Chapter 358: Turmoil: Part 2

*Claaanggg…*

A silver shutter door was being pulled down hard as it covered the entire storefront.

On the sidewall of the shop, to let notices had been pasted on it with a contact number left on the notice.

Lin Sheng strolled along the streets as the once-bustling street was now dead silent. As he looked on, he could see that barely a few shops remained open. All around were shuttered shops with sale or rental notices plastered all over them.

*Whoosh…*

A gust of wind blew and sent the leaves and notices on the ground flying.

“No streetcleaners?” Lin Sheng looked at the rubbish that was piling all around the streets.

Dirty clothes, torn papers, dried leaves and branches, leftover food packaging and all sort of rubbish were all around.

When he woke from the dream and gotten Ancellia’s message, he had decided to go for a stroll to clear his head. What he never thought of was that a previously bustling part of town had become so deserted.

There was barely anyone around on the streets.

Everyone in the city all seemed to be hiding in the shadows as they peered out quietly to the world outside.

Worry, fear, terror.

Confusion, lost, pain.

All sorts of negative emotions emanated so strongly that Lin Sheng could palpably feel it while walking on the street.

He quietly made his way past a clothes boutique. This boutique was rather big, the size of three shops being joined together. But the boutique was locked shut, there were however no sale or rental notices. Instead, someone had painted a weird circle on the shutters with red paint.

The circle looked like a smiling cartoon face, with a line of words in the middle. ‘Hope is never given to those who wait.’

The words were horribly written, looking almost schizophrenic from head to toe, plus the red paint used made it looked like it was written in blood.

“Wait. Something’s not right.” Lin Sheng frowned as he got close to get a better look.

There was a faint scent of blood on the writings that stung his nose.

“There’s blood!” His eyebrows furrowed, and something was awry. Ever since the increase in the terror attacks, many Darksiders had gone about killing in plain sight of the commoners. The sudden chaos and terror came so abruptly without them understanding why, and all of these made the commoners fear even more as they felt more and more helpless.

What they needed was a place that could provide them a sense of security, a place that they could calm their souls.

And suddenly Lin Sheng understood why the Holy Sanctum had been growing so rapidly. It was not only due to the righteous nature of the Holy Sanctum’s holy power, but it was also due to the changes to the times.

He took a few more steps forward, past the shop and towards a car wash. The car wash’s shutter was also pulled down, but there was an entrance that could fit a person.

Lin Sheng’s powerful senses allowed him to hear some weird noise coming from that entrance.

‘Oh universe, oh great lord, here we offer you the most precious of offerings. We only beseech that you provide us a safe haven to preserve the last of the lives and souls…’

‘….The great lord of the empyrean, we beseech you, we seek your almighty power, to transcend the darkness, to transcend the sea of mortal flesh and spirit, and appear before us, to provide your most fervent of believers the most treasured of peace…’

Mutterings of prayers slowly came out from the entrance, and alongside it was the screams of living persons, muffled footsteps and the sound of blades biting into flesh.

Lin Sheng paused as he walked towards the door, and pressed against the door. The lock instantly broke as he pulled the door open and entered the building like his own house.

He wanted to see, what sort of changes the city had descended to in such a short span of time.

From the entrance was a narrow pathway that led to a stairway towards the basement. As he got closer to the end of the stairs, the scent of blood grew more apparent.

Both sides of the walls were engraved with all sorts of characters and symbols in blood alongside some unknown patterns.

Lin Sheng slowly made his way down, and as he got to the end of the stairs he finally had a good look at what was going on.

About a dozen figures in black robes gathered around in a circle and sat crossed-legged on the ground.

In the middle of the circle were two young men that were tied together. They were already dead as their limbs were chopped off, and blood was flowing everywhere.

But the true cause of death was the wound at their head. Their heads had been caved in by some blunt instruments.

Before Lin Sheng came out, he had gotten news about the turmoil in the city from the university. He however never expected it to be that bad.

“A blood sacrifice?” The looked at the robed figures. Based on his senses, he could tell that they were just normal folks.

They were not Transcendents, and did not have any special abilities or dark powers.

On the walls all around them were meaningless doodles, and even when they were mixed with blood, it served no purpose.

And Lin Sheng’s arrival shocked the group in the basement.

They looked up in a daze as they looked at Lin Sheng in shock while he returned the same gaze.

“Ki…Kill him!! He found out our ritual! And interrupted the sacred ritual!” A rather portly middle-aged man got up and roared menacingly at Lin Sheng.

The other members were probably his disciples as they got up one by one, with sharp weapons in their hand.

A dozen people looked at Lin Sheng with both menace and fear. If it was anyone else, they would probably fear for their lives.

But the person they had the misfortune to run into, was not a normal person.

Lin Sheng shook his head, as a puff of black smoke took form beside him. It was one of the crimson-armor warriors that had followed him.

“Subdue the leader. Knock the rest unconscious.” Lin Sheng ordered.

“As ordered.” The crimson-armored warrior nodded slightly in response.

Lin Sheng did not look further, and the moment the crimson-armored warrior charged into the basement, he turned away and left.

There will be someone from the Holy Sanctum to take over the place, or rather someone from Asterism.

Now, the Holy Sanctum, Baine University, and Asterism were coordinating together to enforce the law as a large number of Darksiders continued to sweep the city of any dark influences. Be it, the Blackmist from the Blacktide, or the chaos wrought by the Sevenlocks Tower.

With the main culprit already being taken out of the picture, the smaller units were easy pickings with the help of the Holy Sanctum’s holy power.

Lin Sheng soon left that car wash and wandered around for a bit. Thankfully, not all places had devolved into anarchy where heretical cults would fester.

The governmental bodies had sent up a number of consolidated provisions depot to allow civilians to purchase food and other daily necessities.

Not only that, but Lin Sheng had also met a couple of patrols on duty. They were patrolling continuously across every street in the city to maintain order and security.

Under their supervision, many areas in the city had managed to maintain stability before the terror attack.