155 The Darkened Bailu'er!

"Leader, it was our fault before. Can you please give us a chance to leave?" Seeing Bai Luer, Zhang Tao's imposing manner instantly plummeted.

He no longer had the aggressive aura from when he was shouting curses back and forth with Hu Bo.

Clearly, Zhang Tao was still quite afraid of Bai Luer.

Or perhaps, he felt a deep sense of guilt toward her.

No matter how poorly Bai Luer managed the base, she had after all saved the lives of Zhang Tao and the others.

For Zhang Tao and his group to betray her at a critical moment was an act of wronging her.

Had they simply left in peacetime, Zhang Tao probably wouldn't feel this level of guilt.

"None of you are leaving," Bai Luer said coldly, her eyes devoid of even a shred of warmth.

"Don't push us too far..." Zhang Tao gritted his teeth.

It seemed he still wanted to make a threat.

The next second, Zhang Tao's face suddenly distorted, the muscles on his visage seemingly compressed by a tremendous, violent force.

It was no longer the shape of a human.

Bang!

A mist of blood and snow sprayed into the air as Zhang Tao's head directly exploded.

This scene scared the group of people standing behind Zhang Tao completely out of their wits.

They never expected Bai Luer to actually kill Zhang Tao!

All of this happened far too suddenly.

Even Hu Bo and the others were momentarily stunned, not anticipating that Bai Luer would resort to lethal force.

Because prior to this, Bai Luer had never once killed anyone with her own hands.

She had been extremely polite even toward Elder Qin and his people.

What on earth was going on here?

Why had their leader turned into someone like this?

However, Hu Bo and his companions didn't feel fear; instead, they felt a wave of relief.

Bai Luer's sudden strike had completely turned the tide of the battle.

Seeing that Zhang Tao was dead, his subordinates dropped their weapons one after another and knelt on the ground, begging for mercy.

They hoped Bai Luer would spare their lives.

But immediately following, sounds of explosions rang out one after another.

Just like balloons popping!

Only, the things exploding were the heads of these people.

The heads of more than thirty people all burst open simultaneously.

One by one, headless corpses collapsed onto the ground.

At this sight, the faces of Hu Bo and the others turned pale.

They had originally thought Bai Luer would give these people a second chance.

After all, these individuals had merely followed Zhang Tao.

They never imagined Bai Luer would be so ruthless, not leaving a single living soul behind.

The leader had truly changed!

It even instilled a sense of dread in Hu Bo and the others.

"Who's over there?" Bai Luer suddenly turned her gaze toward Xue Feng's direction.

Xue Feng hadn't expected Bai Luer to be so sharp, detecting his presence.

He was puzzled as to how her abilities had become so formidable, allowing her to effortlessly slaughter so many people.

How should he defend himself against an attack of this nature?

Stone skin?

It should be able to withstand an assault driven by gravity.

Regardless, he had no desire to become the target of her attack right now.

"Don't be nervous, it's me." Xue Feng walked out.

Seeing that it was Xue Feng, the cold look in Bai Luer's eyes instantly softened.

True to expectation, she had no intention of making a move against him.

Hu Bo and the others also breathed a sigh of relief, feeling excited upon seeing Xue Feng.

"Brother Xue Feng, what are you doing around here?" Hu Bo asked with a dry cough.

The current atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

After all, Hu Bo realized that Xue Feng had witnessed the bloody spectacle just now.

"Just looking for supplies, of course. I need to eat too. Looks like you guys were cleaning out some traitors," Xue Feng said, offering Hu Bo and the others a graceful way out.

Cleaning out traitors!

Since they were traitors, no treatment could be considered too harsh.

"We are indeed cleaning out traitors. They are people abandoned by God, and they have no right to live," Bai Luer nodded.

"Um... abandoned by God?" Xue Feng was slightly baffled.

He had no idea what Bai Luer meant by being abandoned by God.

"Thank you for your guidance yesterday; I've finally figured it out. This apocalypse is a new punishment sent down by God, and certain people are destined to be forsaken, including my parents." Bai Luer flashed a faint smile at Xue Feng.

Yet, the words she spoke were terrifyingly chilling.

Hu Bo and the others also looked at Xue Feng with puzzled expressions.

They didn't recall Xue Feng ever instilling such a concept into Bai Luer.

"I didn't phrase it quite like that before," Xue Feng scratched his head.

"Do you know about the witch hunts?" Bai Luer asked.

"Of course I do," Xue Feng replied.

This was one of the most notorious events in medieval Europe.

It lasted for a full three hundred years, persecuting an untold number of women.

There were even specialized books teaching people how to identify witches.

Living alone, keeping a cat, and wearing black clothing were all characteristics of a witch.

Yet, once a woman was targeted and branded as a witch, she could practically never escape death.

At the time, there were numerous tortures specifically designed for witches, such as flaying and dismemberment.

Even if someone managed to grit their teeth and endure it, refusing to admit they were a witch, there were still ways to deal with them.

For instance, there was a particular form of torture.

It involved binding the witch to a stone carved with a crucifix and throwing her into a river.

If the witch floated to the surface, it proved she practiced witchcraft and was a witch.

What if the witch drowned? Did that prove they had arrested the wrong person?

Of course not!

If the witch died, it proved that the holy crucifix rune had taken effect, completely eradicating the witch.

There was an explanation for every single outcome.

For a time, countless people rushed to report that they had discovered witches.

Most of the time, these were their own enemies or relatives.

Reporting a relative as a witch was, naturally, setting sights on the other party's property.

It could be considered the European version of stripping a family of their inheritance.

According to statistics, at least hundreds of thousands of women were persecuted.

Given the population of Europe at the time, this meant roughly one-tenth of all women were branded as witches.

Records show that in a small town of six thousand people, six hundred were identified as witches within five years and burned alive at the stake.

"Today, this is a new witch hunt! It is the punishment descended by God. Since the entire world is to be purified, a few sacrifices of life are naturally indispensable. They have simply returned to the embrace of God." Bai Luer's gaze was resolute.

Seeing Bai Luer's demeanor, Xue Feng instantly understood.

Bai Luer had now transformed into an extremist!

Although the Church had apologized for the witch hunts of centuries past, the extremists within have always maintained a narrative that those innocent victims were sacrifices offered to God.

Among the offerings made to God in the Middle Ages, the blood of living humans was included.

Blood was something only God could partake in.

Anyone else drinking blood was committing sacrilege and would become possessed by demons.

This tradition still exists today, except red wine has been used to replace blood.

Originally, Bai Luer should have been a moderate believer.

However, with the outbreak of the apocalypse and having experienced so many harrowing events, coupled with Xue Feng's previous remarks, her mindset had undergone a shift.

She found herself temporarily unable to accept the notion that God did not exist.

After all, Bai Luer had been indoctrinated with this faith since birth.

Consequently, a completely different set of theories emerged in her mind.

She came to believe that certain people ought to make sacrifices in the apocalypse as offerings to God, and that included her own parents.