The dining hall was only burned with a few pieces of short and chunky candles, which were pitch black and full of ghostly twists. I hope they didn't want to use the dim light to cover up the rotten meat in the broth, Leo Xin thought, and walked into the hall after the Mario monk.

Several long square tables that could accommodate more than a dozen people were placed in the hall, with several older boys accompanying each other. His companions had already sat down on the left of the main table. He sat down in the empty seat left by Rosie, and Lu Yuewu to his right. On the opposite side of him, many monks also sat down one by one. Sitting on the main table was a monk in a crimson robe. The desert warrior seemed to be a child who had been punished and trained, and stood behind him without saying a word.[]

The monk Ahiben was very different from what Leo imagined. First, he was almost not an elder. The monks who did not wear face towels in the restaurant were all hunched old men, but he was tall, upright, full of vitality, and in his prime. Secondly, his face was not as kind and kind as the monk he imagined. His head was big and square, his eyes were sharp and shrewd, and his nose was covered with red lines. Although he had cut his hair, his head and thick chin were covered with short beards.

He was not like a saint who could heal others' wounds, but rather like a thug who would break other people's joints at any time. Leo thought to himself. The monk in the red robe stood up and touched the monk Mario's forehead, and then compared it to each other. "Brandy Crow, you're worried." Leo heard him say quickly and softly. "Monkey Mario, you're a little late." He declared, and then turned to face the other guests and monks. "We welcome new faces. Oh, we have seen too few new faces recently."

The bachelor lady was polite. The gesture she made was pretty decent. Unlike the Mario monks, the red-robed monks did not feel uneasy among the guests. Although there were only male monks in this monastery. When Leo mentioned Pompedekar, he still put away his smile and said, "I know this." He changed the topic. "You must be thirsty. Please try our fragrant sand wine and moisten your voice when you have experienced the dusty journey." The boys who accompanied them poured wine. "Brandick, sit down, too." He said to the desert warrior, "Grin, smile. Dinner is a gift from the gods, not a punishment."

Dinner was served soon. The food was simple and delicious: the freshly baked bread was crispy and warm, the freshly stirred butter was placed in the jar, and the thick stew contained crab meat, clam meat and at least three different fish. After drinking the sand wine made by the monks, Knight Tario and the Crow Ferfeduo said it was great, while Leo and Rosie carefully used only a little snake egg soup. Almost everyone was silent during the meal. Leo did not see a monk speaking and talking in a low voice.

After the meal, the monks silently made a gesture to the red-robed monks, prayed a few lightly, and then stood up and lined up to leave the hall. Leo felt like puppets, doing some mechanical work. The last bit of food left on the long table was cleaned by the boys who served as waiters. Several of them had just confessed their greed in the church. But now, they were enjoying a more sumptuous dinner. This way of education was beyond Leo's expectations.

"If you make a mistake, you will punish it. This is the eternal truth." The monk Ahiben told him softly, "But those who are punished will continue to make mistakes. Those pickpockets, thieves, and rapists are all the same. Because the punishment is too slight and the benefits are too tempting, they don't care."

"So do the opposite?" Leo said doubtfully, "I'm afraid it will backfire."

"For children, beating and scolding are more reliable. I don't deny it." said the red-robed monk, "but if it is a first offense... I think they will remember the grace and glory of the gods more in mind. Because certainty and honor also mean shame."

The hall gradually became empty, and the monk Mario asked the blind boy to take them back to his room to rest. "We have prepared what you need, so you can rest assured to sleep." He said, "After going through hardships, nothing is more missed and impatient than a stable sleep."

"Can I go to the temple with my son?" asked Rava Joray devoutly.

"Of course." The monk nodded, "I will ask the boys to call you when the sun rises tomorrow. Let's go, I think everyone is exhausted."

They happily accepted the advice of the Mario monk. When they left the hall, the red-robed monk, Ahiben, called Leo and Rosie. "Can you stay a little longer? I think we should talk."

The Knights and the Crows raised their vigilance.

Leo waved his hand and told them not to be nervous. "If you want." He and Rosie looked at each other and returned to the hall. "Brandick, go and send your friends. Leave this for us." Yahebourne waved back from others.

Rosie pulled the chair away. The legs of the chair were dragging on the rough ground, making a harsh sound. She sat down opposite the red monk. "Say it." She urged with a bad temper. "What do you want to say?" The night fell, and it was not far from midnight. His and Rosie's patience gradually faded away. They were eager to hide, and they wanted to be afraid of seeing the sunny gophers.

"Many, a lot. We may not finish talking in one night," the monk Ahiben leaned on the back of the chair, looking at them with a kind of memory, sadness, and strange eyes. But Leo felt that his eyes were more when he was on him. "Goodly, we have enough time to let you listen to me one by one." His eyes were full of deep meaning, and Leo's heart trembled, and he seemed to see through their disguise.

"What the hell do you want to say?" Rosie slapped the table, "I don't want to listen to your roundabout way."

"Selastin... No, I think I should call you Leo better...Brandick talked to me about you." Ahhiben's square face showed a soft curve. He tilted his head to look at Rosie, and a faint smile appeared. "Your girlfriend is very energetic. She is very suitable for you."

"You don't need to evaluate it."

No, Leo felt something was wrong with his words... "How do you know my name?" Leo pressed the hilt of the sword with his hand. He had never mentioned it to the desert warrior, and his friends had never called him by his name. If it were Brandik, he would only call his surname and profession, rather than showing a kind name. Uneasiness appeared in his heart. What else could be there besides magic that was damn? Everything was the first to be aware of, and he would be the one who pretended to be an oracle in the desert warrior's ears. "Who are you?" He asked in a low voice and drew out his sword.

"Relax, relax, I have no malice." The monk in red robe raised his hands.

"No malice?" Rosie, who was standing beside her, took out a short crossbow, and the crossbow arrow was already on the string, and it was about to break out. "I don't believe it."

"Being vigilant is a good thing, but being too nervous will make you miss your friend." The red-robed monk sighed. He stood up. Leo thought he wanted to attack merit and quickly kept a distance from him. Yaheben smiled bitterly. "Let me introduce it again. My name is Dalma. Yaheben is my name. Leo, you should have heard my name, if you still remember it."

"No, I don't remember." Leo said, "I don't have any impression."

Unspeakable sadness appeared on the face of the monk Ahiben. "Alchemist... What a distant name. Leo, know your name because your father once told me that he would give you this name. It represents a beautiful ancient city... but no one has the chance to see him yet." Leo was shocked. How could he know his father? "If I said, I was once a follower of your father, a warrior wielding an axe hammer, would you be surprised?"

This surprise is nothing compared to his former follower of his father. "No. You look more like a knight than a monk holding scriptures and preaching the teachings." His chest, shoulders and strong chin clearly show this. "But... I won't believe your side so easily."

His voice trembled, and even Rosie could hear his shock and panic. She handed the short crossbow to her left hand and held him tightly with her right hand. "Leo." She held his hand tightly, giving him courage and reason, and most importantly calm.

The alchemist took a deep breath. His father's death, his father's past... He wanted to know, but... the oracle that the desert warrior kept chanting, the black sun hanging above his head... He had to be alert. "There is no way to speak for nothing." Li Ou said coldly, "Show me the evidence."

The monk in red robe was completely silent and did not speak for a long time.

"Can't take it out, liar." Rosie sneered, "Let's go, Leo. Stop wasting time with the waste. They always imagine others as fools who are exactly the same as themselves."

When they lifted their feet out, the voice of the red-robed monk sounded from behind them. "Wait." He walked up and stared at Leo's eyes. "I never intended to hide it, but..." A painful struggle flashed in his eyes. "Forget it, you will know when you see it. That thing... the alchemist and the magician should clearly understand its function... Come with me, this is not a place for talking." The red-robed monk paused, "The light of the sun is everywhere."

The last sentence is like a prayer from the gods, but Leo feels it is more like some kind of ridiculous irony.

Ahiben did not hold the lights. Amid the bright starlight at night in the sand sea, they wandered in the shadow of the quiet sanctuary, and their footsteps were echoed everywhere. The sneaking seemed meaningless and could only hide from the sleeping stupid pig.

"I hate here." Rosie whispered. However, the amplified voice repeated her words not far away. She almost went crazy because of this. "I want to yell!"

Lee Ou comforted her, "The thief hates this place more than you."

"I really don't know who we are hiding."

Ahiben did not say it clearly. But Leo guessed that it was nothing more than other monks. He did so, just to take them to a forbidden area that was forbidden to enter and exit. "It's almost here," said the red-robed monk.

They stopped under the wall near the oasis. There was no one around, quiet. However, the red-robed monk still waited quietly for a long time before gestured to let them follow. He took out the key and opened the door to the ground. Leo followed Rosie and followed him down the stairs. There was the sound of water blowing from the wind and chirping insects above, which was the little bugs complaining about being woken up. "What we asked for is patience and waiting." The red-robed monk opened his mouth when he walked halfway down the stairs. He still said in a cautious and low voice. "Everyone here is a qualified hunter. It's too tricky to deal with hunters."

"Where are we?" The chorus of the bugs gradually weakened, replaced by the increasingly clear sound of water waves.

"Just below the oasis, there is magic here. So it's very firm, dry and the temperature is suitable."

"It's not because of the magical art?"

"The magic technique has long dissipated with the death of the gods, so there is only magic."

"Since you don't believe in divine arts, why do you still believe in the gods?" Li Ou pointed out incisively.

Ahiben's tone remains unchanged. "I am not a believer, nor is I a false believer. I believe in the gods devoutly."

Lie. Leo has never heard of such a clumsy excuse. Since you don’t believe it, how can you talk about faith? “You know that the gods are dead, you accept this fact, and you understand that the object of your faith no longer exists.”

"So what?" Ahiben whispered, "if your father is still alive, he may also have the same view as you. But who says faith must be dedicated to things that are real?"

This question caused Li Ou to ask. He was speechless and Luo Xi opened his mouth and couldn't refute it. Who stipulated that the object of faith must be the gods? Why can't it be something else?

"Leo, just like the worldly truth you and your father pursue, your faith is the path of truth in alchemy, and the magician believes in the omnipotence of magic." Ahiben sighed. "And what I believe in is also an indescribable and untouchable illusion. I am not the other so-called true believer, who longs to get rewards from the gods. Faith is faith, not a commodity, nor a tradeable item."

Leo didn't know why he told him this, nor did he know what he could say. "I have never seen such faith, and I have never heard of such a saying." In the end, he could only tell the truth.

"Is that?" Yaheben turned his head, leaned forward, and stared at Leo's eyes. "If you understand, you will live up to your father's expectations. He has too many unfinished careers."

“What is it?”

"I know some, but not all." Ahiben showed a proud look. "But first, I have to show you the evidence. Otherwise, you won't believe it, right?"

This is to treat the person's body with his own way. Leo finally understood what it means to be self-binding. He took a deep breath and tried his best to keep calm. He asked another question and planned to move forward in a roundabout way. "Mr. Ahibine, why did you give up your father who followed me and become a monk here?"

"I have lived forty summers. But I never chose to be a mercenary. My father was a mercenary, and so did my grandfather. And every brother of mine. I have trained me to fight since the day they thought I was old enough to hold the wooden sword. I understand that I was one of them and never shamed them. I have had many women, but this makes me feel ashamed, because some were obtained by violence. I had hoped to marry a girl, but the life of the mercenary did not belong to me. Most of my previous life was trapped in battle, blood and spirits. I have visited coastal islands and visited the northern snow country. In short, I am very sad."

"When did it change?" Rosie asked.

"Meeting your father was the first important decision I made. But there is no need to say much about this, we have enough time. I will tell you a little bit. That is undoubtedly the happiest day in my life, brothers, and friends who can be back to back."

Li Ou was a little discouraged. "What about the second one?"

"When we - that is, with your father - came to this sea of ​​sand, we were attacked. This is normal. It was next to Pompedekar, which was prosperous back then, but now it was ruined and devils were raging. You must know that even the desert warriors could not patrol the entire sea of ​​sand. We fought hard, and one friend after another fell, and your father was injured. But we still had the upper hand, but the dust storm suddenly came. I was swept up and threw it into the quicksand. It was supposed to be suffocated, dragged into the sand, and no light was seen, and it became the food for the sand ray."

"But I woke up here, on the edge of the sanctuary of the silence. The monk told me that I was pushed up by the quicksand, and that I was the first life to be sent back by the quicksand. I can only assume that magic protected me because all the amulets made by your father were turned into pieces. However, the monks thought this was a miracle, so they took good care of me and regarded me as one of them."

Rosie curled her lips, "So you stayed?"

Ahiben did not care and continued, "I tried to find and beg the monks and warriors, but they did their best and found no trace in a hundred miles, as if everything I had experienced in those years was just a real dream I had had. In the face of cruel reality, I had to give up. The careful care of the monks made me accept their faith, seek the comfort of the gods of nothingness, and pray for your father and our friends. So this was my second life. I thought it would be appropriate to say so. I shaved my hair and lit the scar of the ring. And named it Ahiben. In the scriptures, this means "a pathetic lost man". For the next ten years, I remained silent until I became a monk in the red robe until I learned of your arrival."

He raised his head, tears rolled in his eyes. He cried. A strong soldier actually shed tears? Without looking at any evidence, Li Ou had already chosen to believe him from the bottom of his heart.

When his emotions gradually calmed down, Li Ou asked, "How did you know I would come here? So how did you know that my father has passed away?"
Chapter completed!