Free Web NovelChapter 344: Chapter 191: Saving Ruijia from Fire and Water
Lu Cang shook his head. "I’m not going to kill him."
"I’m bound by my Warrior’s code. If I kill him inside the city, I won’t be a brave Warrior."
Leng Qingying whispered, "Are you, though?"
BOOM—
Lightning flashed and thunder roared.
A torrential downpour began within the city.
Di Lao ran around like a madman, searching everywhere for someone who could save him!
But everywhere he went...
...there was only a pool of blood, corpses, and... that child.
’How could this be?’
"No... there’s still a chance!"
BOOM—
Beneath the crashing thunder, he scrambled to a secluded cabin in the city.
Inside the cabin was a solitary Ritual Array.
’At least I can send a message out...’
BOOM!
A flash of lightning illuminated the entire house.
Only then did he realize that in a dark corner of the room, a child with ice-cold eyes was staring at him, lifelessly.
The child stood up.
He walked to the center of the Ritual, squatted down, and touched it with his hand.
’I didn’t expect to find another Ritual here.’
’If I hadn’t been watching him the whole time, I really wouldn’t have known this was set up here.’
From the Ritual, Lu Cang obtained some information originating from the direction of Ruijia.
As expected, this communication Ritual was for contacting Ruijia.
Then, Lu Cang looked at the man before him.
「Date of Death—1 minute」
Lu Cang had no intention of making a move; he just quietly watched the man before him.
’I want to see exactly how he dies.’
"You!"
"Why are you pushing me like this!"
"Just let me go! Let me go... I swear I’ll never bother you again!"
Lu Cang said flatly, "I am letting you go."
"You can leave right now."
"No matter what, I won’t continue to hunt you down. Even if you flee to The Ends of the Earth, I won’t hunt you."
Lu Cang’s tone was flat, but utterly sincere.
But unexpectedly, the man’s emotions flared, and he roared in fury, "You’re still toying with me! How long are you going to toy with me?!"
"Since you insist on toying with me!"
"I won’t let you have your way!"
His tone grew increasingly crazed, and his eyes bulged, almost popping out of their sockets.
"After struggling to survive for so long, I finally get it! You never intended to let me live!"
「Date of Death—5 seconds」
"Since you want me dead so badly..."
"I won’t trouble you to do it yourself!"
CRACK!
He violently brought up his knee! And smashed his head down against it!
A sickening crack echoed!
Lu Cang saw the soul leave the body.
He had killed himself.
"Suicide, huh..."
"What an unoriginal way to die."
However, as Lu Cang watched the Date of Death count down to zero, he thought...
’This Date of Death... is surprisingly punctual.’
The man was a Level 5 Skin Taker, and his original Date of Death was 30 years from now.
But when under his gaze...
...each second could accelerate his Date of Death by one month.
Cutting off his ten fingers had advanced it by ten years all at once.
’As long as I stare at someone for long enough...’
’...they will die naturally.’
’And I won’t even leave a trace...’
’After all, what does a person’s natural death have to do with me?’
After Di Lao died, Chi Cheng’s figure appeared.
"He... just killed himself?"
"Was he really that mentally fragile?"
Lu Cang smiled, a bit helplessly. "Perhaps all Cultists are a bit psychologically extreme."
SWOOSH—
Another figure descended.
Kumironi appeared beside them. "However, the intelligence we’ve gathered is certainly unexpected..."
"To think that the great Ruijia Kingdom has already become a Cult stronghold, and we didn’t notice a thing."
They had originally thought it was just Ruijia colluding with the Death Church.
They never imagined that the entirety of Ruijia had already fallen completely!
Lu Cang looked at the corpse on the ground.
He couldn’t help but think of the King of Lorren.
’If Luo Tedan heard this news, he’d probably be grinning from ear to ear, right?’
’He was racking his brains about how to deal with Ruijia and prevent an invasion.’
’But who would’ve thought Ruijia would have its own nest hollowed out from within.’
’What a chaotic world this is.’
Although the people he had met so far had been reasonably friendly, everything he was seeing now pointed to the world’s unrest and turmoil.
Demons rampaging, Nests invading, Cults running rampant, the public order of Chaotic Countries in shambles...
Lu Luwei asked, "Are we going to Ruijia?"
Kumironi’s tone was full of resignation. "We have to. But what happened in Ailuotis has probably already been discovered by Ruijia."
"If they truly control the Core of power, we might have to face an entire nation."
Leng Qingying asked, "Can’t we just release the intelligence and expose their King as a fake?"
But Kumironi shook his head. "As long as they flatly deny it, no matter how genuine our intelligence is, they’ll insist it’s fake."
"It might stir up some public opinion, but ultimately it would just be a minor war of words."
Chi Cheng nodded seriously. "That’s right. In this world, reasoning is, more often than not, established through force."
"Besides, even if an enemy nation provided mountains of evidence that our country’s king was a fake, an imposter, do you think ordinary citizens would believe it?"
Leng Qingying thought for a moment. ’Luo Tedan being an imposter...’
’It’s actually possible.’
She said seriously, "They might believe it."
Chum arrived late, after the others had finished their discussion.
Chum said, "Actually, there’s another key issue. If we get bogged down in a battle of public opinion for too long... the enemy might just find a chance to run away."
The Ruijia Kingdom isn’t something they’re unwilling to abandon.
By the time you’ve argued all day about who’s real and who’s fake, they’ll be long gone.
Chi Cheng: "So... let’s go."
"I just finished killing all the Cultists Lu Luwei found."
Chum also said, "I’ve already contacted the person in charge of the local Church to handle the aftermath."
Lu Cang nodded slightly. "Mm."
’Going to Ruijia again?’
’I can’t believe it’s been such a short time, and now I have to go save Ruijia from dire straits again.’
’This is full of twists and turns.’
’I hear the Church in Ruijia just got a new shipment.’
’A Rose of Shedding Skin that can steal a country.’
’Seems perfectly reasonable to steal some treasure from the Church’s Forbidden Hall while I’m at it.’
’How hateful, this Rose of Shedding Skin!’
’I must eliminate them... thoroughly!’
...
After departing from Ailuotis, Chi Cheng went to clean up a bit, heading to several nearby cities with Lu Luwei.
After chopping up all the Skin Takers on their list, they caught up with Lu Cang’s main group.
As for trivial matters like handling the scene or calming the public, those weren’t things Lu Cang’s group needed to do.
As Lu Cang left, he also helped himself to the scrolls the Skin Takers had left behind.
These gory scrolls, written on human skin, recorded some rather interesting things.
For example...
The method of Burning Flesh and Body.
An extremely twisted Combat Skill that let one Sacrifice their own flesh and blood in exchange for more powerful Qi and Blood.
It was a way to gain a temporary burst of combat power.
’It’s...’
’...actually quite suitable for me?’
’My Recovery Ability is fast. Even if I Sacrifice my flesh and blood, I can regenerate it in an instant.’
’Besides, this "Burning Flesh and Body" is a one-time use thing, not a constant burn. After using it once and recovering, the boosted Qi and Blood can be maintained for a long time.’
In addition, there was a great deal of analysis and exploration regarding flesh, skin, and bone.
After reading so much of the profound research from the White Tower and the Death Church’s studies on Death and the soul, these evil tomes about skin and flesh were a novel change of pace.
Lu Cang, flying through the air, flipped open a scroll made of human skin and written in blood.
Seeing Lu Cang engrossed in studying the Skin Stripping methods within, Leng Qingying couldn’t help but shudder.
Kumironi also watched Lu Cang with a worried expression.
’Maybe it’s time to rein Lu Cang in...’
’No matter the circumstances, he shouldn’t be learning how to strip the skin off people right in front of the Judgment Priest and the High Priest of Life, should he?’
