Work Prophet
Chapter 133 - 49: Possessed by Filth

Chapter 133: Chapter 49: Possessed by Filth

"Prophet Merlin, now that everyone is here, let’s begin," Priest Adelle said softly.

The voice of the Female Priest was as gentle as ever, with not even a hint of aggressiveness, even though the two of them were about to be opponents.

Li Yu then asked, "How do you want to compete?"

"It’s quite simple. There have been numerous sick people arriving at Teacup Castle, we will each choose five patients for the other to heal, and whoever heals more of their patients wins the competition."

Priest Adelle paused, then added, "Of course, among so many people, there are surely some with incurable diseases for which there is no medicine. To prevent someone from deliberately making it difficult for their opponent, we should add another condition—that the patients we choose must be those we believe we can cure ourselves.

"If the other party is unable to heal them, then the person who chose the patient must heal them. If the chooser is also unable to heal the patient, then when tallying the final results, one will be deducted from the number of patients that person has cured. Prophet Merlin, do you think this is acceptable?"

It must be said, at least on the surface, Priest Adelle’s method of competition seemed quite fair.

It avoided the embarrassment of both parties sabotaging each other by selecting patients with missing limbs or other difficult conditions, just to end up with a scoreless stalemate.

Li Yu couldn’t find any faults with the plan and nodded, "Alright, we’ll do it as you’ve suggested."

Ireya then announced the rules of the competition and sent someone to inform all those who had come to watch the spectacle.

The Riders from the Arias family rode their steeds back and forth several times, raising their voices to ensure that everyone heard the details of the competition.

By the time they returned to Miss Rabbit’s side, Priest Adelle and Li Yu had already set off towards the slope packed with tents to select their five patients.

For this competition, Li Yu had crammed some medical knowledge in the past couple of days, coupled with the experience he had accumulated from treating the lizard people a while back, giving him a bit of both theory and practice. But that was just a bit.

There was no helping it, there’s simply too much to learn in medicine, otherwise, a medical student’s undergraduate studies wouldn’t start at five years.

Li Yu’s current level was equivalent to a netizen who could use Baidu, thankfully his opponent’s level wasn’t much better.

In truth, if the Silver Moon Church hadn’t persisted with these trifles and clever tricks, and instead put forth a genuinely skilled Physician, such as Priest Tessa from Black Stone City, Li Yu would have been less certain about winning the competition.

Even though Li Yu had indeed outperformed Priest Tessa in treating dysentery, the latter had her own strengths, such as bone-setting.

Li Yu was incapable of performing such tasks that demanded high dexterity from the Physician; plus, some of the herbs, despite their unknown components and side effects, may not necessarily be less effective than modern Western medications.

However, perhaps because the healing of Simple was too astonishing, the Silver Moon Church became exceedingly cautious thereafter, preferring to send newcomers to probe rather than allowing other established priests to enhance the reputation of the Double Rest Sect.

But this also meant that the other party had certainly made some arrangements and preparations behind the scenes.

And it wasn’t long before Li Yu encountered his first test.

He and Priest Adelle arrived at the tents almost simultaneously, but the reception each received was entirely different. The Female Priest, wherever she went, caused an array of reverent worship, and the patients, as long as she asked, answered every question thoroughly and were as cooperative as could be.

The crowd around Li Yu was much colder in contrast.

Protected by guards from the Arias family, no one dared to trouble him, but as soon as they saw Li Yu approach, many people displayed a wary expression, and even if they agreed to describe their ailments, it was over in a few brief sentences, as if fearing that saying too much would incur the goddess’s punishment.

This was the home-field advantage of the Silver Moon Church in the Western Region.

At this moment, the majority of the sick gathered on this small hillside were followers of Pisya, and they had come to Green Field mainly for Priest Adelle, or more precisely, for the reputation of the Silver Moon Church.

As for Li Yu, his fame was still limited to the vicinity of Green Field and most outsiders did not trust the so-called "Saturday," nor did they believe in the Prophet of the Foreign God to cure their illnesses, so naturally, they were not inclined to cooperate honestly with Li Yu.

Seeing Li Yu get rebuffed time after time, a guard who had once taught Li Yu how to ride a horse was getting anxious on the sidelines and proactively asked if Li Yu needed help.

While speaking, his hand was already resting on the hilt of his sword.

However, Li Yu shook his head, "It’s okay, I can handle it."

After saying this, Li Yu walked up to a peasant woman and pointed to the little boy beside her, "Is this your child?"

The peasant woman hugged the little boy somewhat nervously and did not immediately answer Li Yu’s question.

Some onlookers who enjoyed watching the drama unfold couldn’t help but let out a schadenfreude chuckle, seemingly already foreseeing Li Yu’s departure without success.

But this time, after encountering resistance, Li Yu did not leave. Instead, he patiently said, "I know you want to be chosen by Priest Adelle, not by me. But with so many people here and only five chosen by Priest Adelle, how high do you think your chances are?

"Also, you heard the rules of the challenge just now, right? Those I select will be treated by Priest Adelle first. If you really believe in Priest Adelle rather than me, then you should cooperate with me, answer my questions, and strive to be one of the chosen."

The last part of Li Yu’s speech was not only for the peasant woman in front of him but also for the others on the hillside.

Upon hearing his words, the followers of the Silver Moon Church were initially taken aback, then looked at each other with dawning realization.

Indeed, according to the rules, those selected by Li Yu were the ones to be healed by Adelle, whereas those Adelle chose were actually for Li Yu to treat.

Though if Li Yu failed to heal them, Adelle was supposed to take over, who knew if a bout with this black-clad Foreigner would worsen their illness.

Hence, the five spots in Li Yu’s possession suddenly became more valuable, and once this became clear, the previously resistant patients all swarmed forward, eagerly recounting their afflictions.

The two guards next to Li Yu were suddenly on high alert, and they had to seek help from a patrolling militia squad nearby to maintain order again.

At this time, the peasant woman previously queried by Li Yu was desperately squeezing out of the crowd with her child in her arms, crying out, "It was me, I was first!"

Seeing Li Yu look over, she raised her voice, "Prophet Merlin, I beg you and Priest Adelle to save my child, he’s possessed by corruption!"

"Hmm?" Li Yu raised his eyebrows and motioned for the mother and son to come over, "Come over here and tell me more."