Chapter 109: Might Of The Priest—heituo Divine Blood
Although his subordinates reported that the Court of Justice was conducting a large-scale operation in the city, they could not determine the specific target.
After discovering it was Pang Hui, his expression became even more colorful. This guy was the Deputy Inspector Minister, yet he had a close relationship with the Court of Justice and had always been excluded from the core circle of the Security Department.
“It’s really lively. The Minister of Inspection is here too.” Su Chen looked at the big-bearded man.
The heads of the three departments were at the same level as the Chief Judge, but there were only three of them, while the Court of Justice had eight even without counting the Chief Judge.
“Minister, please save me!” Pang Hui shouted again.
“Evil-doer!” Wei Yinshuo’s gaze turned cold, and he shouted angrily again. Without any visible movement from him, Pang Hui’s head, kneeling on the ground, suddenly exploded.
He had already figured out Xia Hanshi’s purpose: to make him act personally and bear part of the responsibility.
If he let Pang Hui continue to implicate others recklessly, the blame would ultimately fall on him.
No wonder someone inexplicably notified him that something had happened to the Pang Family.
“If it were in the past, Xia Hanshi wouldn’t go to such lengths. He would have killed them all outright without needing to deliberately lure me out. He’s actually changed his ways and started finding people to share the blame.” Wei Yinshuo suppressed his anger, speculating inwardly.
“Could it be because of that Su Chen? The trouble on him might be partially transferred to Su Chen, so he’s unwilling to continue with his usual methods…”
“Wei Yinshuo!” Wang Zhanpeng shouted sharply. He vaguely guessed what Pang Hui had done, but he still had to show the proper attitude.
Wei Yinshuo came back to his senses and looked at Xia Hanshi. As expected, he had no intention of producing the Elder Token, leaving him no choice but to brace himself and respond, “This is the Elder Council’s order. The Pang Family colluded with the Cult of the Strange God!”
As expected… Wang Zhanpeng understood inwardly, still saying coldly: “Elder Council’s order? Where’s the evidence?”
“Xia Hanshi!” Wei Yinshuo gritted his teeth, but Xia Hanshi remained motionless.
“Enough!” Until a cold shout faintly reached his ears, not issued by anyone present.
Only then did Xia Hanshi seem to wake from a dream and take out the Elder Token.
Wang Zhanpeng was somewhat surprised. Weren’t these two at odds? Why did Xia Hanshi seem to be following Wei Yinshuo’s lead?
“Since it’s the Elder Council’s order, I have nothing to say.” Wang Zhanpeng was very straightforward, turning to leave. What he wanted was for them to produce the Elder Token in front of everyone.
“Good move…” Su Chen watched the entire process.
Ever since Wang Zhanpeng appeared, Old Xia hadn’t said a word. Pang Hui was still killed by Wei Yinshuo’s own hand, and a large part of the hostility was directed at Wei Yinshuo.
Even if it was a task led by Old Xia, the impact on him wouldn’t be this great.
“Since he has such methods, why is Old Xia’s reputation still so bad?” He muttered inwardly, only to hear Bu Siqi muttering too: “Why has Teacher become so hesitant? In the past, the team would have withdrawn by now.”
Su Chen was momentarily stunned.
“Little Brother, wait here for me. I’ll go down and check if there are any fish that slipped through the net.” Bu Siqi seemed unable to hold back any longer and patted Su Chen’s shoulder.
Su Chen turned back in fright, seeing Bu Siqi’s pupils turn red and his two fangs protruding from his lips.
“Don’t mind it, just a profession trait…” Bu Siqi waved his hand, already unable to suppress his thirst for blood.
“Mm… I’ll go down and take a look too.” Su Chen said.
Nightfall was deep, and the warning sirens nearby kept sounding.
“Right.” On the way downstairs, Su Chen suddenly remembered something. “Senior Brother, do you know about Mystic Energy Crystals?”
“Of course.” Bu Siqi responded casually. “High-purity mental crystals produced by the Carving Department, which can assist certain mental professions in unleashing abilities beyond their own order.”
“One costs one and a half to two million gold, and you need to book in advance.”
So expensive? Su Chen paused involuntarily.
As soon as the two arrived near the building, Bu Siqi vanished.
Su Chen looked up and couldn’t help but sigh. The Pang Family… had at least inherited in Ying Feng City for several hundred years, and now it was gone just like that.
“The cleanup should be handled by us Inspector Guards. Everyone has worked hard all night and should go back.”
“Go back? You’re joking. Since it’s our Court of Justice’s task, we naturally see it through to the end!”
In the distance, two groups were confronting each other: one from the Court of Justice, the other from the Inspector Guards, seemingly vying for the right to clean up the scene.
The Inspector Guards appeared aggressive but didn’t dare cross the line.
“It looks like they’re fighting over cleaning the scene, but actually, it’s about dividing the Pang Family’s interests…” Yang Yan came to Su Chen’s side holding a metal helmet. “The Pang Family’s industries are not small, involving some potion sales. The Inspector Guards don’t want us to take everything.”
Su Chen thought thoughtfully. What they were fighting over was probably not just dividing the Pang Family’s interests, but also enforcement rights in the city.
Seeing the bigger picture from this small scene, one could glimpse the overt and covert struggles between the Court of Justice and the other three departments.
“When the time comes to collect everything, you’ll get a share of the spoils.” Yang Yan added, “Divided based on the positions of those who executed the action. You’re a Core Seed, theoretically on par with a Director, so you’ll get a good share of the benefits.”
He couldn’t help but feel envious.
No wonder Old Xia called him here. Su Chen now understood and asked again: “By the way, have you found Pang Xingwen’s corpse?”
“Pang Xingwen? The one who just took the assessment? Doesn’t seem like it?” Yang Yan thought for a moment and shook his head.
“He ran?” Su Chen was surprised.
Yang Yan shook his head: “Don’t know. We’re still scanning the building; haven’t found any secret passages yet.”
“Many escapees?” Su Chen asked.
Yang Yan explained: “Basically none. High-order professionals have too strong life signatures and were locked down from the start. Only Second or Third Order ones had a chance to run.”
“Got it.” Su Chen thought for a moment. “Trouble Yang Big Brother to pass a message to my teacher or Senior Brother Bu later. I have nothing to do here; I’ll head back to the Court of Justice first.”
“Okay, got it.” Yang Yan didn’t mind and watched Su Chen leave before turning back to the building.
“He actually ran?” Under the cover of night, Su Chen slipped into a shadow after a few turns and entered a certain residential building.
He glanced around, first using his shoes to conceal his figure, then transforming into a “Heituo Priest”.
Almost immediately, he sensed that vague attraction. Perhaps because the distance was relatively close, the perception was much clearer, and it was moving rapidly.
“Looking at the reverse direction, it passes right through the Pang Family Building…” Su Chen’s expression shifted. “It’s still early; let’s see where they’re going.”
……
“You… you’re Strange God Followers!”
In a certain basement, it was pitch dark with only a few small lamps flickering dimly.
Pang Xingwen huddled in the corner of the room, looking fearfully at the two figures standing before him.
Just a day ago, he was a Core Seed follower with a promising future as an Inner Court Seed under a Chief Judge.
In merely one day, everything had turned upside down.
On the escape route, he had already understood why the Pang Family was destroyed: because his father had colluded with the Cult of the Strange God!
“No need to fear us so much. We’re good friends with your father.” The faceless one spoke, his voice low and deep.
“Your father was a man who knew the times. We hope you are too.” The Faceless Ghost Follower’s tone was gentle.
“My father must have been forced by you!” Pang Xingwen roared.
“Fool, without your father’s acceptance of our help, you wouldn’t even have been born!” The Heituo Follower said sharply.
“For your father’s sake, we’ll give you a choice: join us, or it’s the path to death!”
Hearing these words filled with killing intent, the emotionally collapsing Pang Xingwen suddenly calmed down, his expression dazed. “I… I… I…”
“Why were we suddenly discovered?” He inexplicably asked this question.
“Perhaps because of… Su Chen.” The Faceless Ghost glanced at the Heituo Follower beside him. “Because of certain matters, we needed to target Su Chen, but the abrupt invitation might have alerted Xia Hanshi.”
“Su Chen?” Pang Xingwen’s pupils contracted, his dazed expression gradually turning to venomous resentment. “It’s him again, him again!”
“If not for him, I would still be the Pang Family young master!”
He had grown up under Ying Feng’s education and had a bone-deep disgust for the Cult of the Strange God, with a natural resistance to joining it.
He needed a reason to fall, and this hatred for Su Chen became the support for him to join the Cult of the Strange God.
It wasn’t that he wanted to join the Cult of the Strange God; he had no other path!
Pang Xingwen gnashed his teeth: “I can join you, but you must let me kill him with my own hands!”
“Rest assured, there will be an opportunity.”
The two followers exchanged a glance and gave their promise. “Now, we need you…”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Before the words finished, the Faceless Ghost Follower suddenly turned his head, alarmed and suspicious. “There’s faint mental power probing this place.”
…
“This is it…” Su Chen followed the strange attraction to the vicinity of a construction site.
Under nightfall, the site had stopped work, and the surrounding buildings were only partially built, with materials piled everywhere.
Su Chen hid in the shadows, enhanced by the Third Order Shadow Concealment Boots, making it hard for most surveillance in Ying Feng to capture his figure.
“Hmm, report it or act directly…”
Su Chen pondered. Ying Feng’s personnel quality far exceeded Nan Feng’s. If he reported it, he could probably only watch from afar, with no chance to fish in troubled waters.
“Strange God’s Power, I really need some…” He tried sensing with mental power, frowning slightly. “Three people, two with strong life fields, probably Third Order. A bit tricky…”
“But one must be a Heituo Follower, and I’m a Heituo Priest. With my current strength, running won’t be a problem.”
Thinking of this, Su Chen no longer hesitated and walked straight up to a temporary iron shed, knocking on the door.
“So late, and someone’s still here?”
The two Strange God Followers raised their vigilance. The Faceless Ghost Follower, skilled in mental perception, said: “Should be a Second Order Professional, but the life field is very strange.”
“Second Order Professional?” The Heituo Follower grew more puzzled. If it were pursuers, it couldn’t be Second Order; if workers, even less so.
“Pang Xingwen, go open the door.” He looked at the only normal person present. Both of them were Fanatic Followers, with too obvious Strange God traits.
Although they could kill a Second Order Professional effortlessly, this was a special time; better to muddle through if possible.
Pang Xingwen shrank back into the corner again, but with walls on all sides, he had no retreat. His throat bobbed, and he forced himself to stand, walking to the door.
He was still trembling with fear; even as he opened the door, he was wondering if agreeing to these two was right.
But thinking of Su Chen, the resentment in his heart gave him reason.
“As long as I can…” Before Pang Xingwen’s thoughts settled, his dazed eyes sharpened into pins, and he cried out in shock: “Su… Su Chen!”
He never expected the enemy he had just been resenting to appear so abruptly.
“You… you… you…” He stared at the familiar face, momentarily speechless.
“Su Chen?”
The two followers hiding on either side of the door were both shocked, the Heituo Follower surging with excitement.
The divine oracle was clear: this person was extremely important and must be sacrificed to the Holy God at all costs.
With the Pang Family destroyed, they thought the opportunity was lost, yet here he was.
“Brother Pang, not inviting me in?” Su Chen looked at the dazed Pang Xingwen, his tone mild.
Pang Xingwen still showed no reaction, but Su Chen walked straight in, bumping him to the side.
This bump finally jolted Pang Xingwen to his senses. His pale face quickly flushed red. With a bang, he slammed the door shut and glared viciously at Su Chen. “You actually dare to show up!”
“The way you say it, people who don’t know might think I’m the one colluding with the Cult of the Strange God.” Su Chen chuckled, his gaze falling on the black-robed figure to the right—no facial features, seemingly a trait of a Faceless Ghost Follower?
The Pang Family was actually involved with two Strange Gods at once.
Su Chen was momentarily surprised. His knowledge of Strange Gods was limited, but he knew they were at least incompatible, if not outright opposed.
Everyone worshiped gods, making cooperation tricky.
Cooperation required unified thinking; when issues arose, who would give orders?
If led by one Strange God Follower, wouldn’t that mean your god was superior to mine, greatly damaging faith?
Hearing this, Pang Xingwen instinctively felt guilty but quickly sneered, “If so, you still dare to come here—simply courting death.”
“Then why don’t you think about why I dare to come?” Pang Xingwen’s face paled, instinctively glancing back, imagining heavy encirclement outside.
But soon, Pang Xingwen gnashed his teeth: “Even if there’s encirclement outside, we can kill you first. With you to accompany me in death, it’s worth it!”
“We’re not big shots. If there was really an encirclement, they’d act directly. Why send you?” The Heituo Follower was very calm.
These guys are pretty smart as long as it doesn’t involve faith issues… Su Chen was quite surprised but laughed loudly: “Worthy of My Lord’s followers—very perceptive.”
“My Lord?” The Heituo Follower was slightly stunned, staring at Su Chen suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
“The meaning is…” As Su Chen’s words fell, his hair suddenly vanished inch by inch. Black patterns spread from his cheeks across his body, outlining vertical pupils on his forehead. A dark, profound aura emanated from him.
“Priest!” The Heituo Follower’s face changed dramatically. In Pang Xingwen’s dumbfounded gaze, he knelt down, shouting with utmost reverence: “This humble servant greets My Lord’s emissary!”
At the Priest level, one was qualified to be called a god’s emissary.
“This guy is actually a Heituo Priest?”
The Faceless Ghost Follower nearby was equally shocked. If so, why did Heituo go to such lengths to find him?
Or had Heituo already converted him?
To disguise so perfectly and become a Core Seed in the Court of Justice—how was it done?
He had many doubts but didn’t suspect the identity, as the Fanatic Follower beside him had knelt, proving it.
Upon advancing to Priest, one inevitably has initial contact with the worshiped deity, gaining various communication and sacrifice methods—indisputable.
Even they could at most disguise as Fanatic Followers, not Priests.
“This identity is actually so effective?” Su Chen was astonished inwardly. He had prepared a speech, but upon revealing his identity, the other knelt immediately.
Without even asking how he became a Priest.
Pang Xingwen was dumbfounded. He even wanted to run out and expose Su Chen’s identity to all of Ying Feng.
A Priest!
A Strange God Priest had openly infiltrated the Court of Justice and become a Core Seed—utterly ridiculous!
And Xia Hanshi still had the face to come exterminate their family!
“What’s the situation in Ying Feng?” Su Chen seized the moment to ask.
“Reporting to the Priest, with the Pang Family just destroyed, our previous efforts have gone down the drain.” The Heituo Follower looked up to explain.
“What were you preparing in Ying Feng? What was the original plan?” Su Chen asked bluntly. In the Strange God system, faith was a natural identity credential; otherwise, this question would have raised suspicion.
“Wait…” The Faceless Ghost Follower beside frowned: “Who exactly are you…”
“Shut up!” The Heituo Follower coldly glared at the Faceless Ghost Follower, berating sharply: “Who are you to speak to My Lord’s emissary?”
Su Chen: “…”
This identity was too useful.
When the Heituo Follower looked at Su Chen again, he was fervent anew. “We supported the Pang Family, using Pang Hui’s identity to cover our activities inside Ying Feng, thereby influencing lower tier cities.”
“The recent plan was to block news from the ‘southern edge ten cities’.”
“Why?”
“There’s a large-scale blood sacrifice to several Strange Gods there.” The Heituo Follower was truly devout, holding nothing back.
“What’s up with this Priest? He seems disconnected from Heituo’s internals.” The Faceless Ghost Follower speculated inwardly as he listened to the barrage of questions.
Large-scale blood sacrifice? Ten cities? Su Chen’s expression shifted slightly, his gaze subtly sweeping toward the Faceless Ghost Follower beside him.
“Kill the Faceless Ghost Follower beside you.”
A wisp of mental fluctuation entered the Heituo Follower’s ear. Without hesitation, he erupted. Already kneeling, the black vertical pupils on his forehead gleamed demonically, and a black light beam shot straight at the Faceless Ghost Follower beside him.
“What are you doing!” The Faceless Ghost Follower was shocked, but the attack was so sudden he didn’t react. His chest was pierced by the black beam, which continued, blasting a large hole in the ceiling.
But as a Third Order Professional, the injury wasn’t fatal.
“We’re allies!” He shouted angrily, intending to retreat violently, with no thought of resisting. A Priest could communicate with gods, wielding methods beyond his confrontation.
But the Heituo Follower’s attack followed closely. He muttered incantations, black mist enveloping his left arm, which suddenly shriveled despite its thickness.
His right arm abruptly swelled several times, even producing a whooshing sound!
The Faceless Ghost tried to resist, surging mental fluctuations boiling out, but these Strange God Followers had innate strong resistance to mental attacks.
Pfft!
The arm plunged straight into his chest. The Faceless Ghost Follower let out an unwilling wail as his chest was pierced and heart crushed, his body slumping limply to the ground.
The Heituo Follower knelt again. “Task completed.”
“Really useful.” Su Chen’s expression varied as he asked a few more questions, like the loss of the Holy Word Stone and the whereabouts of the Space Crystal.
But these were beyond what the Heituo Follower, operating in Ying Feng City, could know.
Beside him, Pang Xingwen was stunned like a wooden chicken, eyes lifeless. Too much had happened tonight; though his body was still here, his mind had already left.
“What’s inside those?” Su Chen looked at the two metal boxes in the corner, their surfaces engraved with dense patterns, blocking part of the “Heituo Priest” sensing ability.
The Heituo Follower answered honestly: “They are the two Strange Artifacts Pang Hui originally worshiped: one is the Holy Lord, the other the Faceless Ghost.”
“There’s also one that arrived a few days ago, prepared for Pang Hui to deliver to the Court of Justice.”
“Oh? What is it? For whom?” Su Chen grew interested.
“I don’t know exactly what it is; it’s for Wei Yinshuo…” The Heituo Follower indicated he was just one link in the chain, mainly for surveillance and passing tasks to Pang Hui.
“Wei Yinshuo is one of ours too?” Su Chen pressed.
“Not as far as I know.” The Heituo Follower shook his head. “Corrupting him has always been our goal.”
“Hmm…” Su Chen thought thoughtfully, looking at the Heituo Follower before him, saying indifferently:
“I’ve roughly understood the situation. With the Pang Family wiped out, years of invested resources have been burned to ash. You bear primary responsibility.”
“For your many years of merit, I permit you to return to the Holy Lord’s embrace.”
The Heituo Follower’s eyes trembled, not with fear but honor and fervor, even tears welling up. “Thank you, Priest Lord!”
His eyes widened, and he fell silent, collapsing straight to the ground.
Su Chen had originally wanted to keep him to fish out more Heituo Followers or even Cult of the Strange God members.
But on second thought, his fanaticism toward him was only due to Heituo.
Another Priest would get the same fervor. If he revealed his identity, trouble would arise where there was none—better to silence him.
Bang!
The sound of the corpse hitting the floor was like thunder in Pang Xingwen’s ears. He shuddered all over, as if his soul had left his body, staring incredulously at the corpse on the ground.
Just… just died like that?
This was a Third Order Professional who suicided with one sentence?
What kind of mental illness do these Strange God Followers have!
Pang Xingwen tremblingly looked at Su Chen, forcing a smile: “Grea… Great Priest, I’ve already agreed…”
Before he finished, Su Chen’s gaze swept over darkly. Pang Xingwen’s eyes rolled back, and he too fell silent, lying stiffly on the ground.
Mental power rolled up the three corpses, stuffing them all into the storage space.
He then pulled over the two metal boxes from the corner, opening each. The attraction Su Chen felt became much clearer.
A total of three items.
The familiar Heituo Strange Artifact goes without saying, but the other looked strange, like it was crafted from a skull, engraved on the surface with five faceless heads.
“Faceless Ghost. It’s said this Strange God excels in disguise. Followers can impersonate closest kin, revealing fangs at people’s happiest, most blissful moments, savoring the despair of being killed by loved ones.”
“They can even disguise as other Strange God Followers, so Zhou Xian thought I was a Faceless Ghost Follower.”
Because of what Zhou Xian said, he had specifically looked up information on this Strange God.
Power from the two Strange Artifacts was extracted. Su Chen looked at his panel in surprise: the two Strange God Powers didn’t fuse but ranked separately, with changed names.
【Low-tier Heituo’s Power】
【Low-tier Faceless Ghost Power】
“Strange God Powers don’t merge. My previous guess was probably right: different Strange God Powers should trigger different profession reactions.”
“Heituo advances profession tiers, so what about Faceless Ghost?”
Su Chen couldn’t help thinking but wasn’t in a hurry to try.
Instead, he looked at the last item, pebble-like, crimson, with faintly visible liquid flowing inside mixed with black specks.
The attraction from it differed from Strange Artifacts, very unique.
Su Chen touched it carefully; the feel was warm and smooth, not like stone–
【Heituo Divine Egg—Consumable: Made from Heituo Divine Blood, can extend lifespan, but contains a seed of the deity.】
