Chapter 57

The cool, astringent liquid was swallowed, and the mechanical mind potion immediately took effect. A cold, hard, metallic sensation enveloped his thoughts, temporarily suppressing the originally frenzied biological instincts.

Not everyone could resist the pink halo's invasion with a magic potion. The hall fell into complete chaos. The men's eyes glowed red, and they hastily stripped off their clothes, then grabbed a soft, warm body from nearby, tearing the clothes to shreds.

The women allowed countless rough hands to roam over their bodies. Their faces were flushed with desire, their eyes dazed, and they spread their legs, allowing familiar or unfamiliar men to enter their bodies, then let out high-pitched, joyful screams.

In groups of three or four, or even seven or eight, the hall was filled with naked, writhing bodies. The smells of sweat, alcohol, incense, and bodily fluids mixed together, making it seem as if one more breath of this lustful air would plunge one into the depths of desire.

Gordon and Shelley exchanged a glance, secretly relieved. Fortunately, they had timely taken the mechanical mind potion to resist the halo emitted by the Lielia statue. It must have been an extremely powerful mind spell, capable of making people lose their reason and become primitive creatures driven solely by the urge to mate.

Suddenly, the door to the second floor opened, and a group of warriors in black heavy armor filed out. Their armor was adorned with sharp spikes, and a twisted human face was etched on their chests. The black-armored warriors stood in the corridor on the second floor, their fully covered bull-horned helmets hiding cold, blood-red eyes that looked down at the frenzied crowd below.

"I think we should leave," Gordon whispered to Shelley.

Given the situation, even the most foolish person could guess that this party was likely a trap, a conspiracy. If the black-armored warriors discovered that there were still two people who remained清醒 in this frenzied party, it would not be a good thing.

The collective carnal pleasure continued, and Gordon noticed a pink mist with a tinge of blood red gradually forming above the hall, rising and being absorbed by the ceiling. He discovered that the ceiling was painted with a large magic array, and the complex, rare runes were flickering, transmitting the absorbed mist through the obsidian energy patterns to the underground.

"Someone is collecting the energy of lust?" Gordon gradually pieced together some of the details.

However, now was not the time to worry about these things. He and Shelley needed to leave quickly. Although the mechanical mind potion had temporarily suppressed their desires, the power of the goddess Lielia was not so easily dispelled. Gordon vaguely felt that the flame of desire in his heart had not been extinguished, but was quietly lying in wait, ready to strike.

Gordon took out two bottles of invisibility potion from his dimensional bag: "Shelley, drink it. We have four minutes."

When they emerged from the shadows behind the carved pillars, the two had become transparent, blurry shadows. In the misty, dimly lit hall, almost no one could see them with the naked eye.

Elves revered the west, as this direction pointed towards their holy land and place of origin—the Eternal Island. In all elf architecture, important functional rooms such as kitchens, dining rooms, studies, and bedrooms were built on the west side, while toilets, dungeons, and stables were built on the east side.

Gordon pulled Shelley, walking along the wall towards the west side of the hall. Their target was the kitchen.

A kitchen meant there was a food storage cellar, and a cellar meant there was a suitable hiding place. Many nobles also had secret doors and tunnels in their cellars for escape in times of crisis.

When they reached the wooden door leading to the kitchen, Gordon tried the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. He immediately recited a spell, using a knock spell to open the door. Fortunately, the cries of pleasure from the people in the hall covered the sound of the spell. The two opened the door and left the hall, unnoticed.

Closing the wooden door, they blocked out the heat and moans from the hall and walked down the dim corridor.

Passing through the empty servant's dining room, they arrived at the kitchen. Various fruits and vegetables were scattered on the ground, bread and meat in the baskets were in a mess, and fine foie gras was smeared everywhere. The kitchen looked as if it had been visited by a greedy, clumsy bear.

A faint snore rose and fell.

"Shh~" Gordon pointed to Shelley. The half-elf ranger followed his finger and saw a man and a woman, their bodies covered in cream and soup, tightly embracing and sleeping soundly.

Judging from the white, turbid liquid between the woman's legs, these two had clearly had a wild time. Gordon looked at their thin clothing and recognized them as followers of the goddess of pleasure.

Gordon first cast a silence spell on the room, then used animated ropes to bind the two, and finally cast a detect thoughts spell on himself, nodding to Shelley. She, following Gordon's indication, fetched a basin of cold water from the water tank and splashed it on them.

The man and woman, startled by the cold, suddenly woke up. They looked around in confusion and then saw Gordon standing in front of them.

"Sir Mage," the woman sat up, not caring that her body was exposed, "I don't think you need to take so many precautions. The Church of Lielia and the Three Saints Baptist Church are not on the same side. We are only helping them for a certain reason."

"Three Saints Baptist Church?" Gordon showed interest. The woman's position in the Church of Lielia was clearly higher than the man's, and she knew more about the situation. He said, "Tell me everything you know."

"The Three Saints Baptist Church is a secret church formed by the material plane followers of the three demon lords of the Abyss, and it has also recruited many other evil minions. They forced us to hold this party in the name of the Church of Lielia."

"I remember that the followers of Lielia, though not bound by order and pursuing complete freedom, generally do not ally with evil. Why did you comply with the Three Saints Baptist Church?"

The woman smiled bitterly: "Because it was the goddess's command. Six months ago, during a lower plane journey, she was attacked by the demon lord Akatu, the goddess of pain, Lovita, and the god of poison, Zahir, and was forced to submit. Then, all the material plane followers of Lielia received a divine command from the goddess, instructing us to unconditionally assist the Three Saints Baptist Church."

The capture of their goddess, who might have been subjected to various forms of confinement and training, was indeed a tragic situation for the followers.

However, the woman's tone changed, and she continued: "Our submission to the Three Saints Baptist Church is only superficial. The goddess has not given up resistance. After the first divine command, she secretly issued a second secret command to those with firm faith, instructing us to secretly sabotage the plans of the Three Saints Baptist Church and seek help from other benevolent gods."

Taking a deep breath, the woman added: "The Three Saints Baptist Church has obtained an ancient evil artifact called the 'Sin Pearl.' They held this chaotic and debauched gathering to use the Sin Pearl to absorb the energy released during mating. However, I don't know what they plan to do with the Sin Pearl."

Gordon had finished reading the pink book a few days ago. He knew that all living beings contained source energy, and during intense life activities—such as mating—the source energy within the body becomes active and can be extracted through certain methods.

He asked, "From what I observed, the energy absorbed by the hall is being transmitted underground. Do you know where the Sin Pearl is?"

The woman shook her head: "Only the district leader, Priestess Daina, knows this. However, she disappeared after the ritual began. The Three Saints Baptist Church is looking for her."

Not getting the information was not a problem. Matters involving evil cult conspiracies and ancient evil artifacts were best left to professionals.

"So," Gordon asked, "is there a way to leave here?"

The woman smiled bitterly: "No one can leave until the ritual ends. The entire castle, including the underground, is enveloped in a magical field, existing in a unique demiplane. The castle in the main plane is just an image."

"The Three Saints Baptist Church is really going all out," Gordon felt the situation was more serious. The detect thoughts spell told him the woman was not lying. For now, they could only proceed step by step while ensuring their safety.

Seeing Gordon standing there in silence, seemingly thinking about the next plan, the female follower of Lielia added: "Under the fourth row and seventh column of tiles in the kitchen, there is a key to the underground level and a map of the entire castle. I believe it will be useful to you."

"You are well-prepared."

"This was originally the goddess's temple, so we naturally have some emergency measures."

Gordon successfully found the key and the map. Now he was ready to leave with Shelley, but the problem was what to do with these two people. He looked at the two still tightly bound, and the woman seemed to sense his thoughts: "There is a stone trough in the cellar used to store winter vegetables. You can knock us out and put us in there, cover it, and no one will find us before the ritual ends. There is also air circulation, so we won't suffocate."

This was a feasible idea. Shelley raised her hand and gave each of their necks a chop: "They won't wake up for at least a day."

The two worked together to place the naked, unconscious followers of Lielia into the stone trough and covered it: "Sweet dreams."

After doing this, Gordon and Shelley followed the map to the secret door and entered the underground level of the castle.