In the second-floor study of the villa, Yaxiu had almost turned into a treant, like a gravestone in a forest. Every branch was as hard as steel, and every leaf was siphoning his sorcery power.
This was an extraordinarily formidable miracle of the All Forests faction. The All Forests faction had always focused primarily on creation and production, yet this miracle was exceptionally ferocious. It was hard to imagine how many sorcery spirits had been combined within it to integrate the multiple effects of imprisonment, slaughter, and enfeeblement into a single whole.
That Xilin, over two hundred years old, was only a Two-Winged Sorcerer was not surprising. Faction attainments were the most ruthless trial, like an insurmountable chasm blocking all the "mediocres" who lacked sufficient talent and fortune. Hard work was meaningless to a sorcerer, because diligence was merely a sorcerer's baseline; without talent, no matter how long you lived, no matter how diligent or desperate you were, you simply could not reach the view from higher peaks.
Yet though he could not see the scenery from greater heights, having ample time allowed Xilin to appreciate the towering antiquity of the great trees beside him, the sting of bees, the stealth of spiders, and the killing intent lurking within vegetation.
All resources could be converted into a sorcerer's power, including time.
Yaxiu had never actually looked down on Xilin just because he too was a Two-Winged Sorcerer—not now, and not before either. But time was not on his side. As time slipped away, it would become easier for the Sin Hunting Hall to track him down. Through the Curtain, he had noticed that the Sin Hunting Hall had already begun large-scale sweeps across the Lower District and the Pig District.
Freya's home might be a sweet haven of comfort, but it was also a grave waiting to claim his life.
He had to obtain the necessary intelligence as soon as possible, and Professor Xilin was his only option. He had known before coming that he would have to gamble with his life. At the end of the day, a life was merely a relatively important bargaining chip; when it was time to place a bet, one had to bet.
Besides, just how important was this chip called life to him anyway?
This was not a gamble he was familiar with, nor were these the gamblers he knew. If not for the fear of someone picking it up, perhaps he would have thrown this chip away long ago.
Yaxiu lowered his eyelids and narrowed his eyes as if asleep.
His voice grew resonant and steady, as though he were the true master here: "So have you reached a decision, Professor Xilin?"
Xilin paced around him, murmuring, "Since Heath is no longer around, I naturally have no need to remain loyal to him, nor do I need to carry out his orders. I am already a free Blood Moon elf.
"Yet your existence remains a tremendous threat. No one can guarantee whether Heath might resurrect again, returning like lightning amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood."
"Yet you won't kill me," Yaxiu said calmly. "After finding out that I am not Heath, not only do you not want to kill me, you even have to protect my life."
After careful consideration, Yaxiu knew he was in no danger at all.
If he were the real Heath, Xilin would indeed have to obey orders to assassinate him, but Heath would likewise have a way to control Xilin; and since he was not Heath, Xilin was freed from his shackles and naturally had no reason to kill him.
Perhaps someone might wonder: wouldn't Xilin, enslaved and controlled by Heath for so long, extend his hatred to the proxy and seek to pull up the roots, destroying Yaxiu as well?
Of course not. If Xilin had been left with nothing but thoughts of revenge, he would have popped Yaxiu like a juicy peach moments ago.
Instead, Xilin was terrified.
"Yes." Xilin stopped behind Yaxiu, his voice trembling. "Since Heath wants you dead, you must live! Even if you are clinging to your last breath, you must live! Even if death is preferable to life, you must live!"
Yaxiu asked, "Do you know why Heath wants to kill me?"
"I don't know, but you are so frail, so ignorant, so insignificant... That can only mean one thing..."
Xilin stepped in front of Yaxiu and pointed his index finger at Yaxiu's forehead. "The ritual is not yet complete. You are not the complete 'Touch.' You are merely a half-finished product.
"Only by killing you can the ritual be completed, and only then can Heath's fantasy descend upon this world."
Yaxiu looked at Xilin's finger. "What is 'Touch'? What happens after I die?"
"I don't know, I don't know!"
Xilin clawed hysterically at his hair. "That is a mystery of the Four Pillar Gods, a ritual whose full scope only Heath was privy to! Heath only told the cultists that he was not yet the complete 'Touch.' When the ritual is complete, he will return from suffering, break free from honor, fall from the heavens, and rise from the grave to become the 'Touch' that transcends all things! And then... he will smear the world as he pleases!"
"Sounds like once the ritual is complete, I should be able to transcend the so-called Four-Winged Sorcerers." The corners of Yaxiu's lips curved up slightly. "So if you kill me, I'll turn into a being... comparable to the Blood Moon Sovereign?"
Xilin glared coldly at Yaxiu. "You will never have that chance."
Yaxiu whispered softly, "Then, are you going to hand me over to the Sin Hunting Hall?"
"No, absolutely not! Gerard might kill you, and the Blood Moon Trial would take your life... You cannot be handed over under any circumstances!" Xilin shook his head violently as if trying to shake off flies. "The arrogant Blood Saint clan only wants to study you, and the stubborn Moon Shadow clan doesn't care about you at all!
"Only I know how dangerous you truly are! Only I can handle this... only me..."
Xilin softly uttered words worthy of a fiend: "Sever your limbs, shut you in a doll box, and place you in the deepest basement on the third sublevel, using only IV tubes to maintain your basic vital signs..."
*That's right, exactly like that.*
Yaxiu felt no emotional ripple within; he was quite satisfied with Xilin's decision. If Xilin truly handed him over to the Sin Hunting Hall, it would be impossible for Yaxiu to repeat his prison escape. No matter how foolish the prison was, they would know to guard against his purification miracle.
If nothing else, all they would need to do was change the transmission frequency of Yaxiu's vital signs from once every ten minutes to once every second. The moment Yaxiu removed the chip, Gerard would arrive at Shattered Lake the next second.
No matter how many obstacles Xilin set up on the outside, none would be as clean and absolute as the chip's restriction. Yaxiu did not care about physical mutilation; as long as he could enter the Void Realm, he would sooner or later gain the power to break through the predicament.
What was more, Yaxiu had not truly lost all ability to resist.
The Substitute, Heart Sword, and Severing Self miracle—skills Yaxiu had fully mastered—could all be activated without sorcery power.
It was just that this tree had completely stripped him of his mobility; fighting back right now would be futile.
The moment Xilin prepared to move him would be his best chance to break free. Having followed Gessas all the way here, he had observed the surrounding security. If Xilin wanted to hunt him down, he would kill the nearby guards and draw the hunters over.
*The hunters want to kill me, while Xilin wants to protect my life. If handled properly, it could even trigger a clash between Xilin and the hunters. If it causes massive casualties, I can also take advantage of Financier's speech from a few days ago to detonate racial conflicts and class tensions, and then...* Thoughts surged and dissipated in Yaxiu's mind, quickly coalescing into the embryonic form of a conspiracy.
In the worst-case scenario, he would merely be imprisoned in a basement, turned into an immobile doll packed in a box, with nothing left in his world except the sound of his own heartbeat.
Yaxiu felt no emotional stir regarding the tragic fate that awaited him. No nervousness, no fear, no excitement.
It was as though he had detached himself from this flesh, quietly observing the destiny of the person named "Yaxiu Heath" from the sidelines.
Pain, loneliness, and torture could not shake his will, because in his world...
In his world...
...there was still Sword Princess?
His train of thought snapped here. Yaxiu shuddered, vitality returning to his pupils.
It was hard to describe the feeling. It was as if Yaxiu had been about to float up and transcend this world when a string suddenly yanked him back, slamming him violently onto the ground. Then the sound of flowing air, the fragrance of the soil, the throbbing of his heartbeat—all his sensations came rushing back into his mind at once.
It was as though Yaxiu had just been asleep, and now he was finally awake.
Right at that moment, Xilin suddenly let out a strange sound.
"Shilin Dole, you cannot run away," he murmured softly. "You are already free. You cannot run away anymore."
The elf drew an ebony dagger from a drawer, walked over to stand in front of Yaxiu, reversed his grip on the dagger, and gave a gentle thrust—
Plunging it into his own throat.
Chapter 157