Li Liang had tens of thousands worth of swear words that he wanted to curse. However, he dared not.
This Xuanzang was simply a nutcase. He could stab a knife into someone while having a compassionate smile on his face.
How could there be such a monk?
It could only be said that he was still young and lacked knowledge and experience. There were actually many monks who were like that.
"Oh, he's still tied up. Benefactor Zhou, please loosen him," said Tang Luo to Zhou Zhenguo with a look of sudden realization.
After thinking for a while, Zhou Zhenguo chose to release the chain earlier than what he intended.
Li Liang took several steps back and sat on the ground. He looked angry yet terrified.
"Look, there is still no resistance, I am sure he is Li Liang," said Tang Luo.
Even Li Liang himself had the urge to vomit blood.
'What kind of judgment was this?
'Were you not afraid of encountering a very good actor who was able to swallow humiliation and endure a heavy load well?
'Monk, is there a problem with your brain?'
To be honest, Tang Luo was not sure whether Li Liang was himself or Jack the Ripper in disguise. He could not tell whether Li Liang was lying or Zhou Zhenguo. Only by using the power of virtuous merits that he had gained to judge Tang Luo found it unlikely that Li Liang was Jack the Ripper.
The most important thing was that Tang Luo did not even care if Little Li was indeed Jack the Ripper.
If he was not, then saving his life was better than building a seven-storied pagoda, and that was a good thing.
However, if he was…
Tang Luo said, "I believe that Benefactor Li was not Jack the Ripper, but if—" He took a step forward and gazed upon Li Liang. "Benefactor is really the Ripper who deceived me, then don't blame me for smashing your head to get rid of you, monster!"
If he was the Ripper, it was fine as well. The Ripper would be delivered right to his doorstep, and he wouldn't even need to look for him. All he needed was just kill him with a punch.
"I am not. I did not deceive you, don't talk nonsense!"
Li Liang consecutively made three denials.
When Monk Xuanzang spoke to him just now, Li Liang had felt that it was even more terrifying than getting hit by Zhou Zhenguo.
'Shouldn't a monk be compassionate and guide others to being good? Wasn't smashing one's head against the rule of not killing? The moral degeneration of the world is getting worse day by day, and men are not what they were in the past. The present-day monks not only consume meat and have wives, but they also want to commit the crime of killing. Can't afford to offend them!'
"Benefactor, don't panic. I believe you, except that I had placed those ugly words at the onset."
Tang Luo said, "Benefactor Zhou and the rest, what do you think? If Benefactor Li is really Jack the Ripper, I will bear the consequences."
"Uncle Zhou, could it be that illusions might have fooled you?" asked Little Chu. He felt that Li Liang was not necessarily a fake.
There was no reason as to why, except that he appeared too weak and incapable. He was not like the dangerous BOSS in everyone's mind—Jack the Ripper.
"Yeah, maybe Jack the Ripper can perform illusions and caused Uncle Zhou to have illusions so that we would kill each other." The high school student, Little Zhou, thought of this possibility.
"Not very likely." Without waiting for Zhou Zhenguo to speak, Tang Luo put forward a different opinion. "If the Ripper has the intention to kill and can make people hallucinate, why bother to let us kill each other? Isn't it easier to perform illusions on us and kill us?"
Everyone, including Zhou Zhenguo, was rendered speechless.
This monk was so detailed?
Little Chu frowned. "It's also possible that the Ripper can only perform illusions and has no ability to kill?"
"Not very likely, either." Tang Luo continued to reject the theories. "Since it was Jack the Ripper, how could he only know how to create illusions but not kill? Do you think this is likely? If so, the mission should be renamed as finding Freddie."
Zhou Zhenguo nodded.
"Which side are you on exactly, monk?" Little Chu was getting a little crazed.
Despite saving Li Liang, he did not think that Zhou Zhenguo 'was the problem'.
Tang Luo's image of a 'great master' that had just emerged in their hearts suddenly disappeared.
After that, Tang Luo became a monk again.
Of course, strictly speaking, the term monk was all along a respectful form of address, and only those who were 'qualified' to be a teacher of men could be referred to as a monk.
It was not so strict now.
"Amitabha, this monk just wants to save lives."
"…"
"Forget it," said Zhou Zhenguo. "Since that's the case, I won't kill him. However, we will go our own way and complete our mission separately."
His decision stunned everyone except Tang Luo.
Were they splitting up?
Shouldn't they help each other in times of trouble and eliminate all difficulties together?
Breaking up was quite common in The Game of Gods And Demons.
There was no squad mechanism in the game, and everyone was a lone traveler. What should they do when they encountered disagreement in their mission?
Naturally, it was to take their separate ways.
Whether to cooperate to complete the mission was up to them. Sometimes, having a team did not necessarily help towards completing the mission.
Once, Zhou Zhenguo had encountered a ruthless person, who had almost completed the mission alone. The rest of the Employees of Gods and Demons had no comments on that matter. It had been very difficult for these employees to get a reward after the mission. At most, it had not been registered as a failure count.
This time, Zhou Zhenguo had no intention of being that ruthless person—just that he did not want to get complicated. There was definitely something wrong with Li Liang.
Zhou Zhenguo was reluctant to have a time bomb around him. Leaving, or pretending to leave was the best option.
After saying that, Zhou Zhenguo turned around and left the church. It was already daytime outside. His actions did not appear to be affected at all.
As for Little Chu and the others, they hesitated for a while and felt that it was better to follow Zhou Zhenguo. However, by the time they chased after him, they had lost track of him.
They could only return in dismay and look at Li Liang from time to time, with unhappy expressions.
"Benefactors, please rest assured that I will protect you!" proclaimed Tang Luo, as though he was taking on everything.
Tang Luo did not expect that Zhou Zhenguo would propose to separate, but he did not care either. Once one got used to it, breaking up was no big deal.
"…"
A few hours later…
Little Chu and the others had very solemn expressions.
"So it is not London," said Little Chu.
They had left the church after Zhou Zhenguo split from the group. After some investigation, they had realized that this place was not the Victorian London, which they had wishfully thought at the start.
Instead, it was a spacious small western city.
It was dominated by European and American Caucasians and had a language that was similar to English.
In terms of communication, there was actually no problem. Being Employees of Gods and Demons, they would have language proficiency when entering the mission world.
When Tang Luo and the group walked on the street, they looked a little out of place but did not attract much attention.
The transportation on the street were horse-drawn carriages.
The factory's chimneys emitted thick black smoke, causing the sky to be covered with a hazy greyness.
Since it was not London, everyone, after putting their brains together, did not know if there was any valuable reference material about the Ripper. Hence, this city was useless to them.
The top priority was to determine the general direction.
They were unable to find Jack the Ripper by charging randomly like a headless fly.
Li Liang contracted his body as he sat on the bench in the park beside the road, his face pale with an uncertain expression. Apart from getting injured, he was also aware of the things that had happened to him most of the time. Otherwise, Zhou Zhenguo had no reason to leave all of a sudden.
'If I knew it, I wouldn't have gone looking for trouble.' Li Liang lamented in his heart.
According to the rule of horror movies, it was likely that when a person visited the toilet in the middle of the night, it was a classic act of looking for trouble.
Why didn't he think of this at that time?
Actually, it was not Li Liang's fault. Even Zhou Zhenguo didn't expect the danger to come so quickly. Even if it were a movie of an hour or two long, there would be a bit of foreshadowing at the beginning.
"Master is back."
"Master…"
When Li Liang was sighing, Little Chu and the rest, who were beside him, made some noise and took a few steps.
Tang Luo held some newspapers in his hand, walked into the small park by the street, and distributed them to everyone.
"Jack the Ripper has killed again!"
"Police received a huge amount of provocative letters!"
"Useless Cotland Yard!"
The newspaper used large headlines to attract attention and reported information on Jack the Ripper.
This legendary killer had made a name for himself in this small city, killing 25 people in just two months. The number of cases committed exceeded the Ripper from history, and the people killed were not limited to females.
The victims consisted of men, women, and children. It could be said that the killings were indiscriminate. It was perversion taken to the extreme—every victim was eviscerated!
Cotland Yard (police station), which represented a stark contrast to the crazy Jack the Ripper, had never been able to catch him. Naturally, it was heavily criticized for that.
After reading the relevant reports, everyone was looking worried.
The danger of Jack the Ripper was far beyond their imagination.
"What should we do now?" asked Little Chu.
The group arrived at a completely strange place, hoping to find the serial killer that had created widespread panic in the city. This was a very difficult challenge for young people who had not yet experienced the hardships of society.
After Zhou Zhenguo left, Tang Luo naturally became the pillar.
"Let's eat. Are you all not hungry?" said Tang Luo.
"…"
After Tang Luo's reminder, they realized they were famished.
The group stood up and was about to move forward when Little Chu thought of something. "Master, do we have any money for eating?"
The only benefit of Employees of Gods and Demons was their language proficiency. The game was not responsible for providing wealth and property to facilitate their employees' operation.
"Yes, we have money. I met two kind-hearted people in my journey and asked for alms." Tang Luo took out his wallet from his trouser pocket and opened it. It contained a thick stack of cash.
"Asking for alms?"
Little Chu and the others looked at Tang Luo's smile and frowned, feeling that things were not that simple. However, now was obviously not the time to worry about that.
Inside the alley in the distance…
Two pickpockets laid on the ground, unable to get up. Their faces were in pain as they trembled.