The voice from the depths of the cave was extremely faint by the time it reached the entrance. Wu Tian merely glanced back before discarding it from her mind.
The objective was successfully acquired. The next step was to proceed to the abbey to locate the other "Horus."
She had inquired why there were so many individuals named Horus, but Andrea had only shaken her head, telling her not to worry about it.
The location of the abbey was etched clearly in her memory. Without any hesitation, she set off in the intended direction after exiting the cave.
Unlike Lin Yuan, she did not attempt to traverse the forest but instead took the main road.
Wu Tian was acutely aware of what lurked within the forest, due to Lin Yuan's recent fierce battle with the monster in the lake.
The creatures within the manor were all converging towards the scenic lake, making an encounter with Wu Tian almost inevitable.
"Vede! Look quickly, isn't that the woman the Holy Mother asked us to find!" hoarse, unpleasant voices echoed from the forests on either side of the road.
They were believers who had been dispatched from the guesthouse to provide support. They happened to see Wu Tian, who was not wearing any facial covering, while taking a shortcut.
Amidst their surprise, they did not forget to anticipate the reward they would receive for capturing the person and presenting her to the Holy Mother.
"Hehehe, once I catch a woman, I'm going to..."
Before he could finish speaking, his senses detected an approaching danger. Looking up, he saw the very woman they had been discussing capturing, holding an exquisite revolver.
It was aimed directly at their heads.
"A gun? That thing is like a toy to us..."
"Bang! Bang bang!"
Bullets, like crimson amber, were heated to a glowing red by friction with the air, emitting a bright light.
They ultimately struck the three believers who had been eyeing her covetously.
They had no time to utter a word before their heads exploded. Only a few pieces of flesh-laden neck remained before they began to dissolve. Within a mere ten seconds, their bodies had transformed into a pool of black liquid and three deformed skeletal remains.
Upon closer inspection, the bones bore marks of gnawing, with the damage expanding and becoming more pronounced.
In less than a minute, nothing remained at the scene. Only a slight undulation of the ground occurred before it settled back into tranquility, as if nothing had happened.
However, Wu Tian saw none of this. After precisely blowing off their heads with three shots, she continued her advance without pause, following the route imprinted in her memory.
Passing the mess hall, no one blocked her path, but the candlelight in the mess hall was still lit. Wu Tian was unsure if anyone was inside.
To prevent any surprise attacks from behind, Wu Tian approached to take a closer look. She wiped away the snowflakes from the window, but still could not see clearly inside.
The interior was fogged with steam, allowing only the flickering candlelight to be seen, and the layout within was hazy.
However, since no one detected her with such close proximity, Wu Tian did not dwell on it.
Andrea had mentioned that the monsters in the mess hall possessed keen senses. If there were any present, they would have surely noticed her at this distance.
Leaving the mess hall, Wu Tian took out a bottle of sparkling powder from her backpack and sprinkled it onto herself.
Wu Tian stopped only when half the powder from the bottle was gone.
"It should be covered sufficiently. But Andrea's provisions are truly diverse. The pile of rotten flesh I traded earlier was so disgusting, yet this bottle of powder appears quite girlish."
Shaking her head, she ceased her aimless thoughts, placed the bottle away, and rummaged through her backpack.
She retrieved a 40cm Western-style short sword and opened the items Horus had given her.
Inside the box was a bottle of black liquid. Upon closer inspection, it was discernible that this substance faintly revealed a hint of purple under the flashlight's beam.
If one were to make a comparison, it resembled wine that had turned dark and purplish from overripeness.
Wu Tian knew this was not wine, but something extracted from the mysterious core of the meteorite.
Unscrewing the stopper, Wu Tian lifted the bottle and slowly poured its contents onto the sword's blade.
The liquid that dripped onto the sword did not slide off the smooth, translucent blade onto the ground. Instead, it directly fused into the silvery-white short sword.
As the liquid continued to integrate, the sword's color gradually deepened. If the flashlight were turned off, the blade would appear to merge seamlessly with the darkness.
After preparing the short sword, Wu Tian proceeded to treat the 15 bullets for her Colt 1851 revolver, using up the entire bottle of liquid.
(Yes, these are the M1851 bullets, the same as in Resident Evil 8. This gun is so cool, I personally think it's the coolest Magnum weapon in the Resident Evil series!)
She carefully loaded the bullets onto her bandolier. These were meant for essential moments; otherwise, she would use the bullets treated with meteorite powder.
With all preparations complete, Wu Tian sheathed the short sword at her waist, gripped the revolver in both hands, and ran to the abbey entrance, kicking the door open with a single forceful movement.
Yet, what greeted her was still a deathly silence.
Andrea's words echoed in her mind.
"I don't know who has entered the manor, but you must be aware that this intruder might also be after Lin Jun."
She could still recall Andrea's puzzled expression.
At the time, she had thought Andrea was merely agitated by the disruption to her plans. Now, it seemed there was more to it.
"Horus! Are you here?" She had almost traversed the entire abbey without encountering anything.
Only the insectoid corpses in the hallway and the paintings stuck to the wall with some sticky web indicated that a battle had taken place here.
"Who did this?" Before Wu Tian could figure it out.
"Bang!"
"Who!"
The sudden strange noise from behind startled Wu Tian, and she immediately turned, aiming her gun at the source of the sound.
The intersection they had just passed had undergone a transformation. A large section of the dark red floor had jutted out, with wooden fragments scattered everywhere.
"Rustle rustle!"
This protruding section first collapsed partially, and then a two-meter-long sharp limb emerged from it.
Following this was a strange, terrifying female laugh:
"Hee hee hee, there is no Horus here. All the Horuses have been chopped into pieces, hee hee hee."
"Crack!! Bang!!" The sound of splintering wood was incessant. The area they had just passed had become a gaping hole.
Something had emerged.
However, the air was now filled with dust, and visibility was extremely low. Wu Tian could not see the situation clearly.
She could only slowly retreat.
Just as Wu Tian was about to exit the abbey, a chilling laugh suddenly rang out from above.
"Hee hee hee, are you looking for me?"
Looking up, her field of vision was replaced by two downward-stabbing limbs.
"Thwack!"
The sound of a blade slicing into flesh followed.
...
In the church on the mountainside.
Lychee Garden had entered the secret chamber that had automatically opened and was scratching its head at a large board.
"Why is there a Huá Róng Dào puzzle here too!"