Chapter 24: Become the Light and Illuminate the World!

As Dr. Lu expounded on the benefits, Yuan Zhu became increasingly convinced that the "Reverse Pinduoduo Amateur Sacrifice Convention" carried even more weight than he had initially imagined. Even employees of a top-tier, legally recognized church were cornering patients in the hospital to shoptalk and solicit business, delaying their actual treatment. It seemed perfectly reasonable that a group of illegal, bottom-tier minor evil gods would break their necks to respond to a flawed amateur sacrifice. In this world, not only were mortals caught in the rat race, but the realm of the divine was even more cutthroat.

After a long-winded speech, Dr. Lu took a deep breath, drained his tea in one gulp, and looked satisfied. "What do you think?"

Yuan Zhu replied, "I think it's not bad. As for how to modify my faith, I need to consider it further. I have until the end of the year to submit it, anyway."

Dr. Lu urged, "Make your decision early, act early, and enjoy the benefits early. Believing in the Holy Hall is never a loss. We are a top-tier global orthodox religion with numerous internal branches; there is bound to be one that suits you. Well, I see you aren't interested in that for now, so let's get down to business. Prepare yourself for an inspection by the [Holy Light]. Many loyal believers only changed their minds and embraced the Holy Light after experiencing it for themselves."

Yuan Zhu felt uneasy. The way Dr. Lu described it, the [Holy Light] sounded toxic, as if it came with built-in brainwashing effects. It was starting to scare him.

Lucius stood up, walked to an open space in the examination room, and reached for a cage fixed to a wall rack, which contained a large white rat. He gestured for Yuan Zhu to stand opposite him and await the illumination of the Holy Light.

Only then did Yuan Zhu notice that the iron-angle rack on the wall held an entire row of cages, each housing a white rat. These rats were silent and motionless. They simply lay on the iron wire, staring blankly downward. Even when Lucius picked one up, it didn't struggle or resist; it looked completely vacant.

Could this also be an effect of the [Holy Light]? Keeping the mice collectively sedated, as if they had undergone a lobotomy?

"Why are you grabbing a rat?" Yuan Zhu couldn't help but ask.

Lucius replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "It is the price for channeling the [Holy Light], of course! The [Holy Light] is one of the few transcendent systems globally recognized as safe, controllable, and capable of suppressing, banishing, and thoroughly purifying evil spirits and contamination."

"Among these legitimate systems, the [Holy Light] possesses the highest exclusivity and the purest quality. It is also the friendliest to humans with the fewest side effects, and the cost can even be transferred. The essence of the Holy Light is to burn and sacrifice oneself, using radiance to dispel darkness and bring warmth to the world."

As he spoke, he removed his right glove, revealing a finger with the tip sliced off.

The first phalanx of his right index finger was missing, leaving only half a fingernail. The cross-section of the finger exposed a stark white bone. The flesh around the bone looked like a lit cigarette butt, charred black with dark red embers and smoldering tissue, as if it might reignite at any moment.

Yuan Zhu's eyes widened. Was this still a human finger? Or a piece of charred flesh? Why was Dr. Lu so calm? Could he not feel the pain?

Just looking at the charred, smoldering cross-section of that finger made his scalp tingle. He couldn't imagine how much that must hurt.

The moment Lucius took off his glove, the "Whiteboard Immortal Scripture" began to wail, emitting a continuous, high-pitched alarm. Apparently, yet another source of contamination had appeared.

"Surprised? This is the spark of the [Holy Light]. Didn't I say that the essence of the Holy Light is to burn and sacrifice oneself, using light to dispel darkness and bring warmth to the world? Well, this is the 'burning oneself' part."

As he spoke, he waved his severed index finger at Yuan Zhu. As the speed of his finger moving through the air increased, the charred cross-section was exposed to more oxygen, and the hidden embers glowed significantly brighter.

Good grief, so it was literally being "lit"?

After a brief demonstration of his unique finger, he told Yuan Zhu, "Stand there, don't move, don't panic, just wait. Everything you see next is a normal phenomenon."

He gripped the white rat, which had long since given up struggling, with his right hand, exerting force with all five fingers. He pressed the charred, glowing cross-section of his index finger directly against the rat's chest.

The charred, ember-filled fingertip hissed as it burned through the white fur. As the pressure increased, the numb white rat began to twitch in pain. Driven by biological instinct, it let out sharp, shrill squeaks.

Lucius's index finger sank deeper and deeper, piercing into the rat's body. A surge of high temperature erupted from his fingertip, followed by an explosion of milky white radiance. It was like switching on a flashlight, only to have it pressed down by his index finger; a small amount of Holy Light escaped through the gaps in the wound, but most of it converged inside the rat, roasting its internal organs.

In that moment, the rat became the light, illuminating the world!

Well, to Yuan Zhu, it looked like the rat's internal organs, flesh, soul, and vitality were all being used as fuel to convert into Holy Light.

An indescribable metaphysical reaction erupted inside the creature. Perhaps its brain had been incinerated in an instant, but it began to tremble and struggle wildly in Dr. Lu's hand, as if possessed by a demon.

Finally, the high-energy reaction gathered within it, using its eyes as the pressure release valve, and it began to vent the white Holy Light maniacally outward.

Lucius held the "Light-Rat," his expression solemn, chanting incessantly. He raised his right hand, aiming the rat's head at Yuan Zhu, and squeezed hard. The frantic, convulsing rat, in its final death throes, widened its eyes, projecting two beams of Holy Light at Yuan Zhu like a searchlight.

Lucius continued to chant the spine-chilling incantation, using his left hand to draw a circle circumscribing a regular triangle, while waving his right hand, using the "Light-Rat: Handheld Biological Holy Light Flashlight" to scan Yuan Zhu from head to toe, circling him repeatedly.

Front, side, back, and around again... until the rat's life and soul were completely squeezed dry by the [Holy Light]. It couldn't even twitch anymore, turning into a piece of shriveled, charred-smelling skin, finally ending the long, agonizing minute and a half.

It was absolutely desperate!

Just seeing the crazed, desperate post-mortem convulsions of the "Light-Rat" was enough to imagine the pain and torture of sacrificing oneself to the Holy Light.

Was this truly the globally recognized, legitimate, righteous, safe, and efficient exorcism power of the "white path"? Was it really being performed on a whim in a hospital? Did they even consider the stance of animal rights organizations?

Aside from the rat, whose brain had been incinerated at the very first moment, Yuan Zhu himself felt the agony.

When that milky, sacred light first hit his body, the "Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture" lived up to its reputation and began screaming in alarm.

This time, the psychic pollution he suffered was stronger than ever. In every instant, his sanity was refreshing between -2 and -3. Fortunately, it didn't exceed the limit of his passive defenses. Although his mental channel was strained, he managed to block and filter it out entirely.

His body hadn't been corroded or altered by the [Holy Light], but his mind was extremely tense.

He now drew two conclusions:

First, the "Immortal Scripture," as an invasive spy program, viewed all non-Immortal-path power systems as toxic substances that polluted the soul due to a lack of compatibility. Thus, it blindly and mindlessly rejected every foreign power except "Shadow." Even the universally safe "white path" [Holy Light] triggered its shrill, chicken-like warnings.

The second possibility: the [Holy Light] of this world, despite its glowing reputation—a top-tier global orthodox sect, the safest and most harmonious transcendent system, the friendliest to humans, burning oneself to brighten others, and so on—was, in its essence, just as evil and filthy. It was an evil power wearing the mask of "divine (light)." The Immortal Scripture’s fairy-like warnings were truly and genuinely protecting him from external contamination.

Yuan Zhu couldn't determine which guess was correct, but the sight of Dr. Lu lighting up a rat to illuminate him and using Holy Light to disinfect him back and forth was truly hair-raising. Looking back, it still felt like a sanity-draining experience.

The screaming, struggling corpse, the surging Holy Light, the rapidly shriveling rat skin, the shockwaves of light warming the soul. The rat had used everything it had to illuminate Yuan Zhu in the darkness, revealing a mysterious corner of this strange world.

After finishing, Lucius tossed the shriveled rat skin into the trash, put his glove back on, sat back in his chair, and looked at the still-shaken Yuan Zhu.

The remaining rats on the wall rack, having been bathed in the stray Holy Light, were now all dull and numb, appearing as if they had been brainwashed and were ready to sacrifice themselves to the Holy Light at any moment.

"How does it feel?"

Yuan Zhu felt terrified, but he didn't show it. He made up a lie: "Much lighter and more comfortable, as if a heavy weight has been lifted from me."

"Normal. Bathe in it a few more times, and you will fall in love with this feeling of warming the soul."

Oh? Is this brainwashed feeling what you get from the Holy Light? I’d like to try that too.