After the mute finished apologizing, the red-robed figures all turned to their leader. This time, their urgency had intensified, and they began pressing the leader more insistently.
The two individuals could only let the mute handle suppressing these fools. If they’re so eager to die, they might as well charge into the shadow space themselves, they thought.
Finally catching on, the leader hurriedly said, “Wait, this isn’t right! You bunch of idiots, why are we listening to her? If she won’t recite it, let’s just kill her!”
The messenger also snapped back to reality and quickly shouted at Xue Ji, “Enough nonsense! Are you going to recite it or not?”
Hearing the threat, Xue Ji dropped her act and laughed. “Recite? Of course I’ll recite. But it’s you who will be doing the reciting~”
The parchment, which Xue Ji had brought back, floated in front of the apostles. Each one could clearly see the name written upon it.
Just as the three high-ranking apostles realized something was wrong and tried to act, they found their bodies frozen.
“What’s going on?!” The leader was the first to notice the abnormality. He wanted to warn the others not to look at the parchment, but found he couldn’t even move his mouth.
“Recite. Let me see your god.”
Xue Ji’s voice, like a summons from hell, echoed in their ears. Although the red robes didn’t know the truth about the parchment, some of them had regained their senses. But now, no matter how they struggled, it was useless.
The thirteen figures stiffly opened their mouths, some frenzied, some trembling.
Seeing the situation turn dire, the three high-ranking apostles erupted with spiritual power, trying to wrest back control of their bodies. But under the parchment’s influence, their movements were unbearably stiff. They could only watch helplessly as shadows crept up from the ground, firmly locking their bodies in place.
“What are you all afraid of?” Xue Ji asked. “Surely you aren’t less ‘devout’ than an outsider like me who hasn’t even joined your ranks yet?”
Wearing Ling Xiaoxiao’s face and holding a lantern, Xue Ji slowly walked out of the shadow barrier jointly created by the thirteen disciple. The light from the lantern’s flame easily dispelled the darkness; this was a wisp of primordial fire left behind by Ling Xiaoxiao herself.
Seeing the person emerging from the barrier, the three black-robed figures widened their eyes, staring at her in disbelief.
“You want to ask how I’m possibly still in China?” Xue Ji read their shock and fear in their eyes.
Since that’s the case, let’s make that fear even more profound, Xue Ji thought.
She smirked and said, “Who told you my identity is limited to just being the Chongming Bird? It’s not unreasonable for a cultivator to have a few avatars, is it~?”
This news sent a chill straight to their cores. So that’s why China’s Guardian acted so out of character this time, providing cross-border support and joining the mission to defeat Cain. So the Guardian already possesses such methods!
‘Wait, if that’s true, then sending just an avatar to deal with Cain is a clear misjudgment. That vampire Demigod, even without achieving full godhood, possesses unimaginable power. China is being overconfident this time.’
Thinking this, the black robe previously responsible for messaging actually felt like laughing. He looked at Xue Ji with a mocking expression.
Seeing this, Xue Ji, like a lofty monarch, lightly flicked her finger, nearly breaking his neck.
“Say whatever you have to say quickly,” she said, mimicking Ling Xiaoxiao’s cold demeanor when threatening others. “Consider it your last words.”
The black robe coughed violently, but the smile on his face grew increasingly triumphant, even maniacal.
“You think you’ve won? Even if we fail here, Cain will easily crush you all.”
cough cough cough “Besides, our Secret God’s Hand organization is spread across the whole world. You’ll pay the price sooner or later.”
Xue Ji didn’t respond. She directly drew her bone-tooth dagger and lightly swept it across his neck. Blood instantly gushed out.
Xue Ji’s face was stained with blood, her icy gaze identical to the real Ling Xiaoxiao’s.
The others were terrified, their will to resist long gone. If not for the shadows controlled by Lilith restraining them, they didn’t know how many times they would have already cried out that name by now.
She pressed the dagger against the leader’s neck. Cold sweat poured down the leader’s forehead. Why does she radiate such a cold aura, when she’s famously known as the Guardian of Flame?
The same sensation of having his neck twisted was imposed upon him.
“Speak. Why are you cooperating with the Vampires?”
“The vampire Cain is worthy of our organization’s alliance.”
“Why?”
“Because he is about to advance. The Great One we serve has taken a liking to his body.”
I see. So it’s a body-snatching scheme.
Xue Ji continued her questioning, “Tell me everything about your organization.”
“You should think carefully. The fact that you can still speak normally right now is also my mercy.”
The leader knew this perfectly well. Xue Ji killing the messenger was a warning meant for him. Her ability to keep him conscious after he saw the evil god’s true name was unheard of; even the higher-ups in their organization had no such capability.
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”
Under Xue Ji’s coercion, the leader spilled everything he knew.
“So, you find potential targets through an online website, then force them into your cult by manipulating their lives.” Xue Ji’s eyes turned icy cold after hearing his description of their recruitment methods.
“You’re lying! They all joined willingly!” Even in such a state, he could still utter such words, which struck Xue Ji as truly pathetic.
They actually called this premeditated persecution—this method of luring people when they were cornered and had nowhere to turn—”willing.”
The tragedy that befell Song Liangpeng’s family was orchestrated by them from the very beginning.
First, they commercially besieged the Song family’s small company, luring Song’s father into accepting money-losing projects. Then, they used spiritual deception, making both husband and wife simultaneously witness “miracles” from the Secret God. After that, it spiraled out of control: small gains accompanied by huge losses, minor setbacks followed by major financial disasters.
This scam, akin to online gambling, trapped the couple in a quagmire. Perhaps they had sensed something was wrong, but faced with overwhelming debt, they ultimately chose to believe in that slim chance of luck.
How truly tragic…
After recording all the information about the Secret God’s Hand, Xue Ji turned to leave.
“Wait, you haven’t…” Before he could finish, shadows controlled him once again.
“I never said I’d spare your life.” Xue Ji shot him a look reserved for garbage before turning and walking away.
Among the twelve, the leader in black was the only one conscious. He watched helplessly as his own mouth,不受控制地, began to recite the name of that great terror.
Just as the final syllable was about to be uttered, his mouth was once again sealed by shadow. Overjoyed at being saved, tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
He silently vowed to reform, to never again be deceived by this evil cult.
However, he didn’t notice the shadow-condensed dagger now gripped in his own hand. Xue Ji had played a little joke on them too, letting him experience the feeling of “willingly” committing suicide.
From hell, to heaven, and then plummeting violently from heaven back down—this was Xue Ji’s gift to the apostles of the Secret God.
Xue Ji grasped the parchment floating in the air and stared directly into the abyss connected by the black magic circle.
At the very moment the entity within made eye contact with her, the heads of the remaining twelve apostles tumbled to the ground.
In the final instant before the black magic circle vanished, the presence in the abyss stared fixedly at Xue Ji. Xue Ji revealed her true face.
“Remember my visage, vile Lord of the Abyss. Remember your fear.”
Sage Xue Ji, three months after the Spirit Qi Resurgence, had faced the entity from the abyss.