I Raised the Fallen Lop-Eared Rabbit into a Yandere 36

Chapter 36: Elder

The entrance to the monastery was completely blocked by all sorts of carriages.

Nuns, wrapped in sacred robes with only their eyes showing, walked through the iron gate, which was only opened once every three years, accompanied by their relatives. Whether they could be selected tomorrow would directly determine the trajectory of their future lives.

The Sacred Cult had a huge influence on the continent of Dezhou. After several failed attempts to eliminate it, the royal family could only choose to “appease” it, selecting nuns to enter the royal palace to be in charge of religious affairs, just to give the Sacred Cult a legal status.

The actual controller of the Sacred Cult used this legal status to further amass wealth. Of course, to give the royal family face, she would restrain the activities within the cult, prevent the frequent occurrence of violent and bloody incidents, and maintain the basic stability of society.

The Sacred Cult was not a faith at all, but a filthy transaction.

The decadent royal family, in order to maintain stability, and the greedy merchants, in order to amass wealth, jointly fabricated a utopia that never existed, in the name of the gods.

The brainwashed believers, usually after emptying their own savings, would choose to torture themselves in extreme ways to express their piety to the Lord God, in the vain hope of obtaining eternal life.

They would also brainwash the people around them, from family to neighbors, from villages to towns, until everyone became a madman.

To be selected by the royal family meant to be closer to the Lord God. This was regarded as an honor by the believers. However, only women could be selected to enter the palace. Therefore, in this land, many girls were forced to believe in the Sacred Cult from birth.

Although they were not treated as sacrificial offerings, and their lives were not as difficult as Lina’s, they also lost their childhood innocence, their healthy bodies, and the freedom to experience the world.

Layer upon layer of oppression ultimately fell on the heads of women.

Slender figures were bound in dark robes. The young women lowered their heads without a word. They had long been domesticated into tools that would do as they were told, numbly walking toward a predetermined fate.

Lina was both the most unfortunate and the most fortunate. She was going to the monastery today for herself, to enter the royal palace, to enter the real center of power.

She had to walk up, step by step, and keep walking, until she reached a high place where no one dared to look down on her, no one dared to bully her.

“I’m so worried.” Herlkin stuffed two more sausages into Lina’s package. “You must take good care of yourself.”

“She’s only going for two days. She’ll be home after the selection.” Haia pulled out the sausages. “You want her to eat meat in the monastery?!”

“She can eat it secretly. No one will know!” Herlkin snatched the sausages back. “Aunt has left people at the gate. If anything happens, just shout, you understand?”

Lina, surrounded by them, smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

“Miss, I will take good care of the manor these two days. Don’t worry.” Dilys’s emotions were written all over her face.

The blatant worry warmed Lina’s heart. “Don’t worry, and don’t work too hard.”

“Mhm.”

Adele’s hand had been resting on Lina’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll go with her. Nothing will happen.”

Aomo hid her crystal ball. “I’ll go too. Those charlatans inside won’t be able to stir up any trouble.”

There were still a lot of things to do in the manor. Dilys quickly drove the carriage away, leaving only Herlkin and Haia at the monastery gate.

“I’m so worried about her.” Herlkin rubbed her bottom and then her eyes.

Haia said out of the blue, “I’m sorry.”

Herlkin didn’t respond. The little fox in her heart pouted proudly.

She would not forgive this human.

Never!

Haia glanced sideways. Herlkin’s eyes were already red.

“Come on, which gang leader is such a crybaby?” Haia put an arm around her shoulder. “It’s very indecent to rub your bottom in public.”

Herlkin shrugged her off. “I hate you.”

She turned and left. Haia chased after her. “Give me a ride back to the clinic.”

“No.”

“I’ll pull your tail.”

“…Fine, fine, fine!”

Before leaving, Haia glanced in the direction Aomo had left.

Teacher, there’s a long road ahead.

*

The monastery was surrounded by high walls on all four sides.

The chapel stood in the center. On both sides were gray, flat-roofed houses. Narrow windows were set in the moss-covered walls. In the corner of the courtyard were a few lifeless old oak trees.

The sunlight was blocked by the high walls. A cold, oppressive atmosphere was everywhere.

The moment Lina entered, she felt a chill in her heart. She tensed her back, her breathing quickening slightly.

Adele squeezed her hand.

If it weren’t for the monastery, she would have wanted to hold her hand, fingers intertwined.

To completely and absolutely hold the little rabbit in her palm.

Lina squeezed her back.

The warmth of their palms intertwined. Neither could leave the other.

The crystal ball in Aomo’s pocket was trembling slightly.

This was not a good sign.

Just as Aomo was observing her surroundings, a rush of footsteps suddenly approached the three of them.

Lina spun around and saw a group of people in black robes, holding staves, striding toward them.

Adele reached out to block Lina, her face wary.

The expected confrontation did not happen. Instead, the group of people knelt down to Adele in unison.

The muffled thud of their knees hitting the stone slabs was clearly audible. All the passersby stopped in their tracks. In an instant, Adele became the focus of attention.

The person kneeling at the very front kowtowed and said, “Respected Elder Adele, it is our honor that you could grace us with your presence.”

Adele’s body stiffened for a moment.

She had almost forgotten that the original Adele was an elder of the Sacred Cult!

“The Grand Elder knows your preferences and has already prepared young girls for you.”

Several question marks slowly appeared above Lina’s head.

Young girls?

Hmm?

Lina looked at Adele.

A person who couldn’t even untie a knot, how could she be an elder? But if she wasn’t an elder, why were these people kneeling to her?

Adele also looked at Lina, but with so many eyes on them, she couldn’t explain.

Aomo was burned by the temperature of the crystal ball. In her prediction, Adele would die in a great fire.

Could it be that the danger was near?

Aomo immediately cleared her throat and gave Adele a look, signaling her to agree.

Adele squeezed Lina’s hand. She was not at ease.

But Lina shook her head. “I can do it myself. You can go.”

Adele looked at her and said in a gentle voice, “I’ll be right back. You go eat first.”

“Mhm.”

Adele turned to the person kneeling before her and said, “Lead the way.”

She soon disappeared into the shadows of the deep corridor, surrounded by a crowd of black.

Aomo handed a carnelian necklace to Lina. “If there’s danger, touch it three times, and I’ll come and save you immediately.”

“Okay, I’ll remember.” Lina obediently took the necklace.

Aomo instructed her, “You must protect yourself! I haven’t told anyone this, remember! You are Adele’s life! If you die, she won’t be able to live either!”

Lina’s pupils trembled.

“I… I… I’m her life?”

“I’ve never been wrong in my calculations.” Aomo patted her shoulder. “Remember my words. Be careful.”

Lina looked at Aomo, who had also disappeared into the corridor. First, she was shocked, then she was ecstatic.

She was Adele’s life?!

Could this be a match made in heaven?!

Lina stood alone, holding the necklace and smiling foolishly. After a moment, she suddenly discovered that the nuns who had come in with her had all dispersed, quietly creating a suffocating empty space around her.

She seemed to have been isolated.

The nuns gathered in twos and threes, casting all sorts of gazes at her.

There was scrutiny, envy, and also dread.

Lina stood alone. This scene reminded her of the past.

A strong sense of discomfort welled up in her heart. Lina just wanted to leave quickly. She had just turned around—

Thud!

An unmerciful force slammed into her shoulder.

Lina was completely unprepared and instantly lost her balance.

She was knocked to the ground. The piercing pain made her break out in a cold sweat.

Lina gasped for breath. Still in shock, she looked up, wanting to see who was targeting her.

The person who had bumped into her also turned their face.

!

Lina’s eyes widened.

It was the fake Adele!

It was that persistent imposter!

“You!”

Blood rushed to her head. Unease and disgust exploded in her chest at the same time, desperately searing Lina’s nerves. She even forgot the pain.

The imposter stared at her and gave a sinister, strange smile.

Lina, I told you, I’ll mess up your lives. Hahaha…

She pulled her hood down low and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

“Stop!” Lina struggled to chase after her, but the sharp pain in her knee made her stagger. By the time she stood up, enduring the pain, the imposter was gone.

The fake Adele was like a time bomb. Lina didn’t know when it would explode, whether it would hurt her, hurt her teacher…

Everything was unknown.

Lina froze in place. The scrapes on her body hurt so much. She suddenly felt a little wronged.

The moment Adele left, she missed her.

So much.

Lina was about to go find Adele, to tell her there was danger.

But the moment she got close to the corridor, she was stopped by a guard.

Ordinary nuns were not qualified to enter!

Lina had no choice but to give up. She could only pray that Adele would come back soon.

…

Twilight seeped into the dining hall. In the dim light, it was filled with nuns wrapped in dark robes.

There were only two types of food on the long table:

A greasy vegetable soup and a blackened potato pancake.

The nuns were praying with their heads bowed. Each of them was as thin as a skeleton, their faces sallow, their lips pale.

Lina sat in a corner but still seemed very out of place.

Because her complexion was so rosy, the full-blooded color hinting at her health. In this sickly, lifeless crowd, she was like a leaping flame.

Full of vitality, dazzling.

Lina deliberately shrank into the corner, not wanting to attract attention. But the moment the prayer ended, several nuns gathered around her.

“Yo, can you get used to this?” A nun with high cheekbones was the first to speak. “The one who came with you has quite a status, doesn’t she? Are you her…”

Someone next to her immediately chimed in, saying sarcastically, “To get selected, you’ll really do anything! I hear these elders are very rich. Look, that rosy complexion. We don’t have such luck.”

Lina didn’t respond. The private tutor had once told her that to solve a problem, you must first find its essence.

Why was this verbal bullying happening?

Because she had touched upon the interests of this group of people.

There were only a few spots for selection. A person with connections was, in their eyes, a shoo-in.

If everyone was on the same starting line, they would only compete secretly. But now, someone had already reached the finish line before the race had even begun.

Lina was this person, who seemed to have snatched a spot without any effort.

They didn’t dare to hate this unfair competition, didn’t dare to hate the so-called elders. They could only project their malice onto her.

Lina’s mind turned. She understood the essence of the problem. She was not provoked by a few words but calmly drank her soup.

Compared to prune juice, the vegetable soup tasted quite good.

But she missed Adele a little again.

Teacher’s minnow and vegetable chowder was still better.

Just as Lina was about to take a second sip, a withered hand suddenly reached out from the side and, with a “clang,” overturned her bowl.

The soup spilled out, soaking the corner of her clothes.

“What are you pretending to be calm for? You haven’t even been selected yet, and you’re already acting like you’re superior?”

Lina didn’t want to get involved in this meaningless friction. She knew her purpose in coming to the monastery and disdained to waste time on this group of people. She got up to leave but was grabbed by the arm.

Lina turned her head to stare at her and, with a light flick, shook her off.

She was no longer the little rabbit who couldn’t even truss a chicken.

But her retaliation instantly ignited the atmosphere.

Someone picked up a bowl of soup and threw it directly at her. Lina dodged most of it but was still soaked.

She was dazed for a moment. Some memories, along with a burst of anger, rushed to her mind at the same time.

In an instant, the dining hall was no longer the dining hall, but the dining room of the manor.

A little Lina, not yet as tall as a stool, had been thirsty for three days. She had asked a maid for a bowl of water and had been soaked all over, just like this, and pushed into a bucket of water.

Adele had taken such good care of her. The cold, hunger, and helplessness all seemed to be from a previous life.

But she hadn’t really forgotten.

She was still immersed in hatred and pain.

The moment Adele left, those festering wounds began to ache faintly.

“Do you really think you’re a young miss?”

The maid’s question from that year and the question before her now overlapped. Lina grabbed the plate beside her and threw it directly at that person.

“Ah—”

Porcelain shards flew everywhere. Everyone saw her crisp and ruthless action and were all stunned.

Lina swept her gaze around, swallowed her hatred, and wanted to leave for the second time.

But someone else pulled her braid.

Pulled the braid that Adele had personally braided for her that morning.

Lina could no longer bear it. She stomped hard on her foot. In the moment of her pain, she grabbed her by the neck and, like dragging a bag of trash, dragged her toward the sacrificial altar.

The person who had just been provoking her found that she couldn’t budge Lina’s strength at all. Her eyes instantly filled with terror.

Lina clamped down on her neck and slammed her onto the sacrificial altar.

The rabbit ball’s eyes were red with hatred.

The nun who was being choked didn’t even have the strength to kick her legs. A deathly rattle came from her throat.

This look of a dying struggle was truly delightful… didn’t you want to bully me? Go on…

The candlelight on the sacrificial altar illuminated the madness in Lina’s eyes.

She was enjoying the sight of the person under her struggling on the verge of death.

The entire dining hall was silent.

No one dared to step forward to stop her. The boiling killing intent was wrapped in an aura of destruction.

Lina stared at that gradually purpling face. Reason and hatred were in a frantic struggle.

Her breathing was rapid. At the last moment, she let go.

…Forget it.

The completely limp nun slid to the floor like a dead fish and began to cough violently.

Lina kicked her away and then strode out of the dining hall.

She was not afraid of getting entangled with malice, just too lazy to cast her gaze into the gutter, and certainly didn’t want to get her hands too dirty.

One trouble followed another.

The imposter’s silhouette appeared at the corner of the wall!

Lina had no time to think and chased after her without a care.

She had to catch this person!

…

The imposter ran extremely fast. Lina chased her, over a low wall, through a grape trellis covered in spiderwebs, and arrived at a quiet courtyard.

She had lost her again!

Lina looked around. Footsteps came from a distance. She quickly found a corner of a wall and hid in the shadows.

Just as she was hidden, a voice came from inside the window—

It was a strange woman.

“…Adele, so many years have passed. Do you still like to save those damsels in distress?”

Lina’s heart sank. She covered her mouth and pricked up her ears to listen carefully.

Then, Adele’s voice came out.

“I do.”

“The child who came with you looks very healthy. You must have put in a lot of effort…”

Adele didn’t respond to this, just laughed twice.

“But she’s almost healed. It’s not interesting anymore. I’ve found some little girls who have just been traumatized for you. Each of them is waiting for salvation.”

Lina’s nails subconsciously dug into the cracks in the wall.

Adele said, “No, she’s not healed yet. I don’t have the energy to save others for now… at least, not until she’s completely healed.”

Lina bit her lip.

“You like her very much. Actually, I’ve met people with your hobby before. Whoever they fall for, they’ll hurt her again after she’s healed. When she’s covered in wounds, they’ll go and save her. Over and over again, until they’ve played the person to death.”

Lina bit her lip and squatted by the wall, trembling. The chill of the bricks seemed to seep into her bones. She froze in this patch of shadow, her mind completely stopped. Only four words echoed in her head—

Played to death?!