Chapter 820, The Battle Approaches
Witch of the Divine Punishment Sect - Viola!
This witch who could control smoke to fight left a deep impression on Wu Heng.
When the Pirate King attacked Gold-Silver Island, it was she who stalled Deputy Steward Imiro.
Later, the witch and an 18th-level martial artist from the Divine Punishment Sect landed on the island attempting to assassinate him, but were outmaneuvered by Imiro and the old headmaster 'Janvito'. The martial artist was killed, and the witch escaped.
The martial artist's corpse was then turned into the current skeletal attendant 'Kashu' by Wu Heng.
Since then, fearing revenge, Wu Heng had used the prophet's detection abilities multiple times to locate her.
He didn't expect to encounter her here.
The shared image continued.
There were five black-robed attackers attempting to assassinate the prince's stand-in, and none of them were weak.
The entire city had been turned into a trap. As soon as they appeared, windows all along the street flung open, firing magically-etched arrows in dense volleys.
Explosions and lightning flooded the entire area.
Then came combat between 18th-level powerhouses, and waves of troops flooded in from the surrounding streets.
The sounds of battle, dazzling skill effects and magic scrolls filled the streets.
Boom~!
Another deafening explosion.
The carriage carrying the prince's double exploded into splinters.
Amid the broken wood and horse corpses, a body in ornate robes lay exposed.
"Retreat~!" someone shouted.
The black-robed figures scattered immediately, some jumping across buildings, others charging into the crowd.
The kingdom's forces began pursuit, throwing the scene into further chaos.
The battlefield was strewn with the corpses of soldiers.
And one black-robed corpse.
One assassin down!
From the corpse, a ghostly spirit floated up, vanishing quickly in the chaos, fleeing into the distance.
Glenda said to Benny, "You swallow that spirit. I'll chase the other one."
Benny nodded and darted after the fleeing ghost.
Glenda followed the smoky figure all the way past the city walls.
Only when the figure fled deep into the woods did she stop, staring in its direction for a while before flying back.
The shared vision ended.
Wu Heng released Glenda again.
Glenda asked, "Was it her?"
"Judging by appearance and skills, it should be the same witch," Wu Heng recalled.
When the prophet sensed her departure from Gold-Silver Island, she had gone toward the Ekow Kingdom.
It seemed the Divine Punishment Sect had made contact with Ekow long ago.
Xiaoxiao, confused, asked, "Who? When did we meet a witch?"
Glenda explained, "Back when your uncle was still a Deputy Steward, there was a woman who breathed out smoke and turned it into beasts."
Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, "Oh! Her! What's she doing here?"
"Likely hired by the First Prince to assassinate the Second Prince," Glenda replied.
"Didn't they know it was a fake? Even uncle could tell."
"They might not have known, or maybe they were following orders even if they realized," Glenda speculated.
Wu Heng thought for a moment, then said, "Doesn't matter. If we run into her again, we'll deal with it then."
Glenda chuckled, "Getting more confident, I see."
"Yup. Uncle's way braver now," Xiaoxiao agreed.
...…
While they talked, Benny flew back in.
After glancing at the group, she quickly reported, "Wu Heng, I devoured one black-robed spirit and got some fragmented memories. On my way back, I found someone interrogating the corpse. Might be from the Secret Cult or the Second Prince's side. After the examination, they teleported away."
She spoke quickly, dumping all the information at once.
Devoured the ghost of the black-robed assassin!
In Glenda's vision earlier, Benny had chased that escaping ghost.
Devouring it wasn't a surprise.
But hearing about corpse interrogation made Wu Heng frown.
Another necromancer?
Wu Heng said, "Don't panic. Let me see."
Benny nodded, twirled in midair, and dove into his body.
The first memory fragment belonged to the 18th-level black-robed man.
In his youth, he had been a mountain bandit, pillaging villages, raping women—a notorious outlaw.
Then, a sect called the "Tianzhe Sect" appeared in a village. The bandits tried to raid it but were crushed, forced to kneel before a bizarre statue.
Thanks to his talents and ruthlessness, he rose within the sect and became the new bishop after the former died.
Then came vivid recent memories.
In a luxurious room...
Heavy velvet curtains blocked out all light.
Only a faint glow lit the interior.
Across from him sat a stern-faced middle-aged man with cropped brown hair and sharp eyes.
He wore a purple robe embroidered with intricate gold patterns.
"Since you've come here, I assume you've agreed to my terms."
"Your Highness, so long as you honor your promises, I will help you secure the throne," the black-robed man said quietly.
The man smiled faintly. "If your work is good, the land of Ekow will be enough for you to gain renown."
The black-robed man bowed slightly. "Tianzhe Sect will give everything to help Your Highness achieve dominance."
"Go prepare. Settle in Erjiro City while we wait for the others."
"Yes."
The vision shifted again.
In a dim cabin, five figures sat or stood.
A woman in the corner placed a crumpled parchment on the central table. "Here's a list of noble merchants leaving the city today. If we kill the speaker double, panic will spread and the city won't function."
The parchment was passed around.
Once everyone had read it, they all agreed to the plan.
A burly man by the door said, "Let's prepare. If there's a chance, kill the double during the speech."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
...…
Crack~!
The final memory shattered.
Then came the battlefield vision.
After devouring the ghost, Benny returned to the scene.
Guards were clearing bodies. One black-robed corpse was carried into a side room.
A while later, a hooded figure appeared before the corpse.
Benny moved to the front to observe; only the eyes were visible—an old man, judging by the wrinkles.
He pulled back the corpse's hood, revealing a scarred face.
After close inspection, he waved his attendant away and took out a magic scroll.
As it activated, necrotic power enveloped the body.
The corpse suddenly sat up.
Its cloudy eyes stared at the scroll user.
Not a necromancer—just a skill scroll.
They came well prepared.
Then a hoarse voice asked from under the hood, "Were you sent by the First Prince?"
The corpse replied, "Yes."
"How many of you were there?"
"Five."
"Where is your base?"
"An abandoned hunter's cabin north of the city."
"Any other plans?"
"All orders were given on the spot. No set plans."
Final question...
The elder who used the scroll fell silent for a long while before finally asking, "Were the recent disappearances of several officials your doing?"
"No!"
After answering, the corpse immediately fell back.
Upon hearing that one word—"No"—the old man's eyes sharply narrowed.
It wasn't them.
Which meant there were other high-level Professionals in the city also targeting their side.
The elder's expression changed several times.
He stood there silently for a while before stepping forward and rummaging through the corpse.
He removed all the equipment and the space ring, storing them in his own ring.
"Come in," the man called out to the doorway.
The attendant who had been guarding outside walked in.
The man tore open another scroll. A teleportation array formed beneath his feet, and he disappeared without a trace.
The shared vision ended.
Wu Heng released Beni from his body again.
Glenda asked, "Any intel?"
Xiaoxiao hovered nearby, also waiting to hear the report.
Wu Heng recounted everything he saw to the two other specters.
Including that the black-robed man was from the Tianzhe Cult and had struck a deal with the First Prince to help him secure the throne.
The corpse had been questioned by a stranger. There were five of them total, and their previous gathering place had been an abandoned hunter's cabin north of the city.
He explained everything in one go.
Glenda nodded. "A shame the corpse got questioned."
Beni frowned and asked, "The one they called His Highness in that memory looked at least forty, with brown hair. Why doesn't his hair color match the Second Prince or the Fifth Princess?"
It was clear that man was the First Prince, but his appearance wasn't quite what they expected.
Glenda replied, "That's normal. Maybe they weren't born from the same woman. Wu Heng has how many women already? Imagine an old king."
"Don't keep comparing me to that!" Wu Heng grumbled.
Beni laughed, "You're right. That didn't occur to me."
Wu Heng thought for a moment, then said, "He used a teleportation scroll to leave. I'm not sure if they're still in the city."
Beni added, "I hesitated. I should've just killed him."
"No big deal. Killing him wouldn't have gotten us the corpse anyway—might've just drawn more attention," Wu Heng said.
"So what's the plan now?" Beni asked.
"No rush. Let's see how they move next."
Tap tap tap~!
Footsteps sounded from outside the window.
On the tavern's first floor, the sound of knocking and searching could be heard.
Wu Heng looked down through the window and said, "Let's go back and lay low for now. We'll come back later."
...…
Zombie World.
Exiting the dimensional gate, he was back in the monitoring room.
Wu Heng sat down at the desk and his gaze fell upon the A4-bound book sitting on the surface.
On the cover was written "Secret Talismans".
Li Yanhong was efficient as ever. The talisman book had already arrived.
The three specters peeked over curiously. "Uncle, what's that?"
"Talisman book. Got it from Central Command. They finally sent it over," Wu Heng replied casually.
"Think it'll be useful?" Xiaoxiao asked.
"Not sure. We'll take a look anyway," Wu Heng said. "Go check if those three zombies leveled up."
"Oh, okay!" Xiaoxiao responded and flew out.
Glenda and Beni hovered over his shoulders, peering at the book with him.
Opening the first page, the right side showed illustrations of talismans.
The left side described their functions and uses.
It almost felt like a fantasy artbook. Words like 『Jade Emperor's decree』 and 『Daoist Primogenitor』 appeared in the text.
Very grandiose.
In this world, the 『Jade Emperor』 was probably on the same level as gods from another dimension.
Wonder who'd win in a fight.
"How do you use them?" Glenda asked.
"We probably won't figure it out. We'll have to ask a rune master," Wu Heng replied after flipping through a few pages and not getting much from it. He closed the book.
Xiaoxiao flew back. "Uncle, still level 19. No changes."
"Leveling's slowed down, huh."
"Mhm!" all three specters nodded.
...…
Dusk.
Among the ruins of a collapsed wall in the wilderness, four black-robed figures stood with grim faces.
"Just to kill a body double, and we lost one of ours."
They didn't lose anyone attacking the prince's residence, but lost someone killing a stand-in.
They didn't feel much grief over the fallen comrade—they'd all been recruited from different cults and had no personal connections.
Still, losing one weakened the team.
"Don't blame anyone but himself—he wasn't strong enough," one said coldly.
"I'm not feeling sorry for him. I'm just worried it'll mess up our plans. What if there's another body double tomorrow? How many more of us can we afford to lose?"
The burly man near the entrance spoke, "We know it was a stand-in, but the rest of the city doesn't. There's going to be chaos. Let's lie low for a few days. His Highness will send reinforcements—we'll decide what to do next then."
The others narrowed their eyes and looked over.
After a moment of thought, someone said, "Fine. No objections."
"Then we'll wait for His Highness' orders."
The burly man added, "Rest and recover for now, just in case anything unexpected happens."
...…
Three days later.
Wu Heng returned to the tavern room.
He sent the specters out to check; the whole tavern was closed for business.
Wu Heng placed down a soundproofing pot and pulled out the radio to contact Wen Mansa.
"Wen Mansa, how are things on your end?"
Soon, Wen Mansa's voice came through, "Master, the messengers have already departed. They'll take the train to the city where the Second Prince is."
"Good. The Second Prince might still send out assassins or the like. Be careful over there," Wu Heng reminded.
"What happened?"
Wu Heng briefly explained the corpse-questioning incident and how it confirmed the missing officials weren't taken by the First Prince's people.
Wen Mansa caught the implication. "Understood. I'll make arrangements."
They exchanged a few more words before hanging up.
Wu Heng sat quietly for a bit.
Beni flew in from outside. "Found that northern cabin. Nothing left inside."
Wu Heng nodded. "They're careful. No surprise they didn't leave anything behind."
Soon after, Glenda returned too. "The prince's mansion is vacant. From the outside, soldiers are still stationed, but all the level-18 Professionals are gone. It's basically an empty shell."
Given how things had developed, the mansion no longer held much strategic value.
The high-level people pulling out was expected.
Wu Heng frowned in thought.
Since it's empty, maybe there were still clues inside.
It was the prince's mansion, after all.
He'd lived there before it was converted into a trap.
"Let's go check the mansion," Wu Heng said, rising to his feet.
The specters turned to look at him.
...…
In a small village.
Three men and one woman appeared at the village entrance.
As they stepped in, two figures came out to meet them.
No pleasantries were exchanged. One handed over an oil lamp covered in verdigris.
He said, "A strange artifact. Using it consumes life force. Here's a strand of his hair. Throw it into the lamp within a certain range, and it'll help you find the target."