious enough to hide in his wardrobe… Hmm?

Wu Lu suddenly thought of something.

Could it be…

He turned his head abruptly, expressionless, and said to the boy, "You go out first."

The boy was slightly startled, "Huh?"

"I told you to go out first." Wu Lu's earlier worldly desires had disappeared from his face, replaced by ferocity, "Get out now, and don't talk about tonight's events to anyone, or else… you know the consequences."

The boy swallowed the saliva caught in his throat, not daring to say more, and hurriedly scampered out of the room.

After the boy left, Wu Lu immediately went to the door, confirmed there were no other people outside, then closed the door and returned to the wardrobe.

"It can't be… that."

He took several deep breaths before slowly opening the wardrobe.

In the center of the wardrobe, lay a small box.

And, as he opened the wardrobe, a crisp "bang" sounded from the box once more.

This "bang" seemed to strike directly at Wu Lu's heart, nearly stopping his heartbeat.

It really was!

Wu Lu immediately took out the box and placed it on the table.

After taking several deep breaths, he slowly pulled open the small box.

Inside the box,

was a finger.

At the sight of the finger, Wu Lu felt his heart skip a beat.

Undoubtedly, it was this finger that had made the noise.

Wu Lu immediately stood up, hands behind his back, pacing back and forth in the room.

Clearly, he knew the origin of this finger.

It belonged to a very dangerous ancient figure named Visas.

What he specifically did, Ulu wasn't very clear on, only knowing that All Gods were extremely wary of him. They even banded together to kill him, obliterating even his soul.

But even though they had obliterated his soul, they could not destroy his body, no matter the method.

Eventually, after All Gods tried everything, they only managed to shatter his body, transforming it into countless Corpse Blocks, which they then sealed. Over time, as the gods battled amongst themselves, many Corpse Blocks also scattered amongst humans. Although after the war the four major Orthodox Churches, including the Rhein Divine Sect, continued to retrieve Visas's Corpse, they couldn't find them all.

And legend had it that whoever obtained Visas's Corpse would gain the powers Visas had in life.

And now, a finger appeared before Ulu.

This finger was something Ulu had bought from a black market merchant—more accurately, he had swindled it using his identity as a priest.

Of course, he hadn't thought it was real before he duped the merchant. It was just that the black market merchant didn't have any valuable goods left, so he took what looked the most valuable.

The black market merchant likewise hadn't thought it would be real before giving it to Ulu.

But unexpectedly, it was real.

How should he handle accidentally buying something genuine?

Ulu began to feel restless.

He faced two choices.

First, to turn in this finger, as the Rhein Divine Sect of the four major Orthodox Churches was also collecting Visas's Corpse. By turning it in, it would definitely count as a significant achievement. His position would significantly climb, and he might even directly become a bishop. At worst, he could leave this remote place.

But... that would be it.

He didn't possess extraordinary talents and wasn't someone the Church would value. Being assigned as a bishop in some other remote area seemed to be the best outcome for him.

So, what if he chose not to?

Ulu stopped in his tracks, then slowly turned his head to look at the finger, lying quietly in the box.

What if he kept the finger for himself, for his own use?

That would be… the power of Visas.

Ulu felt as if something inside his heart was about to burst forth, his ambition growing and swelling like bamboo after rain.

Over the years, he had tried leaving this place, tried climbing higher to gain more power and authority. But unfortunately, having neither talent nor connections, he had guarded this church for twenty years and was still just a lowly priest, likely to spend another twenty years here.

And...

He closed his eyes, and memories of mocking laughter surged: "You filthy old fart, thinking of becoming a bishop? The Rhein Divine Sect doesn't need such a rotten organ, get out."

This memory painfully stabbed into Ulu's heart.

When Ulu opened his eyes again, he had his answer.

And it was the only answer left.

If he gave up this chance, Ulu felt he would regret it for a lifetime.

After confirming the severed Visas's finger was a middle finger, Ulu covered his mouth with gauze, then positioned the knife at his own middle finger and chopped it off.

"Mmph!!!!"

The intense pain nearly made him pass out.

But he endured the pain, threw his own severed finger aside, picked up the finger from the box, and attached it to his wound.

Then, the unbelievable happened.

The finger from Visas, like an infant searching for a nipple, naturally sucked onto Ulu's wound.

Followed by another wave of intense pain.

This time, Ulu almost couldn't bear it.

But the pain came quickly and left quickly too.

In just a few short seconds, Ulu could no longer feel any pain.

He lowered his head to see his left hand fully healed, the middle finger attached so naturally it seemed like his own.

Had it not been for the blood on the table and the other severed finger, Ulu might have doubted whether his act of cutting his finger had been an illusion.

"I, I did it," Ulu raised his left hand, his whole body shaking with excitement, "I succeeded! I, I obtained, I obtained the power of Visas!"

Then, he heard a mocking male voice in his mind: "Oh? It seems you really desire my power."

Ulu was stunned.