Chapter 66: Leader Xin Xiaona

Song Qi held the ring that had been pressed into his hand, momentarily at a loss. The spiritual imprint on the storage ring had already been wiped clean. He sneaked a glance inside. What he saw shocked him to his core! There was no equipment or weaponry inside, only a vast array of magical items and talismans! And every single one was the sort of advanced artifact that only a master of arcane words could create! If he were to sell them, each would fetch at least several hundred thousand credits—a luxury for the wealthy! Some were worth tens of millions! More importantly, such high-end items were always in demand and never short of buyers.

He made a rough estimate; this pile of treasures must be worth at least a billion credits! Song Qi was stunned, his breathing quickening, his very heart trembling.

“So... does this mean I’ve inherited Elder Liu’s estate?”

Since becoming a professional, his sensitivity to wealth had dulled somewhat. Yet this magnitude of fortune still set his heart racing with excitement. A billion credits! What did that mean? Outfitting himself in a set of top-tier hero-grade gear might cost him a little over ten million. If he wasn't too picky, he could even afford a full set of legendary gear! Yet, confusion gnawed at him.

Hadn’t the old man just threatened to kill him moments ago? Why, then, was he suddenly entrusted with a fortune of astronomical proportions? And more crucially…

“Why would he leave his estate to me?”

“Didn’t he have any other descendants?”

“Twenty years have passed—if his son left no heir, did he never consider raising another?”

The City Lord gave him a long, searching look and sighed.

“He was a master of arcane words, and once a warrior who fought against the demonic invaders from beyond.”

“He suffered grave, permanent wounds…”

Song Qi understood at once.

“All right, I see.”

…

The two of them tidied up the room, restoring it to the state it had been in before the fight. Following Liu Renfu’s instructions, he had already notified the Cult of Demon Worship to come, and they had responded. But as to who would arrive, he had no idea.

Half an hour later…

Knock, knock, knock!

The knocking startled the two of them from their meditative rest.

“The Demon Worship cultists are here,” the City Lord said, rising to answer the door. “Three of them. Unfortunately, none seem to be of any importance.”

He sounded disappointed; minor lackeys like these rarely knew anything useful. Still, they would have to be interrogated.

A swirl of black mist seeped from within his armor, slipping through the crack under the door…

The three at the threshold had no time to react. All at once, the extraordinary power within their bodies abruptly ceased. Then, an irresistible force yanked at them from below.

Next—

“Get in here, you lot!”

With a thud, the door flew open, and the three were dragged inside by their heads, their skulls hitting the floor, before the door slammed shut behind them. The whole process took no more than the space of a single breath.

They hadn’t even had the chance to resist before they were sprawled on the floor.

The City Lord manipulated the black mist, suspending the three in midair and forcing their jaws and throats open. The cultists felt their mouths and teeth pried apart as a long tube was shoved down their gullets, followed by a chill liquid flooding their stomachs.

These were the last three vials of Veracity Elixir from Liu Renfu’s storage ring. With these Demon Worship cultists, the City Lord didn’t bother administering it individually. Instead, he simply solidified the black mist into tubes and force-fed them in one swift motion.

Once the elixir was delivered, the black mist severed its connection and entered their bodies.

“From now on, you have three seconds to answer each question.” The City Lord’s voice was icy and merciless.

Not giving them any time to think, he immediately began his interrogation.

“First question: besides you three, are there any others lying in wait as sentinels?”

“Huh? Wait... I’m not—”

The first man hadn’t processed the question, his face blank with confusion.

“Time’s up. Wrong answer.”

With no hesitation or pity, the City Lord struck out with a fist!

Bang!

The first cultist’s chest was punched clean through, blood and viscera splattering the wall.

Yet, even so, the man did not die! A cloud of black mist enveloped his ruined chest, keeping him barely alive.

Song Qi already knew from the day before that the Demon Worship cult had ways of detecting a follower’s death, so he’d asked the City Lord to leave this one alive on purpose.

The man gasped for breath, each rasp a tortured wheeze like a broken bellows, his agony unspeakable and chilling to the bone.

The other two, who had been relatively composed, were now terrified out of their wits.

The City Lord turned to the second.

“Now it’s your turn.”

“Three… two…”

“No, no, no!!!” the second man screamed, desperate not to share his comrade’s fate. “It’s just us three! No one else came! No one’s patrolling nearby!”

“Good.” The City Lord nodded, relaxing slightly.

“Now, tell me your personnel arrangement for this mission in District Seven, as well as the direction of your current operations and any other relevant information. Do not attempt to conceal anything or deliberately mislead me—I’ll be questioning your companions as well.”

The Veracity Elixir ensured that anything spoken was the absolute truth. Yet, one could still withhold information or use misleading truths to misdirect. Establishing a control group was essential.

“No problem, no problem. Just give me a moment—my mind’s a bit slow.” The second cultist gathered his thoughts before replying.

“We’re members of the Demon Worship Cult’s Fourth Division. Our leader is Xin Xiaona, a priestess. Aside from her, there are twenty-four of us. Twelve are above level sixty, but four died yesterday. The other twelve are intermediate professionals at level forty.”

“As for the mission… We originally had two tasks. One was to seek a legendary artifact rumored to be sealed in some dungeon. The second was to establish a new branch in District Seven.”

“But after the Red Squad died yesterday, our leader announced she was abandoning the plan to set up a branch here.”

“The continued cooperation with Liu Renfu was mainly to hunt for the whereabouts of the parchment and to cover our tracks.”

“In fact, she sent people deep into the snowfields last night.”

“Seventeen went into the snowfields—five are high-level professionals above level seventy, and twelve are intermediate professionals.”

“They’re carrying an artifact that can corrode seals.”

“However, using it may destroy both the seal and whatever’s sealed within.”

“Our leader has not moved from her base this whole time.”

“As for us three, we were only sent to communicate with Liu Renfu.”

Fearing to be caught in a lie, he spilled everything at once, even sharing his own deductions.

The City Lord turned to the last cultist.

“Did he deliberately omit or mislead us on any detail?”

“No! Absolutely nothing was left out or twisted! We’ve told you everything we know!” The third man shook his head frantically.

At this, a troubled look flickered in the City Lord’s eyes.

“Xin Xiaona? So she’s the one who came?”

“Tch, this could be troublesome…”

“Is she powerful?” Song Qi asked curiously.

The City Lord shook his head. “No.”

“She’s not particularly strong, but her status within the Cult is exceptionally high.”

“Because—other than the Saintess herself—she’s the only one in the entire Demon Worship Cult with the gift of prophecy.”