Bait

Eight sacrificial offerings, and only seven corpses left... The instant she heard it, Xialuote felt her scalp draw tight, as if an invisible hand had suddenly seized her by the hair. Cold sweat seeped out along her back, and her body sat up straighter of its own accord. Before her eyes there seemed to appear a dim hall, black-robed evil cultists chanting prayers she could not make out, a hand lifting a bloodstained dagger high, and victims falling one after another. These images joined with her memory of first waking in this body—the shrill screams at her ear, the violent shaking, and at last the fall into darkness—and together with the blood on her dress and the bloodstained dagger she had held in her arms, they pointed to one fact. She was very likely the eighth sacrificial offering: the one who had died, returned to life, and fled the scene. The feeling was like waking from sleep to find a hole in her forehead, a flintlock in her hand, and a diary before her that said she would die... No, even unluckier than that. If I died at home, only I would know. Now even the Church knows I died and came back to life... Absurd notions kept rising in Xialuote's mind, and she even arrived at a wilder guess: Could the blood on the dress be someone else's, the dagger the weapon of a living sacrifice, and she herself one of the evil cultists who had fled the scene, lost her memory, and in the end come to bear a transmigrator's soul? No wonder I was so practiced when I drew the dagger and stabbed at Aidian, even thrusting by instinct at the vital point in the chest. So this body had long since formed the muscle memory... she thought, mocking herself. But when she looked at Madam Weiyefu, whose face was grave and yet whose eyes showed a trace of concern, Xialuote quickly grew calm. No. There is no evidence the Church knows every secret. Otherwise they would never have waited for me to come to the church; the team that handles Extraordinary incidents would already have come to my door... And the evil-cultist guess is even more absurd. Aside from last night, this body's memories are complete, with nothing doubtful in them. If she had joined the evil cult long ago, I, who inherited the body and the memories, could not have failed to find a single abnormality... Putting every clue from before together, the Church is now more likely to take me for a survivor who fled the evil cult's slaughter amid the chaos, not an anomalous being who died and returned to life... Xialuote's thoughts raced, and in an instant she confirmed her present situation. Even so, she let that earlier self-doubt show on her face. First she went blank and froze. Then she slowly widened her eyes and, as if she had at last realized something, asked haltingly: "Then... I, I'm that sacrificial offering?" "I believe so." Weiyefu nodded. Whether her eyes held pity or concern was hard to say. "Of the two night watchmen Aidian injured, the one hurt more badly is still being treated at Suxite Holy Palace Hospital. The other's testimony established that the place where you woke was not far from the evil cult's sacrificial site. The memories you lost are very likely tied to your being kidnapped as a sacrificial offering, fleeing the scene of the sacrifice, and finally collapsing from exhaustion in an alley." Sure enough, this inference really was the most reasonable. But if so, the original Xialuote Suolun had not died. After I transmigrated, where did she go... A new question rose in Xialuote's mind, but she dared not think it through, and she could not ask the nun before her. She could only turn to another subject: "This evil cult you speak of—what is it, exactly?" Weiyefu, seated across from her, stroked the Sun Holy Emblem at her chest. Her tone turned cold as she explained: "They are all obstinate believers in so-called evil gods. Most of the organizers, for one purpose or another, merely use folk legends or ancient relics to invent beings that can answer what believers pray for, and then accept offerings and sacrifices. Yet once the believers are drawn in, they are often more fanatical than the organizers. "Most such organizations aim at nothing more than gathering wealth, cheating believers of their money in a deity's name. But a few evil cults have gone so far as to cast off their humanity. They please their evil gods by harming and sacrificing themselves, and even kidnap innocent people as sacrificial offerings to present to the gods in their hearts, so as to obtain power." The sort worth the Church and the military going out to wipe out ought to be this last kind... When she spoke of obtaining power, could she mean Extraordinary power? Hengli said the Church's Extraordinary armed forces handled trouble stirred up by Extraordinaries among the common people. Was this what she meant? Xialuote thought it over, and took the opening to ask: "So Aidian disguised himself as someone my father sent to look for me, and approached me in order to seize me and take me back for the sacrifice to continue—or to take me somewhere hidden and kill me to keep me quiet?" Weiyefu inclined her head slightly and answered: "His identity is still under investigation. But from the preliminary conclusion, there are indeed quite a few suspicious points about Aidian Ma'ersuo. Nearly forty, and still unmarried; his living expenses did not match his income as a lawyer; he had little money in the bank; his circle of acquaintance was not large; and his whereabouts were often unknown... Of course, none of that can prove he was a member of the evil cult. But after we received Baron Gusitafu's report last night, we found an anomaly on the corpse of Aidian, who had broken into the baron's house, and that last clue confirmed it." An anomaly... Xialuote's heart hung in suspense. Her expression unchanged, she pressed: "What clue?" "That is not something ordinary believers ought to know." A trace of a smile showed on Weiyefu's face again, and the atmosphere in the confessional eased a little. "If you wish to know everything, you must promise not to tell a third person what we discuss next." Xialuote blinked and pointed below the partition. "Do I need to swear on the holy canon again?" Weiyefu shook her head. "No. Because if you leak the secret, you will instead harm those who know of it." Is this a threat that if I leak the secret, they'll kill to silence me? Xialuote was taken aback. She looked at the other's sincere expression and at those jade-green eyes that seemed to glow, and then thought a Church that believed in an orthodox god would not go so far. Perhaps that holy canon which could detect lies had limits on its use, so all Weiyefu could do now was frighten her. "I swear by the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' that I will not reveal what I am about to hear to anyone who has no part in it." She lifted her chin slightly and swore in all seriousness. Seeing her name the deity, Weiyefu, no less grave, stroked the holy emblem at her chest and witnessed the oath. After that, the nun told Xialuote the basics of Extraordinaries, potions, and sequences and pathways in the plainest way she could. It was largely the same as what Hengli'aite had said, only the terms were more formal, more like a system that had been sorted and set in order. For instance, she gave the collective name of official Extraordinaries to the Extraordinary armed forces trained by the Seven Great Churches of Yindisi and the other countries. Within each Church they were distinguished by different names: those of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun were "Purifiers," and those of the Craftsman Church were "Machinery Heart." For another, aside from them and the military's Extraordinaries, the Extraordinaries held by folk evil cults or certain secret organizations, and all who had come by chance to possess Extraordinary power, were called wild Extraordinaries. The name carried a certain scorn. She wondered whether the official Extraordinaries' sense of superiority was at work... "Purifier" symbolized sunlight purifying evil, while "Machinery Heart" had to do with the machines, levers, and gears that craftsmen revered. She wondered what the Extraordinary armed forces of the other Churches were called... As she listened to Weiyefu's account, Xialuote turned it over in her mind, then suddenly noticed that the other had once more taken up the dagger she had handed over. "...After an Extraordinary dies completely, the power left behind sometimes condenses in strange ways. It may appear in some part of the body, or be absorbed by an object he touched before death, forming a 'Sealed Artifact' that possesses wondrous power and usually produces many ill effects as well. "Aidian was confirmed to be a Sequence 9 Extraordinary, but no such change was found beside his corpse." As Weiyefu explained, she drew the dagger from its leather sheath and laid that length of blade—its surface pitch-black, as if steeped in dried blood—crosswise between them. Xialuote gave a start and said in surprise: "This dagger absorbed his power?" Swish. Weiyefu returned the dagger to its sheath and nodded. "An item like this, kept in hand, would only bring danger to you and to the people around you. You were right to turn it in. The Church will not forget the contribution you have made... "But what matters most now is what follows. The principal members of the evil cult Aidian belonged to are all dead, yet there have been cases before of those who slipped the net taking revenge. They dare not face official Extraordinaries head-on, but they will treat killing a survivor as a provocation against the Church." Isn't that just bullying the weak and fearing the strong... Even as she grumbled inwardly, Xialuote asked with a hopeful look: "Can the Church protect me? Or else... let me have a little ability to protect myself?" She had never forgotten one of her reasons for coming to the church of her own accord: a chance to become an Extraordinary. "If this matter can be resolved smoothly, perhaps you may have such a chance." Weiyefu's answer committed her to nothing. "While the Church is tracking the remaining believers of the evil cult, do not leave Suxite." "Is there anything else you need me to do?" She had already guessed the other's meaning, but Xialuote asked all the same. The nun before her shook her head, drew from within her robe a small glass vial sealed with a cork, and held it out. "For now, live by your usual habits. Do not deliberately change your comings and goings, and do not go alone to places that are too out of the way. If you truly meet someone suspicious, splash this bottle of holy water at them, and do what you can to buy time." Holy water... Xialuote's expression stiffened a little as she took the small bottle of transparent liquid, which showed nothing special at all. At the same time, she confirmed her guess. The "Purifiers" Weiyefu represented very likely meant to use her, this survivor of a living sacrifice, as bait, to lure out whatever evil-cult believers might remain and catch them all in one sweep. In that, Xialuote would undoubtedly bear considerable risk. Official Extraordinaries would tail her in secret, but there would be a gap between the moment she met danger and the moment help arrived. Through that interval she could rely only on herself, and on this bottle of holy water, which she was not sure would even work. Of course, risk came with gain. By what Weiyefu had said, if the evil cultists were truly caught, then together with the credit of her having turned in that "Sealed Artifact" of her own accord, she might obtain a potion of her own. The only question was whether this bottle of holy water would work on the evil cultists. Might it instead harm Xialuote, whose soul had transmigrated and now possessed this body? * * * Leaving the confessional, Xialuote was about to go straight out, but as she passed the long table of candles along the side of the prayer hall, something stirred in her. She paid the clergy for an amulet hung with a golden Sun Holy Emblem, as thanks and praise to the "Eternal Blazing Sun," and to Saint Luoke. All the while she looked carefully about, trying to tell whether anyone was following her or protecting her. Aside from the faithful coming and going, she found no suspicious figure. Have I misunderstood Madam Weiyefu? Did the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun merely take the Sealed Artifact and send me off with a bottle of holy water that every church has... She muttered without a sound, put the amulet away, and returned to the carriage that had been waiting for her. She had meant to go to Bo'ersi District, to the home of Baron Gusitafu, who had helped her last night, and thank Lai'ang Gusitafu and Luosaier. Then it struck her that some "Purifier" was very likely following her, and she gave up the idea. But not going to give thanks would look a little too deliberate, unfit for the courtesy a noble ought to show. I'll wait a few days and pay a formal visit; Father ought to agree as well... Xialuote settled on the plan, and through the jolting of the carriage returned to Baron Suolun's residence at the other end of Saint Luoke District, near the old city wall ruins. After telling the servants again and again not to let her father know where she had been today, she passed, somewhat wearily, through the main door, came to the front hall where the family portrait in oils hung, and froze. Lawuer Suolun was standing beside the staircase, his expression grave.