*Beep... Beep...*
The call connected.
"Hello, Brother Ye Huan."
An enthusiastic, innocent female voice sounded.
"An Qi, what are you busy with?" Ye Huan asked with a smile.
"Just running around blindly every day. Nothing much, really—oh, by the way, how did you end up clashing with Elder Liu? She's one of my people, you know. Let her go," An Qi said.
"They came to capture Luosha," Ye Huan said.
"Who's Luosha?" An Qi asked curiously.
"Just a newcomer in your cult. She's a friend of mine," Ye Huan said.
"Is that so? She's your friend?" An Qi chuckled.
"Let her off," Ye Huan said.
"Brother Ye Huan, begging me over some girl... that really breaks my heart. I won't let her off," An Qi said spitefully.
"Beg you? I didn't beg. That was an imperative sentence," Ye Huan said, sounding surprised.
Silence fell on the other end for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Brother Ye Huan. This is an internal matter of our cult. I have to play by the rules too," An Qi said apologetically.
"So you have to play by the rules. Fine, I understand," Ye Huan said.
"I'm glad you understand. Let's get together later, and I'll take you out for dinner," An Qi said softly.
"Sure. Hanging up now."
"Goodbye, Brother Ye Huan."
Ye Huan walked into the restroom, crushed Elder Liu's phone into powder with gentle pressure, and flushed it down the drain.
Then he began washing his hands.
The private dining room was quiet.
Not a sound.
Only the murmur of water in the sink, carrying away wisps of crimson from Ye Huan's hands.
"I've really never seen a girl like that," Ye Huan murmured with a sigh.
When Luosha had descended to judge him, she had struck a deal with him and spared his life.
As a Cardinal, An Qi could certainly investigate and find out about it.
—She wanted to get rid of him, but Luosha was in the way.
Luosha had to die.
Ye Huan glanced back.
By the dining table.
Everyone sat gathered together, completely silent.
Elder Liu didn't speak either.
All of them were quiet now.
An Qi would rather sacrifice this elder than give up on eliminating Luosha!
Ye Huan shut off the faucet and began drying his hands.
—He was a ritual executor. If someone who helped him was killed off just like that, who would ever dare help him in the future?
The entire Black Tide Cult was watching An Qi's "public execution."
Surviving was not about endless avoidance and forbearance.
Under circumstances like these, if he didn't react, endless trouble would come knocking on his door.
By that time,
no one would ever dare help him again.
Fire.
Quietly kindled.
Across the entire private room, translucent human silhouettes emerged from the corpses, rose into midair, blended into the firelight, and vanished.
Dark-green flames surged violently.
A woman's head emerged from the firelight. The moment it saw Ye Huan, it burst into hearty laughter:
"My Cardinal keeps trying to kill my ritual executor. This puts me in quite a difficult position."
Ye Huan took a deep look at it.
It was eating.
Eating those souls.
It was feeling delighted right now.
Even though those were its own cultists, it hadn't stopped feeding.
—Wasn't Luosha its cultist too?
And what about him?
"Does today's table count as my contribution? Look, you arrived even before I used the Ritual Fire," Ye Huan said.
"They bear my mark. Upon death, their souls and flesh belong to me; that is predestined—but since it was your hand that did the deed, I'll credit half to you," the woman's head said.
"The Cardinal wants to kill me. What exactly did she pay to keep you silent on the matter?" Ye Huan asked.
"Nine souls—nine is the ultimate number. Ether directly resonated with her, so even I had to manifest to answer her prayer," the woman's head said.
"Even though I have the Ritual Fire, the Cardinal bypassed you and hired an assassin to kill me—and now the Cardinal wants to kill an innocent cultist named Luosha. Do you think Luosha can fend off killers like I did?" Ye Huan asked again.
His tone was very light and soft, as if discussing types of desserts or changes in the weather.
Yet what he said made even the woman's head fall into contemplation.
At this moment, no one knew that this Great Being had already decided to make Luosha the Holy Maiden.
Yet Ye Huan knew.
Throwing Luosha into the conversation was equivalent to tossing another chip onto the gambling table.
It was worth serious consideration by this Great Being.
"Luosha is merely a probationer. Though she has awakened some abilities and works at the Flesh Archive, she is only a nobody after all," the woman's head said.
The corner of Ye Huan's mouth twitched slightly.
This entity had already decided to make Luosha the Holy Maiden, yet on the surface, its demeanor remained completely unreadable.
—It was pretending not to see the new chip he had placed on the table.
And what then?
"Let us speak no more of this. What do you intend to do next? After all, the other party paid nine lives. I am in quite a difficult position," the woman's head said.
Pressure and threat.
The situation had grown perilous.
*Tsk.*
He needed to play a few good cards, or he would lose this game.
Ye Huan walked to the window, watching the plainclothes police outside quietly securing the perimeter.
All was peaceful.
Yet he didn't have much time to think.
"From now on, I will continuously bring you souls. In the meantime, you will refrain from moving against me," Ye Huan said.
"And then?" the woman's head asked.
"Once my offerings surpass the Cardinal's, please dissolve your pact with her. You will have ample reason to convince her—after all, I will have provided more souls," Ye Huan said.
The woman's head narrowed its eyes, gazing down at the youth before it.
Just like that!
Healthy competition between subordinates.
They generated gains of greater value than their own souls, striving to outdo one another in an upward spiral.
—Even if both wanted the other dead.
"Your proposal... pleases me," the woman's head said with satisfaction.
"Do you agree?" Ye Huan asked.
"Every three hours, I must receive new souls, or I shall carry out my pact with her," the woman's head said.
"And if I surpass her?" Ye Huan asked.
"If you surpass her, I guarantee that no one will harm you again. I will tell her that your ritual was grander than hers, and that I am in a difficult position," the woman's head said.
"She certainly wouldn't dare put you in a difficult position," Ye Huan said.
"She is very sensible," the woman's head said with a chuckle.
The dark-green flames surged into the air and vanished before reaching the ceiling.
The woman's head was gone.
The deal was struck.
Ye Huan took out his phone and made a call:
"Section Chief."
"Speak."
"I've been protecting my informant. After Director Xia approved it yesterday, I sent you a text explaining the situation."
"Go on."
"This morning, cultists from the Black Tide Cult came to kill her. I eliminated them."
"Is there a record of the police safe house being activated?" Song Fushan asked.
"Yes. They notified our bureau, and the Confidential Affairs Section transferred an extension to have me liaise with them. Then things happened very suddenly," Ye Huan said.
"This sort of thing happens all the time. When dealing with cultists, you must always remember that they often launch sudden attacks."
"But there was one very strange thing," Ye Huan continued. "The cultists I killed were all burned to ashes by fire. I even saw their phantoms float up into the void and vanish."
"That's how cultists die. Their god consumed them. It's nothing unusual," Song Fushan said.
Hearing some background noise, Ye Huan couldn't help asking:
"Section Chief, what are you busy with?"
"Nothing. Handle your business and just write a report when you get back."
With that, Song Fushan hurriedly hung up.
At the Mysterious Affairs Section.
Two men in Daoist robes were seated on the sofa. Waiting until Song Fushan finished his phone call, one of them said:
"Who would've thought you'd be so busy with work?"
"Busy, my ass. What do you actually want from me?" Song Fushan asked with a stern face.
"The Empire's Lone Wolf completely vanished after taking a leave of absence, and you've been gone for far too long, haven't you?" one of them teased with a smile.
"I hope you won't bother me. I resigned a long time ago," Song Fushan said.
"You only submitted a resignation letter, but no one approved it."
An irritated expression appeared on Song Fushan's face.
At this moment,
he had no attention to spare for Ye Huan's minor matters.
Meanwhile, Ye Huan dialed another number.
"Director Xia."
"Xiao Ye, what is it?"
"The bureau forwarded a dedicated line to me reporting that someone was hunting my informant. According to the police, they were cultists. After I arrived, a fight broke out with them."
"Are you alright?" Xia Li asked.
"...They're dead," Ye Huan said.
"Just write a report later. Don't worry about it," Xia Li said with a lighthearted laugh.
"Understood."
The call ended.
Only at this moment did a notification quietly surface in Ye Huan's mind:
"Reporting promptly is a good habit, ensuring everyone knows you are working diligently."
"Right now, you are temporarily in a safe position."
"Evaluation +1."
Chapter 30