Chapter 70 Apocalypse Riders

"Tsk." Such a beautiful woman, yet she’s a Believer of Light. What a shame. Lu Luo sighed inwardly as he observed the woman in black. Still, he recalled reading that some Believers of Light did marry and have children, though he had no idea what the requirements were. A car and a house? Both parents deceased? Gathering his thoughts, Lu Luo found himself unsure of how to communicate with her. After a long pause, he finally managed to voice a question. "You’re going to explain the Church’s Four Knights to me? Do you charge for this lesson?" Lu Luo felt he had no choice but to ask; he’d realized all his future plans depended on a single prerequisite: waiting until he had money! He was no longer the tycoon who wouldn’t bat an eye at spending 60,000 on a Dark Spirit Stone. The current Lu Luo had to borrow money even for six yuan. You might be an absolute stunner, but that doesn’t stop me from asking if you charge. Lu Luo was just that pragmatic. Qi Xinzhu was clearly taken aback by Lu Luo’s question. She paused for a moment but then shook her head pleasantly and answered earnestly. "Spreading the knowledge of Li Ming and Holy Light is my duty, and there is no charge for it." Upon hearing that it was free of charge, Lu Luo felt more at ease. "That’s what I thought. How could such a sacred thing as Holy Light be mixed with filthy money? Now, go ahead." Qi Xinzhu felt there was something a bit odd about conversing with Lu Luo. This person... there’s something strange about him. But she quickly slipped into her role as a preacher. "The Church’s Four Knights, also known as the Apocalypse Riders, were true pioneers, the vanguard of the Wasteland Alliance during the Genesis Era, and they embodied both light and shadow. The book *The Four Knights* is mainly about the story of the Four Knights of Light and their battles at the Desolation Wall..." This was history that had been kept secret, the tale of the battles at the Desolation Wall. Qi Xinzhu elaborated in detail, while Lu Luo listened intently. "Though the Four Knights were incredible heroes, the content of their past deeds is rather bloody, involving too much slaughter and darkness. The Church did not want to erase the deeds and honors of the Four Knights, nor did they want to glorify that past, yet they also didn’t want the Church’s reputation to come under scrutiny. Therefore, the Church concealed the story within these garbled characters, which can only be read with the Church’s exclusive decryption codebook. They did this also as a warning to other Believers that where there is light, there must also be shadow; the other side of light is darkness!" Qi Xinzhu spoke of the knights’ tale to Lu Luo casually, or rather, candidly. Even when discussing things like the Knights slaughtering civilians, she spoke candidly, making no attempt to whitewash the Church’s image. This surprised Lu Luo and improved his impression of Qi Xinzhu—not in terms of her looks, but her character. [Suggestion for the host: Inquire in detail about the Church from her, as this is an important source of intelligence.] Lu Luo began to earnestly seek knowledge from Qi Xinzhu about the Church, and its secrets, which she certainly knew more about than he did. "What does it mean for them to be the embodiments of light and shadow? Is there a more detailed description?" Qi Xinzhu paused, her expression growing serious. "The embodiment of light and shadow means the dual nature of a great knight. Take, for instance, the Knight of Courage. His bright side is courage, and the Believers fighting alongside him could receive the blessing of courage, becoming brave and fearless. However, when facing darkness, he would bring endless fear to his enemies; thus, the Knight of Courage is also known as the Knight of Fear." The Knight of Courage is also called the Knight of Fear? Thinking of the emblem with hands holding flowers, and the bride, Lu Luo felt like he was onto something. "And what about the Knight of Life? Let me guess, the opposite of life would be death, so the Knight of Life is also the Knight of Death?" Huh, he catches on pretty quick! Qi Xinzhu nodded vigorously. It seems my interaction with Lu Luo is going very smoothly! He seems quite friendly. I’ll continue! "Yes, you’ve got it, but that’s rather simple. What about the other two?" Lu Luo’s eyes lit up slightly. Riddles like these? Piece of cake! "The opposite of justice is evil, so the Knight of Evil is easy. The only challenging one is harvest. The opposite of harvest is loss, but it can’t be called the Knight of Loss; it doesn’t rhyme and doesn’t fit the naming convention of the Church. If someone who harvests loses something, there are typically only two possibilities. One of them is theft, but ’the Knight of Theft’ is even less likely. So, the only one left is plunder. Is the other side of the Knight of Harvest the Knight of Plunder?" Qi Xinzhu’s eyes brightened a little as she looked at Lu Luo. Is this what Han Shiyu called ’Li Ming’? "You’ve got them all correct, truly remarkable. Did you really have no knowledge of the Four Knights before?" Lu Luo did not answer Qi Xinzhu, merely squinting his eyes as if pondering something. Qi Xinzhu’s patience was exceptionally good, so she didn’t say much during Lu Luo’s extended silence, waiting until he spoke again. "May I use some paper and a pen?" "Um, of course you may." Lu Luo took the paper and pen and quickly sketched two symbols: one with hands holding a flower, the other, the fruit held in hands, as depicted on the last page of the Cursed Canon. "Do you know what these two symbols mean?" Qi Xinzhu slightly furrowed her brows, her fair nose twitching, looking quite charming. After giving it some thought, she slowly said, "I know this symbol with the fruit held in hands. It is the Fruit of Life. It specifically represents the fruit that nurtures hope and symbolizes life. As for this ’hands holding a flower,’ I have not seen it before, so I cannot give you an answer." Lu Luo frowned slightly. The ’fruit held in hands’ was the Fruit of Life mentioned at the very end of the Cursed Canon; he already knew its name. However, he still didn’t have an answer for the ’hands holding a flower’ symbol. Qi Xinzhu was a Believer of Light and, judging by her composure and the way she talked, she seemed to be very familiar with the Church’s knowledge. To think Qi Xinzhu hasn’t seen this symbol either. This is interesting. Is Qi Xinzhu hiding something? Lu Luo thought it unlikely. She had, after all, told him about the extremely dark past of the Four Knights; there was no reason to hide this. "Observer, after staying silent for so long, can’t you be of some use?" [Don’t pass the buck. The Observer has already tried various methods to decode the symbol, but due to insufficient information, there’s no reasonable conclusion yet.] Lu Luo furrowed his brows and scribbled on the paper, using the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 to represent the four clues he had in mind. Qi Xinzhu glanced over but couldn’t understand much, so she turned to flip through a book about Wasteland pharmacology without disturbing Lu Luo. [Fruit of Life—Hands Holding a Flower—Pregnant Bride—Church’s Sacrifice.] "The Fruit of Life’s symbol, which appears on the last page of the Cursed Canon... let’s first assume that it represents a result. If the ’fruit held in hands’ represents the Fruit of Life, symbolizing the ultimate outcome of life, then its opposite would be death and beginning. Therefore, the conclusion is that death is the beginning. So, does the ’hands holding a flower’ symbol signify an ’initiating death flower’?" Lu Luo immediately picked up the paper and started to write out possible arrangements with numbers: 4-2-3-1. Judging by the outcome and the final result of the bride incident, the purpose of the Cursed Canon and the Church’s sacrifice must be to obtain the Fruit of Life. Death is the beginning of the sacrifice, so the ’death flower’ symbol must be the entire sacrificial array. The bride, nurturing life, dies within the ’death flower,’ releasing all of her life force, and thus the Fruit of Life is produced? At this thought, Lu Luo suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. "What the heck! What is the Church doing? What does the Church want to do?" [This is only your conjecture, unfounded speculation. Even if it is true, please maintain your rationality and true nature, especially in the presence of a Believer of Light.] Lu Luo turned his head to look at Qi Xinzhu. "Erm, Miss Qi Xinzhu, right?" "Just call me Qi Xinzhu. I’m a transfer student, now in the same biology department as you." "I want to ask you, what is the purpose of the Fruit of Life?" The question again stumped Qi Xinzhu. Not because she didn’t know, but because such knowledge was too esoteric, and she needed time to recall and think. "Legend says the Fruit of Life has many purposes. I’ve never seen what it’s actually like, and the Church hasn’t had any records of it in recent years. However, ancient texts record that the Fruit of Life has always been a sacred object of the Church. It’s said to be a fruit that can grant life to people." Hearing Qi Xinzhu’s explanation, Lu Luo nodded and fell silent again. If this thing is real, then...