Chapter 94: Ancient Rituals (3)

At this moment, Shadow had long since hidden Barman’s corpse within her own shadow after confirming his death. Only when the two had stopped fighting did she reveal herself nearby and ask quietly, “Where’s the next one?”

“In that case, we’ll go to the Holy Lands. There are two six-star old fools there, both calling themselves saints. Let’s see who gets the kill first—whoever does gets the credit!” Zi Tong, the leader of this mission and the First Elder of the Purification Society, was beside herself with rage at these unruly subordinates and barked her orders.

With that, she transformed once more into a swirl of purple gauze and flew off into the distance.

“The Holy Lands, huh? That means we have to cross the sea. Wait for me, Second Sister!” Zhang Meng cried out, his face wretched. Unlike the others, he could only run on his own two legs. Crossing the sea was simply unfair to him. And as for the members of the Purification Society, taking a plane was out of the question!

Han Bai, seeing the other two had left, glanced at Shadow and began, “Little Fifth Sister, how about we…”

Before he could finish, Shadow had already vanished without a trace.

“Tch!”

Han Bai clicked his tongue, then transformed into a paper airplane and chased after the others.

Three weeks later

The Holy Lands

Qiao Sen and Qiao Zhi were respectively the Pope and the Pontiff of the Holy Light Church. Their strength was comparable to the now-dead Barman. Their cultivation followed traditional ways, drawing on the faith of their followers, preaching that anyone who believed in the God of Light would be safe from evil spirits.

Oh, and by the way:

In the countries surrounding this place, ghosts were called evil spirits.

Because the church had many followers and an abundance of faith, Qiao Sen and Qiao Zhi usually spent their days cultivating in the great cathedral of the Holy Lands. They rarely left their sanctuary except for the annual charity event, when they would appear in public.

But during this charity event, all manner of powerful figures would gather in the Holy Lands. If they were to strike then, Zi Tong, in her soft purple gauze, felt that their small group might not be able to handle the swarm of minor characters.

Under pressure, the team—which had nearly fallen apart—regrouped in a hotel room.

The four sat opposite each other in silence for a long time.

There was no such thing as real teammates within the Purification Society. Although the doctrines forbade them from killing one another directly, there were many ways to eliminate someone without laying a hand on them. Direct murder was the most effective, but also the most foolish.

“You’re all just sitting here staring at each other. Is this supposed to be fun? If you won’t speak, I will. So, what’s our plan? Someone come up with an idea!” Zhang Meng, who always seemed a bit slow-witted, swept his gaze over the others and spoke up.

“The old way—assassination! When they finish the charity event and head back, one of us will stir up trouble in the city, drawing their followers away. Then another will lure away the hot-tempered, slightly stronger Qiao Zhi. The remaining two will ambush Qiao Sen.”

Zi Tong toyed with the purple gauze on her body as she spoke, not even bothering to lift her head.

It was a decent plan, but only if the four of them were on equal footing with Qiao Sen and Qiao Zhi. They were already at a disadvantage in terms of rank, and though their methods were bizarre, courting death was not the way to go.

“So who’s going to hold off Qiao Zhi? You?” Han Bai, with his effeminate manner, slanted his eyes at Zi Tong.

Whoever went to the city would likely survive, and the two who attacked Qiao Sen might only be seriously wounded at worst. But the one luring Qiao Zhi would almost certainly die. All four understood this calculus—they weren’t fools.

“So who gets the credit for this?” Shadow suddenly spoke up.

“Why are you so concerned about credit, Little Fifth Sister? Want the President to reward you handsomely? Or do you want to climb into his bed and become the President’s wife?” Han Bai teased, watching Shadow’s serious expression.

The reason they were going to such lengths for this ambush was that, besides the usual rewards from the President, whoever made the greatest contribution would have one reasonable request granted. Sleeping with the President would be no problem—at least, that’s what Han Bai’s twisted mind imagined.

“Whoever holds off Qiao Zhi gets the credit!” Zi Tong, as the leader, made the final decision.

“In that case, I’ll take care of Qiao Zhi.” At her words, Shadow, just over four feet tall, agreed without the slightest hint of fear.

Among the four, Han Bai’s paper transformation and Shadow’s shadow-stepping were the best for survivability. If they had to face two six-star powerhouses, only those two were suited to distract Qiao Zhi.

If Shadow insisted on risking her life for credit, the others were happy to let her. Her death would mean one less person to split the rewards with.

Han Bai, however, feigned concern: “Little Fifth Sister, maybe you shouldn’t go. If you mess up and Qiao Zhi kills you, those two old men aren’t as soft-hearted as Barman!”

Shadow glanced at him, her expression indifferent as her tone was flat: “Then why don’t you go?”

Han Bai fell silent immediately. He had plenty of clones for Zi Tong’s amusement, but against a higher-level opponent, there was no such thing as too many.

“Hmph. So it’s settled. After the charity event at noon tomorrow, Zhang Meng will cause a ruckus, Shadow will distract Qiao Zhi, and Han Bai and I will ambush Qiao Sen. We’ll try to finish it quickly and then double back to assist Shadow.”

Seeing Han Bai rebuffed, Zi Tong rested her head on her hand and snickered, apparently mocking his cowardice and incompetence.

“Hmph!”

This time, Han Bai snorted, then turned into a slip of white paper and left Zi Tong’s room.

“I’ll go rest too!” Zhang Meng grinned and left his seat, opening the door and heading out.

As for Shadow, she dissolved into black liquid and vanished.

From the open door came the voices of two local waiters, speaking in their native tongue.

“That big guy couldn’t handle a thing!”

“That waisted beauty in purple gauze—going after her is pointless. A woman like that needs a man like me to tame her!”

“You? John, I know exactly how long you last!”

Zi Tong listened to the banter outside and suddenly laughed. The smile was enchanting, alluring, but unmistakably laced with murderous intent.

She strolled to the door, leaning against the frame, and beckoned to the two blond waiters with a flirtatious, syrupy voice: “Gentlemen, my bed is a little messy—could you come help me tidy up?”

The two waiters stared at her pale thighs, exquisite features, and perfect curves. Desire overtook them instantly; one of them declared, “Oh, beautiful lady, it would be my honor!”

“Charming lady, hardworking John loves helping beautiful women like you!” the other quickly followed, not to be outdone.

“In that case, I’ll trouble you both. And if you don’t mind, perhaps you can help me try out the bed as well!” Zi Tong winked at the surveillance camera above their heads, then slipped back into her room.

The two waiters felt as if spring had come and all things were awakening; they hurried inside.

“Brave gentlemen, don’t forget to close the door~”

As her melodious voice rang out, the poorly soundproofed door shut. The expected sounds of pleasure never came; instead, silence fell within. The surveillance camera, too, had gone dead the moment Zi Tong winked, and the screens showed no trace of the waiters.

After a while, Zi Tong lay sprawled on her purple gauze, tidying the battlefield. She plucked golden hairs one by one, grumbling, “The quality of blond meat is so poor. And now I’ve got hair all over me—how disgusting!”

The tear in her purple gauze left by Han Bai was now perfectly restored.

…

Noon arrived, and the disappearance of the two waiters aroused no concern at the hotel. They were just two laborers; management assumed they’d snuck off to nap somewhere. Especially these days, with the charity event swelling the crowds and workload, only the owner had time to count his money—everyone else was too busy to care about a couple of nobodies.

The plaza of the Holy Lands was packed with people waiting for the Pope and Pontiff to distribute alms. The sacred objects given out by the Holy Light Church were believed to ward off evil spirits, so everyone wanted a share.

Soon, Qiao Zhi and Qiao Sen rode out from the cathedral in a luxurious carriage, distributing stalks of wheat and bottles of holy water to the crowd.

These items were indeed effective against one- and two-star spirits; the weaker ones would collapse at the mere touch. Each item carried a measure of the two holy men’s power, with the wheat and water merely serving as vessels.

The four members of the Purification Society remained hidden in the shadows, cloaked by Shadow’s powers, watching the grand ceremony. Qiao Zhi and Qiao Sen, preoccupied with their duties, failed to detect the lurking evil.

The charity event concluded, and the two holy men returned toward the cathedral in their carriage.

Meanwhile, Zhang Meng—no one knew when he’d appeared in the plaza—was already there. The crowd marveled at this giant, for even in the nearby American metropolis, such height was rare.

Zhang Meng ignored their stares, casually grabbing a man from the crowd. He pressed his massive hand down on the man’s head and squeezed.

Bang—

The man’s head burst like a watermelon.

The crowd froze for a heartbeat, then erupted into panic. No one had imagined a murderer would brazenly infiltrate the sacred charity event.

Nearby church guards opened fire on Zhang Meng, but ordinary bullets did nothing to his mutated body; they didn’t even pierce his skin.

The commotion in the small city reached Qiao Zhi and Qiao Sen on their way back. The Pope lifted the carriage curtain and ordered the escorting guards, “Take a team and investigate!”

“Yes, Your Holiness!”

A squad of guards left the procession, leaving only a handful to continue escorting the carriage.